The Man of Steel and the Boy Wonder

cover art by Neal Adams

World's Finest usually featured a Superman/Batman team-up, but the 200th issue (February 1971) switched things up a bit by teaming Supes with Batman's sidekick Robin. This was the original Dick Grayson Robin, who by this time was attending college but was still a few years away from changing his hero identity to Nightwing.

Team-up stories with Superman can be tricky, because the guy is so darn powerful that a partner often seems superfluous. But clever writers on World's Finest and (later) DC Comics Presents often came up with clever plot twists that justified Superman's need for an often underpowered partner. Writer Michael Friedrich and artist Dick Dillon manage to do so in this particular issue.

Clark Kent is covering student protests at Hudson University, changing into Superman when someone tosses a firebomb. In a nice touch that demonstrates Friedrich understands Superman's essential character, the Man of Steel deescalates the situation with a minimum of violence.

But not everyone calms down. Two brothers named Marty and Davy have started slugging each other over their political differences. Robin is trying to break up the fight when Superman steps in. Then all four are abruptly transported to another planet.

This is where we meet this issue's bad guys. Two alien brothers named Migg and Kartal have a bad habit of using a teleporter to kidnap super-powered beings, subdue them with mental bolts, then slowly drain the life force of their captives to keep themselves from aging. As long as they have a regular supply of super-beings to drain, they effectively have immortality.  They also maintain a hideout for intergalactic criminals.

Superman has so much raw power that he represents an immortality jackpot. He and his fellow kidnappees are knocked out. Robin and the two brothers are tossed into a near-by jungle, with the brothers charging some of their criminal guests a fee for human-hunting privileges.

The character arc for Marty and Davy is predictable right from the first panel in which they appear. The moment they appear, any alert reader will know that the adventure they're about to have will teach them to respect each others' differing opinions and political viewpoints. But even if we consider this a weakpoint, the story has a number of strong points as well. The M.O. and purpose of the aliens is a unique one, providing a believable way of getting Superman in trouble and giving a non-powered hero the task of saving him. Also, Dick Dillon draws a jungle that has a strong "alien planet" vibe, giving the story a fun setting.

Robin and the brothers find themselves in this jungle, pursued by alien big game hunters who wear headbands that increase their mental powers. But Robin uses his gymnastic skills to get the drop on them. This nets the humans the headbands as they proceed to sneak into the alien fortress.

In another neat twist, Superman appears to break free from the life-draining machine, trashing portions of the base before being subdued again by mental bolts. This later turns out to be an illusion--Superman was allowed to think he was escaping to convince him escape was impossible.

Well, escape might be impossible, but rescue isn't. A batarang throw knocks out a couple of guards, then Robin and the brothers jump Migg and Kartal. Robin frees Supes, who then gets into a "mental bolt match" with the aliens to take them down. After trashing the life-draining device (which means justice will come to the alien brothers via rapid aging and death), the good guys teleport back to Earth.

I do think this is overall a strong story built on several very clever ideas. The predictability of the human brothers' story arc isn't that much of a glitch. But the final confrontation with Migg and Kartal does bother me. Superman has a wide range of powers, but that doesn't normally include mental bolts. I suppose the "I out-thought them!" line that Supes has in the last panel could be interpreted as meaning he simply overwhelmed them with his own will-power. That's fine by itself, but it's not clearly explained and we do seem him shooting mental bolts out of his head. There's nothing to clearly indicate that this is supposed to be symbolic.

I suspect that this is something that will not bother some readers as much as it bothers me. And it doesn't ruin an otherwise good story for me, so I guess I should just stop whining abou it anyways. We still get to see the Boy Wonder doing back flips through a pretty cool alien jungle. That should be enough to satisfy anyone.

Next week, it's back to the Wild West in the Marvel Universe to visit with the original Ghost Rider.