ENEMIES & ALLIES by Kevin J. Anderson
“For those who are fans of Superman and Batman (especially if you have read many of the ‘World’s Finest’ comic books from DC Comics), Kevin J. Anderson features a thrilling story about two superheroes with two different styles of taking on criminals but must put aside their differences and work together in order to take on Lex Luthor and Soviet generals during the America and USSR arms race. Well-written and a super hero novel that I highly recommend!”
(c) Images courtesy of William Morrow
TITLE: ENEMIES & ALLIES
AUTHOR: Kevin J. Anderson
PUBLISHER: William Morrow
PAGE COUNT: 330 pages
Released on May 5, 2009
A return to the traditional social mores of the fifties…
An eara of postwar conservatism and international tensions, of fear and hope, when Howdy Doody, UFO’s, Elvis and the communist menace occupied America…
A time when human beinds had, for the first time in history, the power to destroy their world…and heroes were needed more than ever…
A not-so-long-ago decade when two of the greatest heroes of all time – Batman and Superman – first meet to save the world from bad guys like Lex Luthor and Soviet generals.
As a child, one of my favorite comic books growing up was DC Comic’s “World Finest” which would feature adventures of Superman and Batman. Two superhero icons that had different ways of taking on the criminals, at times opposing mindsets but both knew that by combining forces, they can take on evil.
Science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson, known for his many spin-off (and best-selling) novels for “Star Wars”, “The X-Files” and co-author of the “Dune” prequels is back with his second DC Comics related novel since “The Last Days of Krypton”.
This time around, Kevin J. Anderson puts Superman and Batman during the 1950’s. A time when the US and Russia were competing during the arms race and the simple times were not as simple anymore as people know that these two countries can destroy the world with nuclear missles.
In Gotham City, Batman is a well-known vigilante, hated by the criminals but also by the police. Batman takes on a variety of criminals using force but knowing that the police does not approve of his way of handling them. But outside of the uniform, Bruce Wayne is one of the richest men of the city and also a man that is strong on pride and ego.
In Metropolis, Superman is a superhero that defends the people against crime. His methods are not about hurting people or killing them. Behind-the-scenes, he is also Clark Kent, a writer for the Daily Planet.
For an article on Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent and Jimmy Olson are sent to Gotham City to do an article on the millionaire. But Clark can’t stand Bruce Wayne’s ego.
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor, is using his power to leverage tension amongst the countries to build his own military/industrial empire ala LuthorCorp that would rival Bruce Wayne’s company, Wayne Industries.
While Superman and Jimmy Olsen work on the article on Bruce Wayne, they are also working on an investigative article about a flying saucer that had crashed on Earth. Clark wants to know if there are other people like himself living in the planet. Meanwhile, Lois Lane is doing an investigative article on LuthorCorp.
Clark learns that LuthorCorp the UFO but while as Superman, he learns of a break-in at Luthor’s home. When he arrives, he finds Batman, the vigilante he has read about, the vigilante who has attacked Gotham polie and broken many laws and hurt the criminals.
Batman wants to get back at Superman who he assumes works for LutherCorp while Superman wants Batman to pay for his crimes.
Batman tells Superman that if he takes him out of the equation, who will make Lex Luthor pay for his crimes. When Superman asks why he broke into Lex Luthor’s home, Batman responds with a lead box he stole from LutherCorp. Inside is a fragment of Kryptonite and for the first time, Superman realizes that he has a weakness.
This tussle leads Clark to do more research on Lex Luthor. Can this man be responsible for a major crime? While Bruce Wayne does his research in wondering if Lex Luthor created Superman. Meanwhile, Lois’s investigation into Lex Luthor and LexCorp becomes much more risky, the only person she can turn to is the millionaire from Gotham City, Bruce Wayne, to help her with the investigation.
Through circumstances beyond their control, these two superheroes must learn to work together in order to find out Lex Luthor’s plans but also stop the destruction of the world.
“ENEMIES & ALLIES” was definitely an enjoyable novel.
And one would expect Superman to be the strongest and tougher of the two, because of Batman’s keen investigative sense, it’s not always about power and in some ways, Batman has the upperhand on Superman. Kevin J. Anderson plays their strengths and weaknesses on each other quite well but most of all, how these two men that had their differences became respectful towards each other and eventually team up.
Overall, I found the novel to be well-written and to utilize the 50’s as the main time period was quite interesting and again, enjoyable. Granted, I may be bias since I’ve collected the comic books of Batman and Superman since I was much younger. But nevertheless, it’s always interesting to see these two superheroes utilized in a storyline that takes place in the 1950’s and Batman is trying to learn why the police oppose his methods despite eliminating crime and of course, Superman not knowing too much about his personal history or his weaknesses.
Anderson does a fine job of taking a lot of these elements which were popular in the comic series and having a comprehensive, enjoyable and thrilling storyline that fans will be appreciate of.
“ENEMIES & ALLIES” is definitely recommended!