{"id":29671,"date":"2024-04-15T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=29671"},"modified":"2024-04-11T16:36:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T16:36:35","slug":"showcase-presents-worlds-finest-volume-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/04\/15\/showcase-presents-worlds-finest-volume-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Showcase Presents World\u2019s Finest volume 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Jerry Coleman<\/strong>, Bill Finger<\/strong>, Edmond Hamilton<\/strong>, Ed Herron<\/strong>, Dave Wood<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong>, Jim Mooney<\/strong>, Dick Sprang<\/strong>, Sheldon Moldoff<\/strong>, Stan Kaye<\/strong>, John Forte<\/strong>, George Klein<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-84856-053-6 (TPB)<\/p>\n

For decades Superman<\/strong> and Batman<\/strong> were the quintessential superhero partners: the \u201cWorld\u2019s Finest\u201d team. They were friends as well as colleagues and the pairing made sound financial sense since DC\u2019s top heroes could cross-pollinate and cross-sell their combined readerships. This most inevitable of Paladin Pairings first occurred on the Superman<\/strong> radio show in 1945, whilst in comics the pair 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

They heroic headliners had shared the covers of World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> from the outset, but never crossed paths inside, sticking firmly to solo adventures within. Once that Rubicon was crossed due to spiralling costs and dwindling page-counts, the industry never looked back\u2026<\/p>\n

This blockbusting monochrome chronicle gathers their cataclysmic collaborations from WFC<\/strong> #112-145, spanning September 1960 to November 1964, just prior to the entire planet going superhero crazy and Batman mad. Jerry Coleman, Dick Sprang & Sheldon Moldoff \u00a0crafted #112, featuring a unique and tragic warning in \u2018The Menace of Superman\u2019s Pet\u2019<\/em>, as a phenomenally cute teddy bear from space proved to be an unbelievably dangerous menace and unforgettable true friend. Bring tissues, you big baby\u2026<\/p>\n

In an era when disturbing menace was frowned upon, many tales featured intellectual dilemmas and unavoidable pests. Both Gotham Guardian and Man of Steel had their own magical 5th<\/sup> dimensional gadflies and it was therefore only a matter of time until \u2018Bat-Mite Meets Mr. Mxyzptlk\u2019<\/em> in a madcap duel to see whose hero was best with America caught in the metamorphic middle. WFC<\/strong> #114 saw Superman, Batman & Robin <\/strong>shanghaied to distant planet Zoron as \u2018Captives of the Space Globes\u2019<\/em> where their abilities were reversed but justice was still served in the end, after which \u2018The Curse that Doomed Superman\u2019<\/em> saw the Action Ace consistently outfoxed by a scurrilous Swami with Batman helpless to assist him. Curt Swan & Stan Kaye illustrated #116\u2019s thrilling monster mash \u2018The Creature From Beyond\u2019<\/em> as a criminal alien out-powers Superman whilst concealing an incredible secret, and all the formula bases were covered as Lex Luthor<\/em> used \u2018Super-Batwoman and the Super-Creature\u2019 <\/em>to execute his most sinister scheme against the heroes.<\/p>\n

For #118 Sprang & Moldoff illustrated \u2018The Creature That was Exchanged for Superman\u2019<\/em> as the Action Ace is hijacked to another world so a transplanted monster can undertake a sinister search with the Dynamic Duo fighting a desperate holding action, after which \u2018The Secret of Tigerman\u2019 <\/em>(#119 and inked by Stan Kaye) reveals a dashing new hero in charge as the valiant trio attempt to outwit a sinister criminal mastermind. Veteran artist Jim Mooney began illustrating Coleman\u2019s scripts in #120, starting with \u2018The Challenge of the Faceless Creatures\u2019 <\/em>as amorphous monsters repeatedly siphon off Superman\u2019s powers for nefarious purposes before the Gotham Gangbuster is eerily transformed into a destructive horror in trans-dimensional thriller \u2018The Mirror Batman\u2019<\/em> and #122 (Kaye inks) sees an alien lawman cause a seeming betrayal by the Dark Knight, leading to \u2018The Capture of Superman\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Zany frustration and magical pranks were the order of the day in #123 as \u2018The Incredible Team of Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk\u2019<\/em> (Sprang & Moldoff) returned to again determine whose hero was greatest, whilst \u2018The Mystery of the Alien Super-Boy\u2019<\/em> (#124, art by Swan & Moldoff) pits our heroes against a titanic teenager with awesome powers and a hidden agenda whilst \u2018The Hostages of the Island of Doom\u2019<\/em> (Mooney & John Forte) has Batman & Robin used as pawns to force Superman\u2019s assistance in a fantastic criminal\u2019s play for power.<\/p>\n

Luthor<\/em>\u2019s eternal vendetta inadvertently created an immensely destructive threat in \u2018The Negative Superman\u2019<\/em> (#126, by Ed Herron, Mooney & Moldoff) stretching Batman and Robin\u2019s ingenuity to the limit, after which \u2018The Sorcerer From the Stars\u2019<\/em> (Coleman) challenges the heroes to stop his plundering of Earth\u2019s mystic secrets and \u2018The Power that Transformed Batman\u2019<\/em> (#128, Coleman & Mooney) briefly makes the hero a deadly menace.<\/p>\n

Dave Wood, Mooney & Moldoff pitted the World\u2019s Finest team against their greatest enemies in #129\u2019s \u2018Joker-Luthor, Incorporated!\u2019<\/em> whilst Coleman & Mooney posed an intergalactic puzzle with devastating consequences for the heroes in \u2018Riddle of the Four Planets!\u2019<\/em> and Bill Finger, Sprang & Moldoff present a stirring action thriller when the team inexplicably add a surplus and incompetent fourth hero to the partnership in #131\u2019s \u2018The Mystery of the Crimson Avenger\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With Finger as regular scripter, tense mysteries played a stronger part, such as when Superman was forced to travel back in time to rescue \u2018Batman and Robin, Medieval Bandits\u2019<\/em> (art by Mooney) and clear their names of historical ignominy, whilst #133 sees \u2018The Beasts of the Supernatural\u2019<\/em> (Mooney & Moldoff) leeching the Man of Steel\u2019s power. The Gotham Guardian is hard-pressed to fool the mastermind behind those attacks after which the heroes battle for their lives against an alien dictator and \u2018The Band of Super-Villains\u2019<\/em> (Mooney)\u2026<\/p>\n

World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #135 (August 1963, inked by Moldoff) was Sprang\u2019s last pencil job on the series and a superb swansong as \u2018Menace of the Future Man\u2019<\/em> has the heroes valiantly and vainly battling a time-tossed foe who knows their every tactic and secret, after which \u2018The Batman Nobody Remembered\u2019<\/em> (Mooney & Moldoff) pitches a paranoid nightmare wherein the Dark Detective faces a hostile world which thinks him mad, before \u2018Superman\u2019s Secret Master!\u2019<\/em> (#137, Finger & Mooney) seemingly turns the Action Ace into a servant of crime\u2026 until Batman deduces the true state of affairs.<\/p>\n

Finger bowed out in #138 with \u2018Secret of the Captive Cavemen\u2019 <\/em>as an alien spy\u2019s suicide leads the heroes back 50,000 years to foil a plot to conquer Earth, after which Dave Wood, Mooney & Moldoff provide eerie sci fi thriller \u2018The Ghost of Batman\u2019<\/em> and a classic clash of powers in #140\u2019s \u2018The Clayface Superman!\u2019<\/em> (Mooney) as the shape-shifting bandit duplicates the Metropolis Marvel\u2019s unstoppable abilities\u2026<\/p>\n

A new era dawned in World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #141 (May 1964) as author Edmond Hamilton and artists Curt Swan & George Klein ushered in more realistic and less whimsical tales beginning with \u2018The Olsen-Robin Team vs. \u201cthe Superman-Batman Team!\u201d\u2019<\/em>, wherein the junior partners rebel and set up their own crime-fighting enterprise. Of course, there\u2019s a hidden meaning to their increasingly wild escapades\u2026<\/p>\n

In #142 an embittered janitor suddenly gains all the powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes <\/strong>and attacked the heroes out of frustration and jealousy in \u2018The Composite Superman!\u2019<\/em> after which the Gotham Knight suffers a near-fatal wound and nervous breakdown in \u2018The Feud Between Batman and Superman!\u2019<\/em>: a condition cured only after a deadly and disastrous recuperative trip to the Bottle City of Kandor. Super-villains were growing in popularity and #144 highlighted two of the worst when \u2018The 1,000 Tricks of Clayface and Brainiac!\u2019<\/em> almost destroy the World\u2019s Finest Team forever before this stellar selection ends on an enthralling high note as Batman is pressganged to an alien \u2018Prison For Heroes!\u2019<\/em>: not as a cellmate for Superman and other interplanetary champions, but as their sadistic jailer\u2026<\/p>\n

These are gloriously clever yet uncomplicated tales whose dazzling style has returned to inform if not dictate the form of DC\u2019s modern television animation – especially Batman: the Brave and the Bold <\/strong>series – and the contents of this tome are a veritable feast of witty, charming thrillers packing as much punch and wonder now as they always have.
\n\u00a9 1960-1964, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jerry Coleman, Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, Ed Herron, Dave Wood, Curt Swan, Jim Mooney, Dick Sprang, Sheldon Moldoff, Stan Kaye, John Forte, George Klein & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-84856-053-6 (TPB) For decades Superman and Batman were the quintessential superhero partners: the \u201cWorld\u2019s Finest\u201d team. They were friends as well as colleagues and the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Showcase Presents World\u2019s Finest volume 2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,10,125,154,225,127,172,107,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-batman","category-humour","category-legion-of-super-heroes","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-robin","category-science-fiction","category-superman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7Iz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29671","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=29671"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29673,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29671\/revisions\/29673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}