Batman/Superman: World's Finest, Vol. 1: The Devil Nezha

Read this at the Clapp Memorial Library in Belchertown MA USA. Nice selection of graphic novels there, considering it's a small library.

Title: Batman/Superman: World's Finest: The Devil Nezha
Issue: Volume 1
Date: January, 2024
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Editor: Paul Kaminski

Reprinting the first four issues of the latest World's Finest reboot. Poison Ivy attacks the Daily Planet, and finds herself up against the Batman, Robin, and Superman. But before the heroes can defeat her, Metallo shows up, adding a whole new level of threat when he injects Superman with red kryptonite.

As it turns out, this is just the beginning, as an ancient demonic figure named Nezha takes control of villains, and then heroes to set them against Superman and the Batman.

This turned complicated quickly, with a time-travel subplot, and continuously-escalating threats as Nexha takes control of more and more powerful metahumans to try to wipe out all potential resistance to his conquest of Earth and beyond.

The character work and action in this story are solid, especially the little insights into the relationship between Clark and Bruce and how they look out for each other.

The weak point is the villain, who's a mess of inconsistent powers, unclear motivation, and bland generic-villain personality.

There was enough of interest here that I'd be willing to check out more of the series once it moves past Nezha.

Rating: 5/10

World's Finest #159

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

Worlds' Finest #1

Another foray into the seemingly endless backlog of unread comics. I picked this one up at my local Newbury Comics a while back during one of those "Well, it's issue #1. You never know." moments.

Title: Worlds' Finest
Issue: 1
Publisher: DC Comics 
Date: July 2012
Writer: Paul Levits
Penciler: George Perez, Kevin Maguire
Inker: Scott Koblish, Kevin Maguire
Colorist: Rosemary Cheetham, Hi-Fi
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Cover: George Perez, Hi-Fi
Editor:  Wil Moss

A reboot of the classic "World's Finest" comic, which traditionally has been a Batman/Superman team-up book. Notice the clever placement of the apostrophe in the title. "Worlds' Finest", as in multiple worlds. If you're not into silly DC-Multiverse multiple-Earth stuff, you might not want to get started with this.

This book features Huntress, formerly Robin of Earth-2, and Power Girl, formerly Supergirl of Earth-2. Huntress, AKA Helena Wayne, is the daughter of Earth-2's Batman, who was killed by Darkseid along with Earth-2's Superman and Wonder Woman. Also, this version of the Huntress has apparently been assuming the identity of the previous Huntress, Helena Bertinelli, who was killed in the past on Earth-1.

If this all makes perfect sense to you, you might be a DC Comics fan.

Actually, if you can get past all of the multiple-worlds nonsense, this book was a lot of fun. The interplay between the two characters generally wins out over continuity confusion, even through multiple flashback scenes. Helena and Karen have a really good vibe between them, and their loyalty to each other and determination to make the best of being stranded in a strange world come shining through nicely.

Some attempts to joke about the scantiness of Power Girl's traditional costume are more eyeroll-inducing than clever, but generally the the dialogue and interaction are entertaining. The story exists mostly to set up the new background and current situation of the heroines, with a villain being introduced on the last page in a cliffhanger that leave the reader feeling like the villain is the one who's really in peril here.

Generally harmless fun.

Rating: 6.5/10