In Which We Bid Adieu to World's Finest Thursday!

I mentioned yesterday that rarely is a comic cancelled at the height of it's popularity. Actually, there was a comic that was quite popular that was cancelled nonetheless. At the time of its cancellation, Brave and the Bold was the best selling Batman comic on the stands. However, the monthly "Batman plus a different guest star" team-up book was given the shaft to make way for Batman and the Outsiders, wherein Batman would head up a new team with regular members (that is, until Batman himself was removed from the book.... ah, sweet irony).

And if you haven't watched the Batman: Brave and the Bold series on Cartoon Network, you're missing out. It's great fun.

What wasn't great fun was the last few years of World's Finest Comics. Let me give you the high points and spare us all.

First, you have Swordfish and Barracuda:


You know. Swordfish and Barracuda. Teamed up with Null and Void and the Master Pirate?


There! See? Did I lie? Isn't it hard to decide whether you're more excited about Swordfish and Barracuda, the return of Null and Void, or the Master Pirate? Well, thanks to World's Finest Comics, you don't have to choose! Just enjoy!

Yeesh. This is like those last few seasons of M*A*S*H.

Oh, and we had Sonik:


He was ready to take the eighties by a storm, as evidenced by that bitchin' break-dancer outfit and his mis-spelled name. Mis-spelled names are edgy, don'tcha know. He actually appeared in two different issues, which gives you an idea of how hard up things had become.

No, the highlight was this awesome goof:


You see, in World's Finest #314, we see Alfred picking up Bruce Wayne so he can change into Superman.

Wait, what?

Yup. That was a total error. A later editorial tried to blame it on the colorist, but as you can see, there is the yellow "s" shield on the cape, so the colorist simply did his job and colored what had been drawn. People always try to blame the little guy. Anyway, Batman lept out of the limo in his Batman costume, so I'm not sure how that got past the artist, the inker, the colorist and the editor. But it was the highlight of the later years.

The highlight certainly wasn't Lowjack:


Don't ask. But when it takes both Superman and Batman more than one issue to kick Lowjack's ass, you are really stretching things out.

Finally, someone shoots the lame horse in World's Finest #323, ending the title's 45 year run:


This was around the time of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which changed a lot of things. Superman and Batman were no longer pals, which made sense considering they were complete opposites in every way. At best, Batman and Superman would co-exist in the DC Universe for almost the next two decades before reuniting the two in the awesome Superman/Batman, which is in its seventh year of publication and still going strong.

See you tomorrow!