REVIEW: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56
It’s on to the next one of Ra’s al Ghul’s horsemen of the apocalypse in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 which will bring our heroes one step closer to him and his co-conspirator Poison Ivy. With Batman behind the computer and Superman out in the field, we’re treated to some great Man of Steel saving the day action –the kind you never tire of.
Dan Mora’s cover shows that Absolute Superman isn’t the only one fighting Ra’s Al Ghul. With Ra’s threatening 90% of the world’s population, it must be hard for Superman restrain himself. The background enhanced Batman is very telling of that struggle. This cover even has another Absolute Superman parallel with a dominantly scarlet color palette.
Ben Harvey manages to make a visual seen thousands of times feel a little different with his variant. Something as simple as a bold texture can make an image as familiar as Superman, Batman, and Robin leaping (and flying) into action something unique.
David Nakayama provides this series’ Kingdom Come 30th anniversary variant starring the Superman and Batman of Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ legendary story. Like the Action Comics one, this one feels so right in a series that he is writing and even more so special since he’s been writing this one from the start. I’ve gushed all I could in the past many times about Kingdom Come Superman, but Kingdom Come Batman seems to be underrated and is hardly seen in Batman multiverse crossovers. That power suit come years after a career as the Dark Knight, it is not to be underestimated even though he’s an old man.
Adrian Gutierrez, with colors by Luis Guerrero, give us a variant that may or may not be a reference to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly –the split screens, the three-way stand-offs –or maybe it’s just pattern recognition.
Superman, Batman, and Robin were able to intercept Queen Bee, but her plague which has already infected thousands has infected Dick. We also begin with Poison Ivy and Ra’s Al Ghul, who have more in common with their motivations as Batman’s rogues than they thought. So, with Batman at Robin’s bedside, it’s up to Superman to save the day from the next villain Ra’s employed to help push humanity to its limit. It’s the Firestorm villain Tokamak and he’s attacking a nuclear powerplant in South Korea to start a nuclear meltdown chain reaction that could kill millions. At the same time, Batman coordinates with Mirror Master brought by Kid Flash to create a cure to the plague that has most of the Justice League and other heroes busy.
In true Superman fashion, Clark is able to stop the explosion of the meltdown before going after Tokamak, who is emitting so much radiation that there’s a hint of Red Sun in there. Fortunately, it’s remotely enough to slow Superman down a whole lot. He stops holding back and speed blitzes Tokamak straight to the Fortress of Solitude. While Batman makes his powerplay to find the cure, Superman then races to Ra’s Al Ghul. But it seems that Talia has beaten him there and is taking on Poison Ivy. Is Clark able to end it right there and now after dispatching an enemy so easily?
Mark Waid makes this feel like a Superman adventure from the early 2000s –I think there was a Joe Kelly comic where he stops a nuclear explosion in a similar way. Yet again he also manages to show me a DC villain I wasn’t aware of before with Tokamak. Another evil billionaire but must make for an interesting dynamic in Firestorm comics. The Ra’s Al Ghul and Poison Ivy team-up continues to make sense but this time around in a poetic sense much to Ra’s’ credit. I still think he will betray her though –never seen a partnership last with him. The parallels to Absolute Superman don’t stop at the cover, it’s in fact the climax of this issue. Letters are by Steve Wands.
Even though he’s supposedly lightly weakened, Superman still packs a punch here with the team of Adrian Gutierrez and Luis Guerrero. Backgrounds flash into impact frames and Superman zips around ramming and punching like the comet he is. The nuclear explosion save blurs the line between science and fantasy the same way he has since 1938. It’s pure Superman goodness. Every fight seems to have a dominate color, Superman vs. Tokamak is red, and Poison Ivy vs. Talia is green. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin’s scenes are all sterile and white like a hospital.
(9/10) Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 scratches the best kind of itch that Superman fans like me have and solidifies Ra’s Al Ghul as a Man of Steel villain across the two universes.
