“Impossible” – Part Four
Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Dan Mora
Color Artist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Steve Wands
Review by Bryant Lucas
The Man of Steel squares off against the Imp Killer, as Bat-Mite and Mr. Myxzptlk scour the earth for Magic-Users in this month’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #29.
After trouncing through multiple dimensions in last month’s issue, our titular heroes have finally returned home… just in time for Batman to be transformed into a puppet by Imp Killer. Left with only an inkling of Batman’s plan to defeat the cosmic foe, Superman has one last stand against the cosmic imp while Batm-mite and Mr. Myxzptlk round up magical heroes.
Deus Ex Huh??
Quick spoiler warning: the heroes (unsurprisingly) win. I won’t get into the details of how they defeat the Imp Killer, but I will say this – it’s utter nonsense. It’s not that the climax/resolution doesn’t make sense. I could explain it… but it feels very random. Like “they can do that?!” random. Mark Waid really pulled this one out of his keister, as it feels very deus ex machina. However, I will also say this: it wasn’t “bad” per se. While I find the ending of this arc to be utterly bizarre, it nevertheless felt very fitting for a story about fifth/sixth dimensional imps. These characters by their very nature are illogical to our feeble 3-dimensional brains. So a random, nonsensical kinda works.
Deus Ex Mora!
Blah blah blah… Dan Mora is wonderful… blah blah blah… his work is perfect… blah blah blah… you’ve heard it all before. I know y’all are probably sick and tired of my banging on about the greatness that is Dan Mora. But seriously… This book is beautiful. It’s vibrant, dynamic, and interesting. Everything from his sense of action, to his character designs, to his paneling, Dan Mora’s art is legitimately flawless.
As a side note, Mora was given the privilege of being the first to draw Bat-Mite unmasked. That’s right folks! For the first time ever, readers are shown what Bat-Mite looks like underneath the cowl. And let’s just say that it catches Batman off guard.
Conclusion
World’s Finest #29 is a wacky and bizarre ending to a fun story arc. Despite its randomness, Mark Waid’s story was fun. The tone was light and buoyant: a nice shift in tone after his Kingdom Come sequel. Dan Mora’s work was as to be expected: pristine.
Final Verdict: If you don’t think too much about the ending, you’ll probably enjoy this issue.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
