REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #34
It’s time for another fun, self-contained adventure this month with Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #34. This one stars Batgirl along with Krypto the Superdog and Ace the Bathound – who have actually not yet made an appearance in this series despite all the members of the Bat and Super families appearing thus far. Jimmy is there too – way more valuable than he seems since what he pulled in the 5th Dimension episode. This issue’s adventure, however, cannot compare to that.
With Cassandra Cain now as the mainline Batgirl in All-In, it’s good to see classic Barbara Gordon Batgirl grace a cover, especially by Dan Mora. The Super-Pets too – them alone are a selling point to several people. Thanks to Jimmy and the police-light and alley shot, this story is framed like a fun little mystery to find Superman and Batman and they have gone missing.
David Nakayama’s variant isn’t one of the Batman and Superman featuring covers. Seemingly out of the blue, it’s a stunning Zatanna illustration. While not for the holidays, it does have a nice white Christmas feel – the red outlines and little stars bring it together with the palette of candy canes. But this could just be a coincidence. This is an artist spotlight and Nakayama deserves it with pieces like this.
Yanick Paquette, Mike Deodato Jr, and Vasco Georgiev all go the traditional route with their variant covers –the classic light and dark juxtaposition of Batman and Superman. While every artist does something to make it their own, the elements are always there. Paquette uses black and white to akin them to Yin and Yang and the symbol of justice is what they create when combined, Deodato Jr.’s is tough akin to a certain Frank Miller cover, and Georgiev takes the traditional approach with the Metropolis and Gotham City juxtaposition.
Superman, Batman, and Robin thwart a planet conqueror Galtar on behalf of the Guardians of the Universe. Galtar must have some sort of connection to Emerald Empress because he too has a floating eyeball capable of great power – this one in particular ravages the minds of any given planet’s inhabitants. One year later, it appears that the three heroes have gone missing.
The cover would have you believe that this was going to be a mystery as to how Superman and Batman disappeared as well as finding them. But it’s really revealed at the start before the title page with Galtar –it’s not subtle enough to be a spoiler. Galtar is not an obscure Silver Age character like Mark Waid has made a staple of this series, so it’s natural to assume that it’s the only part he will play. The reader doesn’t pick up this issue for the story, but rather for the Batgirl and the Super-Pets. There are some fun moments when the super versions of man’s best friends are involved. The fact that they haven’t appeared in the series yet is the main thing this issue has going on. It’s fun every page or so, but you know Waid could give us more. Letters are by Steve Wands.
Guest artist Frank Galan has an appealing style, to say the least and it’s experienced fully with him on colors as well. The environments influence his tone use as the issue goes on. It’s purple for when Galtar is present, dark amber for Gotham City, and sky blue for Metropolis. With how he draws Superman and Krypto, I can see him being a new featured artist in a Superman special.
(6/10) Judging a book by its cover, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #34 seems like a fun, little mystery (almost self-ware) to find our missing heroes but it’s made apparent that it’s not from the start. Krypto and Ace can make it fun at times and Batgirl is nice, which may leave readers wanting more.
