World’s Finest #242 (1976)
by Bob Haney & Ernie Chan
We are almost done with the Super-Sons: this is their last Bob Haney story, after which they only have a finale written by O’Neil.
Will Haney manage to pull off a decent story?
Yeah I’m not holding my breath on that.
At least the Juniors are graduated from traveling the country on bike to driving this thing.
Then Bruce Junior crashes the car (IN THE DESERT) and Clark Junior loses his powers. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!
They come across a cemetery with some peculiar tombstones.
Okay, okay, here’s the real panel.
And then they run into this guy! What, did Bruce Junior crash the car into the past?
This is Kid Bowie, by the way. He’ll be our antagonist, so I think I already got my answer on whether this is going to be a decent story.
Kid Bowie is only one of our villains, because there’s also Slade.
For once I have to give it to Bruce Junior, he’s being useful.
He would even manage to get some help if this town wasn’t mysteriously protected by an invisible wall. Apparently they managed to crash the car into the only access point.
Hey when I wondered if Bruce crashed into the past I WAS KIDDING!!!
Yes time has basically stopped in this Wild West town, trapping Kid Bowie, Slade and “Lever Monroe” who we haven’t met yet.
It also explains why Superman Junior lost his powers, because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We have a scene that showcases the different ways the Juniors grew up. You’d think we’d get those more often, since THIS IS WHAT THE SERIES WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT.
Reason #31,587 why Batman Junior is the worst possible heir to his father: how do you get Batman’s greatest lesson to be “you should murder criminals”!?!?!?
This girl gives us an accurate summary of what it’s like to review every single Super Sons story.
Because apparently without a civilian around Clark Junior wouldn’t have tried to escape?
At least the action is decent. Even Bob Haney can’t screw up “Batman in a knife fight”.
But on the other side of the spectrum, has there ever been a decent Superman story where he uses a gun?
HOW DOES HE FALL FOR THIS!?!?!
The thought balloon treats this like Slade just fainted but… we can all agree Superman Junior totally shot this guy dead, right?
There’s only one guy left. And since he’s a gambler, Batman Junior thinks the same logic of typical Batman villains applies.
What the… HOW DOES THIS WORK!? I know Batman has his whole “disappearing when the person you’re talking with is not looking at you for two seconds”, but COME ON!!!
If he threw a Batarang at him after the carbine was empty, sure, it would’ve been a good plan. But he managed to disappear from his view, throw the rope and jump at him in the time it took the shooter to aim!? REALLY!?
So story over, right? Nope! Because the girl we met earlier was actually the real criminal boss all along!!!
But she doesn’t last long, because Superman Junior suddenly has his powers back.
I wish this was just because they were only temporarily switched off, or even that they came back for no reason.
Instead, ladies and gentlemen, I give you: the DUMBEST REASON IMAGINABLE.
The town is built on ground that takes away Kryptonian powers FOR NO REASON GIVEN, so it can be negated by stepping on a specific grave.
I’m just grateful this is when the story ends, because if I lose any more brain cells I won’t be able to post the review.
Historical significance: 0/10
Silver Age-ness: 124/10
Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
There is SOME value to this. The idea of a Wild West town cut off from the country, where people don’t age but are methodically killed off by insane gunmen… that’s a great idea for a horror story!
The knife fight was actually pretty good, and while it came out of absolutely nowhere it was at least novel to have the villains to be revealed being henchmen of the damsel in distress. Other than that, though, that’s the usual Super Sons idiocy. They have NO BUSINESS being in this story, Batman Junior continues to be THE most irritating character I’ve ever reviewed, Superman Junior is quite useless, and the entire mystery of the town goes completely unexplained.
Did Superman Junior really need Batman Junior? Yes
The roles have been reversed, this time it’s Clark Junior being useless most of the time!
Interesting letters: the story where Gold stretches across intergalactic distances to help Batman send an electrical signal trillions of times faster than light is “scientifically plausible”.
I always try to keep a positive view towards all comics, but the Super Sons always find ways to make me lose faith in humanity.