I'm sad Kyle and Wally didn't get to hang with him like this, but they might'a thrown Batman in the volcano to keep him like that.

You have probably seen some panels from this one and not realized it, too: from 2008, Superman/Batman #46, "K, chapter 3: Varietals" Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson, pencils by Shane Davis, inks by Matt "Batt" Banning.

Superman and Batman are midway through a quest to rid the earth of all forms of Kryptonite; with Batman working tirelessly, methodically, and tactically...and surprisingly, with Superman following suit. In his action-figure ready anti-K armor, Supes rips the heart out of Metallo; replacing it with a non-Kryptonite power source, that would keep him alive but not much else. Although he wants to take a break and see Lois, Superman keeps pushing; and next, Batman's satellite scan finds another small amount, at the Oblivion Bar, which I believe was mostly from Shadowpact: think dive bar for DC's magic guys and gals. (And the Creeper, who makes a cameo!) After Detective Chimp gets them in the door, the Phantom Stranger helps them find what they were looking for: a mysterious silver-ish charm, which Superman is compelled to touch, knocking him out.

Taking him up to the Watchtower, Batman gets a bit of a lecture from Zatanna: despite, oh, I dunno, everything, Batman seems stubbornly resistant to acknowledging "magic" as a thing. Then, Superman wakes up...and sees the Leaguers in attendance as cartoony versions, and has the munchies, and no attention span. Hmm. That seems familiar somehow; I can't put my finger on it. Anyway, Batman had already had John Stewart thrown the silver-K into the sun, but Zatanna explains they need the other half of the amulet to break the spell, and it was on Dinosaur Island...because why wouldn't it be? Zat says it's because the island, like the Oblivion Bar, was outside of normal space/time: yeah, that only narrows it down to like 20 other places in that hemisphere...Batman continues to be kind of a jerk the whole trip, saying magic still had rules, and could be broken down and understood; while Zatanna tells a tyrannosaurus to "tis!" (Editor's note: Read Zatanna's magic spells backwards!)

The locals explain, the amulet was inside a volcano, because they felt it was too dangerous for anyone to have. And, the old gods wouldn't allow magic in there; so Batman would have to go himself, with his talisman drawn on his chest. While Superman makes a run to the sun, to see if he could still get a hit off'a the first half of the amulet; the second half tempts Batman, with his parents alive, and Zatanna...wow, Superman is fu--oh, Batman resists. Then, when Zat asks him what he saw, he plays it off as huffing too much volcanic gases. She knows that's not it, but Batman doubles-down; I think because he doesn't want to let her get too close. (In the sense of, he feels like letting anyone get close to him would either undermine his effectiveness or open him up for future pain; not because of any Identity Crisis/lingering mindwipe resentment.) Superman recovers, and acknowledges that the amulet had done something for him: given him the break he didn't even know he needed. But, doesn't everyone need a break? Except Batman, of course...Batman ends the issue, alone, looking out the window at earth, presumably with a scowl that can be heard in space.

Superman hangs out and plays video games for a bit, with Supergirl, Red Arrow, and Red Tornado: Supergirl seems mildly afraid of him, while he sees Red Tornado as a wind-up toy robot, which is kind of condescending? I suppose we're just lucky this was Roy in his Red Arrow days and not Speedy...I wish Kyle and Wally had been there instead, although I could see them exacerbating the situation. If it had been Blue Beetle and Booster Gold...no, Batman would never have left Superman with them, never mind.

I feel like this one's reminding me to do something this weekend...oh, yeah, go see the new Superman movie, duh. Yes. That.