Batman and Superman finally met their gay doubles, Apollo and Midnighter

Phillip Kennedy Johnson of Action Comics has made it possible for Batman and Superman, after almost 10 years, to finally share a room with Midnighter, Apollo and Superman.

Johnson has been prepping all year for the Man of Steel to take a strike team of powerful but low profile superheroes to the planet Warworld, in order to rescue a secret group of Kryptonians who survived the planet’s destruction. This week’s Batman/Superman Authority Special picks up where Grant Morrison and Mikel Janín left off in Superman & the Authority, with a special Batman-themed side quest for Superman’s team of misfits.

Apollo and Midnighter, originally Image Comics characters, had a very different origin. However, their appearances were clearly reminiscent of Batman and Superman. The two of them were together.

Without context, it’s a titter-worthy amusement. But within the comics in which they appeared — and they were not one-offs! — Apollo and Midnighter were not a “breaking up and getting back together” sort of soap opera relationship, but a “If anyone messes with my husband I can and will literally rip their spine out of their body with my bare hands, also, we’ve adopted a baby” sort of relationship.

Apollo and Midnighter, along with everyone else in their Wildstorm setting, were incorporated into DC Comics canon in 2011, and while they’ve had sporadic (mostly great) appearances since then, this year is the first time they’ve actually, finally, met the characters they were meant to lightly lampoon.

Is there anything else happening inside our favourite comics’ pages? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. It may not provide enough context. However, there will be many great comics. You can also read the previous edition if you haven’t seen it yet.

“You don’t think he’s a little overrated?” Midnighter asks Apollo. “I bet nobody breaks the las of time and space to fight an army of evil Midnighters,” Apollo replies. “Shut up, you don’t know that,” says Midnighter in Batman/Superman Authority Special (2021).

Midnighter’s infamous claim to fame is that he has a supercomputer in his brain that allows him to figure out the winning moves in any combat. The classic Midnighter move is to open a fight scene by smugly telling his opponent “I already know how this ends,” which is just insufferable enough to make you love him. So, of course, he spends the mission — to a world where an evil Batman took over the League of Shadows and rules with an iron fist — not so subtly trying to figure out how to establish that he could totally, totally beat Batman in a fight.

“Bruce, I’d like to come with you,” says a peppy Prince Clark, sword at his side, red half-cape fluttering as he runs up to Prince Bruce in his dark armor. “No,” says Bruce, in Dark Knights of Steel #1 (2021).

Talking of alternate universes doubles Dark Knights of Steel #1 (the DC universe but it’s a D&D-style fantasy setting) came out of the gate like the best kind of fan fiction AU: with tons of juicy potential for emotional DramaThis is a. As if Superman and Batman were raised as brothers princely. Yasmine Putri’s character designs — all pouting faces and unlaced collars — don’t hurt either.

“My name is Easton Newburn,” says a middle-aged man as a young black woman points a gun at him in a dilapidated apartment, “I’m on retainer to all the major crime families in the city [...] Nobody touches me. That’s the rule. I’m a U.N. inspector wandering through a war zone,” in Newburn #1 (2021).

It’s not surprise at this point that anything Chip Zdarsky starts will start strong. Newburn’s first issue is a detective tale as twisty as any great TV procedural, with a final button pointing to the series’ real hook: The aging private detective who works only for the mafia takes on an apprentice.

Azrael kneels on blue-gray flagstones, his red costume with its frond-like cape spread behind him, with his own black shadow cast over it. His flaming yellow sword pops off the background as he raises it to his face in Arkham City: The Order of the World #2 (2021).

In, “Man, I love this art” news, man, I still love the work artist Dani and colorist Dave Stewart are putting into Arkham City, Order of the WorldThis is a. Even if the story wasn’t interesting (and it is) I might still pick this up anyway.

Batgirl (Stephanie Brown) and Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) leap away from a bright yellow and red explosion, reflecting blue and purple off their purple and black and yellow costumes in Batman #116 (2021).

Soon, the team will be producing a Batgirls ongoing series took the backup story on this week’s Batman and if each issue has one panel artist Jorge Corona and colorist Sara Stern going as hard as they do in this one, I’m going to love this series even more than I anticipate. And I’m anticipating loving it a lot.

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