REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #26

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #26 is finally here and when this story was teased in the 2024 annual a couple of months back, the real test was waiting for it. Now, Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite are finally here and something is hot on their tail. The Fifth Dimension is no laughing matter with what has been terrorizing the imps, and if it’s powerful enough to send them running, this could be a Crisis event in the making. Once again, Superman and Batman are going to have to fight for the universe.

Mr. Mxyzptlk returns to grace the cover of a DC book since his featured role in Scott Snyder’s Justice League. You also have to love that he and Bat-Mite are officially friends and are their own cartoony reflections of those they hate and love the most. Even though it’s not one of Dan Mora’s celebrity-featured covers, this one sure does feel like one with how these big-headed miscreants have Batman and Superman taking a backseat.

All-Star illustrator Jim Lee is the artist spotlight for select variant covers and this issue features an Aquaman variant that is sure to take readers back to the days of The New 52 Justice League. He really had an unforgettable debut against Darkseid’s forces when he summons a horde of megalodons. Lee really gave us some of the best panels of the 2010s in DC and this variant takes you back to them.

Maria Wolf has a special variant as well for the month-long Ape-Ril Fools celebration – be sure to pick up the Ape-Ril Special #1 now. Hers features the King Kong of Metropolis himself, Titano. The kryptonite-powered ape cyborg is even atop of the Daily Planet to drive that point home. Wolf has shown us that she really has a knack for drawing apes and monkeys as she has also done the variants for Superman #13 and Titans #10.

Batman and Superman-centric variants are available from Salvador Larroca, Carlo Pagulayan, and Scott Godlewski.

Something sinister is lurking in the Fifth Dimension, and Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite are running scared. It doesn’t take much for them to reach out to Batman, Superman, and Robin. After Mxyzptlk gives the reader a recap, directly, it doesn’t take long for the Justice League to come under attack. The villains Sinestro and Kadabra attack Green Lantern and The Flash and are joined by imp versions of themselves, or at least what appear to be.

In these fights with no rules, rhyme, or reasons, it does help to have Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite in their corners. Superman and Bat-Mite go after Kadabra and while Batman, Robin, and Mxyzptlk take Sinestro. But as they find out, these interdimensional attacks are no random acts, and the waters of the DC Universe are being tested by someone, whose power seems to be the nonexistent limits of the Fifth Dimension – that’s fancy speak for unlimited cartoonish mischief.

Mark Waid once again thrusts Batman and Superman into a gauntlet of heroes and villains around DC, just as he has been doing since The Devil Nezha. Of course, the best part about this is Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite. One messes with a superhero and the other one idolizes another, both thinking they’re the best superheroes in their own right. This is dived into more than once by Bat-Mite. He and Superman are the team-up that we didn’t know we needed. We’re also treated to some insane Robin scenes and best of all, a new Superman costume! Letters are by Steve Wands.

After this series, it’s safe to call Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain an All-Star visual team. They’ve visually tackled everything that could happen in a DC comic book – ancient villains, new takes on existing ones, and multiversal ones. It only makes sense to start bringing in things from the Fifth Dimension, their one uncharted territory. You have small imps running around using the laws of our universe as a jump rope. It’s always a burst of colors and effects when they attack that seems to shake the meta of the comic book itself. Artists are able to go wild with Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite, and they don’t disappoint.

(10/10) Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #26 has fans rushing for the comic book store this week and it’s not hard to see why. The World’s Finest teams up with the World’s Funnest for what’s going to be an unforgettable adventure with everything a fan could love.