TRANS-SCRIBE: Batman/Superman: World's Finest #19

Wednesday 27 September 2023

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #19 - Comic Review

Mark Waid's new version of the first meeting between Batman and Superman comes to a conclusion in the latest issue of Batman/Superman: World's Finest which sees the two titular heroes dealing with a powerful prisoner of the Phantom Zone wreaking havoc on Earth.

As far as I'm aware, the last two official first meetings between the two characters have been fairly grim affairs, stories in which the two don't really like each other, where they don't get along, and where the friendship between the two of them is a long way off. John Byrne's Man of Steel series had Superman wanting to arrest Batman at the beginning, and thinking of his as a psychopath come the end. Rather than treat this old, pretty boring ground, Waid has asked a daring question 'what if they became friends pretty quickly?'.

One of the best things about this series has been how it's taken a lot of inspiration from the Silver Age; particularly the tone. The book is fairly light a lot of the time, even when things are going bad for the characters there's still a chance for some humour. I've really enjoyed this fine balance that the book has managed to make, where it's modernised old comic storytelling themes but managed to keep true to that happier, more hopeful feeling. As such, seeing that being done for these characters first meeting was a genuine delight.

The last issue pretty quickly put most of any animosity or distrust between the two characters to bed, with Batman revealing his secret identity to Superman early on as a sign of trust. In this issue, that trust continues, as two characters used to working alone have to really come together to beat Jax-Ur, the evil Kryptonian who managed to escape from the Phantom Zone.

Much like the Silver Age comics the book is emulating, there are a few parts of the book that feel like they're making some big allowances, where things just happen because the story needs them to, and characters manage to do things that most other books would see them struggle with. I've seen some people complain about this, but to me it fits the tone the book is going for. The book is showing a modern take on a different time in comics, and it's still nowhere near as weird and ridiculous as the books from that time.

By working together, the two titular heroes are able to not only beat Jax-Ur, but are able to rescue everyone who's been lost in the Phantom Zone too. And it's done on trust. Superman allows Batman into the Fortress of Solitude, he willingly takes a beating from Jax-Ur in order to buy Batman the time he needs to enact the plan. The characters are in a situation where their hands have been forced slightly, and they have to make that leap to trusting each other; but it still works, and it helps to form a firm foundation for the strong friendship that's to come.

Travis Moore provides the art on this issue, taking over for Dan Mora, and does a fantastic job. Mora has quickly become one of (if not the) favourite artists around at the minute, and I come to each and every issue of this series excited to see what new thing he's going to be drawing. I love his modernisations of classic designs and silly characters, and it makes the Silver Age look feel more real than any other artist I've seen. Moore is very much doing the same here, and he feels like the prefect artist to work on the series whilst Mora isn't here. I really liked how in this story Batman literally has a dark piece on the front of his cowl, showing that the classic style of shading that was done back in the day was actually a darker part of his costume. It's small touches like that that make this book a stand out that makes Moore's work stand out.

This is a really fin and enjoyable conclusion to this quick two part story. It might now be my favourite of the Batman Superman first meeting stories DC has given us, and I would love to see this creative team do this with more characters. With the return of Kingdom Come, and Boy Thunder, in the next issue, things are only going to get better with this series.