Earlier today, I was looking through covers from old issues of World’s Finest. You know, with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice coming out this week, the comic book that featured Superman and Batman teamed up (almost) every month was on my mind. (Early rumors had Batman v Superman titled World’s Finest, which I would have liked.)
The early World’s Finest covers are amusing, because most of them depict Superman, Batman, and sometimes Robin, doing mundane things like playing baseball, or water-skiing, or running from a skunk. (Okay, I suppose those things aren’t that mundane to you or me, but they have to be pretty mundane to Superman.)
Then the covers made a drastic shift: Instead of Batman and Superman enjoying leisure sports together, they wind up being in considerably more peril –which, yes, is normal.
But the covers that really grabbed my attention were the ones in which we are told that Batman or Superman or Robin were already dead. And, yes, I realize this is an oft used tactic from that ear to sell books, but it’s just kind of funny to see them all together. I just wonder how many Gullible Guses were out there, when, every month, there would be a, “Superman died?! What?!?!,” type breakdown. Then, by the end of the issue, exclaiming, “Oh, thank goodness — only to repeat this again the following month. Also, this would be a terrible spoiler to put on the cover if any of this happened to be true.
Anyway – because why not? – here are some favorite World’s Finest covers where our heroes are not just in danger, but already dead, ranked from least to most egregious.
9.) Here, Robin and Jimmy Olsen team up to fake their deaths, tricking Batman and Superman. (Okay, yes, this doesn’t quite qualify, but graves are used so I decided to count it.)
8.) On this cover, Superman has been dead for some time and all of his super organs have been harvested. If Warner Bros. adapts this story, I will look forward to Batman v. Superman: Never Let Me Go.
7.) Here, Batman is already dead and Robin must take over and track down Batman’s killer. My favorite thing about this cover is that it appears The Flash has somewhere else to be.
6.) I wish modern day Bruce Wayne would wear a green suit. Anyway, a very deformed Dead Batman is hanging around while Superman tries to tidy up some confusion.
5.) Superman has been killed by the only thing that can kill Superman: Magic!
4.) Again, Superman’s organs are being harvested, and Batman is the recipient of Superman’s heart. Batman is declining this offer, but maybe this is a discussion he should have had with the surgeon before this particular moment.
3.) Robin is blaming Superman for Batman’s death. Batman now appears as maybe the least intimidating ghost of all time.
2.) That little prank you fellas pulled earlier isn’t so funny anymore, is it?
1.) It doesn’t specifically mention Superman is dead, but his head has literally been popped off. Have nice dreams tonight.
Mike Ryan lives in New York City and has written for The Huffington Post, Wired, Vanity Fair and New York magazine. He is senior entertainment writer at Uproxx. You can contact him directly on Twitter.
