MORRISON MONDAYS!
By BILL MORRISON
Indulge me for a moment. I know the general consensus among Batman fans is that he should be portrayed as a dark avenger that hunts criminals from rooftops and is constantly tortured by the memory of his parents’ murder.
But as much as I love that street-level crime fighter who is driven to eradicate his city of psychotic clowns, demented mob bosses, and homicidal freaks of every stripe, I’ve always been drawn to another Batman. I proudly admit that I love the Batman who traveled to outer space, battled giant robots, and matched wits with aliens. And no place was that version of Batman more at home than when he fought side-by-side with Superman in the pages of World’s Finest Comics! Admit it, wouldn’t you love to see a movie with Batman and Superman fighting creepy sci-fi aliens? Who’s with me?
My love for this version of the Caped Crusader goes back to my earliest days as a comics reader, and there was one particular World’s Finest cover that left an indelible impression on my adolescent brain. It was 1960’s World’s Finest Comics #110 by Curt Swan and Sheldon Moldoff, though I’m sure I read the reprinted story in the 80-Page Giant World’s Finest Comics #161, from 1966. That bizarre image of Superman and Batman facing off against a bloated, tentacled alien monster that couldn’t be killed without also killing Robin has remained one of my all-time favorite comics covers.
So, when we were planning the 2010 Futurama calendar with a theme of comics cover parodies, I couldn’t resist drawing an homage to that beloved World’s Finest image for the cover. In the Futurama episode “Less than Hero,” Fry, Leela, and Bender get super powers and fight crime in New New York as the New Justice Team, so I naturally cast the trio of Captain Yesterday (Fry), Clobberella (Leela), and Super King (Bender), in the roles of Superman, Batman, and Robin, with Leela’s pet, Nibbler as the giant, menacing alien.
Come to think of it, I think the movie I really want to see is a live-action Futurama epic, guest starring Batman, Robin, and Superman! (OK, I admit I’m probably alone on that one!)
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MORE
— STAN GOLDBERG’s Brilliant ARCHIE/SIMPSONS Satire. Click here.
— A NATIONAL SUPERHERO DAY Salute to the Greatest of Them All: RADIOACTIVE MAN. Click here.
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Eisner winner BILL MORRISON has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has changed.
Bill is on Instagram (@atomicbattery) and Facebook (Bill Morrison/Atomic Battery Studios), and regularly takes commissions and sells published art through 4C Comics.
May 12, 2025
Yep I like the ’50s sci-fi Batman stories too…I got to read those stories in ’60s Batman 80 Page Giants
May 12, 2025
I love the World’s Finest stories from that era. I think the sci-fi angle works much better there than in Batman’s title or Detective, personally. Great homage with the Futurama image as well!
May 12, 2025
There was so much to love about Futurama, and the calendar captures much of that dynamic. To me, Bender’s ‘Super King’ always seemed like a sly homage to the goofily entertaining superheroes found in Dial H for Hero. What say you, Bill?
May 13, 2025
Good observation, Jeff!
May 13, 2025
Those wormy-looking hooks on the alien’s belt are what made me queasy about this comic, which I read when it was brand-new. WHAT was he gonna hang on those???
May 19, 2025
Definitely not alone in that one. I think that crossover would be sick