World’s Finest 168

WORLD’S FINEST 168 (1968)
by Cary Bates & Curt Swan

For some reason Composite Superman proved popular enough to get a sequel.
And a cover that has pretty much nothing to do with the story!

The story begins with an alien called Xan visiting his dying father, who wants revenge against Superman and Batman because they arrested him.

Just in case you’re wondering: no, we’ve never seen this guy before. Sounds like a gun that can kill Superman would be big news, but that’s the Silver Age for you.

Studying their rogues galleries, he comes up with the perfect pawn: Composite Superman.

Composite Superman lost his powers in his last appearance, but that’s no problem for Xan.

Just a reminder that this guy has super-intelligence and shapeshifting powers, yet THIS is how he chooses to look like:

He’s currently the most powerful being on Earth, which he uses to wreck some statues at the Superman Museum. Clearly the greatest menace in the universe.
I still have no idea what he has against Batman!

He shows up at the Batcave, where he beats up the heroes with absolutely zero effort.

Look, I like Batman. I like team-ups between Superman and Batman.
But if the villain has the powers of the entire Legion of Super-Heroes, Batman is going to be utterly useless.

Except for bickering with Superman. He’s still the best at THAT.

Since Composite Superman made reference to the powers of the Legion, Superman deduces that the statuettes at the museum have something to do with it.
Oh come on, you have Batman around and you don’t even let him play detective!?

In his only somewhat intelligent move, Composite Superman uses his shapeshifting powers to replace Robin.

But that’s ultimately useless because Batman figures out that he’s not Robin a couple of pages later.

Not that he can do much about it!

Superman flies to the future to get a confirmation about the origins of Composite Superman.
Interestingly he goes to the Adult Legion, instead to its teenage version.

At first I was a little annoyed he didn’t bring the Legion to the 20th century to fight Composite Superman, but I have to admit that his solution is much faster.

With the statuettes destroyed, it’s only a matter of time before Composite Superman runs out of power.

This might be the only time Superman fights the Batmobile.

At least this time we get some variety: Composite Superman has the powers of 30 people, so it’s about time to show the rest of them.

Not Superman’s proudest moment, I admit.

With so many superpowers you might think that there would be absolutely no reason to give Composite Superman a new one, but that’s the Silver Age for you.

As the guy who is currently reviewing every singe Legion story of the Silver Age, I can assure you that THIS IS NOT HOW THEIR POWERS WORK.

They feel that Composite Superman’s powers are fading again, and it looks like the good guys have already won.

Except… remember the alien at the beginning of the story?

In the previous story we learned that Composite Superman had a grudge against Superman before getting his powers. But apparently as soon as he loses them he’s ready to sacrifice his life for him.

Superman melts the Magna-Gun and arrests the alien. And that’s already the end for the original Composite Superman.

So… if the alien had a gun capable of killing Superman, why did he need Composite Superman in the first place!?!?

 

Historical significance: 1/10
Believe it or not, Xan will actually become the second Composite Superman!

Silver Age-ness: 10/10
It’s as silly as expected, but it doesn’t go the extra mile in insanity like the first Composite Superman story.

Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
What a waste. The story plays a little with Composite Superman’s capabilities, so at least that is a slight improvement… but it’s pretty bad. Batman is especially useless this time, Composite Superman is all over the place when it comes to personality, Xan’s presence needlessly complicates the plot, and like I said even the cover has nothing to do with the story!