Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #12 // Review
Robin wants to change his costume. (It’s okay. It’s happened before with a different Robin.) This particular Robin wants to change his costume because of a bad date. Batman won’t let him do that much...even if it was a bad date with Supergirl. A bad date is the least of his problems in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #12. Writer Mark Waid has some fun with the established tropes of a few of the most popular characters in the DC Universe in a story that is rendered by artist Emanuela Lupacchino and inkers Wade Von Grawbadger and Norm Rapmund.
It was the night of the Man-Bat invasion in Boston. There was a lot going on. Robin was about to fall to certain death when he saved himself. Supergirl thought that was so cool: she didn’t know a normal person could do that. Naturally, she decided to ask him out. Of course...asking him out was only the first step. Things were going to be a lot more complicated if they were going to have a perfectly relaxed and totally normal date between superheroes. She didn’t exactly want that, but when x-ray vision revealed that Robin had shown up to a fine dining establishment in costume, well...things got off on the wrong foot.
It’s a simple date between a couple of heroes who never really had much of a chance to spend time together, but Waid makes it fun. There’s a bit of absurdist action at the end, but the heart of the issue lies in the romantic comedy possibilities between Supergirl and Robin. And they ARE actually a lot of fun. Awkward conversation ensues as Robin tries to impress Supergirl by talking about himself, and then Supergirl tries to take the edge off by talking WAY too much shop about different kinds of kryptonite...all while the kitchen is under code red just trying to make the best possible experience for a couple of mega-heroes. Waid seizes the comic possibilities and orchestrates them with fluid precision.
Lupacchino articulates the awkwardness beautifully without amplifying it at all. There would generally be a tendency for that...especially in a date that ends with monkeys and bowling balls. Lupacchino and company manage to keep it all together for long enough to make it all feel realistically comic. So much of the comedy is drawn directly into the faces of Supergirl and Robin. It’s a brilliantly reserved rendering of an awkward date on the part of Lupacchino.
Supergirl and Robin might make a really good team for World’s Finest. Batman and Superman have had it together for so long that it’s nice to see a relatively untested pair in the center of the panel. An awkward date between superheroes is a nice outlet for that. As obvious a comic premise as it is, it’s not one that makes it between the covers all that often. Waid and Lupacchino have nailed a perfect little sitcom in a very fun one-shot story.
