Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #34 – Mark Waid, Writer; Fran Galan, Artist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: In between arcs, this series likes to do something a little different – unusual team-ups on the orbit of Batman and Superman, with a slightly oddball edge. This time, it’s Batgirl and Jimmy Olsen’s turn to shine – although you could argue the real stars are Krypto and Ace! The issue opens with Superman, Batman, and Robin taking on a mysterious alien villain who uses some sort of cosmic eye to possess an entire alien world. They defeat him – but they only find one of the eyes. A year later, the trio of heroes has vanished, and Batgirl is pulling double-duty in Gotham to try to solve the crime epidemic. But there’s other bizarre things going on – including all the dogs of Gotham starting to bark in unison, seemingly at something that only they can see. And that includes Ace. And not far away in Metropolis, Jimmy Olsen is given a rude wake-up call by none other than Krypto.
I always like just how much Silver Age nonsense Waid manages to put in these books, paying tribute to the era while also making these elements work in the context of the story. Jimmy Olsen spends almost the entire issue here as Elastic Lad thanks to some serum Krypto brings him, and to say Batgirl is not particularly amused is putting it lightly. But despite some early squabbles, they do become a pretty effective crimefighting team, even if it seems like Krypto and Ace are doing most of the heavy lifting. This issue packs a lot of story into one issue, so some of the more lore-based elements involving the villain do get rushed through a little, but the art by Fran Galan is very vivid and colorful and the tone is a lot more fun and a lot lighter than the series usually is. Plus, the cliffhanger hints at another super-pets adventure that has yet to be told. Very entertaining stuff.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
