Batman and Superman have been friends for years. And each has taken on his fair share of deadly threats. But their latest opponent is someone nobody would have ever expected. What happens when the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight take on Lois Lane herself?
SPOILERS for Batman/Superman #17 by Gene Luen Yang, Ivan Reis, Danny Miki
The latest issue of Batman/Superman from DC sees the duo confronting a cosmic archivist and lunatic named AUTEUR.IO. With a power they’ve never encountered, the being is manipulating worlds like film strips. His two playthings are the World of the Knight and the World of Tomorrow: a world where Batman exists without Superman and one with a Superman and no Batman.
The Superman from the World of Tomorrow ventures to the World of the Knight by following Lois Lane through a hole in reality. After seeing Lois seemingly a hostage of this world’s Batman and Robin, he chases down the Dark Knight’s plane. The Worlds’ Finest briefly clash before they realize that they aren’t actually enemies and team up against their real foes.
The heroes regroup and compare notes in the Batcave, determining that they are from parallel worlds. They also realize that Lois’ duplicate from the World of the Knight is actually a villain called the Spider Lady—a crime boss and Batman’s latest enemy. As Lois, the Spider Lady faked her death when she was caught in an explosion at the Daily Planet years before.
The group travels to a Superman-free and crime-ridden Metropolis. There they find the casino that once was the Daily Planet. In the ruins of the once-great metropolitan newspaper, Batman and Superman, accompanied by Robin and their Lois Lane confront the mysterious femme fatale. As for what happens next, readers will have to pick up the issue to find out.
