Batman/Superman: World's Finest #1-5

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #1-5

Originally released in 2022

Written by Mark Waid

Art by Dan Mora

This version of World's Finest is a modern throwback to the era of the original World's Finest comics, with Dick Grayson as Robin and Superman's secret identity still being unknown to the likes of Lois Lane.  As such, continuity is flexible and there shouldn't be any need for me to worry about the story being interrupted by line-wide events.

The story starts with Poison Ivy and Metallo attacking Metropolis, with Metallo injecting Superman with a syringe filled with liquified versions of several rocks of red Kryptonite.  One rock causes the big blue boy scout to go through changes that are impossible to predict, so having five at once injected into his bloodstream causes chaos.

Batman takes Superman to the Doom Patrol, as the Chief (Niles Caulder) is the only person who can operate on someone as unusual as the transformed Superman.  The Negative Man plays a part in Superman's recovery, though Elastic Woman (I guess that continuing to call her Elasti-Girl would cause problems with Disney, even though she came first) and Robotman don't contribute much.  It's funny to see Batman and the Chief try to one-up each other to show off how smart they are.

It's determined that an immortal Chinese warrior named Nezha is behind these attacks and others, such as Felix Faust targeting a boy named Billy for reasons unknown to Batman, Superman, or Faust himself. (all Faust knows is that Billy has a connection with the wizard Shazam)  Nezha became demonic over the years, though I'm not sure whether this is a side effect of the magical elixir that raised him from the dead or if he used magic to transform himself.

As Batman and Superman rush to help other heroes, Supergirl and Robin travel back in time to find out how to stop Nezha from the people who originally sealed him away.  Their interactions are unusually awkward; it seems like they had a date that went poorly.

Meanwhile, the Doom Patrol chases down leads on Nezha's tomb so he can be resealed in it, visiting one of their old enemies. The enemy in question is immortal, but the unfortunate part of that (for him, at least) is that he's suffering from dementia, a condition that will seemingly last for an eternity; rather than a general trying to conquer the world, he's an old man who can only clearly remember Monsieur Mallah. (though as Mallah is a talking gorilla, he's likely hard to forget)

Batman is concerned that Nezha has far too much information on modern heroes and villains, considering that he's been sealed away for thousands of years.  However, he doesn't have time to figure out how Nezha knows all of this, as the demonic immortal has extended his "recruitment" to include heroes, along with their friends and allies.

At this point, I'm a little concerned that this is going to become a way to show off how Batman and Superman are just better than everyone else, but I have faith in Mark Waid's writing.  What I've read of his work has been consistently good.

Green Lantern is firmly under Nezha's control, but that comes at a cost.  Hal Jordan has the strongest will of anyone on Earth, but when his mind isn't his own, that will is weakened.  This gives Batman and Superman an opening to draw the ring towards them; it feels like a bit of a stretch, but I've seen much worse in terms of how that sort of thing is handled. (Identity Crisis, for example)

Also, for some reason, Batman and Superman are fused together in a move that feels heavily inspired by Dragon Ball Z.  The fight scene that ensues also reminds me of Dragon Ball Z at times; I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence or if Mark Waid or Dan Mora is a fan of the series.

Nezha is knocked into his tomb, but there's a problem - as Supergirl and Robin learned, the only way to seal it is from the inside, meaning that someone is going to have to stay there.  Another problem is that Robin was lost in the timestream as Supergirl travelled to the present.

My guess is that Negative Man (who can create an energy being) will save the day, as none of the other heroes who are present (Batman, Superman, Supergirl, and the Doom Patrol) have a power suited to getting out of that situation. (It's not like Elastic Woman could slip through a crack in the tomb, for example)  The actual solution is quite different from what I expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

This series is off to a great start. The writing and art are as spectacular as I've come to expect from Mark Waid and Dan Mora, respectively. The story is light-hearted and fun without comes across as cheesy or hokey, and just when I thought I could predict what was going to happen, it threw a curveball at me. I'm way behind on modern DC, but I was under the impression that this series is a high point, and if these first few issues are any indication, I can clearly see why.