Batman/Superman: World's Finest is taking a trip to one of DC's most iconic alternate universes.
Beginning in Issue #20, the acclaimed monthly series will explore the world of Kingdom Come. Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Alex Ross, this classic "Elseworlds" story juxtaposed an aged Justice League with a new generation of violent, antiheroic metahumans. A clear commentary on comic book trends in the 1990s, it's remained a seminal work that acts as both a dark DC Universe future and a hopeful examination of certain heroes.
The new story arc of World's Finest (also written by Waid and drawn by Dan Mora) acts as a prequel/addendum to the events of Kingdom Come. Along with the mainstream Superman and Batman, their Kingdom Come incarnations will also be major players. The main crux will involve Superman's forgotten sidekick Boy Thunder, who is destined to become one of the main antagonists from Kingdom Come -- the brutal Magog. Not only will Superman and Batman be in a much friendlier place than they were in the '90s Elseworlds comic, but the general world of Kingdom Come will be explored more.
During CBR's exclusive interview with Waid, the writer said "This gives us a chance to explore all those characters in the Kingdom Come Universe, how they're different from our characters, and [how they] became the Kingdom Come versions that we know. We get to touch on a lot of characters that we didn't get to see in Kingdom Come, which seems impossible because there are 8000 characters in Kingdom Come. But we touched very little on the villains and supporting characters, and there's a lot of room to play there."
Kingdom Come was originally followed up by the sequel series The Kingdom. While not as successful or well-received, it did introduce the concept of Hypertime. This stand-in for the multiverse explained that all continuities were "canon" by way of time streams. In recent years, the idea was brought back to the mainstream DC Universe while also being combined with the multiverse in the DC Extended Universe Flash movie.
Waid also notes that the entire premise of Batman/Superman: World's Finest as a series is to break down the narrative barriers of the various "ages" in comic books. "This whole thing is about finding ways to blend Golden/Silver/Bronze Age concepts with a modern form of storytelling so that it doesn't feel cheesy or outdated, and it's also to show proof that there is a lot of life left in those comics."
Batman/Superman: World's Finest has been lauded by fans and critics for its classic and old-school style. Batman in particular is written in a less standoffish, more personable and down to Earth persona that he had during the Bronze Age. The Batman/Superman duo was itself a staple of the late Golden Age and early Silver Age, forging the relationship between the two heroes as one of the strongest friendships in comic books. The landmark series The Dark Knight Returns ended this friendship and had the two written in a more antagonistic light, but recent comic books such as World's Finest have restored their former comradery.