Cover Art for Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #51
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Adrián Guitiérrez
Colors by Luis Guerrero
Letters by Steve Wands
Cover Art by Dan Mora
There's that old saying not to judge a book by its cover. For the most part I can agree with that but when it comes to World’s Finest #51 I could tell immediately that this issue was going to resonate with me. Why? Along with Superman and Batman (wielding some badass stone age weaponry) it features a plethora of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals that includes a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Sabre Tooth Tiger. For someone obsessed with both dinosaurs and superheroes, this is a match made in heaven. The cover of World’s Finest #51 sets the stage for an incredibly fun issue that takes the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight of Gotham to the land of Skartaris. Mark Waid’s incredible run on World’s Finest continues and features some great art from Adrián Guitiérrez and Luis Guerrero. Let’s get into it. Spoiler Warning Now In Effect for World Finest #51.
Recap of the Issue
When an issue opens with the lifeless body of Batman and Robin being hounded by a rampaging T-Rex, you know you’re in for something special. Right after the title card, we jump back a half hour as our trio of heroes is making their way towards the arctic circle. As Batman explains to Robin, the reason for their freezing getaway is to investigate the disappearance of a pilot named Randall Kreitzer. Quickly, things begin to go off the rails as the trio hits a magical field. Superman is knocked out while Batman and Robin see the T-Rex coming toward them and all of a sudden we hit the moment from the beginning of the issue.
The battle with the Rex doesn’t go well for the heroes until a warrior leaps in from out of nowhere and stabs the Rex through the top of its skull. The warrior introduces himself as Travis Morgan a.k.a Warlord which can mean only one thing: Batman, Superman and Robin have somehow landed in the magical world of Skartaris. For those that might be unfamiliar with Skartaris or Morgan, allow me to give you some brief context.
Skartaris was a land first introduced in the 1960s within the pages of DC Comics. It's a fantasy world where the sun never sets, magic pulses through the air and although once believed to be in the center of the Earth, it actually resides in a different dimension, only accessible to people on rare occasions. Travis Morgan, the man now known as Warlord, was a pilot in the U.S Airforce during the Vietnam War and while flying his plane by the arctic in 1969, crashed through a portal to the mystical land. One last bit before we return to the story: time works very differently in Skartaris and moves at a much slower pace. While years go by on Earth, only days and weeks go by in Skartaris. Now, back to the story.
As it turns out, the T-Rex wasn’t hunting the group but was running away from a massive war. The war on Skartaris is between forces loyal to Morgan and on the other side, forces loyal to a being known only as the “Tyrant Rex.” Superman falls during battle as he doesn’t immediately realize the enemy weapons are magic-enhanced. Superman is captured, tied up and dragged away as the battle continues to rage on. Batman, Robin, Morgan and Morgan’s allies push back the lizard-hybrid army and Morgan introduces our heroes to his squad (Machiste, Tara, Mariah and Shakira) before revealing the real identity of “Tyrant Rex:” Randall Kreitzer! The issue ends with Superman being dragged into Kreitzer’s throne room, as a transformed dino-fusion form of Kreitzer looks on.
Thoughts on the Issue
First off, if you haven’t been reading Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, this is a fantastic jumping-on point. There isn’t anything you need to know about the first fifty issues to fully enjoy this one. That being said, there’s a reason this book has been one of my most anticipated titles month in and month out, and it’s worth it to catch up on if you haven’t been reading it. Mark Waid’s writing throughout the series has been top-notch, and no matter the artist, we’ve been getting killer art from the beginning. World’s Finest #51 is no exception, as the narrative and art are both fantastic throughout.
Let’s start with the story. Since World’s Finest’s inception, it’s been a celebration of the Silver Age and all of the wackiness and fun that comes with it. Bringing Superman and Batman into the world of Skartaris, complete with all its fantasy tropes and yes, dinosaurs, makes this issue one of my favorites of the year. When comics fully embrace the weird and wild world that they’re a part of, it's something that can be truly magical. I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about Skartaris or Travis Morgan beyond an episode of Justice League Unlimited from when I was younger but it's a perfect setting for a book series that likes to touch every corner of the DC Universe. Waid sculpted his narrative so that if you’re entirely new to the concepts of Skartaris, it won’t hinder your enjoyment of the story at all.
I can’t review a Mark Waid book without bringing up characterization. Part of Waid’s genius is that in a book featuring lizard-people, dinosaurs, warriors that look like they stepped out of a Conan the Barbarian story, and a world where wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff is the norm, he still manages to get his signature moments of characterization in. One of these moments occurs fairly early in the issue when the heroes are battling the Tyrannosaurus Rex. When Warlord kills the Rex, Superman immediately screams that he didn’t have to kill it, and he picks up its corpse to give it as proper a burial as he can. In Superman's mind, the dinosaur that just attempted to murder him and his friends did not deserve its fate. Every life has meaning to the Man of Steel, and just because this creature was hunting them doesn’t mean it’s evil.
In addition to his characterization of Superman, there’s a really funny part that I think nails the teenage brain of Robin in this issue. When Batman and Robin meet Warlord’s squad of allies, some of them aren’t exactly wearing clothes that leave much to the imagination. After Robin gets a good look, he tells Batman in a whispered tone, “I want to live here.” It’s a small moment, but it’s funny and nails what most teenage boys would be thinking in that scenario. Just as he’s done his entire career, Waid seems to have a pulse on the characters he writes like no other, and I’ll never stop singing his praises in that area.
The last part of the narrative I want to touch on is the weight this enemy has already been given. Superman being incapacitated within the first few pages of the first issue of this arc already raises the stakes, given that he is usually the best shot at defeating most villains. When Superman is around, you feel safe, and you get the feeling that the heroes are always going to win out. When he’s taken out so soon into the battle, though, you know that things have the potential to get very, very bad. Now I don’t know much about this Tyrant King and his forces, but if they are already powerful enough to take down Superman, this is going to be one tough fight for Batman, Robin, and the Skartarans. This arc is only one issue deep, and I’m already anxious to see how the villain is going to meet his end.
Finally, I want to touch on the art. Again, if you’re just jumping onto World’s Finest, this book has always had incredible art, and Adrián Guitiérrez has been dynamite since he took over for Dan Mora a few arcs ago. Whether it’s Batman and Robin duking it out with lizard-people, a massive T-Rex on a rampage, or a massive battle raging across the lands of Skartaris, Guitiérrez delivers some fantastic art throughout this entire issue. Prior to reading World’s Finest, Guitiérrez was not on my “automatically-check-their-work” list, but after issue after issue after issue of quality work on one of DC’s biggest titles, he’s now on that list for me and has become one of my favorite month-to-month comic artists working today. While I will always miss having Mora on the interiors of this book, I truly believe that Guitiérrez’s time on World’s Finest will be looked at in the same breath. He deserves all the praise in the world for how well he’s brought Batman, Superman, and their allies and enemies to life within the pages of World’s Finest. I look forward to seeing more of his work as the series continues.
Concluding Thoughts and Rating
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #51 is one of my favorite single issues of the series. If you’ve been second guessing checking this book out, now is the time to start picking it up. Mark Waid and Adrian Guitiérrez have been making magic together for awhile now and this new arc in the dimension Skartaris looks like it's going to be one of World’s Finest’s best yet. Dinosaurs? Magic? Epic battles? Sign me up for this wild arc that’s ahead of us.
RATING: 9.5/10