{"id":27787,"date":"2023-04-05T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T09:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=27787"},"modified":"2023-04-03T19:08:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T19:08:53","slug":"batman-superman-in-worlds-finest-comics-the-silver-age-volume-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/04\/05\/batman-superman-in-worlds-finest-comics-the-silver-age-volume-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman & Superman in World\u2019s Finest Comics: The Silver Age volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\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 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Some things were just meant to be: Bacon & Eggs, Rhubarb & Custard, Chalk & Cheese\u2026<\/p>\n

For many years Superman<\/strong> and Batman <\/strong>worked together as the \u201cWorld\u2019s Finest team\u201d. They were friends as well as colleagues and the pairing made sound financial sense since DC\u2019s top heroes (in effect, the company\u2019s only costumed superstars) 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 <\/strong>adventure in All-Star Comics<\/strong> #36 (August-September 1947) – and perhaps even there, they missed each other in the gaudy hubbub\u2026<\/p>\n

Of course, they had shared the covers of World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> from the outset, despite never crossing 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\u2019s own bi-monthly comic (#76, May\/June 1952).<\/p>\n

That yarn kicks off this stunning compendium of Silver Age solid gold, accompanied here by the lead story from World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #71 through 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\u2019s 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 \u2018The Mightiest Team in the World\u2019 <\/em>was by the brilliant 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\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #71 presented the Man of Tomorrow and Gotham Gangbuster in the first of their official shared cases wherein the Caped Crusader became \u2018Batman – Double for Superman!\u2019 <\/em>(by Alvin Schwartz, with Swan & Kaye providing pictures) as the merely mortal hero trades identities to preserve his comrade\u2019s alter ego and – latterly – his life\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Fort Crime!\u2019 <\/em>(Schwartz, Swan & Kaye) has them unite to crush a highly-organised mob with a seemingly impregnable hideout, after which Hamilton returned for \u2018Superman and Batman, Swamis Inc.\u2019<\/em>, a sharp sting-operation that almost goes tragically awry. Next, an alien invader prompts insane rivalry resulting in \u2018The Contest of Heroes\u2019 <\/em>(Bill Finger, Swan & Kaye, in WFC <\/strong>#74.<\/p>\n

The same creative team produced \u2018Superman and Robin!\u2019 <\/em>wherein a disabled Batman can only fret and fume as his erstwhile assistant seemingly dumps him for a better man, whilst \u2018When Gotham City Challenged Metropolis\u2019 <\/em>(by Hamilton, Swan & Charles Paris) catches the champions at odds as their hometowns over-aggressively vie 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\u2019s accident temporarily removes the Caped Kryptonian\u2019s powers and creates \u2018The Super Bat-Man!\u2019 <\/em>in #77. The theme would be revisited for decades to come\u2026<\/p>\n

Arguably Batman\u2019s greatest illustrator joined the creative crew \u2018When Superman\u2019s Identity is Exposed!\u2019 <\/em>(by Hamilton, Dick Sprang & Kaye) as a mysterious source keeps revealing the Man of Steel\u2019s greatest secret, only to be exposed as a well-intentioned disinformation stunt. The tone switches to high adventure as the trio become \u2018The Three Musicians of Bagdad\u2019<\/em> – a stunning time-travel romp from Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye – after which the Gotham Gazette faces closure days before a spectacular crime-expose, and Clark Kent<\/em> and Lois Lane<\/em> join dilettante Bruce Wayne<\/em> as pinch-hitting reporters on \u2018The Super-Newspaper of Gotham City\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Sprang & Charles Paris). Then, \u2018The True History of Superman and Batman\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye, #81) finds a future historian blackmailing the heroes into restaging their greatest exploits so his erroneous treatise on them will be accurate\u2026<\/p>\n

Hamilton also produced a magnificent and classy costumed drama when \u2018The Three Super-Musketeers!\u2019 <\/em>visit 17th<\/sup> century France to solve the mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, whilst Finger wrote a brilliant and delightful caper-without-a-crime in \u2018The Case of the Mother Goose Mystery!\u2019 <\/em>after which Hamilton provides insight on a much earlier meeting of the World\u2019s Finest Team with \u2018The Super-Mystery of Metropolis!\u2019 <\/em>in #84, all for Sprang & Kaye to enticingly illustrate.<\/p>\n

Hamilton, Swan, Sprang & Kaye demonstrate how a comely Ruritanian Princess inadvertently turns the level-headed heroes into \u2018The Super-Rivals <\/em>(or does she?), before monolithic charity-event \u2018The Super-Show of Gotham City\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) nearly turns into a mammoth pay-day for unscrupulous con-men.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Reversed Heroes\u2019 <\/em>(Finger, Sprang & Ray Burnley) once again catches the costumed champions swapping roles after Batman and Robin gain powers thanks to Kryptonian pep-pills found by criminal Elton Craig<\/em>, ironically just as Superman\u2019s powers fade\u2026<\/p>\n

As conceived by Hamilton, Sprang, Kaye, World\u2019s Finest<\/strong> #87 revealed \u2018Superman and Batman\u2019s Greatest Foes!\u2019 <\/em>with \u201creformed\u201d villains Lex Luthor<\/em> and The Joker<\/em> ostensibly setting up in the commercial robot business – which nobody really believed – after which seminal sequel \u2018The Club of Heroes\u2019 (<\/em>Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) reprised a meeting of Batmen from many nations, but added an intriguing sub-plot of an amnesiac Superman and a brand-new costumed champion\u2026<\/p>\n

That originating tale appeared in Detective Comics<\/strong> #215, January 1955 becoming a key plank of Grant Morrison\u2019s epic Batman: The Black Glove<\/strong> serial: you should read that one too\u2026<\/p>\n

That evergreen power-swap plot was revived in #90\u2019s \u2018The Super-Batwoman\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) when the \u201cheadstrong heroine\u201d defies Batman to resume her costumed career and is quickly compelled to swallow Elton Craig\u2019s last Krypton pill to prevent criminals getting it\u2026<\/p>\n

A stirring time-busting saga of \u2018The Three Super-Sleepers\u2019 <\/em>(Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) sees our heroes fall into a trap causing them to slumber for 1000 years and awaken in a fantastic world they can never escape, but of course they can and – once back where they belonged – \u2018The Boy from Outer Space!\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) details how a super-powered amnesiac kid crashes to Earth and briefly becomes Superman\u2019s sidekick Skyboy<\/em>, even as \u2018The Boss of Superman and Batman\u2019<\/em> (author unknown, but impeccably illustrated as always by Sprang & Kaye) sees a brain-amplifying machine turn Robin into a super-genius more than qualified to lead the trio in their battle against insidious rogue scientist Victor Danning<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Wrapping up this initial compendium with comfortable circularity, the Man of Tomorrow replaces the Caped Crusader with a new partner and provokes a review of \u2018The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team\u2019 <\/em>courtesy of Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye, suspending these supremely enticing Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights triumphs 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\u2019s 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\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 (TPB\/Digital edition) Some things were just meant to be: Bacon & Eggs, Rhubarb & Custard, Chalk & Cheese\u2026 For many years Superman and Batman worked together as the \u201cWorld\u2019s Finest … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman & Superman in World\u2019s 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-27787","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-7eb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27787","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=27787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27790,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27787\/revisions\/27790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}