I finally got around to reading World's Finest. It was overall a mixed bag but I'm glad I read it. Firstly, I adore how World's Finest looks. The entire comic is a visual feast. Steve Rude's illustrations are so striking. I love how he (with glorious inks from Karl Kessel) relishes in shadows and silhouette. Rude plays with light brilliantly and their intrinsic understanding of framing and emphasis on iconic spreads was just delightful.

The character design here is also pitch perfect. Superman and Batman come off as almost mythical figures throughout. From Batman's sleek cowl and the iconic grey black yellow to the nostalgic hair swoop and dimpled chin combo on Superman they were definitely going for a more classic look and it works so well.

While I adored World's Finest's art its story wasn't my favourite. As the title suggest it's about Batman and Superman teaming up to stop The Joker and Lex Luthor who have overrun each other's cities. Unfortunately it digresses into an incredibly convoluted scheme by an evil orphanage warden attempting to indoctrinate kids into crime. I found the plot confusingly presented. The connections between characters and ongoing mysteries lacked a necessary clarity. To be honest I didn't even fully understand the plot until I read the liner notes in the back. Further the overall story just felt a little too silly given the prestige tone of the graphic novel.

But outside of the plot this story did have strong thematic weight. Much of World's Finest is an exercise in contrasting Batman and Superman. Visually I think the comic does this beautifully. Metropolis, Gotham and their respective heroes and villains have very distinct aesthetics that Gibbons and Rudin do well to highlight and eventually merge or subvert as the story progresses. The best moments in the comic are the silent parallel panels of the big two. As mentioned before the art is gorgeous and they do a lot of work to put these two characters in conversation without exposition.

But while the story presents aesthetics contrasts between Bat and Supes well I don't think the actual narrative presented does enough to meaningfully engage with their similarities and differences. This book is much more a story about Lex Luthor and the Joker buying orphanages than it is a story about Superman and Batman teaming up. While there are some interesting moments of connection between the two I think the narrative could have done more to engage with its leads and their opposing worldviews and methods.

Another disappointing aspect of the story was how the supporting casts of Batman and Superman were used. Lois especially felt more like a prop to play out a "What if Bruce Wayne dated Lois Lane?" scenario than a meaningful contributor to the story. I mean all their scenes together could be cut out with no meaningful loss. Characters like Commissioner Gordon and Perry White were also paired off in ways that didn't add much to the story or make much sense (like why wouldn't Gordon be liaising with Metropolis' police commissioner rather than the editor of a newspaper). This all made the story feel less thought through and intentional.

But overall World's Finest, despite its flaws, was a worthwhile read. Its visuals alone are worth the price of admission. While I wish the story was stronger and had a little bit more to say about our two leads I'm definitely not mad I read it.