Batman/Superman: World’s Finest vol. 5 — Secret Origins

We get a change of pace with this volume as it’s not one story about the title characters.  It’s several and some aren’t even about them.  The first is and it’s the modern version of how Superman and Batman met, learned each other’s secret identities, and learned how to work together.  Writer Mark Waid comes up with a very clever way to facilitate this as it involves the Riddler leaving riddles all over Gotham in a foreign language:  Kyrptonian.  This is only the tip of the iceberg of a plot that involves people vanishing out of thin air in Gotham and a threat from Krypton’s past that has found a way to threaten Earth’s present.  It’s all fine for what it is, with the only real surprise being who’s behind it all, and it features pleasant enough art from Travis Moore.

That’s followed by the first “Annual” for this series, which is actually a collection of stories about characters who are not Superman or Batman.  We get a Metamorpho story that has him dealing with the legacy of his adventurer dad, Karen “Bumblebee” Beecher getting the lowdown on a tech company’s shady dealings, and a reintroduction to the Challengers of the Unknown.  The first two are fine bits of superhero fluff, but the last one is a letdown.  Particularly as it comes from Christopher Cantwell, who’s got a track record for quality and is writing the new “Challengers” series.  This story shoots for intriguingly weird, but winds up being a catchphrase-heavy bit of inscrutability – even with Jorge Fornes’ art.

Fortunately Waid and artist Steve Pugh saved the best for last here with “World’s Vilest.”  That’s right, it’s the origin of the Luthor/Joker team as the billionaire scientist businessman has a lead on an ancient artifact that will give him the power to put Superman in his place.  Unfortunately the instructions for finding it have driven everyone who looks at it for too long insane.  Which is where the Joker comes in and the two are off to the races – or rather, the underground subway that may or may not be connected to the Rock of Eternity.

I’m not sure if “delightful” is the right word to describe a story where the most selfish and arrogant of comic book villains has to work with its craziest, but I was thoroughly entertained by seeing them try to do that.  Waid knows these characters so well that he finds plenty of clever ways for them to get under each others’ skin, and even if the story’s end was a foregone conclusion it wraps up in a way that tells you more about them – Luthor more than Joker.  Steve Pugh brings their antagonism, and the weirdness they encounter, to memorable life and sends the volume out on a high note.

Well, high enough after the universe-ending fifth-dimensional imp business is teased at the end…