$150; DC Comics

After a couple of decades of DC and Marvel not playing well together – okay, to be fair, they didn’t play together at all – we get a heavy, hard-hitting reminder that they have done so in the past and when they do, it’s a wonderful thing for superhero fans.

In an age when franchises crossing over is not at all uncommon, it’s hard for younger readers to know how simultaneously impossible and incredible it was in 1976 when Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man #1 first arrived on newsstands. However much it seemed like a dream, it started what became a semi-regular thing.

The earliest editions were done in the Treasury format (and kudos to the production people on this book for not making the material looked forced into the Omnibus size) before they switched to a traditional comic book format with Marvel and DC Present: Featuring the Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans #1.

This new, long overdue collection includes Marvel Treasury Edition #28, DC Special Series #27, Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire #1, Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights #1, Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger #1, Spider-Man and Batman #1, Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances #1, Silver Surfer/Superman #1, Batman/Captain America #1, Daredevil/Batman #1, Batman/Spider-Man #1, Superman/Fantastic Four #1, Incredible Hulk vs. Superman #1, and Batman/Daredevil #1.

Some of them are great (both Superman and Spider-Man team-ups, the X-Men – New Teen Titans, Superman/Fantastic Four and Incredible Hulk vs. Superman lead the way), some are merely fun, but all of them are enjoyable.

There’s a good bit of bonus material included in this compilation as well. Very enjoyable.

– J.C. Vaughn