World's Funnest

Superman/Batman (2003) (Single Issues) #51-52

by Evan Dorkin, Alan Grant, Frank Miller (Illustrator)

Spanning more than 60 years of comics, WORLD’S FUNNEST collects some of the best Mxy and Bat-Mite tales ever written, from their very first appearances to their modern-day adventures!

Superman and Batman may hold the title of World’s Finest, but Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite are definitely the World’s Funnnest! The two fifth-dimensional troublemakers never fail to bring chaos and magic to the lives of their favorite heroes-but always in the name of fun!

Collects SUPERMAN AND BATMAN: WORLD’S FUNNEST #1; BATMAN: MITEFALL #1; BATMAN AND SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #6; SUPERMAN/BATMAN #51-52; THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #200; DETECTIVE COMICS #267, 482; SUPERMAN (vol. 1) #30; SUPERMAN (vol. 2) #11, #31; WORLD’S FINEST #113; BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #38.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels, Superman, Humor, Dc Comics, Comic Book

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2016

About the author

Evan Dorkin is an American comics artist and writer.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the 12 individual stories in this trade, I liked five of them. Dorkin's classic Elseworlds story from which the book takes its name shows him at his anarchic best, deconstructing the DC universe alongside many of the most iconic artists in the publisher's history. It's great and deserves all the praise written about it from me & everyone else.

That one story aside, I think I have a clear preference for the stories showcasing Bat-Mite over Mxy. I appreciate the World's Funnest TPB for showing that Bat-Mite functions best in spaces & stories that engage in commentary re: tropes pushed on the comic reading public. It should come as no surprise, considering his origin and first appearance, that the stories here offering the best metacomentary are the aforementioned title story, Alan Grant & Kevin O' Neill's send up of the truly ridiculous Knightfall saga, "Mitefall", and "Li'l Leaguers" by Green, Johnson/ Albuquerque. I think I was most surprised by "Lil Leaguers", because 1). How can any reader not be impressed by combos like Grant/ O'Neill and the once-in-a-lifetime collabs by the likes of Dorkin/ Gibbons, Dorkin/ X. Hernandez, Dorkin/ Allred, Dorkin/ MILLER yeah that's FRANK Miller, making light of himself for once, et al, and 2). I was caught off guard by the way Green, Johnson & Albuquerque take aim at that era of singular writer-artists depicting familiar heroes as young children in a vibrant comedic tone (think Art Baltazar's Tiny Titans, who make a cameo appearance here). That moment owes a great deal to Bat-Mite as a character, and I had never been able to connect those particular dots from the Silver Age to the Modern until they were laid out here.

The other Grant/ O'Neill story is fun, packed with satiric detail in every panel, but not as strong as the later "Mitefall", and I was particularly taken by the effectiveness of Siegel/ Shuster's original Mr. Mxyzlptlk story. There's my five.

The rest of the stories in the trade suffer from unfortunate comparisons to either Mxy's first appearance, or Bat-Mite and Mxyzlptlk's finest hour in the first story of the whole book. Or, in the case of Bat-Mite's first appearance in Detective #267, the plot just isn't as imaginative as the character of Bat-Mite himself. So yeah, to recap: WORLD'S FUNNEST is a 5/ 12, or 2.4 stars for those exclusively interested in the convoluted conversion of all analysis into easily digested rankings by "stars".

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 4 1/2 even, but I'm the guy who would buy a complete Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite omnibus hardcover, so take that into consideration. I would have preferred a stronger presence of Silver Age non-sense here, but the Evan Dorkin story and the Alan Grant-Kevin O'Neill stories are truly great takes on the characters and I'm glad they're here. Probably the worst story is the final two-parter, which comes across as generic and wooden when read right after all of the more impressive modern stories, but even that subpar story has some nice flourishes to it. Really a fun and consistently impressive book.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collects SUPERMAN AND BATMAN: WORLD’S FUNNEST #1; BATMAN: MITEFALL #1; BATMAN AND SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #6; SUPERMAN/BATMAN #51-52; THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #200; DETECTIVE COMICS #267, 482; SUPERMAN (vol. 1) #30; SUPERMAN (vol. 2) #11, #31; WORLD’S FINEST #113; BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #38.

The first issue in this collection is the stand-out because of how it travels through the DC Multiverse, but, in general, imp-heavy stories aren't for me. I'm not a big fan of Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk, so I should have just skipped this collection. I heard it recommended on a podcast that I listen to, so I decided to give it a chance, but I ended up skimming almost all of it.

[Charles Parke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worlds Funnest takes Bat Mite and Mr Myxlplyx thru a wide variety of DC characters over many universes. The best stories to me are midway thru John Byrne brings Mr Myxlplyx into the real world in Superman 11 and Roger Stern provides what I feel is the funniest story pitting Luthor vs Mr Myxlplyx in Superman 31.

[Raul Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actual worlds funnest issue ran a little long but I had a really good time with the rest of the collection. My favorites were: The Superman issues by John Byrne and Roger Stern, and the World’s Finest issues by Michael Green & Mike Johnson.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad! Mixed bag as usual for these sorts of collections. The title book is fun and a murderer’s row of artists. The 90’s Batmite stories were particularly unpleasant and a struggle to get through.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of Mxy--the wild what-ifs, the humor.... What's not to love? Bat-Mite on the other hand... more annoyance. But, I have to say... this collection actually had me enjoying Bat-Mite a bit more (not as much as dear old Mxy but there were some pretty entertaining stories in this volume). My favorite was that very first, very long story: Comics making fun of comics while also taking a journey through all the evolutions of the DC brand. Pretty clever stuff. To make it more funny, I just downloaded this book on a whim without reading anything about it. That first story starts out like any other "old school" comic. And, typically, collections start off with earlier stories and work their way up through time. So I thought I was reading an actual old comic. Well... imagine my surprise when Mxy and Bat-Mite destroy our heroes... and their friends. In hindsight, I should have realized immediately that this was a satirical modern comic. But my first thought: "Wow, these older comics had more guts than I realized."Yeah... I know, right? Obviously, that stumble in logic was brief, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story that followed, as well as the looks back at Mxy and Mite's histories. So if you're looking for a fun and funny read (minus that last one that got a bit "real" with the innocent versions of the superheroes... I mean, it was a good story, but I wasn't expecting to feel something in this collection) then this is definitely worth checking out!

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lead story in this collection is the namesake one-shot from 2000 by Evan Dorkin and a host of all-star artists. It’s basically a fun excuse to revisit various DC eras and various realities in the multiverse, “hosted” by Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite. (I got the collection because it completes my collection of Stuart Immomen work in Superman comics. He has a few pages where he draws...Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.)

The art highlights are Frank Miller and Alex Ross revisiting Dark Knight Returns and Kingdom Come, respectively.

The rest of the collection reprints older Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite tales, including first appearances, earlier encounters, and even the Alan Grant/Kevin O’Neill Bat-Mite tales from the ‘90s I remember but never got to read (probably would’ve been more entertained then).

The most rewarding entry, after Dorkin’s madcap adventure, is the newest one, a two-parter from Superman/Batman in 2008, written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson and drawn by Rafael Albuquerque. It’s the least silly one, even though it features pint-sized Justice Leaguers.

[Dena Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hit and miss, and some of the stories are definitely dated, but I guess that's the joy of collected editions.
Some are funny, some are ridiculous. Wouldn't recommend binge-reading it, unless you're a fan of Bat-Mite and Mxyzptlk.

[Zachary King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A five-star romp through the Fifth Dimension! The zaniest adventures of Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite are collected here in all their fourth-wall-shattering madness. If you like these characters, this is a fine set of their best appearances.

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love title book and some of others however not a fan of later batmite stories. Still a fun read overall!

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell these guys love these parodies. But a lot of times it's much more a seriously accurate reference than a joke. Like that magnificent cover.

[shakespeareandspice · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is that really awful feeling you get in your stomach upon awareness that you spent $20 on a book that took you months to read and you couldn’t even finish it in the end.

What. Crap.