World's Finest - Gibbons & Rude

[Chazro]

I just finished reading the World's Finest Trilogy, written by Dave Gibbons & drawn by Steve Rude. Published in 1990 featuring the 2 creators at the top of their game. I've never seen this series mentioned anywhere, ever! I'lltellyawhat, IMO it's one of the finest graphic novels ever featuring Superman & Batman. I've read this so many times but hadn't read it in a few years, I enjoyed it more than ever! It absolutely nails the mythos of the heroes, written and drawn so intelligently. It's honestly one of the best depictions of Superman/Batman I've ever experienced. I even saw something this time around I'd never caught before, in one scene there was Dave (from Rude's Nexus) sitting there smoking a pipe! Fans of Nexus are familiar with Rude throwing characters from other places in his crowd scenes, notably Space Ghost & co.! It struck me that whenever you see these 'best of' lists, I've never seen this series ever mentioned. It's the epitome of what a great comic book should be, great story, artwork, packaging, coloring, just a beautiful set of books. It never gets bogged down with continuity/earth 1,2,3 but to my mind it's Superman/Batman in a quasi earth one mode (50's-60's) but featuring modern (at the time) embellishments like Barbra in a wheelchair, Luthor with a metal hand, etc. The time frame/continuity thing is a total non-issue, Gibbons & Rude just used whatever they felt like from wherever they felt like and had a ball doing it. Did I mention how smart it is? On the surface reading like a typical fun mid-60's romp but layered underneath the story and imagery, it delves deep into the duality of the Light and the Dark, personified by the heroes and their worlds. DC should give this to all their creators as a primer on how to get it done right!

[Chris N]

I think if you look at people's favorite short run titles in the Classic Comics Christmas thread stickied above, you may see that this series does indeed have some fans.

[dupersuper]

you may see that this series does indeed have some fans.

Including me.

[Paulie]

It made my Classic Comics Christmas list indeed though your post above is more eloquent than mine. I also believe the Rude-Kesel art team was on Cei-U's CCC 2 years back for favorite penciller and inker teams. Well worth multiple reads.

[Schnitzy Pretzelpants]

I just finished reading the World's Finest Trilogy, written by Dave Gibbons & drawn by Steve Rude. Published in 1990 featuring the 2 creators at the top of their game. I've never seen this series mentioned anywhere, ever! I'lltellyawhat, IMO it's one of the finest graphic novels ever featuring Superman & Batman. I've read this so many times but hadn't read it in a few years, I enjoyed it more than ever! It absolutely nails the mythos of the heroes, written and drawn so intelligently. It's honestly one of the best depictions of Superman/Batman I've ever experienced. I even saw something this time around I'd never caught before, in one scene there was Dave (from Rude's Nexus) sitting there smoking a pipe! Fans of Nexus are familiar with Rude throwing characters from other places in his crowd scenes, notably Space Ghost & co.! It struck me that whenever you see these 'best of' lists, I've never seen this series ever mentioned. It's the epitome of what a great comic book should be, great story, artwork, packaging, coloring, just a beautiful set of books. It never gets bogged down with continuity/earth 1,2,3 but to my mind it's Superman/Batman in a quasi earth one mode (50's-60's) but featuring modern (at the time) embellishments like Barbra in a wheelchair, Luthor with a metal hand, etc. The time frame/continuity thing is a total non-issue, Gibbons & Rude just used whatever they felt like from wherever they felt like and had a ball doing it. Did I mention how smart it is? On the surface reading like a typical fun mid-60's romp but layered underneath the story and imagery, it delves deep into the duality of the Light and the Dark, personified by the heroes and their worlds. DC should give this to all their creators as a primer on how to get it done right!

I haven't made any posted lists, but if I did, it would certainly be on it.

Your sentiments are bang-on, in my opinion.

Plus, it does a great job balancing adult themes while still being incredibly fun - and one of my huge litmus tests: This is a comic book that you could give to non-comic book readers, and they would get it, enjoy it and see that comic books can surpass their expectations.