The World’s Finest heroes, Batman and Superman, seem to be like night and day, but have more in common than not. In fact, a flashback comic recalling their first adventure together reveals how Batman discovered a common link between their shared histories as orphans.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #19 by Mark Waid and Travis Moore presents the tale of how Batman and Superman first met. The two join forces to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances. This is exposed as the work of the Kryptonian criminal Jax-Ur.
Taking advantage of a weakness in the Phantom Zone, Jax-Ur escapes and traps Batman in his place. Still able to communicate with Superman telepathically, Batman notices that Superman is struggling to hold back his hatred of Jax-Ur. This leads Superman to relate Jax-Ur’s history and how he blames Jax-Ur for his parents’ deaths.
The Man Who Killed Krypton
Jax-Ur was an amoral scientist and contemporary of Superman’s father, Jor-El. Jax-Ur accidentally destroyed one of Krypton’s moons with his efforts to build an unauthorized spaceship. Superman suspects the loss of this moon hastened the geologic instability that ultimately destroyed Krypton.
Even if it did not, Jax-Ur’s rash actions still resulted in Krypton’s Science Guild banning all spacecraft and research into space travel. This directly hindered Jor-El’s plan to build a fleet of rockets to carry the Kryptonian people away from their doomed planet. As such, Superman blames Jax-Ur for the deaths of his parents and his homeworld, as surely as if Jax-Ur had pulled a gun on them.
This history leads Batman to realize how much he has in common with Superman. Inherently suspicious, it never occurred to him that the powerful alien hero might have suffered loss as he did. This leads to the formation of the World’s Finest crime-fighting partnership and a true friendship.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #19 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
