Batman/Captain America

Batman

by John Byrne, Patricia Rose Mulvihill, Bob Kane

/John Byrne As World War II rages on, Batman and Captain America, along with their teenaged sidekicks Robin and Bucky, must become allies to combat the villainy of their greatest foes, the Joker and the Red Skull. This fun, fast paced tale is co-published with Marvel Comics and is drawn in a style reminiscent of the 1940s Golden Age of

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

64 pages, Comic

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.

Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

PURE FANBOY FUN - Joker Red Skull team-up - John Byrne story and art. The meeting between Joker and Red Skull is the real highlight for me; they just can't work together as a team to put B/C down for the count! Would like to see more DC/M books like this: perhaps a place in the multiverse where heroes and villains from each encounter each other.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Elseworld cross-over is John Byrne's awesome and heartfelt tribute to 40s Golden Age of Comic Books.



A fabulous modern and hilarious retelling of 1940s wartime comics style, totally nailing the characters and the vibe, enriched by Byrne's gorgeous artworks at their best.



This never too much grown kid here loved reading old Bat-Man's campy comics, with their cast of Bat-Women, Girls, Dogs, and weird villains, and this volume just made me go back there with mind and heart.



And that ending, suggested to Byrne by Roger Stern, was just so good that I was going to cry.

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Elseworlds story that is famously known for having the scene where Joker freaks out over realizing he worked with Red Skull, an actual nazi, since he is, as Joker puts it, “I may be a criminal lunaric, but I’m an American criminal lunatic.” Pretty funny. This book overall was just okay though, but I’m glad some people seemed to genuinely love it.

John Byrne writes and draws Batman and Captain America teaming up in the late ‘40s to stop the Red Skull & Joker from working together.

Honestly while it is cool seeing Batman and Captain America team up, I feel like the Elseworlds versions of these crossovers are kinda lame. They just don’t feel the same. I prefer books like JLA/Avengers. The Elseworlds crossovers just don’t do anything for me personally, and John Byrne really isn’t one of my favorite creators or anything. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I had more love for Golden Age titles.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well done crossover between Marvel and DC. John Byrne does a fantastic job writing and drawing. This is what cross over teamup should be. Byrne captures the feel of both of the characters perfectly and their interaction is spot on. My highest recommendation.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this was fabulous.

I don't read a lot of comic books, which should be obvious from my collection, because I have about three.

I see that I have been remiss.

So, I follow someone on tumblr that talks about comic books past and present, and does a pretty good job of trying to get everyone else up to speed. I think she works in a comic book shop in Asheville, so definitely check that out. I digress. She mentioned this Batman & Captain America in reference to something else in the DC/Marvel Elsewhere series, but had a panel where Batman and Captain America discover that Robert Oppenheimer has been kidnapped, presumably in the course of his work for the Gotham Project. This comic takes place back in the '40s, because otherwise it REALLY wouldn't make any sense. Throw in some Joker and some Red Skull, and you have yourselves a caper. There's also some hilarious stuff about hidden identity, and I have no idea why this took place in Gotham City. So. Many. Questions.

I found this to be completely hilarious. I highly recommend it and give it two thumbs way way up. I found a great copy on ebay, which wasn't expensive and was in great shape. I would absolutely read this novel.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, modern recreation of a 1940s style wartime adventure of The Bat and the Cap. It has a few flaws - obvious plot progression, only a few pages, hero-battles-hero scene, miracle escapes -- but an enjoyable little adventure, warts and all.
The art, especially, adds to the fun. Action, characters, and scenery look straight out of a 1940 comic, but with clear, crisp lines and bright colors.

My Library September Reading Challenge.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all make mistakes,Captain.
That's why they put erasers on the end of the pencils.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was super cool to read!

I loved seeing Steve and Batman work together! Even better, I got Bucky working with Bruce and Robin working with Steve. I loved the comparisons between their different "wars". I loved Steve taking on the Joker and Bruce taking on the Red Skull.

I really liked that even the Joker drew the line at working with a nazi.

The art was cute, I loved seeing Bruce and Steve's interactions and the ending was nice. I kind of imagine how Steve's life would've been different if he had woken up in Gotham. Steve on the Justice League? Awesome!

[haven ⋄ f (hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly unexpectedly silly. what i DID expect was more bonding moments but eh it was a oneshot

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the Joker
Even years later I still remember the exact quote (iykyk)

[Jorge Lopez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Durante todo el cómic tuve la impresión de que el autor se lo ha pasado mejor escribiendo y dibujando esta historia que yo leyéndola.

[Paul Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Byrne imagines a golden age tale where the Dark Knight detective and America's greatest soldier work together to thwart the evil wartime schemes of the Joker and the Red Skull. It was a different age when Bruce Wayne smiled and the adventures suffused with a sense of fun and adventure. Some great moments, especially when they trade boy sidekicks temporarily.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done crossover. Byrne made a smart move by setting it in the WWII era. The art is strong; the story is too.
Re-read notes: I appreciated the epilogue more as I recognized the tie-in to the “Generations” series now.

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soldiers of different types of wars meet!


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 & Illustrator: John Byrne


BATMAN / CAPTAIN AMERICA

It’s kinda odd that this is the only crossover (at least in the first omnibus) without a title for the story, I mean, this is Batman / Captain America and just that, without any detailed title to distinguish this particular story, that in fact, it’s spanding to two different dates, 1945 and 1965.

This crossover story is really cool for different reasons, first, you have Captain America interacting with Batman BUT in the past, instead of having the current versions of them in “present day”, you have the classic Captain America meeting the Golden Age Batman, BUT also, this crossover is epic since the epilogue is set in 1965, you have a reimagined version of Batman and Robin by John Byrne that it was the very first presentation of the versions of Batman and Robin that eventually John Byrne would use in his awesome Elseworlds comic book Superman & Batman: Generations (that I read at its moment and which I love, and it’s one of my all-time favorite comic books).

In 1945, Captain America & Bucky, after a mission on Europe along with Sgt. Rock and the Easy Company, they are ordered to do a secret mission on American soil, hence Gotham City, where they join forces with Batman (Bruce Wayne) & Robin (Dick Grayson) to stop the insidious plot by the combined forces of Red Skull and The Joker trying to interrupt the Gotham Project, something top secret but key to win the war and it’s founded by Bruce Wayne, so Steve Rogers is assigned as bodyguard of him.

Something that Red Skull isn’t expecting is that The Joker can be a lunatic homicidal pychopath, BUT he’s an AMERICAN lunatic homicidal psychopath! Therefore, I can tell you that The Joker won’t like a bit finding out that his secret ally is a Nazi.

I won’t spoil you the fun of reading this truly great crossover, I’ll just want to comment that the epilogue is shown in 1965, taking a path of the expected Captain America’s fate, where you will meet the next generation of the Dynamic Duo, Batman (Dick Grayson) & Robin (Bruce Wayne, Jr.).

´Nuff Said!

[C. John Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the many team-ups of DC and Marvel characters that fans wanted to see was Batman and Captain America. With this book it finally happened. Of course, given that for various reasons this story couldn't happen in DC's current continuity this was published as an Elseworlds title. Elseworlds of course is the label DC was sticking on a lot of stories that were outside the mainstream DC Universe. After all, why let continuity get in the way of a great story.
Captain America has been summoned to the home front by army command. Meanwhile Batman has been tangling with The Joker. On the way to the US Captain America attempts to thwart an aircraft hijacking and gets some assistance from Batman. The target was Robert Oppenheimer who was on board the plane. Once they have landed they discover the person behind the hijacking is The Joker. What he is after is the Gotham Project (think Manhattan Project but in a different city). Captain America is assigned, as Steve Rogers, to guard Bruce Wayne and to find out if he is the person The Joker is working for. Of course eventually Rogers and Wayne figure out who each other really is. Also we learn that in fact the Joker is working for The Red Skull, though The Joker doesn't know that, and isn't too happy when he finds out who he has been working for. As he puts it "I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic". The story ends with a confrontation between the two villians on an atomic bomb that is being flown over the Atlantic by Captain America after the Red Skull tried to drop it on Washington D.C. Whether the villains survive this is unknown.
There is an epilogue which is set many years later. This reprises the scene from The Avengers #4 where that group finds and revives Captain America. However here it is Batman and Robin, however the Batman here is Dick Grayson and the Robin is Bruce Wayne Jr. As well we have an appearance by Bruce Wayne and Alfred.
All in all this was an excellent story and one which I really suggest that any fans of either hero should be on the lookout for. Happy reading.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman/Captain America is a comic book/graphic novel crossover featuring a team-up between Bruce Wayne as Batman and Steve Rogers as Captain America. It was written and illustrated by John Byrne and was published by DC Comics and apart of the Elseworld series.

The story is set in an alternative World War II with Captain America and Bucky meeting Batman and Robin in the course of a mission and working together as a result when the two heroes' principal arch-villains – the Red Skull and the Joker respectively work together to steal the American "Fat Boy" atomic bomb. When the Joker realizes that Red Skull is actually a Nazi, he double-crosses him and causes the atomic bomb to be detonated prematurely, apparently killing the two villains.

Batman/Captain America is written and constructed rather well. John Byrne's narrative is down rather well – merging the mythos behind Batman and Captain America mythos rather well. Having the story be an Elseworld story was ingenious as it could explore the duel history of Captain America and the long history of Batman. The epilogue is rather interesting preserving the frozen in ice Captain America with Dick Grayson serving as Batman.

Byrne does double duty as penciler for the graphic novel. Since he was the only penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, Bryne's penciling is done rather well, albeit a tad dated, which is rather apropos for a story set during the Second World War.

All in all, Batman/Captain America is a wonderful graphic novel that postulates the team-up between Batman and Captain America against their foes The Joker and the Red Skull during the Second World War.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Marvel and DC crossover story set in 1945.
Captain America and Bucky return to the US on a secret mission to protect a secret military project. When the project is threatened by the Joker they team up with Batman and Robin to foil the criminal clown but learn of a more sinister power behind the plot.

The two title characters are so perfect for a crossover that it amazes me that it took until the mid-90s for it to actually happen. Everything about them complements each other, even down to having youthful sidekicks.
Byrne takes this already brilliant set-up one stage further by making the whole book an homage to the 1940s comics which made both characters famous. He imports the storytelling style of those old stories, as well as some of the visual style, whilst still keeping enough of a modern feel that it doesn't come across as too campy. I loved how he mixes the art style of the 40s with some distinct Byrne-isms to make it feel wholly original.

For me the highlight here was seeing the villains (Joker and Red Skull, of course) turn on each other. Where the Joker is far from the Skull's idea of Aryan perfection, the Joker states that he may be crazy but even he wouldn't knowing work for the Nazis. Sure it's a bit hamfisted, but I like that the villains are shown to have their own motivations, not just plot requirements.

This is definitely one of the better Marvel/DC crossovers.

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[Philmore Olazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a light-hearted, old-school crossover set during World War II, leaning with a campy vibe.

It uses a version of Batman and Robin that feels ripped right out of the Adam West and Burt Ward era and pairs them with the golden-age versions of Captain America and Bucky.

Steve Rogers is assigned to protect Bruce Wayne because U.S. intelligence thinks Bruce might be secretly helping the Joker, who’s behaving… off. It’s a classic misunderstanding setup, and the story handles it better than most crossovers: Batman and Cap clash, compare notes, and realize pretty quickly how damn similar they are under all the costume differences.

The big plot twist centers on the Joker teaming up with a shadowy partner to grab a devastating super-weapon. And that reveal? Let’s say that I’d remind you of the mob boss at the end of the Rocketeer movie.

The characterizations are so much fun here; the Batman used here reminded me of the Brave and the Bold cartoon for how he speaks and acts. And Cap does bounce off him really nicely; they feel like they’ve always been part of the same continuity, and does leaves me with a hunger for more.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best DC/Marvel crossovers ever. John Byrne was the perfect choice for this story. Well, the perfect choice for a World War II era story available since Bill Finger and Jack Kirby were dead at the time it was written and Joe Simon had long since retired.

Yeah, it falls into the 'every Batman crossover= in the DC universe or with another property must feature The Joker' cliche, but Byrne does such a BRILLANT twist on it that it doesn't bother me one bit.

This loads of fun,.

[Tom French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happened to pull this off the bookshelf yesterday and gave it a read. It’s been a few years. I do love Byrne. His plotting and pacing are excellent and his page layouts are dynamic. Can’t go wrong with a Byrne book.

That said, it really does feel like a forty-page set up for Joker’s punchline about Nazis. Worth it for me, but I guess not everybody.

And the epilogue that connects it to Byrne’s GENERATIONS saga is clever and fun. You can almost hear him chuckling as he drew it.

All in all, a lovely crossover with some fun art. Worth it.

[MindProbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay in a selfconciously retro sort of way - Byrne is a solid visual storyteller if nothing else, and there's a certain charm in such committed, straight-faced pastiche of the Batman and Robin and Cap and Bucky of 1945 - but would've been greatly improved had he confined himself to plotting and pencilling and passed along scripting duties to a writer with a better facility for prose and dialogue; some of the clunkiness of Byrne's style may be excused by the throwback nature of the enterprise, but you can be old-fashioned without being creaky

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed John Byrne's Golden Age cross-over here, although I'm biased because I've been a longtime fan of Byrne and his 'Generations' take on the DC Universe from a few years ago, with which this story blends seamlessly. This is Byrne having fun with characters that he clearly loves writing, and it shows. Extra smiles for the Sgt. Rock cameo at the beginning.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haciendo de la sencillez una virtud, John Byrne aprovecha la nostalgia de una época para reunir a ambos justicieros en una premisa aventurera y prescindiendo de manidas rivalidades. Y aunque el aficionado puede echar en falta sus versiones contemporáneas - más oscuras y conflictivas -, la historia cumple con el canon clásico y ofrece además un remate a la altura.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather pleasant 1945-style artwork in collaboration with decent writing from Byrne make this an entertaining one-off Elseworlds meeting between Batman & Captain America, between Robin & Bucky, and between Joker & Red Skull. Byrne's use of language, in conjunction with relatively few 'biff! pow!' panels and a hint of factual history, raise this Elseworlds story above many of the others. 4/5

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one! It is an homage to the Golden Age of Comics, and the spirit of those stories. The artwork and story by John Byrne evoke those simpler stories and the pure American war sentiments of those times. What results is a fun and quaint superhero story involving two of the most classic superheroes.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a love letter to the Golden Age incarnations of these characters. John Byrne as writer and artist is the perfect choice for a project such as this. His respect and appreciation for the era shines through on every page.

[Bobby Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing read.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun read with some unexpected twists
Art - 5
Story - 5

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute story combining the innocence of early 40's comics with cold-blooded murder.