World’s Finest 59 – Luthor makes Superman hold up the world, Manhunters Around the World begins, and the Joker has a world of riches

I hope Superman paid for that.

Luthor and the Joker both appear in World’s Finest 59 (July/Aug 52), although in different stories.

Finger, Boring and Kaye have Luthor trick Superman into holding up a globe of the Earth, one that Luthor has rigged with explosives, and a super-magnet that pulls it towards the Earth.  If it touches the ground, it will explode.  Superman therefore has to either keep holding the globe up, or find ways to keep it temporarily in the air while he performs super-deeds.

It’s not a bad story for this era.  Luthor creates all sorts of problems and diversions for Superman, whose ingenuity is challenged every time he has to let go of the globe.

The Daily Planet globe makes a rare appearance for the period, part of the skyline of Metropolis, used at the story’s climax.  Superman gets Luthor onto the globe-bomb, threatening to let it explode with Luthor on it.  Luthor gives in and defuses it.

Manhunters Around the World, which had run in Star Spangled Comics for a couple of years, begins again in this book, with a story by Chad Grothkopf that deals with the Bush Trackers of Australia.

The story deals with a counterfeiter whose gang hides out in the Australian outback.

I enjoy this series, despite the lack of continuing characters, because of the detail the stories have, from the different countries they are set in.  How accurate they are is difficult to gauge, especially as they describe the world from over 60 years ago.

There is not a lot of originality in this Joker story, by Reed, Schwartz and Kaye.  The Joker sets off on a crime spree that spells his name out.  Again.  He really gets off on spelling his name.

A glimpse of the Joker’s lair makes one wonder why he is even bothering to commit crimes.  It’s not about the money, obviously.  Maybe it is all about the spelling.

The high point of the story sees the Joker use a female impersonator to distract Batman.  It fails, Batman spots that he’s really a man within seconds.

The aces referred to in the title are only used in the vaguest way, the notion of having “an ace in the hole” to pull off “impossible” crimes.

 

 

Tagged: Batman, Bill Finger, Chad Grothkopf, David Reed, DC Comics, Joker, Lew Schwartz, Lex Luthor, Manhunters Around the World, Stan Kaye, Superman, Wayne Boring, World's Finest Comics