Warning: Spoilers for Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #27
Summary
Super FriendsBatmanandSupermanare smashing out of the TV screen and back into comics for the first time in over 40 years!Super Friendsis a 1973 Hanna-Barbera Saturday-morning cartoon based on the Justice League, with 93 episodes spanning 12 years, and a 47 issue DC-TV comic-book run. Now, two of the Super Friends return briefly to print.
InBatman / Superman: World’s Finest#27 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, and Travis Mercer,Bat-Mite takes Earth’s greatest hero (and Superman) on a dimension-hopping journey, including to the Second Dimension: a world of flat cartoons. There, Batman, Superman, and Bat-Mite are transformed into versions of themselves that take clear stylistic inspiration from the originalSuper Friendscartoon.
The fifth dimensional imps,like Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite, are often super-fans of heroes like Batman, but some imps are fans of villains. The villainous imps have joined their counterparts and are wreaking havoc in service of finding the strongest hero. When Parasite and Paras-Mite steal the third-dimensionality from Batman and Superman, they’re thrust into a world that looks familiar.
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Super Friendsis considered apart of the Bronze Age of DC, so this post-Crisis duo won’t recall the iconic costumes they’re suddenly wearing in the Second Dimension. The blue-and-gray Bat-suit and Superman’s red trunks are similar to the styles inWorld’s Finest, but while Bat-Mite figures out how to re-inflate the heroes,Batman and Superman are briefly their ’70s Saturday-morning cartoon selves. Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice back in the Third Dimension, Mxyzptlk is helping Robin and Jimmy Olsen with the onslaught of mite-ridden villains.
To see the World’s Finest heroes in cartoon color is a happy return to retro aesthetics.
In an issue rife with iconic references, these flattened Friends are a reminder of more brightly-colored days. Though several images from the classic cartoon are still popular in the form of humorous frames, fans haven’t seenBatman and Superman quite like thisin a while.Super Friendsis a playground of intellectual property. Crossovers aired with the Universal Monsters and Scooby-Doo, and one episode had Mxyzptlk transport the heroes to the Land of Oz. To see the World’s Finest heroes in cartoon color is a happy return to retro aesthetics.
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This issue features several clever callbacks, opening with the title sequence forBatman: The Animated Series, a brief glimpse of Sleestaks from Land of the Lost in the Second Dimension, and another allusion toSuper Friends:the full articulation of Jimmy’s name. As so often happens inSuper Friends, James Bartholomew Olsen may need to be rescued bySuperman(andBatman, too!). All this is to say that these references indicate that DC knows how much fans love its animated properties, and it’s only a matter of time before readers see yet anotherSuper Friendsnod in the pages of DC Comics.
Super Friends
Cast
Super Friends is an animated television series that premiered in 1973, featuring iconic DC Comics superheroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Wonder Twins. Tasked with combating various villains and crises, the heroes operate from the Hall of Justice, emphasizing teamwork and moral lessons. The series saw multiple iterations and was a staple of Saturday morning cartoons, showcasing family-friendly adventures and emphasizing the values of heroism and cooperation.
