When I reviewed Guardian I wondered how long would it be before Lois and Clark would be reunited after being temporarily forced apart by Lex.

I also wrote in another blog how I wanted more sexy times between my favourite Smallville couple. Well I got what I wished for in the opening few panels of Detective.

We see that Clark and Lois have found a way to be together and that is a clandestine meeting at the Fortress of Solitude thanks to Oliver maneuvering his satellite temporarily in front of Lex’s so that Clark can be quickly be transported to the Fortress by Jor-el.

I thought it was hilarious how Lois was a bit worried that dear old ice Dad was spying on the couple as they reunited. Meaning she was worried that Jor-el was being a peeping Tom while they were making love.

Clark was also at the Fortress using its resources to not only using it to shield Clark from Lex’s tracking but also to figure out how to remove the isotope tracking that Lex has placed so he and Lois can be together again. Meanwhile, Lois is coming up with dead ends in trying to get something on Lex.

I find it fascinating that Clark is using the Fortress to figure out how he and Lois can be together again yet back in season 8 he could have used the Fortress to help Lana get rid of the Kryptonite radiation but he doesn’t. He has used the Fortress in the past to help Chloe, bring Lana back from the dead and even asked Jor-el to bring his Earth dad back from dead so I am surprised that he doesn’t suggest to Lana that they use the Fortress to see if it can solve their dilemma. Maybe it doesn’t occur to Clark to use its resources or maybe because she is walking kryptonite that she can’t go into the Fortress or it might get damaged because she has a lot of kryptonite in her that even though minor amounts of kryptonite were in the Fortress it wasn’t affected. I like to think that Clark was going to (maybe not at the moment in the loft in Requiem) but he came to realize that when he went about living his life again after Lana left so quickly that he could live without her and was not miserable and that was all because of Lois. She never lets him get down on himself. So perhaps using the Fortress to free Lana of the kryptonite slipped from his mind just as Lana did after Clark put away her photo in season 9’s Rabid.

So I think after falling in love with Lois and knowing that life without her just sucks for Clark that being apart from her was not going to work hence he found a way for them to be together even if it was for one night.

I loved how Lois had her bunny slippers on and she got special winter underwear for her rendezvous with Clark.

I also loved how Lois managed to get Clark to come back to bed where they obviously were going to make love again.

I wished we saw the Fortress’ bedroom on the TV show and seen more Lois and Clark love scenes but so glad to have it in comic book form.

Issue 13 also introduced Batman and Nightwing to the Smallville canvas and what brings Batman to Metropolis is how the criminal element of Gotham seems to be under the control of one Joe Chill.

The artist this time for Detective was Chris Cross and there is a difference in how he draws the characters from Pere Perez. I think Cross captures Erica Durance and Tom Welling’s looks as Lois and Clark better here than in Guardian.

Next Issue 14 shows Otis walking into Lex’s office and concerned for the well-being of his boss. It seems Lex has been spending all his time watching where Superman goes about. Lex counters that since he’s been tracking Superman, he has kept himself very busy in terms making rescues.

Meanwhile back at the Daily Planet it seems that Lois’s former intern, Jeff, has a little crush on our favourite reporter. He is sitting at Clark’s desk and staring at a picture that Clark has of Lois & Clark (love that by the way). This picture is a really cute couple shot of Clark (in glasses and looking a lot like Christopher Reeve) and Lois with her head on his shoulder. Anyways, it seems that Jeff wonders about what secrets Clark is holding and wonders if he loves Lois and much as she loves him to which Lois replies that Clark probably loves her more thus startling Jeff. It appears that Superman has whooshed/dropped off Lois at work after their rendez-vous in the previous issue.

Lois wonders why the Daily Planet is so quiet and Jeff says it is because everyone is out covering all of Superman’s activities. We later see Superman rescue a group of school children being held hostage on a school bus by a mad man wearing LexCorp technology suit that allows him to teleport. The policeman involved in this case is one Dan Turpin who was last seen in season 8’s Bulletproof.

Issue 15 sees Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon in Metropolis under the guise of meeting Lex Luthor to propose some sort of business deal. But the real reason is for Batman to question Bruno Manheim (last seen in season 8’s awesome episode Stiletto) about what he knows about Joe Chill, the man who killed Bruce’s parents. Batman’s break-in to Stryker’s leads to the beginnings of a Batman/Superman battle.

Before that though, Bruce catches the press scrum that Superman holds after capturing the criminals from Issue 14. Barbara seems to have developed a crush on Superman but Bruce tells her that he is taken. He knows this because in a sea of 40 women (who we can assume are easy on the eyes), Superman’s eyes were never once diverted by them. This means to Bruce that Superman is spoken for. To me this is so incredibly sweet on Clark’s part. This means that he is 100% devoted to Lois. He has eyes for no other than her. And this was the case when he and Lois started going out in season 9. Zatanna tried to lure him away with a spell but Clark’s love for Lois broke it. Even the Faora clone in season 9 told her sister, Vala, that her crush on Clark will remain unrequited because he is in love with a human (Lois). When Faora visited Clark at the Daily Planet in season 9’s Conspiracy, Clark and Lois were having a romantic discussion and Clark’s eyes never wavered from Lois even when Faora was present. It was only Lois breaking the moment that Clark could focus his attention on Faora. So, ever since then no other has captured his attention even if Lucy tried to in season 10’s Ambush.

With Lana, Clark was never that way. Clark, who has said in the past that he and Lana were meant to be or that he can image only loving Lana yet he had his eyes diverted by: Chloe, Kyla, Alicia, the fake Kara, Simone and to some extent Raya. But with Lois, he never diverted once. So thank you Bruce Wayne for pointing that out.

Back to Issue 15, Lex’s lunch is cut short by Superman who wanted to talk about the LexCorp suit that he caught the criminals from Issue 14. Of course, Lex was being evasive. Back at the Stryker’s, Superman believes that Toyman is responsible for tweaking the suit but he was moved to hyper-solitary confinement after what happened in season 10’s Prophecy.

And the way the Chris Cross has drawn Bruce Wayne, I was trying to figure out who could have played him on the show but am drawing up blanks. Same with Barbara Gordon. I also wanted to commend cross for the way he has captured Metropolis has it was done on the show. Meaning, he’s captured Vancouver very well.

Issue 16 again featured no Lois but it is the first appearance in Detective of Chloe and Oliver. Chloe is in contact with Emil to find out what they can about Earth-2 Chloe’s death and the ship she came in. Oliver comes in and asks Chloe to figure out these gibberish emails he has been getting but they both get distracted from what happened in issue 15 which is the break-out of Bruno Manheim and the epic battle betten Batman and Superman.

Batman has figured out how to equally fight Superman with a combination of red sun in his bat symbol and the occasional kryptonite bat nunchucks. Batman figured all this out based on the Zod season 9 arc and the Kawatche Caves. This fight between the two superheroes is apparently as a distraction that I am not sure about but my best guess is so Nightwing can get to Manheim so that Batman can question him on Joe Chill. But her mission is stopped by Green Arrow who in turn have their own epic battle.

Superman also figures out that Batman is Bruce Wayne. Eventually, they all stop fighting and Manheim pleads with Superman to help him and the issue ends with Superman flying away with Manheim for questioning.

In Issue 17, we see Superman interrogate Manheim up in the skies and he says something to him that kinda of concerned me. He told Manheim that his better half would rip into him for listening to Manheim’s heartbeat to see if he was lying. He normally tries not and do that has he was raised to believe in the good in people and if Lois knew he was doing that then he would be in trouble. What concerns me is he mentioned to Manheim that he had a better half meaning that there is someone special in his life and if Manheim were to piece things together like how Lois gets all the Superman interviews, he might put two and two together and use it against Superman.

But I do love that Superman called Lois his better half because Lois called Clark her better half in season 10’s Dominion.

I did love Lois and Clark’s Daily Planet/far away in the sky conversation. They both are working together to find out more about where Joe Chill is based on Manheim’s info to help Batman and why an Oswald Loomis keeps on trying to visit Toyman. I loved how when Clark said that he misses Lois and doesn’t know when they can be together again at the Fortress, Lois stops him from brooding and says to keep his head in the game. This is why I love Lois. She is so perfect for him. She doesn’t let him wallow in self-pity. They are perfect for each other.

And another reason is that Clark and Lois are finding ways to be together while not physically being together in issue 17 hence the rooftop/far away up in the sky Bluetooth conversation. Unlike Lana, in season 8’s Requiem she gave up on her and Clark even though Clark still wants them to be together but Lana said it would hurt too much to see him everyday and not being able to touch him. Well, lady, Lois has it much worse than you, she can’t even be seen with him at all. If Lana had stuck around she could at least be able to see him but not Lois without exposing his Clark Kent side.

Chloe and Oliver had a cute moment in Watchtower as Chloe tends to Oliver’s wounds from his battle with Nightwing while she and Batman are in the Bat Hovercraft listening in on Superman’s conversation with Manheim.

Afterwards, Superman seems to know where Batman’s hideout is and it seems like the next issue will feature their first face to face conversation.

Issue 18 we see that Superman has called Batman via a makeshift Bat signal. They decide to work together to find Joe Chill, which they do in a federal hideout. However, Joe Chill doesn’t remember killing Batman’s parents thus angering Batman even more. Their conversation is interrupted by Oswald Loomis aka the Prankster and Mr. Freeze.

Earlier, we see Lex obsessed with footage of the Supes/Bats fight at Stryker Island prison when Oliver storms in demanding what Lex is up to sending him late night encrypted emails. Lex feigns innocence but we later discover that Lex has been sending those emails late at night while sleepwalking but it looks like it is Tess that has possessed Lex’s body to do this but we don’t know why. I am hoping it is Tess sending Oliver something that will help cure Clark of his isotope radiation so he can be physically reunited with Lois.

Issue 19, we see Lois questioning Toyman who brings up the incidents of season 10’s Prophecy and also discuss more about Oswald Loomis and reveals to Lois how Toyman likes to use kryptonite in his “toys” so it stands to hold that Loomis is the same.

We see the continued battle of Superman/Batman versus Loomis/Mr. Freeze. Batman saves Joe Chill from riccochet bullets that came from Superman and continues to battle Mr. Freeze while Superman takes on Loomis who switches to kryptonite bullets and as those bullets are coming towards Superman, he whispers Lois’ name. Of course, I would love this because Clark thinking that he will die from those bullets, he wants the last thing to come from his mouth and thoughts is the love of his life.

Issue 20, we see the cops surrounding the safe house where Joe Chill was and Lois trying desperately to get pass to report what is going. This goes up a notch when she hears that Superman has been wounded. Meanwhile, we learn that Joe Chill was killed in the gun fight between Superman and Loomis (who got away with Mr.Freeze).

As all of this going, Chloe hacks into Lex’s Superman tracking satellite to find Superman and once he does, Ollie is off to the rescue.

Speaking of Lex, Otis informs him of his nocturnal activities and Lex deduces that it is Tess that is responsible for it and goes to have a tete-a-tete with his dead sister.

Batman finds Superman on the ground bleeding profusely in his gut -the lead shielding in his “S” has stopped the bullets from hitting anything vital. Batman wants to take the kryptonite bullets out before the cops descend because he tells Nightwing he doesn’t want to reveal Superman’s weakness. And while Nightwing can’t get the Bat copter to rescue them, Batman asks here to send in the Batmobile.

Meanwhile, Lois, desperate to get to Clark, grabs a First Aid kit and a cop motorcycle then chases after the Batmobile with the rest of the Metropolis PD on their tail.

The chase continues in Issue 21 with everyone still in hot pursuit of the Batmobile and this includes Oliver and Lois, who asks Chloe what does Batman want with her fiance. Batman asks Superman what he can do to save him and Superman asks him to call him Clark.

Batman then asks who should he call for help. It is revealed that person is Lois who is connected via Nightwing and Lois tells Batman to remove the kryptonite bullets and expose him to sunlight. While Green Arrow distracts the Metropolis PD and Nightwing remotely controlling the Batmobile, Lois sees Batman saving her fiance and uses his Bat symbol on his chest to blast artificial sunlight on Clark. And thanks to Ollie’s distraction, Batman and Lois are able to escape and head to Batman’s Metropolis hideout but unfortunately, Loomis placed trackers in his kryptonite bullets and is able to see where they are.

A lot of stuff goes down in Issue 22. We see Lex and Tess have a conversation and it looks like we have confirmed that Tess has taken over Lex’s body to send Oliver some cryptic messages that we still don’t know of what nature. Lex’s solution to stop his sister from possessing him is to look his bedroom door from the outside so he can’t sleep walk to a computer.

Meanwhile on Batman’s boat, Clark is recovering from being shot with kryptonite bullets in the last few issues. Lois is by his side when he wakes up and Clark is happy that Batman managed to contact her so she would be with him. I love how he wanted Lois by his side in case something should happen to him. However, Lois is none to please that he exposed their lives to Batman but forgives him because he was just shot. Clark also stops Lois from writing a story that let’s people know that Superman is alive and rescued by Batman, who also happens to be Bruce Wayne. Later on Clark and Bruce talk about Prankster and Mr.Freeze to discover where they are and put a stop them. They do so using Lex’s tracking satellite to find them via kryptonite radiation. Bruce also asks Clark why he doesn’t just destroy Lex’s satellite but Clark says there would be no point as Lex would just keep on pointing a replacement one up. Clark doesn’t believe in brute force to be a hero, unlike Batman.

One thing that Bruce does is outfit Clark with a new Superman suit that must be lead line so they can go after Freeze and Prankster in their kryptonite-lined hideout.

Another subplot is Chloe helping Oliver get off from his trouble with Metropolis police.

We end issue 22 with Prankster forcing Mr. Freeze to work for him as Batman and Superman close in and Prankster’s bad guys close in on Batman’s boat that has Lois and Nightwing on board.

One of the issues that I had with this issue is that the artist Kevin West have made Clark and Bruce look very similar but previous issues they had distinct looks.

In the penultimate issue of Detective, we see Batman and Superman confront Loomis who seemed to have acquired a robotic suit that reminded me a lot of Jeff Bridges’ suit in the first Iron Man but this time with a kryptonite center. Meanwhile, Mr. Freeze is attacking Metropolis against his will (he is being controlled by Loomis). Loomis’ plan is to have Mr.Freeze’s suit malfunction above Metropolis’ water plant so that part of the city will freeze people to death. Green Arrow swoops him and tries to take out Mr. Freeze with his boxing glove arrow. But Mr. Freeze does malfunction and that part of Metropolis starts to freeze over.

While Batman is off taking on Mr. Freeze, Superman is left with Loomis who easily rips off that new lead-lined suit that Batman made but Superman manages to rip off the robot suit from Loomis, even though he is being weakened by kryptonite. Superman asks him was it worth it working for Intergang and trying to be better than Toyman and Loomis replies that he has won.

What he means is that he has managed to control air force jets to attack Batman’s big boat that has Lois and   Nightwing on-board, where both ladies to a very kick-ass job of defeating the goons that Loomis sent until they had 5 men with very large guns hold them up.

In issue 24, in an interesting turn of events, it is Lois and Nightwing actually rescuing the hostage takers as Batman’s really big boat takes on a lot of water and is starting to sink faster than the Titanic that is until Superman lifts the boat to safety. And when Nightwing wonders what is going on, Lois knows it is her man that rescued them and will reward him with “a hard kiss” to his face. Gotta love Lois!

Meanwhile, Batman takes care of Mr. Freeze (rather easily) while he and Green Arrow share some mutual billionaire banter.

As Lois and Clark debrief the events while in her office, she declares that she misses writing bylines with Clark Kent and Clark agrees and even calls her sweetheart. I sometimes wish that we heard Clark use a term of endearment like that on the actual TV show like how Lois calls him “baby” or  “honey” but this will have to do.

And I am not quite sure if we’ve seen the last of Batman in the Smallville universe but Superman pays Bruce Wayne a visit and they discuss their parents and honoring their memory. And Bruce nicknames Superman “Detective” keeping with Smallville tradition of having the episode name appear or mentioned at least once in the episode.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Chloe, who were quite absent in “Detective” are discussing how Green Arrow didn’t get some credit in Superman/Batman saving Metropolis from freezing to death. Also, we get shout out to name we haven’t heard since season 9’s Disciple and that is Mia aka Speedy. Apparently, she is now fighting alongside Oliver wielding her own hooded outfit and bow and arrow. Also, Oliver wants to know when are he and Chloe are going to move to Star City. Chloe is reluctant to move because she wants to handle the Earth-2 crisis (that wasn’t addressed at all in this arc) and has something to tell Oliver. Unknowingly, Clark has set the mood by using Mr.Freeze cryobatteries to make it snow and this lets Chloe tell Ollie that she is pregnant with what we can assume is the young boy that we saw in the series finale. To me this timing seems way off. The boy doesn’t look to be 6 years old but rather 4 years old, 5 tops. So I think there is some discontinuity here. But I asked Bryan Q. Miller (@bryanqmiller) on Twitter this question and he says that the age of the boy does match up the timeline in the series finale.

“Detective” ends with Lex using the spirit of Tess that is attached to his mind to figure out who Superman really is and what is his weakness.

If I have one complaint about “Detective” is the inconsistent artists. We have several issues where Bruce Wayne looks one way and looks totally different in another. The same goes for the other characters. I think I read a Tweet of Miller that there will be more consistency going forward.

Overall, I thought “Detective” was a very action-packed adventure. I was happy to see Batman enter the Smallville universe and got to see the Clois relationship really grow and become stronger.

I am looking forward to the next arc “Haunted” in hopes that Miller finally gets Lois and Clark back together again. Clois apart is bad but Clois together is good.