World’s Finest #77 (1955)
by Ed Hamilton & Curt Swan
There are a lot of stories where Batman gets superpowers. A LOT.
While it’s been associated with Superman since it was first used in his original radio serial, the “it’s a bird, it’s a plane” quote very rarely makes it into the comics.
This might be the only time it’s applied to Batman!
We begin with Clark Kent overhearing some criminals and unceremoniously being dumped by Lois.
By sheer coincidence, this is the same guy that Batman and Robin are after.
So, uhm, is Commissioner Gordon notifying the police in Metropolis too? Or is he just pawning this off to Batman as usual?
This Professor Pender guy has invented a Super-Charging Machine™ that supposedly can give anyone superpowers for a day.
Considering super-powers were surprisingly rare in 50s comics, that’s a big deal!!! And he doesn’t immediately use it on himself because… I’ve got nothing.
Not insane enough for you? He ALSO invented a device that can remove Superman’s powers!!!
Batman shows up to save Superman, and by sheer luck he ends up being given superpowers.
Don’t you just love 50s technology?
Superman seems to be way, WAY too reliant on his powers here. It’s not just that the pre-Crisis version has had powers since he was a baby (unlike the modern version)… but typically when Superman loses his powers he’s show to still be hyper-competent.
Not in this story though!
I guess we have to update Superman’s list of weaknesses. He’s invulnerable to everything except Kryptonite, magic, red sunlight… and vacuum tubes?
Okay, so Superman has lost his powers. The best course of action now would be to help Batman with the investigation without attracting unwanted attention to himself. Maybe helping him as Clark Kent, that’d be interesting!
Or he could drive around in a Supermobile and have his own Super-cave.
Yeah Superman driving around in a car is not going to attract attention.
Do you think Batman really does have trouble controlling his newfound powers, or is he just showing off?
When he’s operating as Batman, he does seem to have a good handle on how to use them properly; it’s just that he’s not used to take care of the side effects.
I love that the cover emphasized that Batman how has super-breath… but the comic itself goes out of its way to have him invent a different way to take care of an explosion.
Ah yes, the greatest weakness of all criminals: spelling.
I never liked the fact that pre-Crisis the costume was indestructible. It means that even if Superman loses his powers, technically speaking he still has most of his invulnerability.
Oddly enough, Superman taking care of a fire with a fire extinguisher DOES make it into the comic… but Batman is doing something far more impressive than using super-breath. And somehow even less believable!
As you might have guessed, the De-Charging Ray™ really was a fake: it didn’t take away Superman’s powers, it just sprayed him with Kryptonite dust.
The above exchange tells us three things:
A) we’re still in the era where the effects of Kryptonite are WILDLY inconsistent
B) Superman never washes his costume
C) he has a spare one!!!
The last one is quite surprising. The pre-Crisis costume is made from fabric from Krypton, it’s not like he can get more of the stuff easily… Kandor won’t be introduced for another three years! Is it just a costume made of regular fabric?
Anyway, the heroes trace Professor Pender’s base and beat him up, “accidentally” destroying the device that can give anyone superpowers.
Yeah I’m sure Superman didn’t do that on purpose to prevent having any serious competition.
And so we end with Lois threating to publish and article to reveal to the world that these two have swapped costumes once.
Slow news day, I guess?
Historical significance: 0/10
You might expect that a machine capable of giving anyone Superman-level powers for 24 hours or the guy smart enough to build it would show up again, but…
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
The easy-to-get superpowers and inconsistent Kryptonite. But the resolution is relatively sane for the period, plus it’s rare to see people struggle that much with super-strenght.
Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
The basic idea is fine, but it’s WAY too fast-paced to be done today without some changes. More consistency on how Batman handles superpowers would be welcome. Also you can’t just drop a machine like that and expect readers to forget about it by the next issue!
Still a fun read, but it would need serious changes to be done today.
Did Superman really need Batman? Yep!
This time he totally did, considering how out of his depth he seemed to be once he lost his powers. Which, again, is very unusual for Superman.