Review – Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #36 – War Under the Sea

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #36 – Mark Waid, Writer; Adrian Gutierrez, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist

Ray – 9/10

Ray: One of the best things about Mark Waid’s writing is how good he is at combining elements of the DCU that you’d never think would go together. It was the strength of his previous stint on Brave and the Bold, and it carries over into this flashback series. This issue takes us down to Atlantis, which is now composed of two rival cities. Superman and Batman are investigating a strange undersea plague – one that has Aquaman’s city of Poseidonis in a panic, and has the rival city of Tritonis planning for war. King Ronal, Lori Lemaris’ husband, is gung-ho to take over his rivals, and the end of last issue saw the heroes unmask the Floronic Man as the true culprit – but the evil plant-man has thought well ahead and already spread the plague in a way that will maximize. As Aquaman battles to keep his throne and Batman and Robin try to get ahold of Woodrue and get answers for him, Superman finds himself trapped by magic.

Superman and Lori Lemaris’ romance was really only a footnote in the larger scheme of things, but it’s fun how often it comes back and makes things awkward. While Lois is usually unbothered by it, the same can’t be said for Ronal, who seems jealous and unstable – maybe a consequence of the plague, or maybe he’s just a jerk. Lori manages to help free Superman from the bonds, but the new connection between them threatens to cause much deeper consequences for the battle. Superman is still single here and Lori is an unhappy arranged marriage, remember. But the battle with the Floronic Man takes an exciting twist when it brings in the other major player in the Green at this point – adding some fantastic visuals from Adrian Gutierrez. He nicely changes up his style or a flashback segment as well. This arc is just pure, old-school epic DC fun.

To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.

GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.

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