REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 2026 Annual #1
The cool part about annuals is seeing what part of the year they will turn up during. This year’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 2026 Annual #1 released the week of Father’s Day and the story by guest writer Mark Russel could not be more perfect. Meanwhile, Mark Waid uses the extra page space for a fun young Clark, Bruce, and Lois story.
Dan Mora employs all the conventions of a standard Batman and Superman comic cover but replace the titular characters with the men who raised them and have truly come to be accepted as their fathers. That was always the case with Pa Kent, but modern comics has solidified Batman’s pupils and butler as his family with them as his children and Alfred as his father.
Clayton Henry illustrates the main story of this issue as well as this variant of Superman, Lois, and Batman –possibly alluding to the second story. I always loved clear definition of Clayton’s art.
Rahzzah created a truly beautiful variant, both in visuals and in its meaning. Like a mid-20th century painting, it homey and comforting with the added bonus of superheroes. The idea, and canon fact, that Ma Kent sews Superman’s suits has become one of his fixtures across many iterations. It would make sense for to do the same for Batman’s whenever Clark brings him over after a mission. I love all the fine details here like what the Kent’s farmhouse kitchen is furnished with and Clark sneaking Krypto a pancake piece.
Clark and Bruce are taking Jon and Alfred to a steakhouse in Metropolis (that I truly wish was real) for a special get-together dinner. They don’t even get to order as Bruce gets an emergency call that The Flash is missing in action. As Batman, he tracks him to a trap laid by Lex Luthor, a specialized room that’s enforced with panels with devasting explosives to each major city. They are able to leave, but doing so would through one of the panels would trigger a respective explosion. Clark heads to the scene and joins them, for better or worse.
Meanwhile, Pa and Alfred talk about raising Clark and Bruce respectively after their biological parents were both killed. They touch up on issues like worrying about them as the children they were rather than the heroes they are, There’s also the unique cases they had with bringing them with Clark having his powers and Alfred serving Bruce as a butler. Without another thought, they go off to find their boys.
Mark Russel had to pen this story because, as Superboy Prime said and Mark Waid confirmed, Waid does not think that Pa Kent should be alive when Clark reaches adulthood and becomes Superman, opting for him to be a figure of his childhood past and that one pivotal moment of the first person that Clark couldn’t save –usually because of something he couldn’t have stopped like a heart attack. We’ve seen this return in Superman Brainiac, but for the most part, Pa Kent’s death in comics is decided based on the narrative. This comic is full of Russel’s signature humor and carried so much by what the story represents that the fact that the heroes are trapped in a Silver Age-like trap being the main focus seems secondary. This truly opened my eyes to how the relationship between Bruce and Alfred had evolved from all this time while Jon and Clark’s has been constant. Letters are by Steve Wands.
Clayton Henry, with colors by Pedro Estouco, bring the Sir Loin steakhouse to life. A steakhouse themed around the times of knights and kings isn’t completely outlandish –there’s already Excalibur and Medieval Times. There’s no need for any spectacular action sequences or world-shaking power struggles.
The second story by Mark Waid and Tyrone Finch is another fun date night tale with a younger Clark and Bruce competing over Lois Lane. This was always something fun before Superman and Lois truly became a couple –when it was plausible that an interview with billionaire Bruce Wayne would lead them to get together if Clark didn’t speak up soon. Pat Boutin, with colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr., matches this playful story with his just as fun art style.
(9/10) Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 2026 Annual #1 isn’t just a great Father’s Day story, it’s the essential character essay for the men who raised the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight in a small story mixing superheroes and slice-of-life.
