Batman/Superman: World’s Finest by Mark Waid and Dan Mora

[phonogram12]

Its sucks batman has more villians in this cover than supes

Are we really counting Catwoman as a villain anymore, though?

Snyder Cultists will be seething at that shade he gives Man of Steel...

I died laughing at that, he clearly hasn’t changed his opinion on the DCEU.

Just one of the many reasons Waid is one of my favorite superhero writers.

[Vordan]

Another amusing note is that I guess they’re making an adaption of Irredeemable, so Waid’s take on evil Superman is on track to get made while he’s writing the main guy.

[Vordan]

Yes--but it doesn't even have to step outside the boundaries of the book! There are other Superman Family/Batman Family characters who are overdue for a team-up!

One of my favorite parts of the Williamson run was when he had Steel and Batwoman team up so I’m looking forward to more of that.

ALLEGEDLY....I really can't other than to say it's essentially a sequel to BIRTHRIGHT.

If you needed another confirmation!

Brainiac is the only member of the Superman Rogues Gallery who actually frightens him. I'd love to dig into him someday.

Wonder if this means we can rule Brainiac out as the villain for that BL book? Given that BL book feels like a rebuke to Snyder and his fans, I wonder if maybe Zod will be the bad guy of that story?

I would LOVE to see a good take on Terra-Man. And I'd love to see more of the '70s stuff reprinted. As regards the Kents: personally, I think they serve the mythos better when they're dead, because (a) it's a valuable lesson to Superman that he can't fix everything, and (b)in my mind, a key piece of Superman is that he's always on the edge of loneliness, and that Clark is the way he connects with people on an ordinary level. ALL THAT SAID, that's just my own take; I understand that a lot of people prefer the Kents alive, which is why when I wrote BIRTHRIGHT, I put my own wishes and ego aside to keep them alive.

I hope he kills the Kents off in the Birthrightverse.

I LOVE Doc Shaner. He's amazing. And the answer to the Shazam question is...yes and no. See issue two.

[Quinlan58]

Snyder Cultists will be seething at that shade he gives Man of Steel...

Certainly felt petty to me, and I say this as someone who's disliked Snyder since the days of 300.

[phonogram12]

I hope he kills the Kents off in the Birthrightverse.

I mean, if it's an out of continuity Birthright-verse, I hope he gets to do whatever the hell he wants. I'd love to see what he'd do with Superman without any editorial interference.

[Vordan]

Image of issue 2!

[Quinlan58]

Summary of the AMA (as far as Superman goes, there were also some interesting questions about Flash, Daredevil and the general industry):

World's Finest

• Kaminsky reached out to him because Waid mentioned it was his dream book.
• He thinks what sets apart his book from previous ones is Robin's status as a key player (and when asked about his role, he said "he's the one who tells jokes")
• He implied he'll include certain Bat-character/Super-character team-ups that he thinks are long overdue
• His favorite thing about working with Dan Mora is that "he does expressive humanity so well".
• Deadman isn't going to be in Issue 2 due to a change in plans, but he'll try to include him and Metamorpho later
• A male sidekick will appear and will surprise people.
• Captain Marvel/Shazam will and will not appear in Issue 2
• He loves writing Superman again, particularly since it's his first time writing the classic version

Future Plans besides World's Finest

• Can't say anything about his Black Label project, but it's "essentially a sequel to Birthright"
• He thinks that Brainiac is the only villain that Superman fears, and he is the one character (hero or villain) that Waid would like to reinvent.
• He doesn't want to write a Supergirl book. He thinks it would be hard to follow King.

On his previous work

• Superman: Birthright is the story he's most proud of.
• Kingdom Come was the most difficult thing to write in his career, because of the immense pressure.
• He only put Supergirl in the Legion because he couldn't include Superboy. He calls it a happy accident, but he also implies he'd change it if he could.
• He made the Legion read 21st Century comics for inspiration because it sounded fun. There wasn't any deeper reasons or meta-commentary or snything like that intended.

General Superman talk

• He believes Superman's core characteristics are "kindness, empathy and compassion"
• His favorite Superman story is a tie between Miracle Monday and Superman Owes A Billion Dollars. Miracle Monday also has his favorite moment.
• He thinks Jon Kent is very fun, but he's not attached to any post-1978 idea the same way as he is to older ones, even if he may still like them
• He's moved on from thinking there's a "correct" Superman interpretation to thinking there's a wide variety of valid takes. And yeah, he still found the time to throw shade at MoS while saying this.
• His favorite Superman writer from Post-Crisis onwards is Tom Taylor. He also mentioned Tom King.
• His favorite Legionnaire is either Brainiac 5 or Mon-El
• His favorite superhero movie is Superman '78
• He'd love to see more of the 70's Superman reprinted
• He'd love to see a good take on Terra-Man
• He prefers when the Kents are dead in current times

Other interesting things

• He thinks legacy is a key component of the DCU and that it makes it unique. At the same time, he thinks there's no reason why kid characters like Bart Allen should ever grow-up, meaning change from what they've always been.
• As far as current comics go, he's reading Nightwing and Flash
• He thinks the idea of DC having a tight continuity hasn't been true for a long time and that it's impossible for it to have one again
• He thinks current editorial prefers to give creators freedom rather than keeps things consistent across books

And one final quote, about Superman

Superman wasn't built to be "edgy." He was built by his creators to be your guardian angel and an advocate for the weak and oppressed, and the best interpretations IMO center on the fact that he's an aspirational figure, not one who intimidates. That's Batman's job. Superman needs the world's trust in order to operate freely, and the moment people see him as a weapon instead of a man of kindness, it's game over.

[captchuck]

I loved the comic. Of course I started reading Superman and Batman in the 1960's, so everything seemed recognizable to me. I'll continue buying this as long as Mark Waid is writing it.

[Vordan]

Waid liking Taylor the most is funny but upon reflection I get why. They’re both Superman fans who were introduced to the character via the Donner flicks, they both have written major “Superman turns evil” stories with Waid’s Superman expy the Plutonian just having been announced for adaption on Netflix, and they have a case of terminal Twitter-itis. Waid eventually left Twitter and his writing improved, Taylor should frankly do the same soon.

[Frontier]

Waid liking Taylor the most is funny but upon reflection I get why. They’re both Superman fans who were introduced to the character via the Donner flicks, they both have written major “Superman turns evil” stories with Waid’s Superman expy the Plutonian just having been announced for adaption on Netflix, and they have a case of terminal Twitter-itis. Waid eventually left Twitter and his writing improved, Taylor should frankly do the same soon.

I did not know that! I wonder if they'll build up to an Incorruptible adaption.

[DABellWrites]

Summary of the AMA (as far as Superman goes, there were also some interesting questions about Flash, Daredevil and the general industry):

World's Finest

• Kaminsky reached out to him because Waid mentioned it was his dream book.
• He thinks what sets apart his book from previous ones is Robin's status as a key player (and when asked about his role, he said "he's the one who tells jokes")
• He implied he'll include certain Bat-character/Super-character team-ups that he thinks are long overdue
• His favorite thing about working with Dan Mora is that "he does expressive humanity so well".
• Deadman isn't going to be in Issue 2 due to a change in plans, but he'll try to include him and Metamorpho later
• A male sidekick will appear and will surprise people.
• Captain Marvel/Shazam will and will not appear in Issue 2
• He loves writing Superman again, particularly since it's his first time writing the classic version

Future Plans besides World's Finest

• Can't say anything about his Black Label project, but it's "essentially a sequel to Birthright"
• He thinks that Brainiac is the only villain that Superman fears, and he is the one character (hero or villain) that Waid would like to reinvent.
• He doesn't want to write a Supergirl book. He thinks it would be hard to follow King.

On his previous work

• Superman: Birthright is the story he's most proud of.
• Kingdom Come was the most difficult thing to write in his career, because of the immense pressure.
• He only put Supergirl in the Legion because he couldn't include Superboy. He calls it a happy accident, but he also implies he'd change it if he could.
• He made the Legion read 21st Century comics for inspiration because it sounded fun. There wasn't any deeper reasons or meta-commentary or snything like that intended.

General Superman talk

• He believes Superman's core characteristics are "kindness, empathy and compassion"
• His favorite Superman story is a tie between Miracle Monday and Superman Owes A Billion Dollars. Miracle Monday also has his favorite moment.
• He thinks Jon Kent is very fun, but he's not attached to any post-1978 idea the same way as he is to older ones, even if he may still like them
• He's moved on from thinking there's a "correct" Superman interpretation to thinking there's a wide variety of valid takes. And yeah, he still found the time to throw shade at MoS while saying this.
• His favorite Superman writer from Post-Crisis onwards is Tom Taylor. He also mentioned Tom King.
• His favorite Legionnaire is either Brainiac 5 or Mon-El
• His favorite superhero movie is Superman '78
• He'd love to see more of the 70's Superman reprinted
• He'd love to see a good take on Terra-Man
• He prefers when the Kents are dead in current times

Other interesting things

• He thinks legacy is a key component of the DCU and that it makes it unique. At the same time, he thinks there's no reason why kid characters like Bart Allen should ever grow-up, meaning change from what they've always been.
• As far as current comics go, he's reading Nightwing and Flash
• He thinks the idea of DC having a tight continuity hasn't been true for a long time and that it's impossible for it to have one again
• He thinks current editorial prefers to give creators freedom rather than keeps things consistent across books

And one final quote, about Superman

Superman wasn't built to be "edgy." He was built by his creators to be your guardian angel and an advocate for the weak and oppressed, and the best interpretations IMO center on the fact that he's an aspirational figure, not one who intimidates. That's Batman's job. Superman needs the world's trust in order to operate freely, and the moment people see him as a weapon instead of a man of kindness, it's game over.

On the Tom Taylor thing, I honestly believe he doesn't have one and probably thought of two current names that have done a Superman story.

[Matt Rat]

Isue#4 solicitation

As Robin and Supergirl retrieve the secrets of the Devil Neecha 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

[Frontier]

Should be fun to see Hal turn up .

[Vordan]

I did not know that! I wonder if they'll build up to an Incorruptible adaption.

Apparently they’ll be adapting both in one. I dug Irredeemable but Incorruptible seemed pointless and the ending was weak.

[SuperX]

I like how Waid writes Clark and Bruce being actually nice and friendly with each other, not all harsh like others do it, it's such a breath of fresh air.

Mora art is classic but alive, I don't really know how to explain it, but u like it a lot