And now for something a bit different. I got this comic at The Comic Shop in Randolph MA USA last summer. This is one of the oldest books I've reviewed. Older than me by two years, in fact!
Title: World's Finest
Issue: #159
Date: August, 1966
Publisher:
DC Comics
Writer: Edmond Hamilton, Ed Herron
Penciller: Curt Swan, Lee Elias
Inker: George Klein, Lee Elias
Editor: E. Nelson Bridwell, Mort Weisinger
Cover: Curt Swan, George Klein
Some classic Silver-Age stuff here, including the Fortress of Solitude, the Bottle City of Kandor, and gold kryptonite!
In the main story, Perry White and Commissioner Gordon get tours of the Fortress of Solitude and the Batcave in preparation for a series of Daily Planet articles on the greatest foes of Superman and Batman. But shortly thereafter, a villainous duo known as Anti-Superman and Anti-Batman appear. They have powers to match those of the World's Finest, and seem to know an awful lot of the secrets of Superman and the Batman as well. To make matters worse, they've got their hands on a piece of gold kryptonite! (If you are familiar with Silver Age DC, the implications of that should be well, scary. I mean, except for the fact that it's Silver Age DC, where nothing ever had really scary implications.).
After some back-and-forth battles and a fair amount of investigation, the mystery, which proves to be very typical Silver-Age convoluted, is solved.
This was harmless fun, with Batman and Robin in full 1966-TV mode ("Holy Santa Claus!"), not to mention the full array of goofy Superman gimmicks. There are brief appearances by classic villains Toyman, Prankster, Penguin, and even the Joker, but these don't end up amounting to much. There's also an emotional moment involving Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, which still doesn't quite manage to raise the story beyond the level of silly.
The backup story was basically a parody of Green Arrow's ridiculous trick arrow gimmicks. Green Arrow and Speedy attend a circus where they meet a clown/impersonator who goes by the name of Green Error and does an act making fun of Ollie. Ollie takes the whole thing in good humor, but when robbers strike the circus, there is a mixup of equipment, and Ollie and Speedy have to use Green Error's even-more-ridiculous trick arrow gimmicks to catch the thieves.This dragged one joke out longer than it really needed to, but the basic idea was pretty funny.
A couple of other real gems here: A public service comic page reminding teenagers that "The Policeman Is Your Friend" (all the teenagers in the comic page were white; just sayin'.). And the letter column was wonderfully snarky, complete with bad puns and some good trolling of the letter-writers by the editors.
This was fun for the 60s flavor more than anything else. It's a good example of the kind of comics DC was making during this era, and it was amusing to read, even if I had to avoid trying to think too hard about the stories.
Rating: 6.5/10
