World’s Finest #102

World’s Finest #102 (1959)
by Bill Finger & Dick Sprang
cover by Curt Swan

Now that we are done with Virus X, let’s go back to exploring the wacky adventures of Superman and Batman.

We begin with a caveman falling from the sky. So you already know what kind of story this is going to be.

Batman and Robin are called on the scene because… well it’s a caveman falling from the sky, obviously you’re going to need a detective.

Amazingly, Unfrozen Alien Caveman doesn’t take kindly to waking up in a cage. When Batman proves to weak to deal with him, Superman shows up… and gets his S handed to him.

Unlike most aliens that immediately master superpowers the second they land on Earth, the caveman doesn’t seem to know he can fly at first.
Nice nod to Superman’s original powerset.

The brief fight accidentally caused a fire, which Superman puts out by… borrowing vinegar and baking soda!?
Look I don’t mind the fact that this might possibly work, but if you’re going to use your super-breath to diffuse the foam couldn’t you just, you know, put out the fire by using super-breath like you do in ANY OTHER STORY WHERE THERE’S A FIRE!?

When I saw the cover, I imagined that the characters would just assume the caveman was from Krypton but we’d eventually find another explanation.
But spoiler alert: he IS from Krypton!!!

One of the lesser known powers Superman had in the Silver Age was pulling explanations out of absolutely nowhere and be 100% correct.
HOW DOES HE KNOW ANY OF THIS!?!?

Also, Superman and Batman are the ONLY people so far that know the caveman is from Krypton, so they must’ve said something to the press about it. Why would they do that!?!?

And then we have the Unfrozen Alien Caveman committing robbery. Because of course.

I think he’s been framed. Any decent lawyer would get him out of trouble.

Case in point, half a page later:

This provides a clue about the criminal mastermind that is exploiting Unfrozen Alien Caveman… the dreaded Jo-Jo Groff.

Yes, seriously. This discount version of Lex Luthor is REALLY named “Jo-Jo”.

Which really goes to show that any loser can get his hands on Kryptonite these days.

How exactly can Superman survive more than a week when every single minor crook has Kryptonite is beyond me. Especially since he seems to fall for it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

At least Batman is useful for something this time.

Well at least we have what we have all been waiting for: the epic showdown between the Man Of Steel and the Man Of Stone Age!

LITERALLY NEXT PANEL:

Yep! Unfrozen Alien Caveman dies at the end.

That is one GORGEOUS final couple of panels, granted, but… you couldn’t think of any other way to end the story!?

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Historical significance: 0/10
When discussing the number of people that survived the destruction of Krypton, SOMEHOW the caveman never comes up.

Silver Age-ness: 10/10
I call him Unfrozen Alien Caveman throughout the story because IT’S LITERALLY WHAT HE IS.

Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
This is one of the dumbest stories I have ever reviewed. Think about that for a second. The only redeeming quality is the artwork on those two final panels, they really have no reason to be THAT good in a story like this!

Did Robin actually do anything? Almost
He helps Batman free himself, but I sure would hope Batman would be able to escape being prisoner of “Jo-Jo”.

Did Superman really need Batman? Yes
It’s kind of pathetic, but Superman seriously needed Batman to help with the easiest Kryptonite trap.