From DC COMICS: "Writer Mark Verheiden teams with artist extraordinaire Pat Lee (Transformers, BATMAN: JOURNEY INTO KNIGHT covers) for a new arc that delivers some heavy metal! Doc Magnus's new Metal Men — last seen in the pages of 52 — are unleashed on the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight…but first up is the horror that Metallo has become!"

Superman’s OK, but I’m a “Batman Guy” all the way.

Even when it came to comic books, I really have only read the Batman titles on a regular basis. And since I got back into comics 2 years or so ago, it’s been nothing but Batman. However, I’ve decided to broaden my comic book reading horizons -- sort of.

I’ve recently added SUPERMAN/BATMAN to my pull list over at my local comic book shop (Bedrock City Comics in Houston, Texas -- you can thank me later for the free plug boys!) and I’m here today to review issue #34, titled “We, Robots.” And who are these “robots?” Why the Metal Men, of course!

S/B #34 (written by Mark Verheiden) is essentially a Batman story guest-starring Superman -- which is fine by me. The story begins with a break in taking place at Waynetech Research Center in Gotham. The perpetrator is none other than the Superman villain Metallo. Since this crime is taking place at Waynetech, guess who just happens to be present? You are correct sir, it’s The Dark Knight. The appearance of Metallo naturally provides an opportunity to bring The Man of Steel into the story.

Running concurrently with aforementioned storyline, is the whole Metal Men deal -- which comes off as sort of a “origin story,” if you will. I don’t know if the Metal Men have been a part of DC’s continuity over the last several years, but I’m telling you, it certainly seems as if this is the first time that both Batman and Superman have come across Dr. Magnus and his creations.

Obviously, Part 1 of “We, Robots” is simply a set up for this story arch which will stretch through the next 2 issues of SUPERMAN/BATMAN. From what I’ve been told, Brainiac enters the picture and becomes the main villain of our story.

The art team of Pat Lee (pencils), Craig Yeung (inks), and Danny Luvisi (colors) do a fine job in this issue. I had no problem with Lee’s depiction of Batman and the Metal Men looked particular good. With that said, there was something “off” with Superman. There seemed to be a little lack of consistency from page to page when it came to The Man of Steel. I did think that the art team’s cover was particularly kick-ass -- although The Batman is sporting some very 70ish, Kung Fu movie-like stance there!

All in all, issue #34 of SUPERMAN/BATMAN was pretty good. Good enough to gain my interest as a “Batman Only” guy and keep this title on my pull list -- at least for now.