World's Finest # 7, Fall, 1942

One of the famous gung ho covers, often cited for its phallic implications. This issue was one of a couple reprinted in black and white facsimile editions in the early seventies by TBG founder Alan Light. 

Aquaman's out in favor of Green Arrow already. Were they just floundering around (no pun intended) trying to find a good mix or were they purposely keeping things fluid?

The Superman stories in WF at this time easily trumped the stories in his regular titles in my opinion, both in story (presumably still Siegel) and art (by various Shuster ghosts).

Note Supes leaving his fancy mountain house to fly to the rescue. GCD has this as by Ed Dobrotka and John Sikela.

Another amazing S&K splash here.

This nifty Superman image is from, of all places, one of the issue's two text stories and shows Superman on-screen. See back cover for more info on that. GCD credits Fred Ray with this illustration.

An impressive splash debuts The Green Arrow's stories here alongside his run in MORE FUN. Bernard Klein gets the art credit. It's a longish, well-done and fairly straight story so enjoy the whole thing!

 

Credited to Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson--take that for what you will--this was one of the Batman stories Kane himself opted to reprint in his allegedly ghostwritten autobiography decades later.

 

Below is, of course, an ad for the Max Fleischer animated version of SUPERMAN, now considered a classic in stylish animation which, to many fans remains a high water mark in the field.

 

 

World's Finest # 6, Summer, 1942

The home front propaganda continues on this issue's cover. Several major new features this month but we lose the nicely drawn CRIMSON AVENGER strip.

Some particularly good art on SUPERMAN, credited to John Sikela, later a major Superboy artist as well.

Since the previous issue, Simon and Kirby had taken over the SANDMAN series in ADVENTURE so the new version is continued here. Fans of DAYS OF ADVENTURE will recall that the famous pair were NOT the ones who revised Sandman's costume and introduced Sandy, his sidekick. Both of those  events had actually happened in a couple of stories just prior to Jack and Joe taking over.

Jerry Siegel's STAR-SPANGLED KID was more or less the title character in STAR-SPANGLED COMICS, also. He was the first kid hero with an adult sidekick--the ludicrously named, "Stripesy."

One reason that STAR-SPANGLED KID was now appearing in WORLD'S FINEST could be that he was relegated to back up status in his other title after Simon and Kirby struck there, too, creating THE NEWSBOY LEGION and their Guardian.

A mainstay of MORE FUN and ADVENTURE in the forties (and fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties in the latter), here's the first WF appearance of AQUAMAN, by his original artist, Paul Norris.

Henry Boltinoff's JERRY THE JITTERBUG would continue to pop up from time to time well into the sixties! I remember having to ask my mother what a jitterbug was and she said that was a word she hadn't heard in years!

 

World's Finest # 5, Spring, 1942

The above scan plays up just how thick the squarebound WORLD'S FINEST was at this time. The inside front and back covers were originally blank, also lending to the feeling that it was more of a book  than a comic.

The cover also reflects the fact that, since the previous quarterly issue, the US was now at war.

Trying something new already. TNT was appearing in STAR-SPANGLED COMICS as well.

This is, according to GCD, a Jerry Robinson Batman story. In fact, just about every panel in this story confirms that easily enough. The only thing that looks a bit odd...is Batman himself!