World's Finest Contradiction

I think I've made it a little more than obvious by now that I prefer comics and entertainment from previous decades. It certainly wasn't always this way with me. I have to pinpoint the 1990's as the decade that started to create the biggest gap between my sensibilities and modern day entertainment.

I didn't keep up with TV much in the 1990's. And meeting my wife Lorie sealed the deal on the TV coffin as I suddenly didn't even have time for Star Trek or shows like Lois and Clark: the new Adventures of Superman. But I was up-to-date with movies, as I was involved with Blockbuster video for most of the 1990's.

And comics. I read comics. I wasn't happy about it in the slightest, but I read them.

The 1990's was a wasteland of good comics and the decade that would see the most change for what comics were about and who their audience was. I never really got the perspective on the subject to understand that's what was going on. I kept buying comics for the reasons that I always bought comics, only the entire industry changed around me and I didn't really recognize that fact until I gained the perspective to look back on myself and the entertainment I had grown to love so much.

I would like to illustrate with a specific example. The relationship between Superman and Batman.

In 1999, DC ran a huge storyline dealing with an earthquake that devastated Gotham City. During that storyline of a destroyed city and people in obvious dire peril, the big question was where were all the DC heroes that were supposed to avert disasters of such proportion. This was dealt with in Batman #566 with a visit from Superman.












As you'll notice from this example, Superman and Batman are treated as far from equals and far from friends. This issue will forever rest in my memory because of the level of disgust and anger it created within me. There was no reason for this at all. And it spits on the characters of DC and the decades of growing those characters.

Thing is... the whole earthquake hitting Gotham storyline was a swipe from a 1977 one issue story with a costumed villain creating earthquakes in Gotham.











As you can see, Batman even makes a mental note to get help from Superman on re-establishing the status quo. The Batman here is very admirable, doing things within human limits and shown to be striving to push himself to the limit. To never give up and help other people regardless of the effort it would entail. This Batman is no thug out to prove that he's in charge and how tough he is. This is a Batman clear of head and purpose and free of selfish motivation. This Batman is secure enough in his identity that he's not threatened by the idea of help from Superman, whose obviously more powerful.

Here's a story I found from World's Finest comics #271 published in 1981. In it, there's a sequence where a firefighter forgets himself for a moment and questions Superman's involvement in Gotham City affairs. Batman does what a stand-up man would do and makes the man realize that some things are bigger than such petty concerns as territory and who's in charge of what. In the end of the story, Superman and Batman are celebrated as partners and friends... the World's Finest team.








The story was written to celebrate the fact that Superman and Batman had been teaming up in World's Finest Comics for two hundred issues.

Here are some sequences from their first team-up in the title from World's Finest comics #71, 1954.





Let's jump from this sequence in 1954 to thirty-two years later and the last issue of World's Finest comics, #323 in 1986. It was decided that these two characters were in for big changes and a title teaming them both up was inappropriate at the time. The severing was handled less-than-gracefully.








So... what happened? Why would DC comics shy away from the most famous super-friends in comics? Why would things go from switching costumes to trick a villain and shaking hands in the end of an adventure to downright animosity between these two characters.

As with anything, there are several factors that built this up. But for me, the straight answer is obvious and disturbing. Comic books used to be published for kids, and the super heroes were moral stories teaching kids right from wrong and how to behave in society. And that worked and worked well. Somewhere along the line the comic book companies felt there was more money in aiming their audience to an older generation. And they had to compete with video games, movies and TV that were getting more and more violent and adult with every passing year.

They stopped trying to teach us morals and behavior, and started fighting for our dollars.

Batman can't be a symbol for the pinnacle of human achievement. Batman has to be a tough talking badass who doesn't get along well with anybody. Why? Because Batman wants your dollars. He doesn't care about teaching you the right thing to do. He cares about making sure you buy his books again next month. He doesn't want to show a small child the best way to behave in a bad situation. He wants to seem like a big man to an adolescent with a fist full of cash.

It's just that simple. At least in my opinion it is.

Have things gotten better since the 1990's? They have and they haven't. Both Marvel and DC publish cartoons and books aimed at young kids that use their characters for the original intended purpose. To teach morals and to show kids what's expected of a hero in society. The comic book themselves continue to get older with their audiences. They've passed the adolescent phase of the 1990's, but they're so adult now that I won't give them to my young son or young nephews. And they're still doing everything they can to attract your dollar. And unfortunately one of the things that attracts money is character death. The companies are killing characters to drive up sales of the books. NOT because that's what the audience wants. But because the public at large thinks if they buy the special "death" issue that it will go up in price and be a collector's item and be part of history. Conceits that just are not true anymore. But shhhhh... don't tell the general public.

SO YEAH! I want the comics of my childhood back. And the reasons are far more than purely nostalgic. Our society and culture is going to Hell in a hand-basket. And where are the heroes that show us the stand-up way to behave?

Thanks,
DCD


Batman #566 - 1999
Kelley Puckett
Jon Bogdanove


DC Special #28 - 1977
Bob Rozakis
John Calnan

World's Finest #271 - 1981
Roy Thomas
Rich Buckler

World's Finest #323 - 1986
Joey Cavalieri
Jose Delbo

World's Finest #71 - 1954
Alvin Schwartz
Curt Swan

World's Finest debuted in 1941
Superman-Batman teams ups started in - World's Finest #71; 1954
They ended in - World's Finest #323; 1986