Batman in World's Finest Archives, Volume One FROM THE PUBLISHER
What could be a better idea than featuring Superman and Batman in one comic? Well, to actually team them up, for one thing -- and that wouldn't happen on a regular basis until 1954. But what concerns us here is the fact that both of DC's greatest heroes did appear in the same title as early as 1940, albeit in totally separate adventures. The idea originated with the legendary editor Vin Sullivan as a comic-book tie-in with the New York World's Fair in 1939, but the first issue only featured Superman. It was the second issue, entitled New York World's Fair Comics 1940, where history was made. Not only did the issue contain both a Superman and a Batman story (among others in the anthology) under one cover, but that cover featured our heroes together, drawn by the same artist, for the first time. And with that issue the formula was set for almost a decade and a half to come (even if it did take a couple of issues for the title to be finalized).
Collected here are the first 17 adventures of Batman and Robin from World's Finest Comics, most of them unseen for over 60 years -- only two have ever been reprinted since they orginally appeared. A rich vein of seldom-seen comics history is now re-presented for fans both old and new, showcasing the classic early work of Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang and others, and including such milestones as the first appearance of longtime Bat-nemesis the Scarecrow and the last appearance of the rotund Alfred. World's Fair, World's Best, or World's Finest -- whatever the title, these are the early Batman and Robin stories at their most exciting... well, until they were actually teamed up with Superman -- but that's another Archives series!
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