While we spend a great deal of time engrossed in the current crop of comic books, let us not forget those fantastic tales from the past that still sit in amongst our collections and are always worth revisiting...
Writer: Karl Kesel
Art: Dave Taylor, Robert Campanella, Peter Dpherty, Alex Sinclair, Graham Nolan & Sal Buscema
DC
Matt C: Debuting in 1999, Batman And Superman: World’s Finest attempted to essay the evolving relationship between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel in the post-Crisis DC Universe over the course of a decade, tying into the anniversary of a friend’s death that could have been avoided if only they’d worked together (an incident that takes up the first issue). I have fond memories of reading this when it first appeared as it came at the perfect time for me and my connection with these particular characters. Having grown up on a strict diet of Marvel with an occasional side helping of Batman, the late-‘90s saw me invest in the DC Universe wholeheartedly, particularly Superman, an icon I’d resisted up until that point (for reasons perhaps a bit longwinded to get into here). The opportunity to see these apparently dichotomous creations interacting was too enticing to pass up.
Nearly 17 years on, this doesn’t hold up quite as well as I’d hoped. The hook of remembering a dead friend sort of works to a point, but does feel gimmicky on occasion as the departed’s importance for both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne gets a bit lost in all that follows. On the one had that’s understandable as we are dealing with a fairly long passage of time, and what does follow proves to be somewhat distracting for the heroes, but on the other hand building the narrative around a specific incident, you kind of want to be reminded why this individual mattered so much. Also, having it spread across 10 years (in a genre were characters age at an almost undetectable crawl) seems like a misstep, as it’s probably too long a period to shine a light on how both their friendship and working relationship develops, considering we’re obviously assuming they do cross paths far more frequently than once a year.

From a purely visual standpoint it’s a bit a mixed bag, primarily because series artist Dave Taylor goes AWOL halfway through (the reasons are documented here) which is a shame as he brings a kind of poised mix of more classic comic book artistry with some modern superheroic staples, even managing to incorporate homages to Chester Gould and, rather bizarrely in one specific instance, Alberto Uderzo. Peter Doherty (no, not that one!) is a competent replacement, but he goes more for the ‘house style’ which inevitably leads to a more generic aesthetic, before things get entirely ropey for the final issue.

In summary, World’s Finest is a passable look at the connection between the two most recognisable superheroes in the world but there’s far superior material that covers similar ground in more depth available, and while it’s not exactly a foolish purchase if you were to find it going cheap in a back issue box, it doesn't really stand the test of time (or removal of rose-tinted spectacles), and if you want to get to the core of why the primal friendship/rivalry between Batman and Superman is so endlessly appealing, you need to look elsewhere.
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