I think John Byrne is at his best when dealing with characters who already existed as well-known cultural icons with rich histories before he came along. He did some superb work in giving Superman a complete reboot in the mid-80s, and before that he had been the writer/artist on Marvel's Fantastic Four for several years, and is still fondly remembered by fans of that title. But there were other titles in the 80s and 90s where he invented the major characters from scratch or tried to spruce up ones who already existed as bit players (Alpha Flight, Next Men, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Danger Unlimited, etc.) and none of those have really grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go, although I may have found some of the storylines reasonably entertaining. (To clarify one point, Byrne did both the writing and the art for this saga, and did both very skillfully.)

Superman & Batman: Generations was first published in four installments of 48 pages each, which I grabbed off the shelf at the local comic book store as fast as they appeared. It is an Elseworlds project, which is DC's clever way of saying, "The major players may look familiar, but this story is set in an alternate world and has no relation to mainstream continuity." Which means that it is entirely possible for Batman, or Superman, or whoever, to get married, raise children, drop dead, or endure whatever drastic changes the plot calls for- and stay that way permanently in the context of the story. This makes it more plausible to see a superhero trade paperback billed as a "Graphic Novel" in the sense of having the major characters undergo "realistic" experiences which they won't bounce back from tomorrow morning to resume doing the same old stuff they were doing before.

In this story, the scenes are clustered into groups separated from one another by ten-year blocks. The first sequence occurs in 1939, showing the very first meeting of Superman and Batman. The next sequence occurs in 1949, at which time Superman is married to Lois Lane and she is visibly several months pregnant. 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, and beyond! (The story was originally published in 1999, of course.) Byrne used the most classic Superman villain and the most classic Batman villain - Lex Luthor and the Joker, respectively - to good effect, with at least one or the other of them bound to make an appearance in just about every sequence, though not necessarily as the principal villain being confronted by the current generation of superheroes that time around.

Byrne makes a real effort to get clothing styles, etc., correct for each decade. To some extent, he also tries to pay homage to the type of stories that Superman and Batman were "actually" experiencing in their comic books in each timeframe. In the old days there was generally a very upbeat tone and the feeling that none of their nearest and dearest could ever possibly die. By the 1970s, things were getting darker, especially in Batman's case. And by the late 80s "grim'n'gritty" was becoming a buzzword in the industry, especially after what Frank Miller did to Batman in his classic graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

Actually, the 1969 sequence is particularly interesting because it addresses the Vietnam War as being part of the same world inhabited by the superheroes of that era, at least briefly. We see various old-time costumed heroes standing in the Oval Office while President Nixon harangues them. His feeling is that these heroes (including Wonder Woman, the original Green Lantern, and the Silver Age Flash, all of whom only appear in a couple of panels here, as cameos) could easily fly over to Vietnam and straighten out the whole mess. Superman says, "It's not that easy, Mr. President. This isn't World War II. The bad guys are not so clearly defined." It would have been very nice to hear a bit more of the rationale behind this, but at least Vietnam is mentioned. (In the 1960s and early 70s, the Vietnam War was largely invisible in superhero comic books because, after all, no matter what Superman might have done in a story, the war would still be there the next day in real life and people might actually be offended by comic books that suggested it had all been taken care of already, when this was so utterly opposed to their own experience.)

In a private chat between Superman and Batman after they walk out of the White House, we learn that Superman's son Joel (no superpowers to his name) is already serving over there as a platoon commander in the U.S. Army, and has insisted his father not interfere with his life. He wants to succeed or fail on his own merits without a deus ex machina to pull him out of a jam every week. Likewise, Bruce Wayne, Junior (who's been serving as the Robin for several years to this the second Batman, who is actually the original Robin, Dick Grayson) has recently gotten his draft notice and insisted that his father not use his fortune and political connections to get it stopped. Right or wrong, the sons of Batman #1 and Superman aren't interested in signing up with the National Guard instead of taking their chances in the jungles on the other side of the world.

Events in the 1969 sequence are pivotal in setting things up for the rest of the storyline, so I'll only say that Lieutenant Joel Kent is not exactly unscathed by his time in Vietnam. Meanwhile, his cute blond sister Kara has been flirting with Bruce Junior . . . could there be a Kent/Wayne union somewhere in the future? (I know, but I won't tell. Nyah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)

A running gag throughout the storyline is the mysterious question of Mrs. Batman (okay, okay, Mrs. Bruce Wayne to be more correct). At the end of the 1949 sequence we see Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's butler and confidante, wearing beekeeping gear as he fiddles with some hives. A woman (seems to be Caucasian, for what that's worth as a clue) comes out and chats with him, but due to the netting hanging down over her head we can't make out her hair color, eye color, or anything else that might help us figure out who she is of all the ladies with whom Bruce Wayne and/or Batman have been known to flirt over the years. It is implied that she wants to tell her husband that she's just learned she's pregnant, although that is not explicitly stated. (In the next sequence, ten years later, we first meet the young Bruce Wayne, Jr., of course.) Mrs. Wayne is encountered in at least one later scene - wearing a floppy hat that shades most of her face, and with no first name provided (her son, naturally enough, greets her as Mom.) She is also referred to here and there in other scenes, but never by name. My personal guess is (and was from the start) that she is the former Catwoman, Selina Kyle, but I couldn't prove it in court beyond a reasonable doubt. The matter is still unresolved at the very end, which bothered me a great deal until I heard Byrne was working on a sequel which will also occur during the 20th Century, but staggered at different ten-year intervals instead of the ones ending with "9". Hopefully he only left Mrs. Batman very mysterious in the first Generations so he can fill in details and catch us by surprise with them in the second one. Time will tell . . .

On the family values heading, I'll mention one word of warning before you let your 8-year-old child read this. There is at least one scene (I won't tell you which year it happens in or which characters) where it is implied that two consenting adults are taking off their clothes in order to have mad passionate sex at a time when they are not legally wed to one another. We do not see any nudity that would even qualify for a PG-13 rating, nor are such words as "sex" (or other loaded terms) introduced into the bit of dialogue we see before the scene ends, but we do see some loose clothing falling through the air, the person who was wearing it a minute ago having obviously decided it's only in the way for something . That tantalizing end-of-scene actually struck me as totally unnecessary since whatever was going on never had any further significance in plot development, but perhaps Byrne felt it made a point about changing moral values among America's youth as the 20th Century progressed, or something. Anyway, I've warned you.

Recommended: Yes