Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #33
Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 20, 2024
Cover date: January 2025
“Shadows Fall – Part 3”
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Adrián Gutiérrez
Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Covers: Adrian Gutierrez and Tarma Bonvillain, Tom Raney and Michael Atiyeh, Marguerite Sauvage
Reviewed by: Tony Parker
Dr. Mona Bennet falls to her knees in despair, seeing all the heroes caught by Eclipso. She begs to God for hope, and gets some from Robin, who reassures her that Batman surely has a plan, and he’s enacting it (at least, he thinks), thanks to the charged amulet Dr. Fate has given him.
And all the heroes come back, unscathed. Superman asks Dr. Bennet where Eclipso and Dr. Gordon could be, and we soon find out they’re in Greenland, at the U.S. Satellite control network. The combined men are blocked by guards, whom they make shoot each other, but Superman blocks the bullets. Batman and Robin are right behind, chasing Eclipso and Gordon, while Superman saves the guards. They are attacked, though, and backup’s busy with the ships and hospitals in trouble from the lack of satellites.
The Republic of Mustan and Coast City are in danger too. Everything is going wrong. What hope do the World’s Finest have all alone against a threat such as Eclipso?
But Superman is Superman. Figuring out he can choke out the guards for now by drawing away their oxygen (by running around in super speed and using his freeze breath), he makes things easier for his allies. However, Batman is chased by Gordon, while Eclipso continues enacting his evil plan.
Meanwhile, the other heroes are struggling: Hawkman, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Elongated Deal deal with the dictator of Mustan, Atom, Midnight, Sandman and Green Lantern (Hal and Alan) deal with the hospital’s power and patients. But then, Eclipso tries to mind control Alan and turn him evil, turn the Justice Society evil and fed up with their treatment as older heroes.
Superman and Batman arrive in time to stop Gordon, but he’s not focusing on the satellites. He’s focusing on the twelve astronauts on board. Superman rushes to help them, and succeeds, only for Gordon’s trap card to activate: Red Sunlight shot right at the Man of Steel.
With Superman dying in space, Batman begs for help. But it’s too late.
The Justice Society are attacking the Justice League.
Just when it seems like Batman’s in trouble too, Dr. Fate saves him and reminds him of what must be done. Batman agrees, and asks if anyone can go after Eclipso. And it turns out one can. The Spectre.
The Spectre and Eclipso talk, as the former tries to understand the latter’s motivation, which boils down to control and fear, to turn every single human into an animalistic savage.
Thankfully, the tide begins to turn. Barry manages to snap Jay out of it, and Batman orders Fate to get Eclipso to him, now that his hold is weakening. As a weak Fate just manages to teleport Eclipso to them, Batman taunts Gordon, telling him he’s just a puppet, and he should prove he’s not by killing him. The moment Gordon turns to shoot Batman, he instead shoots Eclipso, who was busy shooting Spectre. Thus, the two bodies shoot each other, and explode.
Now, with the red sunlight gone, Superman steps in to finish the job, as the reformed crystal retraps the villain. Now, Gordon and Bennet can try again and make amends, while the dark god is placed inside the sun by Spectre.
And so, the Justice Society leave, reaffirming what they all knew: The Justice League carry the torch they lit.
The End.
Story – 3: And so, a decent 3-part arc ends! It wasn’t the best arc this book has had, and it wasn’t anything THAT special per se, but as a small “wow, how are the heroes gonna beat this guy?” story, it was pretty dang great! Not every story needs to have something to say, after all. Sometimes, you’re just in for a story, and this one was all about seeing the League and Society deal with a threat that huge and come out on top with some GREAT gambits. Honestly, that would be my main takeaway and recommendation: You like crossovers where the heroes desperately need to outsmart an impossibly powerful villain? Here you go.
I do find the Society’s whole “we’re still useful” bit a little undercooked, to be honest, as it could easily have been put on a higher pedestal of importance, but that would be my one critique. This book’s selling point since day one has been “Batman and Superman’s friendship plus fun team-ups and spotlights with gambits”. We got all four of those. So yeah, check it out, it’s good!
Art – 4: I really liked some of the final battle moments. The lighting was intense, and captivating. Really felt like an otherworldly presence.
Cover Art – 2: Kind of mediocre, to be honest. Superman in trouble, Batman somehow not, boring enemies.Variant Cover Art – 2: Meh, too much Batman again.Variant Cover Art – 2: Solid but not spectacular.Variant Cover Art – 3: Cool to see the Creature Commandos I suppose.Variant Cover Art – 2: Wow, they really like that composite Batman/Superman moment from the first arc.
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