Longbox Junk - World's Finest

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The original "World's Finest" was a long-running out of continuity team-up book that starred the whole roster of DC heroes, but was basically a Batman/Superman series.

 The 2009 World's Finest four-issue mini series at hand is also a team-up book but it's definitely NOT out of continuity. It was written at a time when DC was doing a lot of shaking up of their character status quo and as a reader, you are pretty much expected to be familiar with all the changes going on.

This doesn't bode well for anyone giving it a read eleven years later.  But I'm not gonna let a little thing like continuity abandoned by the publisher not once, but TWICE over the course of a decade stop me from giving this a fair shake.

The most important things for a reader not steeped in past DC continuity to know this far down the road in order to understand what's going on here is: Almost everyone thought Batman was dead, Superman had left Earth, and Kryptonians in general were considered enemies of humankind.  The DC B-List character roster were doing their best to step up and fill the shoes of Earth's (absent) greatest heroes. 

Ready? Let's do this!

WORLD'S FINEST

DC (2009)

ISSUE 1

NIGHTWING & RED ROBIN

SCRIPTS: Sterling Gates

PENCILS: Julian Lopez

COVER: Phil Noto

Right out of the gate I'm staring at the cover and wondering why the youthful Tim Drake looks like a grizzled forty year old guy.  Generally, I like Phil Noto's art, but this is just questionable.

ANYWAY. . .

This first issue teams up Red Robin (Tim Drake, who is searching the world for clues as to where Batman REALLY is) and Nightwing (No, not THAT one. A Kryptonian that Superman had adopted as a son in the bottle city of Kandor). The issue does a pretty good job at explaining who is who, and thank God for that. I didn't have to hit the internet for a refresher on decade old continuity beats.

Unfortunately, the story seems pretty weak so far. The villain is a B-lister (Toyman) and the teamup seems forced. The art is pretty good.  Nothing spectacular, but there's some really nice moments scattered through the issue.  

All in all, the good art doesn't save the story from a weak setup and total immersion in (then current) continuity.  I'm thinking that this COULD have been a lot better in the hands of another writer.  The ideas are there, but the execution just isn't.  Not a great start.

NEXT!

ISSUE 2

GUARDIAN & ROBIN

SCRIPTS: Sterling Gates

PENCILS: Ramon Bachs

COVER: Phil Noto

And another pretty bad cover by the usually-reliable Phil Noto.
This one is just. . .strange. 

It's definitely not the sort of cover that makes me want to buy a comic book.

MOVING ALONG. . .

*Sigh* 

Just two issues in and we're already taking a swerve off the rails with a final page reveal of. . .a giant robot that's half Superman and half Batman in appearance. WHY do comic books love making superheroes punch giant robots?  It's just a really weak "Go-To" story element that needs to go away.

This issue teams up the Damian Wayne version of Robin with The Guardian. I don't know much about The Guardian, but if I had to judge from this issue alone, I don't want to learn more. He is easily one of the lamest superheroes I've seen in a while.

Once again, the book does a pretty good job of explaining who is who, so there's that. . .

Unfortunately, the art takes a turn for the worse (each issue of this mini features a different artist) from "pretty good" to "average and borderline bad in places".  There are moments where you can see a bit more effort (like the giant robot reveal above), but overall this issue's art isn't anything to get excited about.

SO. . .

What we have here just two issues into this thing is a forced team up via a cliche "Heroes fight until they finally figure out they're on the same side" vehicle, a weak overarching story, an extremely lame superhero, average art, and the good old giant robot.

I don't like where this is heading.

NEXT!

ISSUE 3

SUPERGIRL & BATGIRL

SCRIPTS: Sterling Gates

PENCILS: Jamal Igle

COVER: Phil Noto

FINALLY! Phil Noto gives us a great cover.  Very nicely done and worthy of a turn in my rotating comic cover display on my office wall at work.

In this issue we have a team up between Supergirl and the Stephanie Brown version of Batgirl, with Oracle, Catwoman, Dick Grayson Batman, Damian Wayne Robin, and the 2009  "Just another Kryptonian Soldier" version of Superman making cameos.

 I guess it's pretty cool to have an issue packed with so many DC characters, but the execution is still so very weak.  This MIGHT have been great in the hands of a stronger writer.  I WANT this to be great.  But it's not.

Most of the issue is spent fighting against Toyman's tiny little robots before he decides it's time to power up the giant Kryptonite-powered Batman/Superman robot.  All those great characters and cameos are pretty much wasted on a comic cliche robot punch party.  What a shame.

God, I hate comic stories that are nothing but robot punching.

I don't even want to read the final issue.

But I ain't a quitter, son.

LET'S DO IT!

ISSUE 4

SUPERMAN & BATMAN

SCRIPTS: Sterling Cates

PENCILS: Phil Noto

COVER: Phil Noto

This one has a pretty good cover done in Noto's more familiar style.  Unfortunately, it's a bit deceptive because even though the actual Superman IS in this issue, he isn't wearing his "Big Blue Boy Scout" suit.  If I bought this issue off the stand in 2009 thinking that Superman was back for reals based on this cover, I'd feel more than a bit shafted (It's "I'm just another Kryptonian soldier now" Superman inside).

THAT ASIDE. . .

I was really surprised to find that I actually liked this last issue after the serious swerve off the rails the previous two took.

Yeah. . .there's a giant Kryptonite-powered Superman/Batman robot on the loose that has to be punched, but in between the robot punching there are some really nice character moments between Dick Grayson Batman and "Just another Kryptonian Soldier" Superman that address the new (in 2009) status quo and DC's "Legacy Heroes" tradition.

Once the writer got past the robot punching, the story here has heart.  It takes a look at WHY we love these characters and miss them when they aren't around.  The writer actually stepped up at last and gave me some meat on this bony story.  It's a real shame that this only comes out in the final issue.

The stellar art by Noto in this issue helped improve things as well, with a VERY nice opening page. He actually makes giant robot punching look pretty good in the rest of the issue as well.

Too bad the ending was weakened by a cliffhanger that I'm sure tied into then current continuity, but didn't do any favors to this mini as a standalone story being read eleven years later.

All in all, this was definitely the best issue of the series, despite a lot of giant robot punching. And when I say it was the best issue, I mean it elevated itself above "Utterly average and borderline bad" to the exalted ranks of "Pretty Good".

CONCLUSION

Overall, this World's Finest mini-series is more like "World's Average".

The story is pretty weak, the villains were second rate, the art swerves from pretty good to borderline bad, the team ups were forced using a dusty assortment of comic book cliches, and the whole thing revolves around the reader's knowledge of (then) current continuity instead of standing on its own.

And then there's the giant Kryptonite-powered Batman/Superman robot.  

I wouldn't really suggest this mini to anyone except those who have an interest in Pre-New 52 characters and continuity.  I'll admit that seeing characters like Oracle, Stephanie Brown Batgirl, and Red Robin again was a bit of a blast from the past, and I enjoyed that for what it was, but it just wasn't enough to save this series.

Up next. . .

"Steve Austin, astronaut.  A man barely alive."

"We can rebuild him.  We have the technology.
We can make him better than he was.
Better. . .stronger. . .faster."

If you're a child of the 70's like me, you KNOW what I'm talking about. . .

The Six Million Dollar Man!

Join me in taking a look at Dynamite's Six Million Dollar Man: Fall of Man mini-series.

Be there or be square!