Warning: Spoilers for Batman/Superman: World's Finest #18 ahead!
Summary
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #18 rewrites how the iconic duo first met, but the issue still includes nods to their original Golden Age team-up.
- The issue opens with Batman and Superman investigating a cruise ship robbery by the Riddler, which leads them to an abandoned ship and a trap set by the Kryptonian supervillain Jax-Ur.
- Despite changes in their origin story, the thrill of a maritime heist remains a core element that unites Batman and Superman throughout the years.
Superman are one of DC's oldest teams, but the events of World's Finest #18 have rewritten how the two first met. Still, in this issue there are a couple winks to their first Golden Age team-up — starting from the very first .
Mark Waid, Travis Moore, Tamra Bonvillain, and Steve Wands' Batman/Superman: World's Finest #18 opens with the Gotham PD and the Daily Planet news team investigating the Riddler's robbery of, very specifically, a cruise ship — and the first makes that setting clear. A message has been left behind in writing that Clark Kent immediately recognizes as Kryptonian; simultaneously, Batman attempts to solve a series of strange disappearances around Gotham.
The two cases intersect when Alfred disappears as well, prompting Bruce to seek out Clark Kent (the two having deduced each other's secret identities). The two track the Riddler to an abandoned ship in Gotham Harbor only to discover it is a trap laid by the Kryptonian supervillain Jax-Ur, who sends Batman to take his place in the Phantom Zone while he attacks Superman.
Batman and Superman's Golden Age Team-Up Origin
Although there have been many retcons since, the first time Batman and Superman actually met was in a story from Superman #76 by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan, John Fischetti, and Stan Kaye. Fitting for the Golden Age's lighter tone, the issue plays out like a comedy of errors. Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne end up booked in the same cruise ship cabin aboard the Varania — and their secret identities are revealed when they both wind up changing into their costumes in front of each other. From there, the gags escalate as the heroic pair each do their best to woo Lois Lane, while the culprit behind a truck explosion attempts to use the cruise ship as an escape vehicle for his diamond heist.
It seems to be no coincidence that the inciting incident of Batman/Superman: World's Finest #18 takes place aboard a cruise ship — just as the issue's climax happens aboard an abandoned navy vessel. Although neither are an ocean liner like Superman #76's Varania, both issues feature heists aboard ships perpetrated by a green-and-purple clad villain. Given the prominence of the river cruise ship in the very first of World's Finest #18, its inclusion reads like a knowing reference to that original and momentous 1952 issue.
While the origin of the Batman/Superman team has shifted over time (and multiple mediums) from an instant friendship to a battle of wits, the core elements remain the same. Batman may be less trusting, and Superman may have infinitely more power, but the simple thrill of a maritime heist continues to unite these two across the years.
Batman/Superman: World's Finest #18 is now available from DC Comics.
