Weird Science DC Comics: Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Annual: 2025 Review

Plot Synopsis

In Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Annual: 2025, Grodd lays out his master plan, but he has to convince the Legion of Doom it will work first. Grodd explains that the assembly of villains will be defeated in the future by the Justice League. What’s his plan? Grodd will send the LoD on a three-pronged attack to steal time-related tech that will transport them all to the future when they’re at the peak of their strength and take over the Watchtower.

The first team, Bizarro and Lex Luthor, head to Central City to create a tachyon pulse using the Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill. Scarecrow and Joker head to the laboratory of one Dr. Nichols to steal his reserve of tachyon energy particles. When Batman and Robin arrive, Robin is zapped by a tachyon gun during the escape and disappears. Sinestro, Black Manta, and Cheetah attack the Atom in his lab to steal his time Pool. Unfortunately, none of the strike teams are blindly obedient to Grodd’s instructions, leading to shenanigans and hijinks during the thefts, especially when members of the Justice League show up. Fortunately for Grodd, the teams succeed.

What the LoD doesn’t know is that Grodd has secretly made a deal with Pythoness to weave her magic for the trip. Why? Grodd explains she dies in a few years, so a trip to the future circumvents her pending demise. In exchange, Cheetah gets left behind to take the fall.

The adventure ends with the LoD arriving in the future, but they’re not the only ones who made the trip.

First Impressions

How’s the Art?

What’s great about Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Annual: 2025?

What’s not great about Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Annual: 2025?

The heart of the issue relies on the strength and cleverness of Grodd’s plan, which isn’t presented as particularly strong or clever. Grodd believes he can win by taking the present Legion to the future, defeating the Justice League, and taking over the Watchtower to rule over humanity. If the Legion of today can barely function as a team, and it already has its hands full with the current Justice League, how is the Legion going to overcome an older, wiser, and more technologically advanced Justice League of the future?

Cantwell and Waid appear to be angling for an approach that says the Legion of today, in the prime of their strength and power, is somehow superior. How does that work? As a bickering team of individuals, wouldn’t they be less prepared? Wouldn’t the historical knowledge and advanced tech of the future Justice League be more than capable of stopping the Legion of their past? That’s like attacking modern Russia with the best soldiers who fought in Vietnam. An M-16 won’t do much good against remote drone strikes.