Customer Reviews

World's Finest Comics Archives, Volume 3 (DC Archive Editions)

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Dick Sprang, who drew most of the stories in this volume, had the most charming style of any artist who's ever drawn superheroes: small-figured, precise, naive, whimsical, technically peculiar, somehow dreamlike. In these fantastical stories--including a few beautifully plotted larks by Bill Finger, the co-creator of Batman and one of the masters of the DC superhero style--he had the opportunity to show the full range of oddball imagination. "Mystery of the Time Creature" is among my favorite comic book stories ever. "The Star Creatures" and "The Menace of Superman's Pet" are gems. And the stories not drawn by Sprang are by Curt Swan, the iconic Superman artist. These are unlike any comics of the past 40 years, since the Marvel aesthetic took over the business--but if you can shift your mind into the strange reality of early '60s DC, they are a joy.

I remember World's Finest Batman and Superman pairings as a kid. Always enjoyed them so went for a little nostalgia and purchased this volume. Quite disappointing. All but one of the episodes pit our heroes against aliens or other fatastigorical villains. No underworld, no detective work, nothing remotely believable, just space or supernatural creatures. I guess they ran out of stories and only thing they could find for our protagonists to go against were these super colossal beasts. Too bad. Earlier volumes would I suppose be better.