Legendary comic book scribe Mark Waid is returning for DC's Batman/Superman: World's Finest, which sees the titular heroes unite with their counterparts from one of the publication's most iconic series, Kingdom Come.
DC officially revealed that Waid will join forces with artists Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Steve Wands for Batman/Superman: World's Finest #20. "The Golden Calf," is the first part of an all-new story arc, "Heir to the Kingdom." The story will comprise a five-part arc that brings together The Dark Knight and The Man of Steel with a jaded Superman, a broken Batman, a war-hungry Wonder Woman, and the other reimagined superheroes of the 1996 groundbreaking series written by Waid, with art by Alex Ross. Superman's protégé, Boy Thunder, will also return in the series.
Batman/Superman: World's Finest #20
- MARK WAID (W)
- DAN MORA (A)
- Cover by DAN MORA
- Variant cover by BJORN BARENDS
- Variant cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA
- Variant cover by CHRISSIE ZULLO
- Variant cover by DANIEL SAMPERE
- Foil embossed variant cover showing the helmet of Magog
Mark Waid is ecstatic to return for World's Finest and to the characters he helped mold in Kingdom Come, "It's been exciting to revisit the world of Kingdom Come with this prequel," he said. "Dan, Tamra, Steve, and I have the chance to show how some of its characters originally evolved and to account for some that were missing from the original series. Even if you think you know the ending, there are massive surprises in store," Waid added. Batman/Superman: World's Finest #20 features a main cover by series artist Mora, variant covers from Bjorn Barends, David Nakayama, Chrissie Zullo, and Daniel Sampere, plus a foil embossed variant cover, showing off the helmet of Magog, the infamous antihero from Kingdom Come.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Waid revealed some of his motivation for returning and the elements he wanted to explore in World's Finest, "There's a ton because this isn't so much a sequel as it is a prequel," he said. "We do flash-forward a few pages into post-Kingdom Come, just to set up the world, but most of this is taking place in the before-times in an area of time somewhere between the World's Finest era and now in the DC Universe," Waid explained.
"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," he continued. "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," the writer added.
Batman/Superman: World's Finest #20 is available for pre-order and will arrive on October 17, 2023.
Source: DC