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World's Finest Comics (1941) #71-116
World’s Finest: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1
Witness Batman and Superman’s first encounter! Gathered for the first time in this singular, expansive collection: the classic stories that cemented their legacy as the medium’s finest team-up.
They had been fighting crime separately for years, but it wasn’t until the historic SUPERMAN #76 in 1952 that Superman, the Man of Steel, finally teamed up with Batman himself. That story proved so popular that the two quickly became the main feature in WORLD’S FINEST COMICS—and the greatest friendship in comics was born. Their adventures together would feature heroes and villains such as Robin, Batwoman, Lex Luthor, Bat-Mite, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and more alien threats than might seem possible.
Collects the classic story of their first meeting from SUPERMAN #76 and their super team-ups from WORLD’S FINEST #71-116. Also includes a foreword from veteran comics writer Mark Waid and an afterword by comics historian Jim Amash.
They had been fighting crime separately for years, but it wasn’t until the historic SUPERMAN #76 in 1952 that Superman, the Man of Steel, finally teamed up with Batman himself. That story proved so popular that the two quickly became the main feature in WORLD’S FINEST COMICS—and the greatest friendship in comics was born. Their adventures together would feature heroes and villains such as Robin, Batwoman, Lex Luthor, Bat-Mite, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and more alien threats than might seem possible.
Collects the classic story of their first meeting from SUPERMAN #76 and their super team-ups from WORLD’S FINEST #71-116. Also includes a foreword from veteran comics writer Mark Waid and an afterword by comics historian Jim Amash.
626 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2016
5 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Edmond Hamilton
1,028 books137 followersEdmond Moore Hamilton was a popular author of science fiction stories and novels throughout the mid-twentieth century. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. Something of a child prodigy, he graduated high school and started college (Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania) at the age of 14--but washed out at 17. He was the Golden Age writer who worked on Batman, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and many sci-fi books.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 31, 2021
Nice collection of these Silver age stories. Another time and the comics were different then but still entertaining reads. Recommended
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April 9, 2019Superman, mighty man of steel whose super-powers have conquered catastrophes and wrecked wrong-doers! Batman, hooded foe of crime whose flashing feats have crushed crooks for years! Are any two names in the world more famous than these? Yet these two mighty champions of the right have never met – until now! Yes, at long last Superman and Batman meet face to face on a voyage of peril – and strange and startling is the outcome when two legendary figures form… The Mightiest Team in the World!
They’d been around for nearly 15 years, but the two most popular comic book characters had never met. They appeared in World’s Finest Comics dozens of times, but never in the same story. Then, in a brilliant and revelatory move that retrospectively seems like a no-brainer, DC Comics writer Alvin Schwartz suggested pairing Superman and Batman in the same story. “The Mightiest Team in the World” from Superman 76 was that story, effectively establishing one the most legendary partnerships and friendships in comics.
I love Superman, and have read more of his comics than Batman’s. I haven’t read many stories featuring the two of them together, but my preconception is that Superman is the muscle while Batman is the brains. Superman is the optimistic do-gooder who can do the impossible; Batman the non-smiling straight man who always has a plan. One might assume they were specifically created as a narrative pair (and in a way, they were: Batman was conceived in contrast to Superman, albeit a year later). This omnibus, containing the first ever Batman-Superman team-up stories, proves these guys make a great team. Along with Robin, they’re pretty unstoppable, despite differing methods of overcoming threats and fighting baddies. And they’re great friends.
Generally, the “Superman as muscle, Batman as brains” model holds true in these stories (though several times Batman gains Superman’s powers, and Superman loses his – I’ll get to that later). In Batman’s case, the pulpy detective persona and dark origin are basically forgotten. Street criminals, too, are rare. Instead, he and his pals fight aliens and monsters over Earth and beyond, all the while smiling and patting each other on the back. In my review of Batman in the Fifties, I noted how the Comics Code Authority and America’s fascination with space exploration influenced comics to be tonally lighter and science fiction heavy. That’s definitely the case here.
More than half the stories in this collection are wacky sci-fi fare. The wackiness is best illustrated by the titles*:
“The Boy from Outer Space!”
“The Super-Foes from Planet-X!”
“The Menace of the Moonman!”
“The Menace of the Atom-Smasher!”
“The Alien Superman!”
“The Star Creatures!”
“The Alien Who Doomed Robin!”
“Captives of the Space Globes!”
“The Creature from Beyond!”
I could go on, because the titles are just too good. Elsewhere, our heroes go back in time to revolutionary France and ancient Baghdad, battle Mother Goose characters, confront medieval magic, and stave off dinosaurs and a giant crab. Some of their rogues make appearances, like Joker, Lex Luthor, and Mr. Mxyzptlk, who has a memorable story with fellow fifth dimensional troublemaker, Bat-Mite. Then there’s “The Secret of the Time-Creatures”, which has it all: a fire-monster, aliens, time travel, and pirates. While I do enjoy the crazy sci-fi stuff, the stories definitely blur together after a while.
Another overused storytelling device, as I mentioned, is Batman gaining Superman’s powers or Superman losing his powers. It happens frequently, especially in the early stories. I can imagine the conversations at DC: “Let’s shake things up and give Batman and Robin powers like Superman! And Superman fights them because he’s mind-warped by aliens! Next time, we’ll have Superman lose his powers, only to have Batman get them – Superman will be the detective and Batman will be the strongman! Wait, I’ve got it – we’ll do one where Batman gets superpowers from a wizard and has to fight Superman!” Joking aside, while the superpower-swapping stories are a dime a dozen, they’re fun to read.
Of the two heroes, I would say Superman has a larger role in these stories overall. The sci-fi threats are more in his wheelhouse, and several stories even deal with his Kryptonian heritage. That said, neither hero defeats threats singlehandedly – World’s Finest is truly a team-up book. A typical story begins with one of the two encountering a threat, then calling up the other for help. Craziness and superheroics ensue, and they solve the problems together. It’s mostly a winning formula, and the writers shake it up once and a while.
Robin, unfortunately, gets the short end of the stick. There are a number of stories in which he barely has any dialogue. He’s there, but his adult partners do the decision-making and acting. I get it, but c’mon – he’s part of the team! Robin does take center stage a few times, notably in “The Boss of Superman and Batman”. After being subjected to a “brain-amplifying” machine, Robin becomes a genius. Poor Superman gets the reverse effect, and Robin calls all the shots for him and Batman.
The fourth most appearing character is Lois Lane. She’s incredibly brave, diving head on into catastrophes to get at the truth. A lot of the time, she tries to prove that Clark Kent is Superman, while Clark and Bruce cleverly divert Lois from uncovering their secret identities. In at least one story, she’s tricked into thinking that Bruce Wayne is the Man of Steel. Lois doesn’t show up in latter issues, but what cameos she has are great.
Aside from Lois, there aren’t many recurring side characters. The focus is undoubtedly on Superman and Batman working together. And that’s fine. DC clearly struck gold by teaming them up. Even though they’re written with basically the same personalities (cordial, friendly, optimistic), I do like their dynamic. Superman’s god-like powers and Batman’s human, grounded detective skills complement each other well. Readers at the time must have loved it. Seeing your two favorite heroes in the same story? Every month? You can’t go wrong there.
Stray observations:
All the art in this collection is by Curt Swan and Dick Sprang. I love how they draw Batman, Robin, and Superman – their style is more expressive and bolder than Golden Age art. It’s easy to see why these two were some of the best artists of the era.
Two stories, “The Caveman of Metropolis” and “The Menace of Superman’s Pet”, were oddly touching. In the first, Superman encounters a primitive man from his home planet. The second sees a misunderstood alien creature bonding with Superman. These stories are worth reading if you want more pathos in your Silver Age comics.
There’s a Justice Society/Justice League-esque team called the Club of Heroes in World’s Finest 89. It includes heroes from England (Knight and Squire), France (Musketeer), South America (Gaucho), and Italy (Legionary).
Several new heroes on the scene cause problems for Superman, Batman, and Robin, including Skyboy, Moonman, and Powerman. Skyboy was a favorite, because he really forced Batman to do some detective work.
Batwoman is the main focus of one story here. She’s still written in a horribly sexist way, but at least Batman gives her his blessing to fight crime.
“The Super Mystery of Metropolis” is one of my favorites in this collection. The story features flashbacks to Smallville where a young Bruce Wayne encountered Superboy. It reminded me of another story I’ve read, “When Clark Met Bruce”, by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.
One of the best quotes in the entire collection: “That glass may be bullet-proof, but it’s certainly not Superman-proof!”
*Exclamation points are part of the titles. Obviously! It’s the fifties! Everything’s exciting!!!
They’d been around for nearly 15 years, but the two most popular comic book characters had never met. They appeared in World’s Finest Comics dozens of times, but never in the same story. Then, in a brilliant and revelatory move that retrospectively seems like a no-brainer, DC Comics writer Alvin Schwartz suggested pairing Superman and Batman in the same story. “The Mightiest Team in the World” from Superman 76 was that story, effectively establishing one the most legendary partnerships and friendships in comics.
I love Superman, and have read more of his comics than Batman’s. I haven’t read many stories featuring the two of them together, but my preconception is that Superman is the muscle while Batman is the brains. Superman is the optimistic do-gooder who can do the impossible; Batman the non-smiling straight man who always has a plan. One might assume they were specifically created as a narrative pair (and in a way, they were: Batman was conceived in contrast to Superman, albeit a year later). This omnibus, containing the first ever Batman-Superman team-up stories, proves these guys make a great team. Along with Robin, they’re pretty unstoppable, despite differing methods of overcoming threats and fighting baddies. And they’re great friends.
Generally, the “Superman as muscle, Batman as brains” model holds true in these stories (though several times Batman gains Superman’s powers, and Superman loses his – I’ll get to that later). In Batman’s case, the pulpy detective persona and dark origin are basically forgotten. Street criminals, too, are rare. Instead, he and his pals fight aliens and monsters over Earth and beyond, all the while smiling and patting each other on the back. In my review of Batman in the Fifties, I noted how the Comics Code Authority and America’s fascination with space exploration influenced comics to be tonally lighter and science fiction heavy. That’s definitely the case here.
More than half the stories in this collection are wacky sci-fi fare. The wackiness is best illustrated by the titles*:
“The Boy from Outer Space!”
“The Super-Foes from Planet-X!”
“The Menace of the Moonman!”
“The Menace of the Atom-Smasher!”
“The Alien Superman!”
“The Star Creatures!”
“The Alien Who Doomed Robin!”
“Captives of the Space Globes!”
“The Creature from Beyond!”
I could go on, because the titles are just too good. Elsewhere, our heroes go back in time to revolutionary France and ancient Baghdad, battle Mother Goose characters, confront medieval magic, and stave off dinosaurs and a giant crab. Some of their rogues make appearances, like Joker, Lex Luthor, and Mr. Mxyzptlk, who has a memorable story with fellow fifth dimensional troublemaker, Bat-Mite. Then there’s “The Secret of the Time-Creatures”, which has it all: a fire-monster, aliens, time travel, and pirates. While I do enjoy the crazy sci-fi stuff, the stories definitely blur together after a while.
Another overused storytelling device, as I mentioned, is Batman gaining Superman’s powers or Superman losing his powers. It happens frequently, especially in the early stories. I can imagine the conversations at DC: “Let’s shake things up and give Batman and Robin powers like Superman! And Superman fights them because he’s mind-warped by aliens! Next time, we’ll have Superman lose his powers, only to have Batman get them – Superman will be the detective and Batman will be the strongman! Wait, I’ve got it – we’ll do one where Batman gets superpowers from a wizard and has to fight Superman!” Joking aside, while the superpower-swapping stories are a dime a dozen, they’re fun to read.
Of the two heroes, I would say Superman has a larger role in these stories overall. The sci-fi threats are more in his wheelhouse, and several stories even deal with his Kryptonian heritage. That said, neither hero defeats threats singlehandedly – World’s Finest is truly a team-up book. A typical story begins with one of the two encountering a threat, then calling up the other for help. Craziness and superheroics ensue, and they solve the problems together. It’s mostly a winning formula, and the writers shake it up once and a while.
Robin, unfortunately, gets the short end of the stick. There are a number of stories in which he barely has any dialogue. He’s there, but his adult partners do the decision-making and acting. I get it, but c’mon – he’s part of the team! Robin does take center stage a few times, notably in “The Boss of Superman and Batman”. After being subjected to a “brain-amplifying” machine, Robin becomes a genius. Poor Superman gets the reverse effect, and Robin calls all the shots for him and Batman.
The fourth most appearing character is Lois Lane. She’s incredibly brave, diving head on into catastrophes to get at the truth. A lot of the time, she tries to prove that Clark Kent is Superman, while Clark and Bruce cleverly divert Lois from uncovering their secret identities. In at least one story, she’s tricked into thinking that Bruce Wayne is the Man of Steel. Lois doesn’t show up in latter issues, but what cameos she has are great.
Aside from Lois, there aren’t many recurring side characters. The focus is undoubtedly on Superman and Batman working together. And that’s fine. DC clearly struck gold by teaming them up. Even though they’re written with basically the same personalities (cordial, friendly, optimistic), I do like their dynamic. Superman’s god-like powers and Batman’s human, grounded detective skills complement each other well. Readers at the time must have loved it. Seeing your two favorite heroes in the same story? Every month? You can’t go wrong there.
Stray observations:
All the art in this collection is by Curt Swan and Dick Sprang. I love how they draw Batman, Robin, and Superman – their style is more expressive and bolder than Golden Age art. It’s easy to see why these two were some of the best artists of the era.
Two stories, “The Caveman of Metropolis” and “The Menace of Superman’s Pet”, were oddly touching. In the first, Superman encounters a primitive man from his home planet. The second sees a misunderstood alien creature bonding with Superman. These stories are worth reading if you want more pathos in your Silver Age comics.
There’s a Justice Society/Justice League-esque team called the Club of Heroes in World’s Finest 89. It includes heroes from England (Knight and Squire), France (Musketeer), South America (Gaucho), and Italy (Legionary).
Several new heroes on the scene cause problems for Superman, Batman, and Robin, including Skyboy, Moonman, and Powerman. Skyboy was a favorite, because he really forced Batman to do some detective work.
Batwoman is the main focus of one story here. She’s still written in a horribly sexist way, but at least Batman gives her his blessing to fight crime.
“The Super Mystery of Metropolis” is one of my favorites in this collection. The story features flashbacks to Smallville where a young Bruce Wayne encountered Superboy. It reminded me of another story I’ve read, “When Clark Met Bruce”, by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.
One of the best quotes in the entire collection: “That glass may be bullet-proof, but it’s certainly not Superman-proof!”
*Exclamation points are part of the titles. Obviously! It’s the fifties! Everything’s exciting!!!
November 22, 2019
This was more fun to read than I expected.
July 4, 2021
I have read so many World’s Finest comics that it is impossible to count how many so I’m going to use this rating to represent all of the ones I’ve read.
January 27, 2018
Massive hard cover collection begins with Superman #76 and then picks up with the issue of Worlds Finest that teams up Superman & Batman for the next 15 years or so.
WORLDS FINEST COMICS lived in it's own microcosm like The Brave and The Bold.
It rarely crossed over or referenced things that happened in the solo Bat or Super books.
It even introduced things that were never seen in other books.
That being said it was usually entertaining and a solid read for when we were 12, 13 or 14 and ever 20.
Pricey. You decide if you need this doorstop.
WORLDS FINEST COMICS lived in it's own microcosm like The Brave and The Bold.
It rarely crossed over or referenced things that happened in the solo Bat or Super books.
It even introduced things that were never seen in other books.
That being said it was usually entertaining and a solid read for when we were 12, 13 or 14 and ever 20.
Pricey. You decide if you need this doorstop.
November 8, 2016
Classic art and classic wacko stories. Somewhat repetitive - in too many stories Superman looses his powers and Batman gets them. If you are in the right mood you can ignore the silliness and have fun.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews