World's Finest # 218, August, 1973

A good, solid, intriguing cover leads to a good, solid, intriguing story with a  unique twist, albeit one of Haney's hanging plot points that was--to the best of my knowledge--never re-visited. Basically, a lot of folks are being blackmailed by a  mysterious figure and Bruce Wayne is among them. The villain actually dies but no one notices, leaving the world's finest heroes to be forever worried that he could turn back up at any second, knowing their identities.  Then-newcomer Dave Cockrum is on the inks this time out.

The back-ups are back and it's guess who? Metamorpho! These Haney/Calnan stories continue from ACTION COMICS of the period.

PREZ. It was an odd time for comics and in particular DC.

 

World's Finest # 217, May, 1973

We get a brief respite from the Super-Sons whilst no doubt awaiting sales figures. Here we have writer Bob Haney returning to another of his own co-creations, Metamorpho the Element Man. Never a major player, his relatively brief mid-sixties run remains fondly recalled but none of the revivals since have really worked for one reason or another. Here he's essentially made into a Composite Superman clone, gathering glory and causing the World's Finest team to defect! Or so it seems...

World's Finest # 216, March, 1973

Here we are again. This time the real Batman and Superman don't even appear except on the cover and the splash page. While it might have been interesting to see how the Sons fit in with the rest of the DC Universe, instead we get them traveling the country in an attempt to "find themselves" a la the then recently successful Green Lantern/Green Arrow series. Just as it was in the earlier TEEN TITANS series, Haney's "hip" dialogue is almost painful to the ear. Having little in common with the way people actually spoke even then, this is nota  new development. 

The great Murphy Anderson takes over as inker and adds his magic touch to even Dillin's pencils. The story is another heavy-handed attempt at relevance as our heroes--rarely seen in costume--attempt to fathom the secrets of  town that years before had killed peaceful alien visitors out of fear.

The affable Dick Dillin gets his own bio-page.

World's Finest # 215, January, 1973

And so it begins. Old hand Murray Botinoff takes over the editorial reins from Julie Schwartz starting here and brings back his old BRAVE AND BOLD buddy Bob Haney to stir things up. And stir them he does with the start of one of the most controversial series ever in the title--The Super-Sons.

As Haney--infamous for his disregard of any and all continuity--explains in his text piece below, this was NOT an imaginary story, a hoax or a dream. This was real and in continuity! How? Well, you see, since we only see Bruce and Clark for the amount of time it takes to read their comic book adventures once a month, we miss the rest of their lives where a lot of things are happening. These include both heroes getting married, both having sons and both raising them to near-adulthood! Never mind that Superman was officially 29 years old, dammit! Haney knows what makes a good story!

He was wrong as fans were confused and generally didn't care for the stories. But that didn't stop him either and they appeared far too long. Much further down the line there WILL be a retcon that attempts with some success to explain it all.