Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Crisis, Current News, DC Comics, Justice League, Superman | Tagged: Earth 22, world's finest

Wouldn't You Like To Live On Earth 22? (World's Finest Spoilers)

Today's World's Finest #18 sees Batman and Superman take an early trip to Earth 22, on the hunt for Superman's not-sidekick Thunder Boy.

Earth 22? Well, I was a big fan of the Multiverse when I first came across the concept in Alan Moore, David Thorpe and Alan Davis' Captain Britain. It sparked all sorts of entertaining thought. The idea of a parallel universe I'd read a bunch of, but the idea of a panoply of competing and co-existing multiverses was new to me, as Captain Britain battled against a seemingly infinite army of versions of himself. I mention this in my introduction to Dave Thorpe's upcoming autobiography, 616.

But of late it seems that everything is a parallel universe story. In recent years, Marvel Comics gave us Secret Wars, Spider-Verse, House Of X and Sins Of Sinister, while the TV and movies went with What If, No Way Home, Loki and the Multiverse Of Madness. DC Comics, which gave us Crisis Of Infinite Earths across their CW shows, switched it up in the comics with Infinite Crisis, Dark Metal and Death Metal, as the TV and movies went for Crisis and Flash, with multiple versions of Spider-Man and Batman on the screen played by previous actors, doubling down on the whole meta-ness of it all. Then Everything Everywhere All At Once won the Oscar for Best Film. And Rick And Morty parodied the big problem with multiverse stories with the utmost of satire and hilarity.

The problem with multiverse stories is that, while they delight in the possibilities of what could have been but never was, as well as the whole nature vs nurture debate in IMAX-filmed technicolour, it underlines that nothing actually matters. Anyone can die; there will just be another version along in a minute. And if nothing matters, then why should the reader care?

Even today's Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs Kong gets in on the action, as the Legion Of Doom discovers an Earth just like ours but with Skull Island, the Monsterverse of Legend. And one that interrupts Superman's marriage proposal, which means that's from a different reality as well… but if it's not the DC Earth, why should readers care?

Today's World's Finest #20 sees Batman and Superman take an early trip to Earth 22, courtesy of some help from The Flash, on the hunt for Superman's not-sidekick Thunder Boy.

And they find a reality with one very key difference to all the other realities.

No not just that there are lots of dead superheroes in it, that's true all over the place.

Maybe even foreshadowing something to come in the Batman books. But on Earth 22?

No one knows that there are any other realities. It's a multiversal virgin land. And right now? With DC Elseworlds, Kang timelines and more Venomverses, yeah, I'd take that…

BATMAN SUPERMAN WORLDS FINEST #20 CVR A DAN MORA
(W) Mark Waid (A/CA) Dan Mora
MARK WAID RETURNS TO THE WORLD OF KINGDOM COME! The return of Boy Thunder! To find and save Superman's former protege, the World's Finest duo bridges the dimensional gulf between their world and an Earth with a jaded Superman, a broken Batman, and a war-hungry Wonder Woman–the world of Kingdom Come! Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 10/17/2023

JUSTICE LEAGUE VS GODZILLA VS KONG #1 (OF 7) CVR A DREW JOHNSON WRAPAROUND CVR
(W) Brian Buccellato (A) Christian Duce (CA) Drew Johnson
HEROES AND MONSTERS COLLIDE IN THE CROSSOVER EVENT OF THE YEAR! The cataclysmic crossover event of the year is here as the DC Universe clashes with Legendary's Monsterverse in Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong. Clark Kent is enjoying a night off with a very important dinner planned with his girlfriend, Lois Lane, when the entire city shudders under the weight of the monstrous Godzilla, who emerges from the bay! What started as a routine clash between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom takes a dangerous turn when the wall between worlds is breached…with Godzilla, Kong, and the Monsterverse emerging on DC's Earth! What ensues will be a brawl of unprecedented scale and destruction from acclaimed writer Brian Buccellato (Injustice) and bestselling artist Christian Duce (Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point)!
Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 10/17/2023

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