World’s Finest #178-180

World’s Finest #178 (1968)
by Cary Bates & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams

There are many, many stories that showcase that Superman is a great hero regardless of his powers… but I rarely trust Cary Bates with Superman, so is he going to deliver?

This is an “imaginary tale”, so we’re not going to get any backstory, but… if I were Superman I’d be less worried about the interdimensional portal than the fact that the US government apparently was testing nuclear bombs in space!

As for why Superman is piloting a spaceship into the Ditko Dimension instead of flying himself… well the story really couldn’t happen otherwise.

Curt Swan really isn’t at his best for the rest of the issue… maybe it’s the Jack Able inks… but this other dimension is WILD.

Unfortunately the ship is taken down by some guns shooting goop, and we have the return of the worst catchphrase in the history of fiction.

Once Superman flies out of the ship and is hit with… uhm…

Whatever that stuff was, Superman barely makes it out of the Ditko Dimension alive.

And once he gets back to his senses, he’s lost his powers.

Superman takes the news well.

The only person capable of knocking some sense into Superman is of course Batman.

This nameless doctor reassures us that this interdimensional stuff will forever take away Superman’s powers.

Sounds legit.

Superman is understandably bummed about the situation. Weird to see Batman is the one to reference Supergirl, but she doesn’t show up in this.

This scene really rubs me the wrong way.
First of all: Clark Kent is supposed to be a Pulitzer Prize level journalist, why is he suddenly being sent to cover a flower show!?
And second… this is probably a consequence of reading the post-Crisis Superman before the pre-Crisis one, but… I always disliked the idea that Clark is just a disguise.
He grew up as Clark, on Earth!!! Sure he was already having adventures as Superboy, but come on, his Earth identity means nothing to him? Seriously!?!?

You would think that the close friendship he has with Batman would be enough to make Superman realize that you don’t need superpowers to be a superhero, but apparently what he REALLY needed was to see Green Arrow and Speedy performing for charity.

Apparently Superman really, REALLY hates being a journalist. (WTF!?)

And then we have Nova fighting Batman! Who is apparently colorblind, because that cape is definitely not golden.

This is not a Marvel crossover: “Nova” is actually Superman. Who gets knocked out cold by Batman for the second time in the same story.

“See Batman, now I’m a creature of the night just like you. Which is why I took the name of an exploding star and run around in a brightly colored costume”.

Yeah I’m with Batman on this one. I don’t doubt that Superman has what it takes to become a non-powered hero, but it should take him more training than five minutes.

He does have gadgets, though. Like a flying cape designed by Leonardo DaVinci.

This is pretty lousy, but there is one bit I liked: Superman is SO used to pulling his punches that it’s hard for him to adjust. Kind of like he needed more than five minutes of training or something.

And then he gets captured by the mob boss “Mr. Socrates”, immediately losing his secret identity and being used as a pawn against Batman.

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World’s Finest #180 (1968)
by Cary Bates & Ross Andru
cover by Neal Adams

Issue 179 was a reprint, so we conclude the story with issue 180.

I don’t know why Mr. Socrates decided to get into the mob. He has a device that lets him control humans like puppets, isn’t that worth basically all the money ever?

Mr. Socrates, you have to pick a supervillain theme! Either it’s the computer stuff, the inventions, the blindness or your weird name, you can’t have ALL of them!!!

I know it looks like I’m skipping a lot, but the story wastes so much time recapping the previous issue and introducing Mr. Socrates that the cover scene is at page 8 of a 16 page story.

Time for Superman to give back to Batman one of his punches.

Aaaaand Batman knocks him out for the third time. Maybe, just maybe, Superman just sucks at this.

I’m not entirely sure why Batman’s first idea was to X-Ray Superman, but it worked out.

Batman deliberately allowing Superman to escape is the most Batman thing he does in this story.

Then the mind-control device stops working long enough for Superman to change course.

Soooo… the Batcave is so impregnable that even Doctor Doom can’t get inside (REALLY), but Mr. Socrates has the right toy car sold separately weapon for the job

Mr. Socrates has booby trapped the Batcave, but he’s knocked out by the sudden return of Batman and Robin… AND Superman.

When he discovers the mind control device doesn’t work anymore, Mr. Socrates gets back into the Batcave and is killed by the explosives THAT HE PLANTED THERE.

At this point you might be wondering: how did Superman break from mind control?
And the answer is… highly questionable, even for the Silver Age.

Remember how I said this was an imaginary story? It’s hard to understand WHY.
It’s definitely not because of the secret identity shenanigans.

And so we end with some sequel bait, but this reality was never seen again.

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Historical significance: 0/10
Naturally, being an imaginary tale.

 Silver Age-ness: 9/10
The interdimensional comes out of absolutely nowhere and is never brought up again. Plus Mr. Socrates would fit the tone of some of his comics.

 Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
A wasted opportunity. This would’ve been the perfect chance for Superman to prove himself… and instead he proves that this version really, really sucks. Props for at least TRYING to still be a hero, but emphasis on “trying”.

Did Robin actually do anything?

Did Superman really need Batman? We need SOMEONE to be competent here