Batman/Superman World's Finest, Vol. 8: 20,000 Leagues

Batman/Superman: World's Finest

by Mark Waid, Adrián Gutiérrez (Artist), Sean Itaakse (Artist)

The World’s Finest heroes dive deeper — Adventure awaits in Volume 8!

Batman/Superman World’s Finest, Vol. 8: 20,000 Leagues continues the Eisner-nominated series from superstar writer Mark Waid and acclaimed artist Adrian Gutierrez. Collecting issues #35–37 and #40–43, this volume delivers another thrilling arc of high-stakes action, dynamic team-ups, and classic superhero storytelling. Following the critical and commercial success of Volumes 1–7, this latest installment further cements World’s Finest as one of DC’s most consistently celebrated titles. This collection is perfect for longtime fans and new readers alike.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Superman, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes

216 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2026

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

If a never read another Bizarro story it will be too soon. I cannot stand the new Bizarros. I don’t understand people’s interest.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.6 stars

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, it feels like World's Finest has finally plateaued and settled on being more in the okay / good territory than great. Nothing egregious, nothing great. I am finding this series hard to review as the stories are not particularly memorable anymore and rely on the in-the-moment feelings and experience of reading light hearted fluff rather than creating something that will stay with you later. It does continue to be an easy read, though, and Waid still has the occasional moment that will make you smile. Still, it is a pretty big accomplishment to be eight volumes deep and still delivering to some degree.

[Andrew Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline with Aquaman featured a unique mixture of enemies and allies.
The other stores were just OK.
All in all, this probably evens out to about 3.5 stars.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walking the line between kids and fanboy call backs.

Love the Bizarro World Tour, which feels like a been take on the Bizarros.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like this series has decided to go down the bombastic and narratively-familiar route. While Adrian Gutierrez's artwork works great for these stories, I find myself unimpressed by Mark Waid's stories nowadays. These could get so much better if an entire volume was dedicated to one story, but no. Now we get multiple short storyarcs, making them all feel so superficial, managing just a meh out of me. Not sure how much longer this series can survive before coming to an end.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya muestra fatiga el señor Waid en esta cole, y es normal. La primera historia, con Aquaman de estrella invitada, es flojilla, con una aparición de lo más forzada del Hombre Florónico, intentando conquistar Atlantis sin ningún motivo especial. La parte de Lori Lemaris está bastante bien llevada, pero el resto... una historia del montón.

Los episodios que transcurren en Mundo Bizarro suponen una mejoría bastante acusada, con Robin salvando el día por una vez. Sin embargo, la lógica de los bizarros resulta confusa por momentos (yo creo que el propio Waid no sabe muy bien qué hacer con ella); ¿se supone que Brainzarro es estúpido? Pues sus acciones no lo son. Pero bueno, la verdad es que el final está bien logrado, y el momento Batzarro-Bizarro es emotivo. Aun así, el nuevo dibujante, sin estar mal, no le llega a la suela de los zapatos al gran Dan Mora. Yo no me voy a bajar todavía del carro, pero creo que a Waid se le acaba la cuerda en esta cole, o bien toca demasiadas cuerdas a la vez: cuatro o cinco series mensuales es una pasada de trabajo para cualquiera. A ver qué pasa, pero espero que Waid se centre en un par y deje el resto en otras manos capaces, como Slott (nunca creí que diría esto) o Kennedy Johnson, o Matt Fraction, que lo está haciendo fenomenal en la serie de Batman. Bueno, pues eso: un tebeo entretenido y ya está. Que no es poco.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this might be World's Finests' weakest collection so far, but even then, it's still pretty good. We get two stories, one set in Atlantis and the other set on Bizarro World, and they both have the same problem, I think - too much need to explain what the hell's going on.

The Atlantis story has a little too much politics flying around, so it's hard to keep track of who's betraying who. And then Bizarro World always brings with it an added layer of complication because of everyone being backwards. It takes a lot to tell a Bizarro World story that I enjoy, and this one didn't do it for me.

I did enjoy the Swamp Thing appearance in the Atlantis story though, and new artist Adrian Gutierrez is a great fit for this book after his stellar run on Blue Beetle recently. Plus, this is still a Waid book, so it's great, even when it's not as good as it could be.

[Langston Lardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun and enjoyable read from the Worlds Finest. These books technically get a pretty easy pass from me simply because the artwork is so beautiful and engaging and just the concept of early adventures / Teamups from Batman and Superman is so much fun and relaxing to read, so even if the story can sometimes feel meh it’s still really enjoyable. Overall I do feel the earlier volumes were a tad better, but that’s not saying a lot because these current volumes are still really fun and allow for some wacky story telling. I mean in this volume alone we visit Atlantis, we see Gordon and Perry white team up as well as mecha bat, heck we even see bizarro world again. So many fun little stories in one single volume. Worth the read for the artwork and wacky stories alone.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
The good news is I'm caught up on this series. The bad news is the stories in this collection are not very good. The Aquaman one was why I stopped reading. A total slog. I just didn't care.

We Are Yesterday broke happened in between, I thought was a masterpiece and felt back to form.

But then the Bizzarro story brought it back to a slog.

Wondering if Waid is losing his excitement that seemed to infuse every issue. And maybe it's just more work now.

I'd rather he move on to a passion project that keep forcing World's Finest, as much as I loved most of it.

[Miguel Aglipay · Rating 3 out of 5]

i can’t lie, i'm too lazy to review every volume of this ongoing series, however, with the latest installment, i just wanted to check in and share some of my thoughts so far

none of the arcs in this series have been a bore, in fact, they've all been very good, and that's because Mark Waid sticks to the same formula - action-packed, light-hearted, plenty of fun interactions, and packed with cameos from characters all across the DC Universe

[Nevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

More ok stories from Mark Waid. He made Bizarro boring! This arc finds an awkward middle ground this book takes between classic silly Bizarro and modern violent Bizarro, complete with pseudo-science infodumps about their world. I'm not sure who would pick up a Bizarro story expecting that.
Oh yeah, there's also a story with Aquaman and Atlantis. It's fine and forgettable.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was a huge improvement over volume 7. It is an aquaman story, followed by a bizarro world story, with a kaiju story sandwiched in between. The Kaiju story is excellent and the exact reason I showed up. The aquaman story was pretty good. The bizarro story was okay. The artwork was overall very good.

[Memphis Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Atlantis story!

The Bizarro story was a bit of a slog, as Bizarro stories tend to be (with the exception of the Dark Trilogy series where he teamed up with Jason Todd and Artemis).

Still pretty good, as figuring out what the Bizarros are actually saying is something the Earth characters are doing along with us, the audience.

[Coco Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring and the relationship subplot... robin was kinda useless and superman lowk had no aura

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing being back into Worlds Finest and was huge fan of the individual issues and the Aquaman swamp story. Bizzarro stuff just isn’t for me but this one they do isn’t entirely a bad read.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s enjoyable enough.

[Litter Bug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly adequate but we really need to set some standards for Bizarro-speak.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Astrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

art was nice especially with the coloring in the second half; i liked the bizzaro plotline, but 20,000 leagues was just okay

[AChristianNerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved "Late Night on the town"!! The aquaman story wasnt as enjoyable. The bizarro story eventually got me. Took me a good while to come back to finish this one.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of shorter stories in this volume. Batman and Superman head to Atlantis where the Floronic Man of all people is a threat. Then we get some Bizarro story and I'm never a fan of that dumb character. Adrian Gutierrez seems to be a keeper. He's capably taken over for Dan Mora.