THE "BEFORE DC COMICS PRESENTS" TOUR

In 1978 (the same year the Superman movie debuted), DC Comics began publication of a new title, DC Comics Presents.  This new title was dedicated to teaming Superman with other heroes each month.  After all, Batman had been enjoying this monthly team-up format since 1966 (the same year the Batman television show debuted) in the pages of The Brave and the Bold.  DC Comics Presents had an impressive 97-issue run, ending in 1986.  The cancellation was due to the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series that redefined the DC Universe. 

This was not Superman's first time being given a monthly team-up opportunity though!  Through most of its years in publication, World's Finest Comics served as a title that teamed Superman and Batman (and Robin) each month.  However, for a very short period from 1970 through 1972 World's Finest Comics served as a vehicle for Superman to team with other heroes instead. 

In this tour, we will look at Superman's monthly team-ups from before DC Comics Presents!

First up are World's Finest Comics #198 and 199. This story teamed Superman with Flash. Thanks to an alien, Jimmy Olsen is sent back in time... as friends of Superman are prone to do! To save him, Flash and Superman must race each other to counteract the effect of time-warping (this is some great DC science!). When this story was published, this was the third time a story featured Superman and Flash racing each other. This action-packed two-issue tale also featured the Guardians of the Universe and a battle with some of the prisoners of the Phantom Zone.

World's Finest Comics #198, cover art by Curt Swan
World's Finest Comics #199, cover art by Neal Adams

Superman teams with Robin in World's Finest Comics #200 (Feb. 1971). This was a nice pairing of Superman and Robin, sans the Darknight Detective. Robin had been a regular character in World's Finest Comics until just 4 issues before this one. This story recognizes that Dick Grayson (Robin) has moved to Hudson University, and it confirms the end of his presence as a series regular in this title, as the side-kick of Batman. Once again, the primary villain is an alien. So many aliens coming to Earth!

World's Finest Comics #200, cover art by Neal Adams

Superman teams with Green Lantern in World's Finest Comics #201 (March 1971). This issue also features some cameos by Atom, Green Arrow, and Hawkman. The villain named Felix Faust manipulates Supes and GL into fighting each other in a test to see who's more powerful. The test is a trap.

World's Finest Comics #201, cover art by Neal Adams

This issue of World's Finest is also where the oft-mocked panel of Superman being spanked by Jor-El first appeared! DC has a long history of spanking panels. I mean truly, it was "a thing"! Perhaps the subject for a future tour!

World's Finest Comics #202 returned to the Superman & Batman format, so we'll skip ahead to World's Finest Comics #203. This issue had Superman team up with Aquaman. They battle against a group of Dolphin-Men who want to erase mankind by increasing the world's water levels, making the planet better suited for their kind.

World's Finest Comics #203, cover art by Neal Adams

World's Finest Comics #204 had the Man of Steel team up with the "new" Wonder Woman. This was a time when Diana had lost her powers and was involved in numerous espionage adventures while she wore mod clothes (usually white) and used a lot of kung fu! This is a fairly silly story where a computer dating service pairs Clark Kent with Diana Prince. Soon, the two of them (along with a few other people) are transported to a possible future that they then work to undo.

World's Finest Comics #204, cover art by Neal Adams

Following Superman's adventure with mod Wonder Woman, he participates in a team-up with the mod group known as the Teen Titans! Young heroes, bucking the establishment, and seeking social changes (these were the Titans of the 1970s after all!).

In World's Finest Comics #205, Superman and the Teen Titans (minus Robin) work together to overcome the shenanigans of an alien computer that's causing catastrophic havoc! Yes... that truly is the plot of this story!

World's Finest Comics #205, cover art by Neal Adams

World's Finest Comics #206 is a repeat giant issue and #207 is a Superman/Batman team-up, so we jump forward to World's Finest Comics #208! Superman is seeking a cure for his vulnerability to magic. He first seeks help from Zatanna, but she feels too unsure of her abilities to accomplish this for him. So Superman heads on over to Earth-Two to ask Dr. Fate for help. Dr. Fate is dealing with... (can you guess?)... evil aliens! Dr. Fate temporarily transfers his magical abilities to Superman. Superman is able to defeat the aliens and Earth-Two is saved. Superman abandons his search for a cure to being vulnerable to magic!

World's Finest Comics #208, cover art by Neal Adams and Gaspar Saladino

World's Finest Comics #209 pairs Superman with his fellow Justice League member, Hawkman. The two of them battle a villain called the Tempter. The Tempter tries to play on the emotional weaknesses of the two heroes, forcing them to commit dreadful acts.

World's Finest Comics #209, cover art by Neal Adams

Superman next teams with another fellow JLA member, Green Arrow. In World's Finest Comics #210, Supes and the Emerald Archer are kidnapped by a sorcerer named Effron. Effron wants Green Arrow to be his personal champion in a duel for the kingship of another world.

World's Finest Comics #210, cover art by Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, and Gaspar Saladino

World's Finest Comics #211 features another Superman/Batman pairing, so we'll jump on over to World's Finest Comics #212 where Superman teams with the Martian Manhunter. Superman is transported to the planet Vonn, which has a red sun, thus stripping him of his superpowers. He soon finds out that the Martians have been kidnapped by the alien race called the Thythen and are being held on Vonn. Superman and Martian Manhunter work to overcome their oppressors and return the Martians and Superman back to their respective home worlds.

World's Finest Comics #212, cover art by Nick Cardy

In World's Finest #213, Superman once again teams up with a fellow Justice League member. This time around it's the Atom. Back in this pre-cell phone era, when phones were all landline, Atom had a trick of traveling long distances by shrinking to sub-atomic size and traveling with the photon signals in the phone signal. In this tale, the Atom is pulling this travel trick when he gets lost in a sub-atomic universe. He and Superman work to save an inhabited world in this universe from a "genesis molecule"!

World's Finest Comics #213, cover art by Nick Cardy

World's Finest Comics #214 features Superman teaming with the Earth-One Vigilante. He had been introduced in the pages of Justice League of America #78 a couple years earlier. Though Batman does appear, the main story centers on Superman and Vigilante as they hunt down a werewolf in a rodeo.

This would be the final issue of World's Finest that teamed Superman with different heroes in each issue. With World's Finest Comics #215 (November 1972), the format returned to the teaming of Superman and Batman. This format remained intact through the title's final issue (#323) dated January 1986.

World's Finest Comics #214, cover art by Nick Cardy

It would take six years (and the help of a blockbuster motion picture) for DC to give Superman his own title for regular monthly team-ups with varied characters! That title of course was DC Comics Presents. This tour is now concluded! Thanks for coming along for this look back on a unique period in Superman's publication history! Superman and all related characters, names, and elements and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of DC Comics, Inc.