Batman's First Meeting With Superman!

Really 2nd, But The First Barely Counts

After the World’s Finest Comics ongoing started (and I mean really started - the World’s Best Comics that is technically #1 of the series does NOT count), it functioned as an anthology series. This was the way of comics of the time, and would continue to be that way for some time. 

Usually, we’d see Superman beginning the issue, followed by a volley of other characters from Zatara to Green Arrow to The Boy Commandos and beyond. In fact, most of Green Arrow’s earliest content is in World’s Finest comics! Then, the very end of the issue would normally be a Batman story, anything from the debut of Scarecrow to a classic fight against mobsters. 

This meant that, despite sharing a title since 1941, Superman and Batman’s first real team-up didn’t happen until May 1952! Absolutely no crossover prior, unless you feel really intent on counting a barely-there meeting in All-Star Comics that lasts a page max as an afterthought and is treated as non-canon extremely soon after. 

Instead, in Superman (1939) #76, we see them really meeting for the first time! Both as heroes, and as Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent. Both happening to be on a boat for different reasons (Batman investigating a crime, Superman accompanying Lois for a story in his Clark Kent identity), they end up rooming together in their secret identities, and after some shenanigans they learn each other’s secrets! 

Often, when heroes first meet in modern stories, there’s a bit of mistrust and some trading of blows. In fact, modern reworkings of this very pair of characters meeting for the first time usually make it much less pleasant as a meeting. However, in this issue, instantly the two heroes are happy to meet and know each other. 

It didn't take them long to make a formidable duo, earning the title of World’s Finest which would become synonymous with their team-ups in coming years. As Lois continues her usual tricks, attempting to learn Superman’s secret identity at any cost while also sniffing after any juicy news story, the two heroes fight an arsonist in a fireproof suit who somehow always manages to get away. 1950s, am I right?

However, early on in their efforts, Lois overhears a conversation about keeping her away from her usual attempts by pairing her with Batman instead of Superman, and decides to turn the tables on them! She begins to fawn over everything Batman does, praising every discovery he makes or feat he performs, in a way she used to do in a lesser extent to Superman. 

This continues on, though eventually they catch onto her plan, until the crook captures her and takes her away in a helicopter over the ocean! Of course, the heroes team up to save her, and perform a series of campy maneuvers that help save the day and the girl! 

In the end, after all is said and done, the crook is out and Lois is safe, we experience the very first secret-identity-shenanigan collaboration between Superman and Batman! Bruce pretends to be Clark, as Superman shows up to check on Lois, forcing her to not conclude Clark is Superman!

This, of course, was an early portent for what would become business-as-usual for many years in the comics starring these heroes. 

An unusual circumstance or foe, complicating the lives of Batman, Superman and usually Robin, forcing some stretching truth and funny feats to protect secret identities and the lives of civilians at the same time, is arguably the entire logline of the first decade of the era when World’s Finest Comics is a Superman/Batman team-up book. 

The whimsical, campy antics and team shenanigans, this time flavored with the dipping of each other into the other’s world (Batman fighting evil super scientists with rockets, Superman fighting clue-leaving crazies out to steal valuables), had exactly the desired impact: both heroes now were intertwined with the other, both of their fan bases began to interact and cross over, and the state of the DC universe was changed forever. 

For now, though, the heroes part with a sly smile and a wink, before Robin sneaks in at the last minute to escort Lois Lane somewhere with a jab at the heroes. It’s a perfect, but very of-the-time comedic button for an issue that symbolizes the laughs, shenanigans and tropes that would define the coming decade.

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