Outside of that, this second chapter of the Skartaris adventure was otherwise just okay.
It is hard to dislike a Mark Waid moment. There are always character moments and history mentions that make the book solid. In this title, he has really poked around the DCU. This story visiting the Warlord and his supporting cast shows that premise. My guess is this story is, for many readers, the introduction to this world. Throw in some great Robin moments and the book remains the fun title it has always been.
It is the plot that those moments exist in that is what I am finding a little lacking. We definitely get two exposition dumps to explain the plot progression. The plot isn't exactly innovative. And I don't know how long I think a side adventure to Skartaris is warranted. Not when the Earth 3 story was rushed to just 2 issues.
Adrian Gutierrez remains on art and continues to sparkle. I love how he uses silhouettes now and then to accentuate the action. His take on the Warlord cast is solid. Plus we get all sorts of primitive landscapes too.
But I expect a lot from this title and this one didn't hit the usual mark. On to the book.
Let's start with the first exposition dump.
Randall Kreitzer is another pilot who we learned last issue had flown into Skartaris and become the despot Tyrant Rex.
In one panel, Waid tells us that Kreitzer was rescued by a 'conclave of mystics'. But Kreitzer than tortured those same mystics to give him all their power.
Who are these mystics? How did a regular guy get the upper hand on a conclave of powerful sorcerers? How did he torture all of them? How did he learn all this magic? All basically unsaid.
But that is how Kreitzer became this all-powerful wizard.
I also love Batman's response. A very pregnant pause ... that ellipsis is awesome. And then a very unemotional but rather dramatic exit. He doesn't have time to waste here.
That is exactly who Batman is. And that is why World's Finest is never a complete dud.
Gutierrez did a good job showing us the rather Grell-ian attired cast of women in the Warlord universe last issue. We saw how young Dick Grayson was a bit gobsmacked by them.
In this issue, you see him sort of trying to flirt with some of them. Here he comments how Shakira is 'dressed for the heat' of the place only to see her become a cat.
Seeing this rather young, rather free-spirited Robin has been, perhaps, the best overall running theme in this book. I love seeing him try to engage with beautiful women every chance he can only to not be completely successful.
We get a little bit of plot progression when Tyrant Rex's cronies present him with something they have discovered near the crash sire. Looks like a compass or a pocket watch.
Rex thinks it is useless which means it will have a huge impact on the end of the story. A compass to lead our heroes out? A stopwatch to measure how much time has lapsed?
We'll see.
With magic, Rex pulls Superman's powers out of him and then enslaves him. Batman comes upon this.
Pretty creepy picture by Gutierrez here, a scaled Superman with blank eyes and a creepy smile. Brrrrr ....
In another area of Skartaris is a cache of advanced ancient Atlantis technology. The Warlord realizes this must be Kreitzer's goal because if armed with his incredible magic and incredible tech, he'd be unstoppable.
It's clear Warlord knew about this crazy tech area before. Is it just sitting there abandoned? Do people live there? Shouldn't he have explored/pillaged/defended the place if it is such a threat? If it was so fantastic, why hasn't Kreitzer gone for it before?
This also felt a bit out of nowhere.
This also felt a bit out of nowhere.
Kreitzer has used his magic to imbue his demon army with Superman's powers. The small band of Warlord warriors are no match. And furthermore, Batman is now also in the Tyrant's thrall.
It is hard to be down on the book. The art, Robin, that Batman moment all elevate this. But this story is otherwise a sort of standard bad guy fight plunked into a new environment.
Overall grade: C+
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