Alternate realities collide in Batman/Superman #17 preview

Writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Ivan Reis's unique take on the Batman/Superman began last month in the there-are-no-continuity-rules Infinite Frontier. And their rule-breaking run continues this month in Batman/Superman #17.

For those who missed Batman/Superman #16, the issue was split into two distinct stories running on the top half and bottom half of each page, which could be read one after the other or concurrently.

The top half starred Superman in an alternate reality in which Bruce Wayne's mother didn't die in Crime Alley and he didn't become Batman. The bottom half starred Batman and Robin in a story seemingly set in the past in which Superman's rocket never landed on Earth. The creative conceit being both were in the style of old film serials.

According to DC, "the issue ended with the appearance of a brand-new villain, and a surprise that left readers' jaws on the cutting room floor!"

The surprise they're likely referring to is the appearance of an Alfred Pennyworth/Bane mash-up in Superman’s World of Tomorrow story. Moments later Lois Lane from the top Superman story falls through a hole in the realities, landing in the bottom-half Batman reality.

image from Batman/Superman #16 (Image credit: DC)

"In a world where Superman's rocket never reached Earth, the Dark Knight and his sidekick discover a startling rift between dimensions," reads DC's description of Batman/Superman #17, on sale April 27.

"On the other side: A world where Martha Wayne survived, and Bruce never grew up to be Batman! Not only that, but a strange alien has emerged from the rift who's faster than a locomotive and can leap tall buildings in a single bound... the Superman of Metropolis! When these worlds collide, the architects of this alternate history are revealed, and the only ones who can thwart their deadly experiments are the Batman and Superman of Earth-0! It's a dynamic dual-world adventure!"

Actually, tri-world, but who's counting?

Check out these first-look preview pages of worlds colliding in our gallery.

Image 1 of 6

This story's retro-Dark Knight reminds us of the biggest changes to Batman in his 80-year history.

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I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.