Batman & Tarzan - Claws of the Cat-Woman Story by Ron Marz Art by Igor Kordey Colours by Chris Chuckry Lettering by Clem Robins Paperback published by Titan, £9.99, 20th of October 2000 Buy from Amazon

This is one of those 'What if…?' comics. What if Bruce Wayne and John Clayton, Lord Greystoke to his lessors, met up while attending the opening of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Wing of the Gotham Museum of Natural History? What if the wing had taken donations from a Wayne-financed mercenary called Finnegan Dent? What if, unknown to dear old Bruce, Dent had ravaged the hidden city of Memnon for the donated treasures and planned to do the same again? What if the Princess Khefretari of Memnon, secretly educated in the West, disguised as a Cat Woman, went to steal back the treasures and stop Dent, at the same time revealing to Batman and Tarzan what had actually happened?

What if the writer took all this great stuff, all of this potential, and didn't really do anything new with it?

This should have been a great book. Unfortunately, the story just leaves you wanting something different, not just more. The art is variable, to say the least. Tarzan looks great, knocking an effeminate, Adam West-style Batman right off the page. People, places, animals and objects change size often, sometimes on the same page. Opportunities are wasted (when Tarzan and Batman first meet and almost fight, the result looks like a tango where the two are about to kiss), or destroyed by truly dire colouring (meeting Lady Jane Greystoke, with her very odd bottom).

The whole book would have been massively improved by leaving it in black and white - Kordey's pencil work is occasionally stunning. Tarzan is sinewy and nails hard, Cat Woman is sometimes sensual and dangerous; as she should be. Dent is threatening and strong. It's just Batman who's unusually naff.

Nope, sorry, this book just didn't live up to it's enormous potential.

4 out of 10

Review by Iain Lowson