World’s Finest

Recently, I’ve been catching up on some DC superhero entertainment that I missed out on. I finished up season one of Superman and Lois and am halfway through season two. I’ve also been reading various comic series like All-Star Superman and Superman Birthright. I also read House of Gotham, but the less I speak on that the better. I got suckered in by the cool cover.

Last night, I ran across a post recommending Mark Waid’s World’s Finest, featuring Superman and Batman. Now, I’m the type of guy who likes my superheroes grounded as possible and not crossing over. I like them to exist in their own little worlds fighting dealing with somewhat reasonable problems. So, a Superman and Batman team-up book is not usually my cup of tea, but I’ve always been a fan of Mark Waid, so I decided to give it a shot.

Eight issues later, I realized an hour and a half had passed and I needed to get some sleep.

Now, I’m not a hardcore comic book junkie. I spend a few weeks reading comics every six months or so and I tend to stick to stuff like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Preacher, Sandman, etc. So, I don’t keep up with whose writing what or artists. Heck, I don’t even know if I could name more than five writers or artists. However, I can safely say, after reading World’s Finest, Dan Mora is my favorite artist. I don’t know what it is about the way he draws but it’s both nostalgic, beautiful, and modern all at once. I’ll seek out his work in the future.

Mark Waid is a writer who completely understands the characters he’s writing. World’s Finest takes place, sometime in the past, so it has this retro look to it all, but not in a bad way. The costumes and designs seem more like something you’d see in the 80’s or 90’s and it works so well. The characters are good hearted folks that are a joy to read. It’s truly a comfort comic if I’ve ever read one and then you add Mark Waid’s excellent stories on top of everything and I found myself in love. It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a book that made me feel like a kid again and really blew me away.

With that being said, I’m not a constant reader and I’m sure I’ve missed out on a lot, but if you are into comics and looking for something new to read and enjoy the Superman/Batman relationship, World’s Finest is a worthy endeavor.