Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest #1

Batman/Superman World's Finest #1 came out this week, an action packed, nigh perfect comic book which hearkened back to thrilling adventure comics of old. I unabashedly loved this comic. This was like mac and cheese, a comfort food of a comic that made me feel happy. 

The book opens with the pages previewed in Detective Comics #1050 but continues full throttle with an over-sized, no ad book. So I didn't mind paying for those pages again. I wasn't cheated. But I won't review those pages here again. 

Writer Mark Waid does a great job here, flashing back to an early meeting of Batman and Superman as a way to show how they became best friends. And that history does resonate in the latter half of the story so didn't feel gratuitous. But the big win here is the characterization of a young Dick Grayson as Robin. I get the sense that Robin is going to be the straw that stirs the drink. He will be our POV character, the comic relief quipper, and the contrast hero against the megastars of Superman and Batman. I trust Waid to handle the DCU well and he does. He writes the DC that I want to read. It takes place some time in the past and has a classic flavor.

Dan Mora is on art and he just shines here. Mora has a lot to show us here as Waid does a deep dive into the DC Universe already. Poison Ivy. Metallo. The Penguin. The Weaponeers of Qward. The Doom Patrol. The work is crisp and engaging. I hope he stays on this book for a long time. But if he doesn't, please give him a classic Doom Patrol book to pencil. I love his take on the team, one of my favorite properties. 

And I was lucky enough to grab the last copy at my LCS that has the cover by Artgerm which reminded me of one of his early covers on Batgirl #14 . So happy to see Kara and Steph together. Make the poster and t-shirt now DC!

I am going to gush.

On to the book.

With Metallo having injected Red K into Superman, the book heads into a flashback from years ago. 

The Penguin has become an arms dealer with the Weaponeers of Qward. Given his new comrades, the Penguin kidnaps Robin to lure Batman into a trap, hoping the Weaponeers will kill the Dark Knight.

But the thing I love here is how calm and quippy Robin is. He tells the Penguin that the villain is 'in big trouble dude' even though he is hung upside down over a foundry vat of molten metal. He wishes he had a nickel every time he was used as bait.

It is just pitch perfect for a young Dick Grayson.

Except Batman doesn't go in.

He sends Superman in to run roughshod on the bad guys while Batman saves Robin.

Lightning bolts from the Weaponeers against Superman? 'It tickles.'

Yes, I know that Waid is going to mine DC history for things like this. But frankly it's why I'm here. What a nice little call back.

You might remember that in the Detective preview, Robin is in green leggings. Here you see he is much younger, a true kid, sporting the shorty shorts. Nice touch. Batman has a tiny bat symbol on his chest whereas in 'the present' of the story he has a yellow circle around the bat.  And Mora really lets us see that time lapse in his depiction of Robin and with costume changes. Great stuff.

And then a handshake that cements a friendship after Superman saves Batman's life.

I like it when these two are true friends. Not begrudging allies. Not bickering about light vs. dark. Not contrasting lessons taught by parents.

Just friends.

A close-up on the handshake sort of cements the tone Waid is going for here.

Back in the future, the Red K is wreaking havoc on Superman as he mutates quickly and strangely, losing control of his powers and his senses. The heroes need to leave.

Some people might think Waid is being too cute when he has Robin ask if Lois knows a 'doctor who specializes in freakish transformations'. But it works for me. A little foreshadowing that pays off almost immediately.

Again, Mora shines here as Superman goes ballistic, panicked as he goes all translucent, etc.

Now this is a Supergirl blog.

With Superman reeling (literally becoming a man of steel briefly), Jimmy wonders if they should call in Supergirl.

Superman doesn't want her to get infected either so he says they shouldn't call her in. 

It seems sad that a mention of Supergirl is enough to make this Kara fan excited. But this is the world I am living in. I can only hope that Waid has some story in his head where Supergirl will guest star.

I told you that Robin's foreshadowing about an expert in freakish transformations is paid off quickly.

Because somehow the Doom Patrol shows up. 

Classic Drake/Premiani Doom Patrol: Cliff, Rita, and Larry. 

Heck, the even use the old logo!

I love the way Mora draws the group, especially wide-eyed embiggened Rita. I hope we see these characters in the rest of this arc. Just gorgeous.

Another little Easter Egg by Waid.

Maddened by the Red K, Superman sees villains everywhere, even confusing Batman for Lex Luthor.

But calling 'Lex' a 'diseased maniac'? That is right from the Richard Donner's Superman The Movie. That's fun.

Batman is able to talk Superman down by bringing in personal information to the discussion, things Lex wouldn't know. Batman leans into his friendship with Superman to save everyone. Yes!!

With Superman calm, Negative Man can come in and bombard the Man of Steel with red sun radiation. (I didn't know he could do that. Waid gives us some comic science around it.)

And then the group heads to a place to try and actually cure the problem. Enter The Chief!!

I have gushed enough. The whole book rolls out stupendously. The flashback showing the World's Finest history. The action. The Easter Eggs. Robin's quips. The classic Doom Patrol. And the dramatic art. 

I loved this book. 

Overall grade: A+