Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 Review

 

 

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 Review

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Adrián Gutiérrez

Colorist: Luis Guerrero

Letterer: Steve Wands

Cover Artist: Dan Mora

Variant Cover Artists: Adrián Gutiérrez & Luis Guerrero; Ben Harvey

Editors: Sophie Philips-Roberts, Chris Rosa & Paul Haminski

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99 US | Variant $4.99 US (Card Stock)

Release Date: October 21, 2026

 

Ra's al Ghul has lived an unnaturally long life. Over time, he has seen industrialization transform the Earth. Pollution and overpopulation have destroyed the world he knew. With global warming threatening to wipe out Humanity, Ra’s assembles his Four Harbingers of the Apocalypse. When Superman returns from Planet Rann, he encounters the first phase of Ra’s plan to reduce Earth’s Human population. As swarms of killer bees attack people across Earth, a sting sends his friend’s sidekick to the hospital.

 

Superman left his Justice League colleagues on Rann. Still, Superman is not Earth's sole protector. Yet his longtime friend refuses to leave Dick Grayson's side. As Superman urges him to resume protecting the world, Batman learns that Ocean Master has suborned the Atlantean military. Then, the TV news shows Tokamak attacking the world’s second-largest nuclear power plant.

 

As people around the world begin to die, can the world's greatest detective accomplish more in or out of the hospital? And with the world reeling from Ra's al Ghul's three-pronged attack, how will Poison Ivy threaten the global food supplies? Let’s leap into Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 and see!

 

Story

Once, he was called the Physician, and he sought to cure people. In her youth, Pamela Isley studied botany. But when the people they tried to help attacked them, Ra's al Ghul and Poison Ivy gradually turned against Humanity. So, with Killer Bee, Tokamak, and Ocean Master in the field, Ra's preps Pamela Isley to deliver the killing blow. He claims to be Humanity's savior. Yet Ra's waits until the Justice League leaves to prevent an extinction event on Rann. Then, he sets out to decimate Earth's population.

 

As Superman flies across the planet, Batman coordinates the global response in Batman/Superman: World's Finest #56. Instead of operating from his Batcave, he works in Dick Grayson's room at Gotham General. Batman ropes heroes and villains into his plans. While Batman gets others to toe the line, his MVP proves more headstrong.

 

As Mark Waid’s fast-paced plot transports readers around the world, things don’t always go according to Batman and Superman’s plans. And while the two friends try to protect others, Ra’s al Ghul insists he is also Humanity’s friend. Yet his argument conjures a golden age when Humans would never eradicate a forest or drive a species to extinction. And after Humanity locked her away in Arkham Asylum, Poison Ivy agrees that the species must have fundamentally changed over a few centuries in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56.

 

Art

Within his remote mountaintop headquarters, plant life thrives. As they walk through the arboretum, Ra’s al Ghul abruptly bows and takes Pamela Isley’s hand. Then, cracks race across the next panel, and pieces of the frame break off, as Adrián Gutiérrez suggests Poison Ivy pulling away. When Ra's leads her into his control room, no workers assist Humanity’s benefactor. Instead, portraits of players appear on the vast screen. An X appears over one competitor's face. Then Ivy extends her leaf-and-flower-adorned arm to display her imagined endgame.

 

While green and orange dominate Ra's al Ghul's scenes, Tokamak unleashes destruction amid yellow and orange. Despite his varied accomplishments, Firehawk's creator is uniformly gray. Poison Ivy prepares to cull the planet’s savages amid yellow. As Batman’s attempt to treat Killer Bee’s Mirror Virus glows light-indigo, Superman’s red-and-blue costume hints at violet and indigo. Yet light-indigo also links a plea for compassion with Ra’s al Ghul’s staunch adherence to his plan in two foreground shots.

 

As Luis Guerrero adorns Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 with a pleasant palette, Steve Wands fills white dialogue balloons and boxes with black uppercase dialogue. Letters frequently grow bold for intonation and rarely shrink. As an emergency threatens to swell from local to global proportions, lowercase letters in torn boxes provide context. Sound effects enhance rushing wind, exuberant plant growth, and a crash that disturbs a cultured person's tranquility. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

Ra's al Ghul envisions himself living for centuries, if not millennia. He claims he wants to help Humanity embrace a healthier relationship with the planet. Yet, instead of helping Humanity heal their planet gradually, he wants to kill nearly all of Homo Sapiens in two days. So, the one-time Physician enlists killers who will gladly kill people to get what they want in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #56 Preview.

For how Ra's al Ghul broke Poison Ivy out of Arkham Asylum, see Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #55 Preview. 

For Superman's chance to meet a childhood hero, see Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #54 Preview. 

For Robin's efforts to win his friends back, see Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #53 Preview. 

For the search for Superman in Skartaris, see my preview of Batman/Superman: World's Finest #52. 

For how Superman, Batman, and Robin met Travis Morgan living out his Edgar Rice Burroughs' dreams, see my preview of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #51.

For Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent's attempt to honor their fathers, and Bat-Mite and Mr Mxyzptlk's battle for good entertainment, see Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 2026 Annual #1 Review.