SURF’S UP!!

By 1941, it was clear to DC Comics that Superman and Batman were their most popular, and bestselling superheroes.  What better way to capitalize on this success than to have them appear together on the cover of an anthology comic book?  Batman and Superman (along with Robin, the Boy Wonder) were showcased on the cover of New York World’s Fair Comics (1940).  The success of this title led DC to create World’s Finest Comics for it’s next issue, and ran for many years.  Issue 36 of World’s Finest Comics is shown here.  Along with Superman and Batman, many characters filled the pages of World’s Finest Comics, such as Johnny Thunder, Zatara, The Crimson Avenger, Red White & Blue, the Green Arrow, the Boy Commandos and others.  Although Superman and Batman appeared together on this cover and all of the future covers of World’s Finest Comics, they did not appear together in the stories.

That is, until World’s Finest Comics #71 (July-August, 1954, above) when they began regular team ups.  This led to many collaborations between these characters in the future, and the deep friendship between Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent.  The title, “Worlds’s Finest Comics”  during this era always featured Superman, Batman and Robin engaged in friendly competition or in other humorous situations; but the message was clear that these heroes were the finest that DC had to offer.  As the readers of these large format comic books learned, they got much more than Batman, Robin and Superman for their fifteen-cent investment.  With 76 pages cover to cover, fifteen cents bought a lot of action!

Expert commentary provided by our good friend and comics expert, Bill Jourdain.   Thanks Bill!