Although the narrative is relatively simplistic – two factions caught in a game brought about by two gambling entities from opposing universes – Kurt Busiek and George Perez‘s JLA/Avengers four-issue miniseries delivers a crossover between the DC and Marvel universe in a way the actual DC versus Marvel failed to deliver.
While the latter was a fanboy slugfest, the former captures the personalities and uniqueness of either universes and within the short timeframe they are allowed to breathe captures this succinctly and deliciously within carefully designed panels. The standout is absolutely that – the design, the symmetricity of every other page. While it is littered with Perez’s penchant of stuffing as many characters as he can in a single panel without missing a detail, it manages to visually – just as in writing – capture the contrasting and common factors between the two universes. If for anything, it should be read just as an appreciation of that. Writing wise, it falters only in a drawn-out battle scene which would have likely been compressed in a few panels had it been in the hands of other modern artists, but it is otherwise something to experience and relish.
