Batman/Superman: World's Finest: 20,000 Leagues (Comics) | Review

Few superhero team-up books have covered as much ground since 2022– dimensions crossed, warlords battled, major DC heroes checked off one by one. 20,000 Leagues takes Batman and Superman somewhere unexpected– deep beneath the ocean and straight into a cube-shaped world where logic runs entirely in reverse order.

This is not a single contained story. Volume 8 collects issues #35-37 and #40-43, spanning two distinct arcs with a standalone breather chapter tucked between them. Each section carries its own tone and energy, yet both feel cut from the same Silver Age cloth that defines this series.

Writer Mark Waid (JLA: Year One, Superman: Birthright) scripts all seven issues. His formula has been admirably consistent from the start: sharp character chemistry between Bruce and Clark, an ambitious guest cast and stakes that escalate without ever feeling hollow or manufactured.

Adrian Gutierrez (Blue Beetle: Forever Blue, Blue Beetle: Graduation Day) joins as new ongoing interior artist from issue #35 onward, replacing series regular Dan Mora (Absolute Power, All In Saga) on interiors. He brings a kinetic, slightly rougher energy and handles both the underwater vistas and Bizarro World's visual chaos with ease.

The collection leads with its strongest arc. A distress call from Atlantis pulls Batman, Superman and Robin beneath the waves to confront Aquaman directly. Arthur Curry is not the villain here but he is quietly guarding a dangerous secret that could well trigger a full-blown undersea coup.

The real threat is Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, who has engineered a plague that targets Tritonis citizens. His real draw to Atlantis? The city contains rare magic vegetation– an unusual motivation, admittedly thin but functional enough to anchor the larger eco-catastrophe plot.

Waid pulls in Silver Age lore by smartly introducing Lori Lemaris– Superman's mermaid college sweetheart– now unhappily married to Ronal, the bitter leader of Tritonis. Ronal has swallowed Woodrue's framing and clearly wants revenge on Poseidonis at any cost. That personal history sharpens this otherwise purely political conflict.

Swamp Thing appears as a guest hero in issue #36 and Mora's cover hints at his arrival in a way that recalls the character's 1970s debut issue. Pairing him with Aquaman against a plant-based ecological threat is exactly the kind of clever casting this ongoing series does particularly well.

Issue #37 poses this arc's most uncomfortable moral question: Batman and Superman hold a no-kill code but a warrior king of Atlantis has always operated by a completely different set of rules. Aquaman is forced to respond as a monarch rather than a costumed superhero and the consequences land with real undeniable weight.

Issue #40 sits between the two main arcs as a standalone chapter. Commissioner Gordon and Perry White appear together on a Joe Rogan-style podcast to defend their cities' reputations. Then a kaiju tears through the studio mid-broadcast and Batman rolls out in a full mech suit.

It is exactly as enjoyable as that premise suggests. Gutierrez commits enthusiastically and fully to the monster-versus-mech spectacle by delivering splash pages that reward readers on their own. Waid also gives Gordon and Perry their own investigative thread, letting both characters contribute meaningfully beyond quiet watching.

The Bizarro story arc opens with Robin being chased through a dark forest by multiple Bizarros– a straightforward horror-film image. A portal from Superman's Fortress then dragged all three heroes to Htrae, there is no exit and the cube-shaped planet is already collapsing from within.

Robin serves as the reader's surrogate throughout the Bizarro chapters and it works effectively. His visible frustration with the inverted logic gives the absurdity a real emotional anchor. The standout moment comes when Batzarro shows him why returning to Bizarro-thinking is simply preferable to being rational and sane at all times.

The resolution calls for Bizarro Bibbo to brew a fresh planetary cure from carrots, Robin solving a structural crisis with square-shaped chewing gum and Superman enlarging Htrae itself using a repurposed Brainiac ray. It is logically chaotic by design and Waid owns that choice completely.

Issues #38 and #39 are both absent from this collection– they belong to the "We Are Yesterday" crossover with Justice League Unlimited, involving a future-aware Gorilla Grodd and the Legion of Doom. Readers starting here will not feel lost; Volume 8 picks up very cleanly right after that.

Gutierrez's best work sits in the Aquaman arc, where the underwater setting gives him room for layered, expansive panels throughout. Giant seahorses, Atlantean architecture and Matt Herms' coloring– which shifts its palette between the rival undersea kingdoms– make this a visually rich and surprisingly atmospheric visual environment.

The Bizarro chapters reveal a different side of Gutierrez's range entirely. He leans confidently into visual absurdity– a Batcave with neon signs pointing directly to it, a Bizarro Brainiac who enlarges cities rather than shrinks them. These show an artist comfortable playing with chaos.

Dan Mora remains the cover artist across all seven issues and that contrast with Gutierrez's interiors is quite noticeable. Mora's covers are cinematic and precisely constructed. Gutierrez does not try to replicate that style– he draws in his own voice, which is clearly the right call.

Waid's scripting stays sharp as ever. Dialogue stays distinct between characters, the Bruce-and-Clark banter consistently lands and minor players like Ronal and Lori Lemaris feel specific rather than purely functional. That specificity is what consistently separates World's Finest from most superhero team-up books being published today.

Volume 8 is not the strongest entry in this run but it is a confident and entertaining collection nonetheless. The Aquaman arc alone, with its clear moral tension around Atlantean kingship and conflicting warrior ethics, justifies the price of entry for any dedicated longtime reader.

The Bizarro story lands lower by comparison. The multi-part structure around Htrae's collapsing core prioritizes set pieces over character stakes through most of its runtime. However, the final exchange between Bizarro #1 and Batzarro, as both ultimately choose to take the cure, carries real and quite unexpected emotional resonance.

Issue #40 is a pleasant wildcard– a kaiju one-shot featuring a Batman mech, a smarmy podcast host and Perry White doing actual investigative journalism on the side. It is the kind of premise that only works in an ongoing series willing and confident enough to be this genuinely playful.

Long-time readers will find the storyline an easy recommendation with the caveat that "We Are Yesterday" looms over what follows immediately. First-time readers should start with Volume 1 though. The chemistry between these characters is carefully earned over three full years of rich storytelling– it does not show up pre-assembled.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest Vol. 4: 20,000 Leagues storyline collects issues #35-37 and #40-43. Physical editions are available through comic-book shops, bookstores and online stores. For digital readers, it's available across ComiXology, Kindle and DC Universe Infinite platforms.