Batman/Superman: World’s Finest vol. 8 — 20,000 Leagues

Did you know that there are actually two undersea races in the DC Universe?  There’s the Atlanteans, who are ruled by Aquaman, and the Tritonians, mer-people ruled by King Ronal – who is married to Superman’s old friend Lori Lemaris.  Both races are now facing an outbreak of a disease that’s turning them all feral, and the individual behind it is about the last person anyone would expect.  Then, after the Perry White/Jim Gordon team-up you didn’t think you needed, Batman, Superman, and Robin take a trip to Bizarro World where things are… good?  Instead of the violent, opposite-speaking brutes they normally are, its inhabitants are becoming smarter and more civilized.  Whether or not this is actually a good thing quickly takes a backseat when our heroes find out that it’s portending the end of this world.

After a shorter-than-usual volume with a main story that saw writer Mark Waid off of his usual game, we immediately get confirmation that was a momentary fluke in this title’s run.  Both stories in vol. 8 get “World’s Finest” back to doing what it does best:  Telling high-energy superhero stories in the recent past of the DC Universe with novel twists on familiar concepts.  Both stories do that here and while neither will really blow your mind, they represent this series getting back on track.  They also confirm that new artist Adrian Gutierrez is a solid replacement for Dan Mora.  Gutierrez takes the stories that he’s been given and does a great job of making them as lively as possible, and in the process showing us why this remains a title worth reading.