REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #36
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #36 continues their adventure in Atlantis though it doesn’t move forward too much from the last issue, and what is described in the official synopsis doesn’t happen until the last two pages. However, Superman’s subplot here just got a whole more interesting which is something that most fans won’t want to miss.
Interestingly, Dan Mora’s cover is set on the surface in what looks like a haunted forest. The culprit of the strange sickness in Atlantis is revealed to be the Floronic Man. This cover feels like two things –a cover of an issue of Animal Man with that red title border and a horror movie poster with Swamp Thing’s ghostly face in the background.
The release of Batman: Hush 2 is right around the corner and DC and some fan-favorite artists are hyping it up with a series of variant covers. Tyler Kirkham, with colors by Arif Prianto, does a great piece that would look great on anything from a poster to a shirt. Surgical bandages continue to be Hush’s motif as one of Batman’s most complexing, and as well as personal, rogues.
Another timeless part of Batman’s history is when he first met Dick Grayson after his parents died in a supposed accident during a trapeze act –the very comic where it was first portrayed appears in the background. Meanwhile, series regular artist Adrian Gutiérrez, with colors by Matt Herms, illustrates the fateful meeting in the modern day. Batman fans are being treated with the variants this month.
Superman and Batman-featuring variants are also available from Tom Reilly and Fernando Pasarin.
Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, is revealed to have been behind the zombie-like virus originating from kelp and seaweed that has been affecting Atlantis. Meanwhile, Poseidonis continues to take sides against Aquaman as their king while Tritonis and King Ronal are preparing to attack Poseidonis, believing them to be responsible for the virus’ creation and spread.
As it would happen, this was Floronic Man’s plan all along in an attempt to cease control over the two underwater civilizations that make up Atlantis and drive them both to war. And it works as Ronal and Aquaman begin to feud while Batman and Robin chase down Floronic Man. However, this may not be enough to stop the intended war between Poseidonis and Tritonis…and it may be because of Superman!
It feels like Mark Waid slows it down with this issue compared to the last one. In order to get to all the good stuff, the reader has to get past the first 11 pages which dwell on recapping the events of the previous issue a little longer than necessary. With the synopsis, it seemed like Swamp Thing would have joined them some time at the start of the issue and Aquaman’s struggle with his people is repeated. What seemed like a small easter egg with the inclusion of Lori and her interactions with Superman now shines as the more interesting character subplot this time around. This leads to a twist that does make this entry completely worth it in the end. Letters are done by Steve Wands.
Gutiérrez & colourist Tamra Bonvillain have some pretty great pages with this issue. Page seven includes Jason Woodrue’s origin into Floronic Man and it’s all lovingly illustrated in a Silver Age texture and palette that is made to emulate retro art fans will appreciate it and Gutiérrez captures it well. The issue is full of illustration of Aquaman charging on Storm the seahorse, with Mera and one of her own. The battle armor they also wear has neat designs and highlights that add to their suits. Floronic Man’s design also has incredible detail in comparison to the simple super suits all around him. The underwater action can be fluent in some panels, but sometimes they do feel scrambled between actions.
(7/10) Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #36 takes a little bit to get to the point that the synopsis describes and that can cost some pages, but the entire second act of this issue makes up for it with a spicy twist.
