Noteworthy Issues: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #8 (October, 2022)

Superman never had a kid sidekick.  Or did he…?

Enter the Boy Thunder!

Issue:  Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #8

Writer:  Mark Waid

Artist:  Dan Mora

The Plot:  Superman’s new kid sidekick has a lot to learn.  Can he?  Should he?

Commentary:  Let me start by saying that I just really like this series.

For starters, it takes full advantage of the more Silver Age-ish setting without being a Silver Age sort of book.  That means Robin can take David off to hang out with the Teen Titans, namely Donna, Roy, Wally, and Garth, and during a bit of training, they realize that David’s heat powers can cause loud explosions in the form of thunder, earning him the name Boy Thunder, a name that neither David nor Robin seem to like even though Robin doesn’t care much for “Boy Wonder” either.

So, that’s cool.  The mission for the issue is cool too.  The Key, working with an unrevealed ally that pops up on the last page, douses Gotham with a chemical that makes the entire human population of the city irrationally afraid of doors and windows, effectively trapping everyone wherever they are.  Firefighters can fight fires.  Doctors won’t go into hospital rooms.  Cops are trapped in their cars.  And yes, Batman and Robin are stuck in the Batcave until a guest star can get an antidote to everyone.  Can Superman, Supergirl, and the Boy Thunder see about saving lives across the city until then?

Like I said, it’s an exciting issue, but there are some problems with David in-story.  For one, Donna has a feeling there’s something not quite right about David, like maybe they shouldn’t give the kid their full trust yet.  Supergirl, meanwhile, realizes why David might be a bit more traumatized than most because while Superman may have left Krypton as a baby, she was a bit older and actually remembered the place and the people there when she had to leave, something that led to some anger issues that only gradually went away.

Alright, to recap:  Donna and Kara think there might be something wrong with this kid, a character who was never mentioned before but was apparently Superman’s sidekick.

Yeah, I can’t see why that should be a cause for concern.

Grade:  A-