REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #52
The adventure in Skartaris continues in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #52 with a new original villain and mission to rescue to Superman so he doesn’t steal his powers… and that’s all there really is to it. It’s a whole lot of reaction shots over any fight scenes or further development. And when there is it cuts away. But fans like me stick with it because we need to know what happens to Superman.
Dan Mora brings us the cover debut of Tyrant Rex the Tyrannosorcerer, which is one of the most Saturday morning cartoon names ever. DC seldom has dinosaur villains despite there being an entire floating island of them out there supposedly. The Jurassic League helped scratch that itch. Speaking of dinosaurs, the paleo suit for Superman is figure worthy. Also glad to see that Mora remembers Batman Odyssey.
The DC Studios’ Supergirl variant series is here and, believe it or not, this one also comes from Dan Mora. I had to double check his signature because it’s so different from what he usually does. Even his Superman and James Gunn cover from last year didn’t have this level of detail. Ruthye looks like she’s right off the poster. It’s cool how Mora often draws DCU Superman and Supergirl without much resemblance to the actors playing them. It’s more about the characters and less about the star power.
Adrian Gutierrez’s variant shows our heroes after a battle with an onslaught of saurian creatures. The rising sun symbolizing the next day they get to live over, it’s just great. The battle-damaged suits hit just right. Robin looking like he put the most work in.
Another great variant is done by Davide Partore.
Warlord explains how another pilot Randall Kreitzer found Skartaris the same way he did. He may have already been evil off the bat because he just started victimizing the tribes of the land after forcing mystics to turn him into the monster known as Tyrant Rex. And now, he has Superman who he plans to use to conquer the rest of the realm. And unfortunately, it looks like he’s successful. Batman being Batman tries to take command of the situation, but Travis isn’t having it, so he goes off alone. Robin sticks around with him and his allies.
While both parties scout separately, Tyrant’s minions are subject to his cruelty when they attempt to appease him with an artifact. At that moment, Batman arrives –being the first to find him. But Superman is already under his magical control. His only hope is that Robin, Warlord, and the others find him.
Mark Waid manages to stretch what could be half this issue into the full length. There are some cool ideas like the tension between Batman and Warlord and Robin getting to know the heroes of Skartaris, but the issue largely relies on them stumbling around trying to find Superman. When there is a scuffle, we only get upwards of two panels of it before another scene is cut to. Tyrant Rex’s origin is also only one page long with really only two panels. I know it’s meant to be glossed over, but it could be more in-depth. Letters are by Steve Wands.
Adrian Gutierrez switches out dinosaurs for goblins this time around for Tyrant Rex. They’re like the ones from Clash of Clans. There’re tons of good poses as the reaction shots are all the issue has going for it action wise. The Superman scene is absolutely gut-wrenching. Colors are by Luis Guerrero.
(4/10) Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #52 had a huge cutaway problem and stretches what could be 10 pages into 22, though it does have some really cool ideas mixed in. Superman actually doesn’t have a single line of dialogue this whole issue, which is disappointing.
