A new 6-part story arch commences in SUPERMAN/BATMAN #36 titled “TORMENT.” This tale is authored by Alan Burnett (BATMAN BEYOND, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES) with artwork provided by Dustin Nguyen with pencils and Derek Fridolfs’ inks. Issue #37 and Part 1 of this story is essentially a set-up tale for the remaining 5 installments of this story arch.

Our story begins in Gotham with Killer Croc (a villain I don’t particularly like, but I digress) stealing a rock/crystal from “Lex-Com” -- one of Lex’s buidings in the aforementioned city. What’s he stealing? A big rock. Who’s he stealing it for? Some big-ass, monster-looking individual who goes by the name of “Schrocken.” What’s this character up to? Don’t know yet -- that’s why I said that this issue was simply setting up the rest of the story.

Ultimately, we learn that Lex was building something with Kryptonian technology (very SMALLVILLE-ish in my opinion) and Killer Croc was nothing more than a pawn in this grand scheme. So what is the “grand scheme?” Well, I’m not sure, but it may have something to do with Metropolis erupting into a pseudo-Krypton (very SUPERMAN RETURNS-ish in my opinion) at the end of this issue.

I found this issue and Part 1 of “TORMENT” pretty good -- although I had to go back and reread it a few times to take in everything that’s going on in it. There are several storylines introduced in this ish and they are all rather vague in regards to where they are going. As I said, this is a set-up story, so that’s certainly writer Burnett’s intent here.

As far as the artwork, I liked it very much myself. Nguyen’s pencils give off a sort of “animated” vibe, but not in a cartoonish way -- get my drift? His Batman didn’t bother me, but no “wow factor” with his depiction of The Dark Knight either. This may sound strange, but I particularly liked his Clark Kent. Kent had a youthful, Brandon Routh-like quality that I found appealing for some reason.

I personally am torn when it comes to the SUPERMAN/BATMAN title. I’m a Batman fan and one who prefers the solo and more realistic stories involving the character. Partnering up with Superman changes that dynamic, obviously. If you are like me in this regard, you probably feel conflicted just like yours truly. On the other hand, if you like the entire DC Universe and enjoy Batman participating in it and mixing it up with other DC characters, you probably enjoy SUPERMAN/BATMAN quite a bit.

With all that said, I found #37 and Part 1 of “TORMENT” enjoyable enough to continue to keep it on my pull list.