Batman vs. Superman contains excerpts from six different comics stories that features Superman and Batman going toe-to-toe. These range from comics from the 1980s through 2011. Note: the book is not a tie-in to the recent film Batman v. Superman, and doesn't serve as any sort of inspiration for the movie either, as far as I can tell. My favorite, hands down, was "Who Would Win" from Superman/Batman #78 (2011). Two kids argue about who would win in a fight, the way so many kids have throughout the decades, I'm sure. At the end, we see that Batman and Superman have been observing the conversation and Batman asserts that he would totally win. It's adorable and reminds me of an excellent episode of Batman: The Animated Series called "Legends of the Dark Knight" in which a group of kids all tell their version of what they heard Batman is really like.

The longest and final excerpt is from issue four of The Dark Knight, called "The Dark Knight Falls." Okay, I know that The Dark Knight, published in 1986, is considered a classic of the Batman legacy and as such it's no surprise it's included in this anthology. However, it takes place in an alternate universe future and I found it hard to follow, jumping at #4 as we do in this book. It's such a dense story in the first place, that it really requires all available background information (ie. issues 1-3) in order to truly understand what's going on here and why. The other stories in this anthology did not have that problem: some were clearly part of a larger story, but not to the extent that reading an excerpt is confusing. I had to re-read several sections from "The Dark Knight Falls" just to keep up.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this anthology. It's a great introduction to the characters and a good spotlight on how they differ and use those differences to work together, ultimately. ( )

It's par for the course at this point for publishers to release tie-in novels or comics prior to the release of associated movies. Batman vs. Superman: The Greatest Battles is no different, but it does feel like a tacky attempt to cash in on the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Rather than contain any complete stories in which Batman and Superman fight, it reprints specific issues out of contest. The publishers chose Batman #612 (from 2003), Man of Steel #3 (from 1986), Superman/Batman #78 (from 2011), Justice League #2 (from 2011), Batman #35-36 (from 2014), and Batman: The Dark Knight #4 (from 1986).
Five of the seven issues come immediately prior to or from the New 52 reboot and are easily available in trade editions that feature complete stories. Three stories suffer from being removed from their main storylines: Batman #612 is part of the Hush storyline and lacks meaning without the rest of the story; the conflict in Justice League #2 comes out of nowhere and seemingly goes nowhere without its full story; and the fight in Batman: The Dark Knight was set up over the course of the series and feels empty without that context. Based on the promotional materials for the upcoming Batman v. Superman movie, the Dark Knight issue had the most influence on the movie, but a re-released edition of Batman: The Dark Knight with some concept art for the new film would be more appropriate.
The most enjoyable stories in this collection are Man of Steel #3, which is part of the post-Crisis reboot and features that era's Superman meeting Batman for the first time, and Superman/Batman #78, which features two kids imagining who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman. Unlike Batman #35-36, which has no resolution, the Man of Steel comic comes from a time when comics weren't written with the collected editions in mind and had more self-contained stories. It would have been nice to see more comics from the Silver and Bronze Ages here, as they could have presented these self-contained, coherent stories and shown more of a legacy in these two heroes competing against each other. In the end, I recommend readers pass on this edition and pick up trade editions of the stories that contain these issues. ( )