In this review of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50, enjoy two new titanic tales featuring the literal Batman/Superman dream team, while in part two, it’s girls vs boys as Supergirl and Batgirl challenge Jimmy Olsen and Robin to a global scavenger hunt.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50 main cover by Dan Mora (DC Comics)
BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #50
Written by MARK WAID
Art by DAN MORA and ADRIAN GUTIERREZ
Main Cover: DAN MORA
Variant Covers: FRANK QUITELY, MARK SPEARS, ROD REIS, RAFAEL GRASSETTI, ADRIAN GUTIERREZ, DAN MORA, VASCO GEORGIEV, SALVADOR LARROCA
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: 4/1/26
This review contains spoilers
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50 “Dream Team” begins as Superman and Batman enlist Zatanna’s help to enter the Dreamstone in order to stop Doctor Destiny’s global insomnia epidemic. Batman awakens in the dream dimension to find himself in the passenger seat of the “Supermobile”, with Superman driving the car. Batman tells him to go left, but Superman’s gut tells him to go right, only to crash into the giant-sized Elasti-Girl and the rest of the Doom Patrol.
Elasti-Girl smashes the Supermobile, leaving the duo stranded and stuck in an ongoing debate over the concepts of good and evil and redemption. The argument grows more heated the deeper they move into the dream dimension, with the duo’s darker aspects rising to the surface, and the heroes attack each other. Doctor Destiny gleefully watches from the sidelines as the chaos unfolds, but Superman catches himself before it is too late.
Once they realize Destiny has been manipulating them, Batman and Superman turn the tables on the villain, using their teamwork to psyche out Destiny, leaving him a quivering, terrified mess. “Dream Team” ends as the heroes drag Doctor Destiny back to the real world.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50 “Sturm Und Drang” finds Robin and Jimmy Olsen challenging Supergirl and Batgirl to a global scavenger hunt that leads to a remarkable discovery in an underground Egyptian cave. The quartet grudgingly cooperate and bring the “statue” back to the Batcave, but the foolishly curious Jimmy removes the dagger from its chest, releasing a shape-shifting Durlan from stasis (where an ancient pharaoh had trapped it long ago).
The creature takes the form of a Kryptonian dragon (Drang) and knocks the heroes around while trashing the Batcave.
“Sturm Und Drang” ends as Jimmy gets the bright idea to put the dagger back into the Durlan, sending the alien creature back into stasis until the team can find a proper holding cell.
Nice looking car, Superman… (DC Comics)
Analysis
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50 celebrates another anniversary while further exploring the interpersonal dynamics that makes this retro team up book a continuing success. The Batman/Superman pairing which occasionally slips from stalwart partnership to heated debate or actual slugfest (see: “Dream Team”), nevertheless illustrates that despite their differences, there is enduring respect and friendship between the World’s Finest that enables the duo to become stronger together.
Contrast that with the recurring (and always hilarious) team up of Robin (Dick Grayson) and Supergirl, whose failed teen romance early in the series descended into a spiral of perpetual torment for both proteges but always pays off for the story. Writer Mark Waid plays off the classic strait-laced teen hero trope, but shows the characters as actual teenagers, sullen, irritable, irritating, impatient and stubborn to great effect (Waid previously did something similar with the character he cocreated, Impulse (Bart Allen).
Adding the newly minted Batgirl and Jimmy Olsen into the mix only ups the enjoyable calamity as Waid continues to repackage Silver Age DC Comics concepts for the modern audience. From Jimmy’s simple “solution” of just replacing the dagger and trapping the Durlan, to the assorted retro contents of his carrying case, to continuous references of the “Jimmy Olsen Revenge Squad”.
Dan Mora returns for Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50, giving “Dream Team” his special mix of thrilling action and drama (along with a sufficiently creepy Doctor Destiny), the shifting dreamscape visuals and of course the “Supermobile”. Mora’s layouts reflect the World’s Finest’s nightmare journey with a series of nontraditional, interlocking panels while colorist Tamra Bonvillain provides the dream sequences with a retro-styled color palette that shifts darker depending on the intensity of the sequence (and Mora’s use of heavy shadows).
Adrian Gutierrez offers up well-crafted traditional superhero visuals while mixing in physical comedy and silly expressions for “Sturm Und Drang” while keeping readers focused as the story shifts back and forth in time (and starts out in the middle). That Durlan as a Kryptonian Drang (ha, I get it now) is an impressive standout image.
Luis Gurrero provides a palette ranging from muted to bright primary colors, while adding in visual effects, giving the Durlan reveal more of a pop. From bright desert vistas to shadowy underground tunnels, to cloaking silhouetted figures in a single background color, Gurrero’s work enhances the story.
Final Thoughts
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #50 offers up an anniversary issue worth celebrating, one that honors classic ideas with a modern sensibility, while (literally) illustrating the importance of the World’s Finest team dynamics. Plenty of action, humor and just plain fun.
