Batman/Superman – World’s Finest Volume 1 – The Devil Nezha
Writer – Mark Waid
Artist – Dan Mora
After work one day, I decided to visit the Mount Lebanon Library and I saw they had this collection of World’s Finest and I immediately added it to my stack of books to borrow. I have heard so many good things about this series from the other comic lovers/readers here, I decided to check it out.
A long forgotten evil has been unleashed upon the world and it sets its sights on Batman and Superman. When Superman is injected with a cocktail of different forms of red kryptonite, Batman calls upon Dr. Caulder and his Doom Patrol for help. Batman and Superman learn about the history of the Devil Nezha and how he came to be. Nezha wants to enslave humanity and take the planet for himself. The only thing standing in his way is the World’s Finest and their family and friends.
After so many years of grim and gritty books on the stands, this title is a breathe of fresh air. In a world full of so much negativity on the news and in pop culture, this series is a shining beacon of hope and positivity.
From the opening battle of Batman and Robin and Superman versus Poison Ivy and Metallo to their final stand against the Devil Nezha, the deck seems stacked against these heroes but its their ingenuity, their smarts, and their teamwork that never falters or waivers in the face of seemingly insurmountable and overwhelming odds. This volume could definitely be the blueprint for one of the future DCEU movies under Zack Snyder’s direction or a DC Animated movie.
Mark Waid does a great job expanding the DC Universe with new characters like the Devil Nezha and the Warriors of Ji, while doing a great job including heroes and villains we have grown to both cheer and boo over the years. Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain both work together flawlessly to take the reader on a visit of a bygone era in “the not-too-distant past.” This setting works for these types of stories as we see Batman and Superman’s bond, friendship, and partnership start to blossom together. They need to be able to trust each other, knowing full well they might not make it out of some of their skirmishes unhurt or worse.
Mr. Waid’s return to DC Comics has been a triumph with World’ Finest as well as the other titles he has been attached to recently. I feel bad I slept on World’s Finest for as long as I did and I’m not going to make the same mistake with Shazam or World’s Finest Teen Titans.
World’s Finest Volume 1 is available to borrow instantly on Hoopla. You can also check your local library to see if its available there as well.