In Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #31, the Justice League are under siege by the resurgence of Eclipso.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #31 main cover by Dan Mora. Image: DC Comics
Title: Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #31 – Shadows Fall Part One
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Adrian Gutierrez
Colors: Tamra Bonvillain
Letters: Steve Wands
Main Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Covers: Ian Churchill, Edwin Galmon, Marco D’alfonso, Nicola Scott, Annette Kwok, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Joe Prado & Alex Sinclair
Release Date: September 18, 2024
This comic book review contains spoilers.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #31 opens on the Justice League satellite, some years back. Green Arrow is questioning Superman about how he knocked out Eterno, the Immortal Giant in one punch while Red Tornado is monitoring the eclipse. Once it’s a total eclipse, the Justice League admires its beauty. Superman is about to ask Green Lantern about the stars, when it’s revealed that Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, and Dinah Lance (Black Canary) have been transformed.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the Justice League is working on constructing Solar City ahead of the eclipse with the help of Dr. Bruce Gordon, who has been cured of his Eclipso curse. The goal is to provide a city that runs on clean energy, one that can be a proof of concept to the rest of the world. While the super-powered heroes help with construction, Batman and Robin are on patrol, revealing in exposition everything readers need to know about this city, as well as Dr. Gordon’s currently Eclipso-free diagnosis. A line of dialogue notes that Eclipso is imprisoned in a black diamond, which is being held on the Justice League satellite.
Meanwhile, in the control center, Dr. Bruce Gordon is losing his cool after finding out that they’re only 92% effective. He considers Solar City an abject failure, rummaging through equipment from Dr. Light in search of Prometheum cell. Though not a cell, he finds something that explodes. Once more, Gordon is infected with Eclipso.
While this issue is definitely exposition-heavy, once we turn to Dr. Gordon, the art really adds a rhythm. Prior to the explosion, Eclipso is unfurled in a couple of panels. Tamra Bonvillain plays with two sides of color here, juxtaposing the darkness and coldness of the moon in Eclipso’s reveal against the fire and violent light of the explosion.
It’s a cool moment, and the issue quickly jumps back to the opening of the issue. Batman arrives to the Justice League satellite only to find members fighting each other, with roughly half bearing the face of Eclipso. It’s an all-out brawl, one where Red Tornado stands at the center.
Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #31 main cover by Ian Churchill. Image: DC Comics
As the beleaguered Leaguers (HA!) battle each other, Red Tornado makes it to the teleporter. Down in Solar City, Dr. Gordon is putting together some kind device, and a light quickly emits from Earth. Red Tornado flies through the teleporter, just as the satellite is enveloped in some kind of powerful blast.
Tornado, barely functioning, makes it to the doorstep of the Justice Society of America in Civic City. The original Flash carries Tornado in for aid.
While the story brings a classic villain back to the forefront in a promising epic that brings in both the Justice League and the Justice Society, the art in this issue lacks the stylistic punch that Dan Mora previously brought to this series. There are plenty of action shots, but each one focuses solely on one hero surrounded by a ray of color. These panels are layered one after the other, almost like a series of action shots from an anime.
While it’s pretty on its own, in a book populated with so many heroes, both the other characters and the backgrounds are removed from these panels. It’s as if the action is but a series of wall posters, with the comic-ness stripped from the action sequence of Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #31. It’s sort of the point, but it also prevents those glorious, grand-scale battle sequences that comic book fans crave.
The paneling itself is also functional, sticking closely to convention with half-page panels allowed to breathe in larger space. Unfortunately these larger panels are fixated on explosions and little else—no characters, no backgrounds (other than space), nothing. It’s a pretty firework, but as readers, we’re left feeling nothing.
And that’s the problem with this book. The setup and characterization by Mark Waid is up to its usual snuff, but the art feels weirdly focused on the wrong parts of the action, and what should be a pulse-pounding page-turner feels more like a safari of stationary shots.
