REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #42

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #42 continues the madness of the Bizarro World contagion with a cast that would make Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness proud. The Bizarros really shine here, especially due to the fact that they’re all pastiches of Superman villains.

Dan Mora breaks the fourth wall with Bizarro and Batzarro, making his triumphant return to comic pages, and the issue itself being torn by the reverse World’s Finest. If you look close enough at the issue, you may be able to make out the cover had they not interfered –a really nice detail along with the gum under Bizarro’s boot.

A comic book’s typeface can be an art form as in Mario Foccillo’s variant. His Batman and Superman are fierce, but what he does with the main typeface is the most unique thing I’ve seen on a cover in a while. It’s almost like a mix of street graffiti and the wild toon style of the 90s with all the small arrows. It’s also cool how it also seems to roll and crumble with the punches thrown by our heroes.

Series artist Adrian Gutiérrez’s cover pays tributes to the other characters in Batman and Superman’s timeless supporting casts. While Robin has been the unofficial third main character of this series, we do have yet to see Catwoman –it’s great to see her in the classic purple suit too. Lois and Jimmy join Clark, and when those three are together, it means they have a plan. The shadows with respective lighting features are also a nice touch.

Another variant with Batman, Superman, and Robin is also available from Michael Cho.

Our heroes have managed to find Bizarro No. 1 and Batzarro in the Bizarro World Batcave. For better or worse, they have contracted the virus that is making all Bizarros sane. Like Batman, Superman, and Robin, they are looking for the source of the virus and whether it can be stopped. However, that’s going to have to wait because the Bizarro version of Brainiac, Brainzarro, launches an attack on the planet with his enlarging ray.

While Bizarro and Superman handle Brainzarro, Batman, Batzarro, and Robin head to the one person who may have answers on the planetwide plague –Bizarro Lex Luthor. He’s another case of where the reverse order of things works in Batman and Superman’s favor since he’s best friends with Bizarro rather than enemies. He points them in the direction of what could possibly the source and even patient zero.

Mark Waid continues his Bizarro World arc that feels right out of the pages of the 2000s Batman and Superman comic series. Perhaps one of the reasons is that that this series takes place in the past and the DC Universe feels the same as it was then before the really big changes began in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Batzarro and Bizarro, being sane, have much more things to say and, amazingly, they are quite profound from their point of views. The new Bizarro characters he has come with too are the highlights of the issue. Letters are by Steve Wands.

The best part of Gutierrez’s and Matt Herms’ art here is all the little visual gags and easter eggs throughout the issue. There’s a chicken instead of a dinosaur inside the Batcave, Lexcorp as a poorly run, single floor auto shop, and bubble gum that makes cube bubbles. It’s charming in the same sense that Wonderland is. Brainzarro seems inspired by the Martians from Mars Attacks and Bizarro Lex is more likeable than the real one. Great action shots include a collapsing city and a great Superman vs. Brainzarro fight.

(9/10) Batman Superman World’s Finest #42 gives our heroes unlikely allies and a new, but familiar, threat out of nowhere. The Bizarros steal the show in this one in yet another Bizarro World story dealing with sanity and how it is defined.