Batman & Spider-Man: New Age Dawning

Batman Post-Crisis #104

by J.M. DeMatteis

The two greatest heroes are forced to battle the two most brilliant villains for the fate of the world.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Marvel, Superheroes, Spider Man

47 pages, Comic

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Also Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally

Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.

Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.

Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.

Reviews

[Benji's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more readable later Marvel/DC crossovers! The art and story were good and it didn't really feel rushed. There was also a bit of emotion involved. I rather enjoyed Graham Nolan's Spidey artwork.

Recommended.

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most crossovers feel fake,out of place,this old crossover however has its moments,makin it a nice read.speceficaly the kinda similiar background story was a nice touch..

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice team-up between these 2 company icons. Nice art and writing. Recommended

[Sheldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman follows Ra's al Ghul into New York and shortly he is spying upon a meet between Ghul's daughter and Kingpin (who just so happens to be currently stalked by everyone's favourite web crawler). The two heroes meet and great and attempt to take down the bad guys. The story is simple and serves its purpose for the two characters to bump into one another in this crossover but as with the Batman/Spawn comic the writer's don't explain why they inhabit the same universe. The length is also comparable with the Batman/Spawn comic - not quite long enough to be a full graphic novel but thick enough to have a spine. The art like the script is okay; nothing really stands out either in a good or bad way.

There is nice twist at the end and it's weird (and nice) after years of history to see this scene play out through the final pages.

[Kejsi ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun crossover. Loving those Batsy&Spidey moments. 🦇🕷️

[jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

little underwhelming ending but my besties in one comic >>>

[Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was amazing and the story was interesting - touching on the same moral question presented in A Clockwork Orange and then there was the subplot touching on the growth Spider-Man and Batman endured through their suffering and how it can change people for better or worse. Oddly enough some homoerotic tension in there as well - I wasn’t expecting that.

3.5/5

[Anthony Buffum]

Wow, this book is really great! I went back through all the pictures and I'm amazed at how great the illustrations just pop out between two of the most popular superheroes. This book made me want to go see the new batman movie.

[Agung Wicaksono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pertama kali saya membaca komik ketika Batman dan Spider-Man berada di satu cerita. Kisahnya tentang Ra's al Ghul yang telah memporakporandakan sebagian besar wilayah di dunia dengan penyakit dan bencana alam yang telah ia bikin sendiri. Ia pun mencoba mengajak kerja sama Wilson Filsk alias Kingpin. Karena rencana tersebut, Batman dan Spider-Man pun harus menghentikannya.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a solid entry, but nothing stood out besides the cross over.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spidey and Batsy together again!


I haven’t bought this particular comic book per se, but I did buy the “DC vrs Marvel” Omnibus Vol 1, and this story is featured there. I’ll do a review of the omnibus later, but I want to make individual reviews of each crossover stories contained there.


Creative Team

Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Illustrator: Graham Nolan


NEW AGE DAWNING

This story is totally apart from the first crossover between Spider-man and Batman, but they openly comment that that first meeting occurs and that they remember it.

Batman and Spider-man must join forces once again to face the combined big threat of two of their most formidable foes..

…Ra’s al Ghul and Kingpin!!!

Talia al Ghul serves as intermediary to negotiate the criminal alliance with the Kingpin, but Wilson Fisk already found out who’s the father of Talia and his deadly reputation and terrorist plans to change the world, so initially he doesn’t agree to help the Demon’s Head in his insidious machinations…

…BUT…

…when Talia tells Fisk, that his father has resources beyond imagination, including resurrection, Fisk ponders about it, since Vanessa Fisk (his wife) is sick and with very short time of life left.

This will become a game of trust and alliances, where the safety of the entire world will be in risk.

´Nuff Said!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that gives fans of Spider-Man and fans of Batman everything they could possibly want from a team-up.
Two of the respective heroes' greatest foes? Check. A few twists and turns? Check. Witty banter from Spidey? Check. Tortured soul from Batman? Check.
So what actually happens in it? Basically Ra's al Ghul manipulates the Kingpin into helping him with one of his "destroy the world to make it better" schemes. Of course, I say "manipulate" loosely, because, obviously, the Kingpin isn't about to let himself get manipulated. And, of course, both Spidey and Bats are on the case, so there is the aforementioned inevitable team-up.
Seeing these two characters from different universes work together is beyond fun as a fan--it's the impossible made possible! (Because, you know, all the aliens, parallel dimensions, superpowers, etc., are common place.... Marvel and DC merging as one?!?! Now THAT'S unbelievable!)
So, yeah, if you're a fan of these characters and you want to see them in the same story... then how can you not say yes to this comic? It's fun, fast, and full of Bat and Spider awesomeness.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading it, I thought this sequel to 1995’s “Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds” was 3 stars. Then, as soon as I finished, I thought this was a solid 3.5 stars, but then the more I thought about it, the more I thought I was right the first time. The prior story pitted our heroes against Carnage and the Joker. This one pits them against the Kingpin and Ra’s al Ghul. It’s exactly what you want out of a one-shot story like this, exact somehow it feels like it skims over things, that there are missed opportunities. There are a lot of repeated conversations that don’t fully advance the story, which aren’t the best use of a 45-page story. And there are some moments that are so ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh.

Still, I had fun. It would’ve been a decent 30-minute crossover episode between “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” and “Batman: The Animated Series,” if they managed to flesh it out better and smooth out some of the plot holes. It’s not as good as the first one, but I do like it.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

Esta reseña esta en ingles y español
This review is in english and spanish

English
This comic is amusing. Batman and Spiderman keep them originals personalities and them interactions are interestings. Ras and Kimp were a good choice as a antagonists.

The history isn't that interesting but is enough.
_____________
Español
Este comic es entretenido. Batman y Spiderman mantienen sus personalidades originales y sus interacciones se sienten interesantes. Ras y Kimping fueron una buena elección como villanos.

La historia no es tan interesante pero es suficiente.

[Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Visto che ero in tema di vecchie riletture di crossover intereditoriali, tanto valeva chiudere con questo albo. DeMatteis nel complesso scrive una storia carina dove la "rivalità" tra i due eroi viene ben descritta; i disegni di Nolan e Kesel sebbene oramai troppo anni '90 non sono poi invecchiati tanto male. Quindi una piena sufficienza ci sta. 2 stelle

[Daniel Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent crossover from the late 90's, certainly stronger than the previous Bat/Spider crossover. Leans on some tropes that are a product of the time (bats and spidey wearing human masks on top of their costume masks in a Mission Impossible kinda way - surely no one would notice that!)

[Andrew Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story that could have easily been better but was still done well. The main issue was that there were so many double- and triple-crosses that my head started to spin by the end of the comic.

[Daniel Gaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read, full of action, mystery, and switchback revelations! All in all, a most worthy read for Spider-Man and Batman fans alike :-)

[RV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman and Spiderman team up again to discuss dropping the dashes that once appeared in both their names.

It's fine. Talia is the worst, most boring, brainwashed character.

[Iv∠n · Rating 2 out of 5]

Booooring! Bats and Spidy's interaction is great but fleeting. There are more pages for the villains than for them.

[nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

me and my hg

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Around the time Batman & Spider-Man came out there was an usual pattern for cross-company one-shots: there would be two, with each company heading one up with "their" chosen creative team. This was the second of this pairing and Batman being listed first marks it as the "DC one."

These are interesting though - J.M. DeMatteis wrote both with different artists. Given such they are not as related as you might imagine, but there is a continuity to them and a couple of nice touches carried between.

Batman & Spider-Man features a pair of more calculating villains than the highly insane ones of Spider-Man and Batman. There is less parallel storytelling this time but DeMatteis uses it beautifully in a memorable page giving contrasting exposition. The story is deeper here, with one of Spider-Man's foes unexpectedly vulnerable and in need of help from The Demon's Head himself. I liked the twists and turns and found this exceptionally good for it's length and scope.

Graham Nolan's art shines. He has a more grounded style than Mark Bagley, which is just as appropriate for this story as Bagley's was for his. The details of these stories from themes to common elements to artist assignment were clearly carefully thought out.

This is the stronger of the two Spider-Man/Batman one-shots, and a great story in it's own right, but both are solid and they form a nice set together.

My review of Spider-Man and Batman can be found here.

[Neyebur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puede que el nombre de Batman y Spider-Man esté en el título de este cómic, pero el verdadero protagonista de este crossover es Wilson Fisk. Este cómic trata el conflicto de Kinping de pasar de ser un villano, un mafioso, a un super villano, un terrorista como Ra´s al Ghul, y todo por el amor a su querida Vanessa.
Una historia interesante aunque quizás demasiado breve, y que no deja mucho que hacer a los dos personajes que dan título a la obra.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman and spiderman team up in a fun book. Fisk's wife is dying and Talia says theres a cure. The author knows all characters very well and plays to their strengths. Fisk and Al Ghul are a delight together.

[Khani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again ra al ghoul trying to rule the world. Again talia and bruce's weird chemistry which i still dont understand. It was fun to see the caped crusader paired up with the jovial peter parker. I really liked it. Its a fun crossover!

[Mohamed Tarik El fouly · Rating 2 out of 5]

الظهور الثاني لباتمان وسبيدر مان ..
راس الغول حيسيطر علي العالم .. والاتنين حيساعدوا بعض علشان يوقفوه ..

وجهة نظري ان باتمان مكنش محتاج حد يساعده .. لكنها قصة لطيفة علي اي حال تتقرا ... لكن سريعة جداً وصغيرة...

[Tapas Mohanty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okayish. Not so interesting like the stand alone comics of both.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice pairing, DC-Marvel crossover heroes with opposite personalities.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.

[Nurul · Rating 3 out of 5]

More or less on the same level as its prequel. There are some truly priceless Spidey and Batsy moments.