Batman/Superman: World’s Finest Annual 2024 #1 – Mark Waid/Cullen Bunn, Dennis Culver, Stephanie Williams, Christopher Cantwell, Writers; Edwin Galmon, Travis Mercer, Rosi Kampe, Jorge Fornes, Artists; Lee Loughridge, Andrew Dalhouse, Jordie Bellaire, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Now for something completely different—this issue gives us four stories, one tying into the main narrative of the series and three expanding on the stories of characters who have come in and out of the book.
The first story, IMPeriled, by Waid, Bunn, and Galmon, takes place in the chibiverse where Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite preside over a meeting of the chibi-JLA, which mostly consists of them brawling as they debate which hero is the best, all the while the two chaotic villains try to keep order. That is, until a darker world rather ruthlessly intrudes on this silly environment and reminds them how the real world works. This will continue in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #25, and it’s great to see Bunn at DC again.
Culver and Mercer are the creative team on “The Ties That Bind,” a Metamorpho story taking place right after the events of his arc in the main title. Rex, Simon, and Sapphire are off on a secret mission to a man-made island off Markovia’s coast. Stagg is on the trail of a precious artifact buried deep in a volcano—and so is a figure from Metamorpho’s past. This is a good look into an era of Rex Mason we’ve really never seen before, with some fun uses of his powers and great art.
Stephanie Williams and Rosi Kampe take us into the world of Bumblebee (now retconned as an original Teen Titan) in “Sting Like a Bee.” This is a flashback tale, introducing us to her Aunt for the first time and showing us the role she played in her love for science. The main plot here has Karen taking on her first mission, investigating a shady company that’s funneling faulty products into the community. It’s a laid-back story, but one that does an amazing job of establishing what drove Karen to become a superhero.
Finally, the Challengers of the Unknown take center stage in “Time Check” by Cantwell and Fornes. Naturally, this looks brilliant thanks to the art of one of the best in the industry, but it’s also a compelling and very surreal story that finds the Challengers in a strange time loop that affects their physical and mental integrity. It flashes back and forth between time periods, ending with a great segment that pulls the story back to the consequences of surviving a traumatic event. Strange tale, but very effective.
Overall, this is a great collection of tales without a dud in the mix.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
