After many, many years, DC and Marvel finally got together again. The first crossover was Batman/Punisher. By the time they did, DC had already been experimenting–successfully–for several years, pairing Batman with Judge Dredd, Predator, and Grendel–helping to pump up the indie comics market. So the pump was primed for a big 2 reunion. And, it being the ’90s, rather than pair Superman and Spider-Man or include Hulk, Marvel went dark and violent by bringing Punisher to the party.
And they picked the perfect writer, Denny O’Neil, who had served in important positions with both companies.
So, how was it?
It was good.
Joker and Jigsaw team up to try to take over Gotham’s underworld.
One problem though…It’s not Batman. It’s Azrael, who took Batman’s mantle for a time in the early ’90s.
Drat. Azrael uses weapons and doesn’t share the moral divide with Punisher vis a vis killing.
So, not as good as it could have been. But the next one will be with the real Batman…
*Note: I’m not going to cover all the crossovers of the ’90s (they’re not canon, so I don’t have to). I’ll just cover a few that tickled my fancy.