📖 📺 Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - Watch Party Event Today, April 28th at 5 PM PST! 📺 📖

[Bar-El]

A desperate solution for a troubled country: Lex Luthor is President with some heroes in the service of the government. Superman and Batman stand against the new regime—and their disloyalty proves to be exactly what Luthor intended.

From Executive Producer Bruce Timm and voiced by the cast from both hit Batman and Superman animated TV series including Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and Clancy Brown, this DC Universe original animated movie adaptation of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness’s popular graphic novel seethes with political intrigue and action-packed battles between heroes all believing they’re on the right side of the law.

This two part event will kick off with a read along and discussion of the 6 comics and conclude with a watch party of the film on National Superhero Day, April 28th! More details below!

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Part 1 - Read along!

We will read 2 issues a week and discuss in the comments below. The schedule and discussion prompts are here to help guide the conversation week to week. Feel free to post your own questions and discussion topics below!

Week 1 April 7 - 14
Issues 1 & 2

Click Here for Discussion Prompts

1. Writer Jeph Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost among many others. He has a long career in comics and is well known for his extensive use of narration boxes to reveal the inner thoughts of characters. What are your thoughts on Jeph Loeb’s use of dual-narration in showing both and ’s points of view throughout the story?

2. Artist Ed McGuinness is well known for his work on Deadpool, Hulk and many more across various comic companies. What are your thoughts on his art style and how he conveys motion and emotion?

3. Obviously a lot is being set up with these first two issues, some of which won’t pay off until much later. What do you think about the character motivations so far and our mystery guest from the future?

Week 2 April 14 - 21
Issues 3 & 4

Click Here for Discussion Prompts

1. We get some great special appearances by some of our favorite and not as well known villains in issue #3. Can you identify some of the more obscure villains?

2. We are also treated to some epic fight scenes in both issues! Do you think they accurately portray each character’s abilities?

Week 3 April 21 - 28
Issues 5 & 6

Click Here for Discussion Prompts

1. Even though the heroes suspect Luthor is up to no good, should they have broken into the White House? If they had rescued & (enemies of the state) would that have made them all accomplices and complicated things further? Does this in a way validate Luthor’s concerns with super powered individuals?

2. and have been friends since the beginning of their careers and although they have had some rough disagreements over the 83 years, they remain close like brothers. What do you think about this iteration of their relationship as opposed to others you are familiar with? What do you think about our two heavy hitters sharing the same title?

Wondering about the fate of Captain Atom? Check out Captain Atom: Armageddon #1 from Wildstorm!

Composite Superman/Batman actually has a history in comics!
World’s Finest Comics #142 (1964)

Looking for more Superman/Batman adventures?
The Superman Fan Club has some great selections this month!
Other selections from DCUI:
Batman/Superman (2019- )
Batman/Superman (2013-2016)
Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator
World’s Finest (1990)
World’s Finest (1941-1989)
New York World’s Fair #2

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Part 2 - Watch Party!

We conclude with a celebratory watch party on National Superhero Day, April 28th!

BYOM (Bring Your Own Movie)
Press play: 2021-04-29T00:00:00Z

• We will let the credits run, no skipping.
• If you get behind just skip ahead to the current time.
• Post your thoughts about the movie and how it differs from the comic below!
• Refreshing the page can help load comments if we get a little out of sync.

Movie Details
Released September 29, 2009
Runtime: 1 hour 7 minutes
PG-13

Director

Sam Liu

Producers

Bruce Timm
Alan Burnett
Michael Goguen
Bobbie Page
Sam Register
Benjamin Melniker
Michael Uslan

Written by

Stan Berkowitz

Music by

Christopher Drake

Casting by

Andrea Romano

Cast

• Tim Daly as Superman
• Kevin Conroy as Batman
• Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor
• Xander Berkeley as Captain Atom
• Corey Burton as Captain Marvel, Solomon Grundy
• Ricardo Chavira as Major Force
• Allison Mack as Power Girl
• John C. McGinley as Metallo
• CCH Pounder as Amanda Waller
• LeVar Burton as Black Lightning
• Calvin Tran as Toyman/Hiro Okamura
• Mark Jonathan Davis as Newscaster
• Brian George as Gorilla Grodd
• Jennifer Hale as Starfire, Killer Frost
• Rachael MacFarlane as Nightshade, Lady Shiva, Billy Batson
• Alan Oppenheimer as Alfred Pennyworth
• Andrea Romano as Giganta, Computer
• Bruce Timm as Mongul
• Michael Gough as Hawkman, Captain Cold
• Jonathan Adams as General

Want even more? We will use this same format in May with Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (The Supergirl from Krypton)! Stay tuned for details!

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*Update! The next read + watch party event just dropped for the month of May! Check it out here!

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse/The Supergirl from Krypton - Read + Watch Party 2-Part Event 5/18 @ 5 PM PST!

[SupermanBatmanCover] A mysterious girl crash lands in Gotham City Harbor claiming to be Superman’s cousin from Krypton. Is she friend or foe and will she stay that way for long when she is abducted by Darkseid to lead his Female Furies? It’s up to a team of our World’s Finest heroes to retrieve Kara from Apokolips, but is it already too late? From Executive Producer Bruce Timm and voiced by the cast from both hit Batman and Superman animated TV series including Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly and Cla…

[Jay_Kay]

Neat idea! I probably won’t be able to make it for the WAL because work’s got me doing all night shifts of late (grumble grumble), but I’ll try to make some time for the reading!

[Bar-El]

Don’t they know its a national holiday? You should defiantly get holiday time off

[Reaganfan78]

You’re so creative, I love the logo picture and the Batman/Superman gif!

[Bar-El]

Thank you! I was hoping we had a DC emoji for the logo but no luck!

[Don-El]

Looking good! This is a pretty slick product.

Do you also organize events in real life?

[Bar-El]

Can you tell? Nothing fancy but I’ve always planned the best themed birthday parties, props and all!

[Reaganfan78]

You make a great club leader!

[Bar-El]

There are some fun little hidden jokes in the title cards for these issues at the expense of Matt Idelson. Makes you wonder what else they hid in the rest of the pages!

[TravisMorgan]

Thanks for organizing all this @Bar-El! What time zone is that 7:00 pm start time? I’m central myself, but I’m assuming eastern, but please confirm.

[Bar-El]

The date stamp should give you the conversion to your local time that your profile is set to, it’s 5 PM Pacific so you are right, that’s 7 PM Central time!

[Bar-El]

@Bar-El

2. Artist Ed McGuinness is well known for his work on Deadpool, Hulk and many more across various comic companies. What are your thoughts on his art style and how he conveys motion and emotion?

When I saw Ed McGuinness art for my first time I really didn’t like it. I thought it was super cartoonish and I wanted something more realistic but over time I keep coming back to it and now I actually like it for it’s cartoon quality. Guess it’s like a fine wine? Anyway, during this 126th reread I noticed a bunch of little details I’ve never noticed before (blurred so I don’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read yet)!

1. The rocket display gets a little blurry during the crash landing and baby Kal’s hands go up in alarm

2. You can see heal in the first few pages

3. You can see Metallo reconfigure in the proceeding pages and all the holes are in the same places! Of course that’s until blows him up lol

[Bar-El]

Ok, my last 2 cents for these first 2 issues:

1. I really like the parallel panels in this issue

2. It wasn’t until this reread that I finally understood the red blur is present day saving

Any fans out there able to identify the different batmobiles?

[brian_hofman]

@Bar-El

• Writer Jeph Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost among many others. He has a long career in comics and is well known for his extensive use of narration boxes to reveal the inner thoughts of characters. What are your thoughts on Jeph Loeb’s use of dual-narration in showing both and ’s points of view throughout the story?
• Artist Ed McGuinness is well known for his work on Deadpool, Hulk and many more across various comic companies. What are your thoughts on his art style and how he conveys motion and emotion?
• Obviously a lot is being set up with these first two issues, some of which won’t pay off until much later. What do you think about the character motivations so far and our mystery guest from the future?

1. I am a fan of the dual narration. I think Loeb does a good job of comparing and contrasting and and their perspective on things. Sometimes I think our heroes are a little more critical of each other or a little less understanding than I would prefer, but it’s clear that they respect each other.

2. I LOVE Ed McGuinness. I normally go for a more realistic style, but McGuinness is a master. I think the sense of motion is fantastic. I think he’s the best at using the cape-blur effect for Superman. The emotion can be cartoony, but it’s clear, and I think it normally helps the storytelling.

3. Lex Luthor is a little bit ridiculous and over the top, but I am more than okay with that. Superman and Batman ring true to me for the most part, though I think they might be a little too rash at times. The future guest is confusing at this point. I remember being satisfied with the payoff, but I think that’s beyond this story arc.

Overall, I’m loving this story so far. It’s a personal fave of mine.

[Bar-El]

@brian_hofman

Sometimes I think our heroes are a little more critical of each other or a little less understanding than I would prefer, but it’s clear that they respect each other.

I agree, I think its a little of them pushing the other to be their best self or at least reach the potential they believe they can be. My older brother does this with my younger sister and it drives her insane! lol When we’re talking about these two heroes, they both are so powerful they need someone to be critical of their decisions and the checks and balances are good and help keep their egos in check. There is a story arc much later with the government and Amanda Waller that really taps into this and questions both of their motives. It’s all just so good and I can’t help but rave about this series!

[discordia57]

I wanted to dip my toe into the discussions and say, that I’m happy you’ve put this group together @Bar-El. I haven’t read these issues since they came out. I’m looking forward to diving back into them, and the WAL you’ve planed!

[Bar-El]

That’s fantastic @discordia57 I’m so excited to have you on the conversation! These comics are so nostalgic to me because they were the very first ones I ever read! I did so many school projects based on them. Even made a diorama of the next storyline we’ll be reading next month!

[discordia57]

@Bar-El

Even made a diorama of the next storyline we’ll be reading next month!

I hope you have pictures to share with the group!

[TravisMorgan]

It’s been a while since I read this run so it was very fun to revisit.

I really like Loeb’s use of the caption boxes AND McGuinness’s parallel layouts to contrast their pasts and how it shaped their world views. Their friendship and respect for each other shows throughout the two issues.

Loeb is pushing the Yin/Yang of the characters and distilling them down to their core and again McGuinness’s “cartoony” style serves the story so well. Even though it is a “simple” style it conveys the emotions well. I also like Dave Stewart’s colors and how they compliment McGuinness’s style and don’t overwhelm it trying to add more detail than isn’t needed.

The mystery guest and other B plot elements made me want to keep reading so they did their job. Overall, a great start!

[Bar-El]

I know for sure we did but where the photos are now is the mystery lol