{"id":16677,"date":"2017-04-04T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T08:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=16677"},"modified":"2017-04-01T17:41:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T17:41:28","slug":"batman-superman-in-worlds-finest-comics-the-silver-age-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2017\/04\/04\/batman-superman-in-worlds-finest-comics-the-silver-age-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman & Superman in World’s Finest Comics: The Silver Age volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Edmond Hamilton<\/strong>, Bill Finger<\/strong>, Alvin Schwartz<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong>, Dick Sprang<\/strong>, Stan Kaye<\/strong>, John Fischetti<\/strong>, Charles Paris<\/strong>, Ray Burnley<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-6833-6\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Some things were just meant to be: Bacon & Eggs, Rhubarb & Custard, Chalk & Cheese\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

For many years Superman<\/strong> and Batman <\/strong>worked together as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153World’s Finest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d team. They were friends as well as colleagues and the pairing made sound financial sense since DC’s top heroes (in effect the company’s only costumed stars) could cross-pollinate and, more importantly, cross-sell their combined readerships.<\/p>\n

This most inevitable of Paladin Pairings first occurred on the Superman<\/strong> radio show in the early 1940s, whereas in comics the pair had only briefly met whilst on a Justice Society of America<\/em> adventure in All-Star Comics<\/strong> #36 (August-September 1947) – and perhaps even there they missed each other in the gaudy hubbub\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Of course, they had shared the covers of World’s Finest Comics<\/strong> from the outset, but never crossed paths inside; sticking firmly to their specified solo adventures within. For us pictorial continuity buffs, the climactic real first time was in the pages of Superman’s own bi-monthly comic (issue #76, May\/June 1952).<\/p>\n

That yarn kicks off this stunning paperback compendium of Silver Age solid gold, accompanied here by the leads story from World’s Finest Comics #71-94, spanning July\/August 1954 to May\/June 1958.<\/p>\n

Science fiction author Edmond Hamilton was tasked with revealing how Man of Steel and Caped Crusader first met – and accidentally uncovered each other’s identities – whilst sharing a cabin on an over-booked cruise liner. Although an average crime-stopper yarn, it was the start of a phenomenon. The art for ‘The Mightiest Team in the World’ <\/em>was by the superb Curt Swan and inkers John Fischetti & Stan Kaye.<\/p>\n

With dwindling page counts, rising costs but a proven readership and years of co-starring but never mingling, World’s Finest Comics<\/strong> #71 presented the Man of Tomorrow and the Gotham Gangbuster in the first of their official shared cases as the Caped Crusader became ‘Batman – Double for Superman!’<\/em> (by Alvin Schwartz with Swan & Kaye providing the pictures) as the merely mortal hero traded identities to preserve his comrade’s alter ego and latterly his life\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

‘Fort Crime!’<\/em> (Schwartz, Swan & Kaye) saw them unite to crush a highly-organised mob with a seemingly impregnable hideout, after which Hamilton returned for ‘Superman and Batman, Swamis Inc’<\/em>, a clever sting-operation that almost went tragically awry. Next, an alien invader prompted an insane rivalry which resulted in ‘The Contest of Heroes’ <\/em>(Bill Finger, Swan & Kaye, from WFC <\/strong>#74.<\/p>\n

The same creative team produced ‘Superman and Robin!’<\/em> wherein a disabled Batman could only fret and fume as his erstwhile assistant seemingly dumped him for a better man, whilst ‘When Gotham City Challenged Metropolis’<\/em> (Hamilton, Swan & Charles Paris) saw the champions at odds as their hometowns over-aggressively vied for a multi-million dollar electronics convention.<\/p>\n

A landmark tale by Hamilton, Swan & Kaye invented a new sub-genre when a mad scientist’s accident temporarily removed the Caped Kryptonian’s powers and created ‘The Super Bat-Man!’ <\/em>in #77. The theme would be revisited for decades to come\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Arguably Batman’s greatest artist joined the creative crew ‘When Superman’s Identity is Exposed!’ <\/em>(Hamilton, Dick Sprang & Kaye) as a mysterious source kept revealing the Man of Steel’s greatest secret, only to be revealed as a well-intentioned disinformation stunt, before the accent switched to high adventure when the trio became ‘The Three Musicians of Bagdad’<\/em> – a stunning time-travel romp from Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye.<\/p>\n

When the Gotham Gazette faced closure days before a spectacular crime-expose, Clark Kent<\/em> and Lois Lane<\/em> joined dilettante Bruce Wayne<\/em> as pinch-hitting reporters on ‘The Super-Newspaper of Gotham City’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Charles Paris) after which ‘The True History of Superman and Batman’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye, #81) saw a future historian blackmail the heroes into restaging their greatest exploits so his erroneous treatise on them would be accurate\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Hamilton also produced a magnificent and classy costumed drama when ‘The Three Super-Musketeers!’<\/em> visited 17th<\/sup> century France to solve the mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask whilst Bill Finger wrote a brilliant and delightful caper-without-a-crime in ‘The Case of the Mother Goose Mystery!’<\/em> after which Hamilton provided insight on a much earlier meeting of the World’s Finest Team<\/em> with ‘The Super-Mystery of Metropolis!’<\/em> in #84, all for Sprang & Kaye to enticingly illustrate.<\/p>\n

Hamilton, Swan, Sprang & Kaye demonstrated how a comely Ruritanian Princess inadvertently turned the level-headed heroes into ‘The Super-Rivals’<\/em> (or did she?), before monolithic charity-event ‘The Super-Show of Gotham City’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) was almost turned into a mammoth pay-day for unscrupulous con-men.<\/p>\n

‘The Reversed Heroes’<\/em>(Finger, Sprang & Ray Burnley) once again saw the costumed champions swap roles when Batman and Robin gained powers thanks to Kryptonian pep-pills found by criminal Elton Craig<\/em>, just as Superman’s powers faded\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

World’s Finest<\/strong> #87 presented ‘Superman and Batman’s Greatest Foes!’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang, Kaye) which found \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reformed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d villains Lex Luthor<\/em> and the Joker<\/em> ostensibly setting up in the commercial robot business – which nobody really believed – after which seminal sequel ‘The Club of Heroes’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) reprised a meeting of Batmen from many nations (as debuted in Detective Comics<\/strong> #215, January 1955 and a key plank of Grant Morrison’s epic Batman: the Black Glove<\/u><\/strong><\/a> serial) but added the intriguing sub-plot of an amnesiac Superman and a brand-new costumed champion\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

That evergreen power-swap plot was revived in #90’s ‘The Super-Batwoman’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) when the headstrong heroine defied Batman by restarting her costumed career and was quickly compelled to swallow Elton Craig’s last Krypton pill to prevent criminals getting it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

A stirring time-busting saga of ‘The Three Super-Sleepers’<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) saw our heroes fall into a trap which caused them to slumber for 1000 years and awaken in a fantastic world they could never escape, but of course they could and, once back where they belonged, ‘The Boy from Outer Space!’ <\/em>(Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) detailed how a super-powered amnesiac lad crashed to Earth and briefly became Superman’s junior partner Skyboy<\/em>, whilst ‘The Boss of Superman and Batman’<\/em>(author unknown, but impeccably illustrated as always by Sprang & Kaye) revealed how a brain-amplifying machine turned Robin into a super-genius more than qualified to lead the trio in their battle against insidious rogue scientist Victor Danning<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Wrapping up this initial compendium with comfortable circularity, the Man of Tomorrow replaced the Caped Crusader with a new partner and provoked a review of ‘The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team’ <\/em>by Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye, ending these supremely enticing Fights ‘n’ Tights on an epic high.<\/p>\n

These are gloriously clever yet uncomplicated tales whose dazzling style has returned to inform if not dictate the form for much of DC’s modern television animation – especially the fabulous Batman: The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> series – and the contents of this titanic tome are a veritable feast of witty, charming thrillers packing as much punch and wonder now as they always have.
\n\u00c2\u00a9 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 2017 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Edmond Hamilton, Bill Finger, Alvin Schwartz, Curt Swan, Dick Sprang, Stan Kaye, John Fischetti, Charles Paris, Ray Burnley & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-6833-6\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Some things were just meant to be: Bacon & Eggs, Rhubarb & Custard, Chalk & Cheese\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 For many years Superman and Batman worked together as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153World’s Finest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d team. They … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman & Superman in World’s Finest Comics: The Silver Age volume 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,76,127,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batman","category-dc-superhero","category-nostalgia","category-superman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-4kZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}