“Sorry, folks! No refunds!”
“Impossible” ends with this week’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest and despite some of the problems the arc has carried on and off since its original beginnings back in its initial form of a small gag between Supergirl and Batgirl, it managed to end on a strong and fulfilling note that is reflective of Mora’s departure from the title starting issue #30.
With the rise of Amanda Waller’s blitzkrieg in Absolute Power #1, it was no surprise that Dan Mora was going to depart from Batman/Superman: World’s Finest. With about 30 issues, including the 2024 annual, teasers for books set in present day Earth-0, and more, Dan Mora put in the work to make sure his time with Superman and Batman was well-spent with series writer Mark Waid. Given Mora’s track record, he managed to stick the landing on his supposed final arc.
DC
Readers are greeted to the aftermath of the previous installment as Bruce Wayne is turned into a doll and the great cosmic imp that is taking over the dimension is starting to devour what’s left of reality slowly. The script itself is fairly strong, the heroes conduct a plan with the imps and the Batman-Doll, and they save the day. However, this issue functions as a strong dissection of Waid’s interpretation of Silver-Age Batman with Waid expressing that Bruce Wayne’s glee exists within Bat-Mite, something that has been noted since the start of this storyline.
If there were any problem with Waid’s script, it would mostly have to do with the involvement of his usages of references and callbacks. Waid uses them very liberally in this arc and while fun, it becomes eye-rolling as you see Frank Miller’s Batman appear for a singular panel or glimpses of a roided up Nightwing. The cameos and references were best used in the previous issue as we saw various versions of Bat-Mite throughout the dimensions, one of them being the original animated rendition of Bat-Mite.
The character development of Bat-Mite was the most unexpected aspect of this storyline with a large amount of focus being aimed towards his urge to prove to Batman that he can be a hero just like him, even during moments where Bruce tells Bat-Mite that even Batman makes mistakes. Waid’s script is purely dissection mixed with comedy and a good amount of teenagers bickering which makes the environment overall lived in and thriving.
All of this is translated perfectly into Dan Mora’s art as he paints the craziness of magic, Silver-Age aesthetics, and the occasional Jimmy Olsen transformation in a modern view. Mora is also benefited by Tamara Bonvillain’s coloring which brings in usages of bright and flat colorways that keeps its aesthetics strong. Mora and Bonvillain, as expressed in the past, remain a golden duo ever since their time on Kieron Gillen’s Once and Future, the trio’s take on an Arthurian adventure with a dash of Russell T. Davies sprinkled into it.
DC Comics
The dedication the creators share on this title is always the strong suit of World’s Finest as a book. I was asked recently why I review this series instead of the numerous experimental and crazy books at DC and other comic companies and it all has to do with how Waid and Mora approach superhero comics as a whole. Mark Waid’s history in comics factors in being the old-fashioned superhero fan in a landscape that was filled with edgy and controversial stories. The 1990s were a crazy time for comics but it served as the standing point for Waid’s career to blossom as he stepped into the industry with The Flash, Superman, and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Classic superheroes are fundamentally safe but no matter where you go in comics, those crazy and funny stories of Batman and Superman fighting imps and clowns together are always sought after. That’s what Batman/Superman: World’s Finest brings to the table, and that energy is what consistently brings me back as a reader and critic. Sometimes you just need to show some love to the Silver Age.
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