Batman/Superman World's Finest (2022)

The Dark Knight. The Man of Steel. They are the two finest superheroes that the world has ever known...and they’re together again in an epic new series from the legendary talents of Mark Waid and Dan Mora! In the not-too-distant past, Superman’s powers are super-charged from a devastating chemical attack by the villain Metallo...and the only ally that the ultra-powerful Man of Tomorrow can turn to in this turbulent hour is Gotham’s own dark vengeance: the Batman. A nearly fatal burst of power drives Bruce Wayne to his own extreme measures to help his friend...enlisting none other than the Doom Patrol for aid. It’s the world’s greatest superheroes from the world’s greatest comic book talent in an epic comic book experience that kicks off the next big events in the DCU. Get ready, it’s time to soar.

The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight have arrived at the compound of Niles Caulder—the Chief in charge of that strange band of misfits known as the Doom Patrol—but all is not as it seems. While Batman works with Niles to cure Superman of his freakish transformations, a side mission to track a mysterious figure known as "the Demon" attracts the Dark Knight’s attention…and moreover, it could have some connection to Superman’s poisoning at the hands of Metallo! It’s danger, intrigue, and the surprise appearance of Deadman in chapter two of World’s Finest!

Great Scott! It’s a twisted time-travel tale of titanic tenure! In an attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery of the demon, Robin the Boy Wonder and the Supergirl of Krypton venture back in time to China circa 1600 B.C.—running headfirst into the ancient superheroes known as the House of Ji! Meanwhile, Superman and Batman are losing a race against time to save their fellow superheroes from the schemes of a new villain…one simply known as the Devil Nezha.

As Robin and Supergirl race to retrieve the secrets of the Devil Nezha from ancient China, Batman and Superman get more than they bargained for in the present! To save humanity from the fires of the demon, the World’s Finest must go toe-to-toe with the protector of Sector 2814...Hal Jordan.

THE FIRST ARC OF WORLD'S FINEST CONCLUDES WITH A SHOCKING FORESHADOWING OF DCU EVENTS TO COME! The sinister machinations of the devil Nezha have run ragged the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight ever since he made his first terrifying debut in Detective Comics #1050…but what secrets does this villain hold for the future of the DCU? Clues abound for the next big DCU series in this climactic final chapter to the first arc of World’s Finest!

THE FLYING GRAYSON FLIES THROUGH TIME! The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel might have been victorious in their battle against the dreaded Devil Nezha (but were they, though? More on that to come, kids…) but there’s one thing they forgot in all the madness…Dick! Robin the Boy Wonder is lost in time like some kind of chrono-Home Alone…and to find him, Batman and Superman will need to get creative!

BRAND-NEW STORY ARC! The untold story of Superman's short-lived sidekick is at last revealed, but what secret connection to one of DC's most timeless tales does this story foreshadow? Only time will tell (that's a clue, folks). The next epic arc in the World's Finest saga begins here! INTRODUCING: BOY THUNDER!

"RECKLESS YOUTH" continues as Superman and Batman struggle to mentor the new Boy Thunder! The Key has drawn the World's Finest team into an impossible dilemma unlike any they've ever faced when the entire city of Metropolis goes into a deadly lockdown!

Batman and Superman are on a quest to train the mysterious new hero Boy Thunder... but what's that in the dark? A faint noise...sounds like a laugh? Uh-oh. The Joker is here and he's got his own plans for a super-powered sidekick! Someone hide all the crowbars, quick!

The saga of Boy Thunder crashes to a close as Batman, Superman, and the Titans frantically attempt to save their wayward ward! The choices the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel make in this moment will affect the future as we know it, as the secret identity of this über-powerful last son--that of someone DC fans have known for decades--is at last revealed!

The secret behind the Supergirl-Robin feud, revealed! On a day not too long ago, a meeting between the Boy Wonder and the Girl of Steel began sweetly, became awkward, and ended so catastrophically, horrifically, jaw-droppingly, car-crashingly disastrously that, among the Superman and Batman families, it is now enshrined as the world's finest example of How Not to Team Up!

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS METAMORPHO? In the pages of World's Finest, Batman, Robin, and Superman have traversed some of the DCU's most iconic locations and teamed up with the likes of the Teen Titans, Doom Patrol, and Supergirl, but none of that will prepare them as they must go across the globe in search of Rex Mason, a.k.a. Metamorpho, the Element Man! The World's Finest Strangest Adventure begins here!

Bruce Wayne... A murderer? Bruce Wayne's billionaire rival Simon Stagg is dead. And Bruce Wayne is suspect number one! With their friend's freedom and reputation on the line, Superman, Robin, and Metamorpho, the Element Man, join forces to exonerate the Dark Knight's alter ego the best way they can: by finding Stagg's real killer before they strike again!

THE RISE OF ULTRA-MORPHO! Years ago, Professor Anthony Ivo built Amazo, a killer android who could duplicate the powers of the Justice League. But now an even deadlier android stalks the DC Universe: Ultra-Morpho! Able to transform into any element, including Kryptonite, Ultra-Morpho can kill Batman, Superman, Robin, and Metamorpho in one fell swoop! But who created him? Who does he work for? And what has he done to Will Magnus, inventor of the Metal Men?!

Batman and Superman versus machines! A.I. villains and heroes--Shaggy Man, G.I. Robot, Red Tornado, and Chemo among them--have launched a global cyberattack alongside Newmazo's soldiers. Batman, Superman, Robin, and Metamorpho, the Element Man, are unprepared for the onslaught. With millions of lives on the line, the World's Finest team must find a way to pull the plug before it's too late!

World War A.I. hits its climax, guest-starring dozens of DC heroes in a war against Newmazo and his machines that will determine the fate of humanity--and lay threads for a menace that will soon pop up in the pages of Shazam!

THE UNTOLD TALE OF HOW THE DARK KNIGHT AND THE MAN OF STEEL FIRST MET! Think you know how Superman and Batman met and became friends? Think again! Read the untold tale of how their worlds first collided--and the stunning, secret loss that nearly destroyed their partnership before it even began!

THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD'S FINEST TEAM CONCLUDES! What, of all things, could tie the Riddler and the Phantom Zone together--and what secrets will the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel learn about one another that will define their friendship? All this, and a lead-in to an upcoming event set in the present day!

MARK WAID RETURNS TO THE WORLD OF KINGDOM COME! The return of Boy Thunder! To find and save Superman's former protege, the World's Finest duo bridges the dimensional gulf between their world and an Earth with a jaded Superman, a broken Batman, and a war-hungry Wonder Woman--the world of Kingdom Come!

Superman and Batman, having followed Boy Thunder to Kingdom Come, find themselves and that world on a path to an apocalyptic future. Can the World's Finest team prevent the transformation of Boy Thunder into the villainous Magog, or is his fate sealed?

Trapped in the universe of Kingdom Come, the World's Finest heroes encounter skewed versions of their friends--a team calling itself the Justice Battalion! Can Batman and Superman prevent Boy Thunder from fulfilling his destiny and becoming the bloodthirsty Magog?

The walls are closing in on the World's Finest duo as Boy Thunder falls fully under the thrall of Gog in the universe of Kingdom Come! Superman and Batman race against the clock not only to keep Boy Thunder from becoming Magog--but to save the Multiverse itself!

RETURN TO KINGDOM COME CONCLUDES! With no way back to their own Earth, will Superman and Batman have to witness the tragic events that led to cataclysm--or are they fated to take the place of their doppelgangers?

Join Batman and Superman as the World’s Finest team celebrates 25 issues of World’s Finest! This oversized special issue takes our heroes around the DCU and beyond--with a special lead story that will at last showcase the first meeting between The Joker and Lex Luthor. The World's Finest villains form an unholy alliance and will send chills down the spines of the DCU Heroes forevermore! PLUS: Spinning out of the events of the World's Finest Annual, Doom-Mite strikes and points the way to the next World's Finest epic!

BEWARE THE POWER OF THE DOOM-MITE! Following the imp-shattering events of the Batman/Superman: World's Finest 2024 Annual and #25, it's up to Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite to convince Batman and Superman that they're for real this time! If this dynamic duo of odd couples can't work together, then our entire dimension is in jeopardy!

IT'S AN IMP-LOSION OF GLOBAL PROPORTIONS! As Mxy and Bat-Mite flee the dreaded Doom-Mite of the fifth dimension, Batman and Superman must travel to the fifth dimension to do battle within a dimension of omnipotent mayhem! All this, plus the march of the Legion of Doom-Mites and an absolutely ADORABLE weapon of mass destruction in this startling second installment of the last World's Finest epic!

Something is destroying the fifth dimension--and if an army of evil imps can obliterate all the joy and life from an entire reality, what chance do Superman and Batman stand against it? A multitude of DC guest stars--and their fifth-dimensional counterparts--join the World's Finest duo in a last-ditch attempt to save Earth from the ultimate darkness!

The grand finale to Impossible is here, and it...well, it is as insane as you think it would be. First of all, we've got this big DOOM-MITE guy over here, check him out...he's about to eat Batman and Superman! What would that even taste like? Let's hope our heroes never let him find out, as the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight save the fifth dimension from IMPLOSION or die trying!

Get ready to see the Trinity--Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman--take part in their first adventure as a trio!

A BRAND-NEW ARC BEGINS, AS RISING STAR ARTIST ADRIAN GUTIERREZ JOINS MARK WAID! DARKNESS FALLS! Eclipso, master of light and shadow, has risen to plague the World's Finest team of Superman and Batman! Powered like never before, Eclipso threatens to plunge the Earth into a state of eternal night--and eternal despair!

ECLIPSO'S REIGN OF TERROR RAGES ON! Even the combined might of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight Detective cannot overcome the reincarnation of the literal wrath of God...sounds like our heroes are going to need some reinforcements. It's the World's Finest debut of the Justice League as night falls on the DCU!

Eclipso's reign of terror has brought the Justice League to the brink of civil war...but there must be a way to break the spell! The answer lies within the very power source that allows Superman to race faster than a speeding bullet... It's a battle for Earth's yellow sun in the dramatic conclusion of "Darkness Falls"!

PET-AGEDDON! The Super-Pets have gone berserk, Metropolis and Gotham City stand on the verge of ruin, and the world's only hope is...the Batgirl/Olsen team? It's a comedy of terrors as--wait, is that a flying monkey in a red cape...?

20,000 LEAGUES BEGINS! A distress call from Atlantis has brought Batman and Superman deep beneath the waves...and face to face with the king himself: Aquaman. But this man of two worlds harbors a secret, and it will be up to the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel to thwart a coup that threatens the peace of all undersea life! A new story arc begins as the World's Finest travel under the sea with new ongoing series artist Adrian Gutierrez!

UNDER THE WAVES...LIES DEATH! Superman and Batman must team with Aquaman and Swamp Thing to prevent a global eco-catastrophe engineered by...the Floronic Man?! An extradimensional battalion of converts wrecks havoc on the high seas in this latest installment of the 20,000 leagues epic!

THE WAVES CRASH! Superman and Batman have a code against killing...but does a king of Atlantis? As the Floronic Man makes his final play for dominion over the seas, Aquaman is forced to react as a warrior, not a superhero--and the consequences will surprise you! Guest-starring Swamp Thing...and featuring a very special celebrity cameo variant from the mayor of Flavortown himself: Guy Fieri!

WE ARE YESTERDAY BEGINS HERE! The sinister psychic powers of the devious Gorilla Grodd have the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight in their sights, but all is not as it seems to be! There's something strange going on here...some monkey business that the World's Finest can't quite put a finger on. It's almost as if this Gorilla Grodd has...knowledge of the future?

WE ARE YESTERDAY PART FOUR (OF SIX) The Batman and Superman of yesterday...today?! As Gorilla Grodd's vicious temporal onslaught upon the Justice League continues, the Dark Knight and Man of Steel from the time of the World's Finest get a horrifying glimpse into their own futures...and the tragedies to come! It's minute-by-minute mayhem in the epic new installment of the We Are Yesterday crossover with Justice League Unlimited!

BRUCE WAYNE AND CLARK KENT IN THE CLUTCHES OF...LATE NIGHT TV?! A menace is loose in Metropolis, but Superman and Batman can't do anything about it until Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne find a way to escape...a talk show? Will it be up to their friends--Perry White, Lois Lane, Commissioner Gordon, and Alfred Pennyworth--to step in and help save the day? Also featuring an all-new cameo variant cover appearance by late night icon Stephen Colbert!

SAY GOODBYE TO BIZARRO WORLD! Up is down, left is right, and red is green--but danger is still danger as Batman and Superman awaken on Bizarro World with no idea how they got there--or why they're being hunted by one of the most dangerous beings in the universe! Even if they survive, can they find their way home from a backward planet in time to save their friends from danger?

A PLAGUE THREATENS BIZARRO WORLD! Escape from Bizarro World continues! Superman, Batman, and Robin--tracing a mysterious plague that is sweeping the planet--have found Patient Zero! The only cure for the Bizarros is to eradicate him--so how will the World's Finest Trio save an entire race without murdering a sentient being?

BIZARRO WORLD ON THE BRINK! As Bizarro World continues to change and morph, Superman and Batman find themselves at war with one another! With the universe at stake, they have to decide on the question: Are Bizarros beings with no life of their own, or are they worthy of salvation? The answer will surprise you!

SUPERGIRL AND ROBIN TEAM UP! Because you demanded it--the return of the Supergirl/Robin team! Road trip edition! On a covert international mission, Robin partners with the Girl of Steel...who chooses to liven up what’s supposed to be a discreet undercover bust!

EVIL TIMES TWO! Lex Luthor and The Joker have joined forces once again, but this uneasy alliance hinges on a crucial outcome: the final defeat of both Batman and Superman. Why else would the most brilliant criminal mind of our time and the Clown Prince of Crime team up? Well, the answer will surprise you...and them! Betrayal abounds, terror intensifies, and a major surprise is in store for the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel in part one of The Merger.

LUTHOR AND JOKER'S TEAM-UP KICKS IT UP A NOTCH! In order to defeat the Joker/Luthor team, Batman and Superman may have to ask for a little help from their friends--if they still have any after the shocking events of last issue! Don’t miss part two of The Merger.

FUSION VS. MERGER! The combined might of Batman and Superman faces off against the combined might of The Joker and Lex Luthor in the knock-down, drag-out brawl of a conclusion to The Merger! Someone is about to get their not-too-distant past kicked!

ENTER: THE CRIME SYNDICATE! They are the finest duo in the world--but which world? Forget Batman and Superman--welcome to a chilling tale starring their evil Crime Syndicate doppelgangers, Ultraman and Owlman!

PART TWO OF DAY FOR NIGHT! Escape from Earth-Three! Superman and Batman are trapped on a parallel world where evil reigns, facing their counterparts Ultraman and Owlman...and their powerful allies. If our heroes are to save themselves, they may have to find the darkness within themselves!

OVERSIZE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! This issue features an adventure so big, not only are Robin, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Batgirl, and the rest of the Super-Bat Family joining in but Dan Mora makes his return to the series he helped launch!

RRRROOOOOAAAARRRRRR! Uh-oh. That sounds like a T. rex. The World's Finest team enters the lost world of Skartaris—home of Travis Morgan, the Warlord! In a magical realm where Superman's powers are at risk, Batman and Robin trade their masks and capes for swords and sorcery!

PART TWO OF STANDOFF IN SKARTARIS! Batman and Travis Morgan, the Warlord, must work together to combat the greatest threat to this underground kingdom--the Tyrannosorcerer! But where is Superman? In search of a new way to augment his powers that will shock you!

"STANDOFF IN SKARTARIS", FINALE! The brutal battle between Batman and a magically amped Superman threatens the entire realm of Skartaris! How can Robin and Warlord hope to shut down a fight of such magnitude?