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This Elseworlds limited series was written and drawn by John Byrne and was a sequel to his “Superman & Batman: Generations I” limited series. Set in the same continuity where characters age according to the calendar, each issue contained two stories set 11 years apart, starting in 1942 and ending in 2019.
In this issue Diana’s daughter, Stephanie, now holds the title of Wonder Woman and appears in the first story only.
Synopsis
Superman breaks into a laboratory of the villain Lex Luthor, later revealed to be the Ultra-Humanite using Luthor’s body for his mind to live in, who then shows the Man of Steel a holographic playback of Joel Kent killing Kara to torture his adversary. Then, to add further insult to injury, as Superman tries to grab Luthor, he reveals his form to be nothing more than a mere hologram, telling Superman he’ll find him when he’s ready to let his adversary find him. After seeing the hologram of Luthor disappear, Superman pounds the floor of the laboratory in frustration, having failed to stop the murderer of his family.
In the Batcave, Bruce Wayne Jr. gets an unexpected visit from his adopted son Clark as well as from his wife Mei-La, the widow of Superman’s deceased son Joel Kent, with his wife trying to reach out to Bruce Jr., seeing her husband in torment. Bruce Jr. has his son go back upstairs and tells Mei-Lai there’s no need for Clark to know that he is neither her son’s father or that he is even Batman. Mei-Lai pleads for Bruce Jr. to promise that she will not have to bury him like she did her previous husband.
As Bruce Wayne Jr. goes out to capture the female criminal Hyena as Batman, he is chased after by both the police and by his fellow Justice League members Stephanie Trevor, who is now Wonder Woman, and Alan Scott who is still serving as Green Lantern since his previous prospect of being his successor, Hal Jordan, chose to become a politician rather than a superhero, who now see Bruce Jr. as becoming unhinged following the death of his first wife Kara Kent.
Bruce Jr. successfully eludes the police by using a turbo jump feature on his Batmobile, but ends up running into a brick wall built at super-speed by Carrie, who prefers to be called the Flash. Bruce Jr. takes down Carrie by projecting a false image of himself while knocking her out from behind. No sooner after Bruce Jr. busts up the Hyena and her henchmen does Alan capture him in a green energy cage, which doesn’t hold for long when Bruce Jr. covers Alan in a thick spray of wood chippings, nullifying his ring’s power and allowing Batman to slap him away. Then Stephanie shows up, carrying the fallen Carrie with her and demanding for Bruce Jr. to surrender. Bruce Jr. throws a smoke cloud to blind Stephanie with, then handcuffs her wrists together in order for her to fight him with ordinary human strength. As Stephanie holds her own against Bruce Jr., she tries to reason with him that she understands the pain he felt losing Kara due to the psychic link she shares with Kara. Still full of rage, Bruce Jr. turns his attention toward fighting a weakened Alan, until Carrie tells him to stop because he’s killing Alan, who’s already using his power ring to keep himself healthy and active at the cost of his mind and body.
Seeing what he’s becoming due to the rage he’s kept inside and now has unleashed on even his allies, Bruce Jr. rushes home and collapses into the arms of Mei-Lai, confessing that he doesn’t even know what he is anymore.