World’s Finest Comics #19*
World’s Finest Comics #5
World’s Finest Comics #19* was published by DC on January 1945. If fans of either Superman or Batman could part with just one small nickel more than the normal slim dime, they could enjoy a full 50% more action wrapped in 76 pages of new material from both superheroes.
After the phenomenal consumer response to two 100 page editions of Batman/Superman anthologies produced exclusively for the 1939/1940 New York World’s Fair, D.C. knew it had something hot on its hands. Not to miss an opportunity, it almost immediately launched World’s Best Comics (a 100 page comic anthology) nationwide. The single “Best” issue quickly transformed to “Finest” in the next issue, presumably under copyright threat from Standard for its America’s Best Comics. In the end, you might be surprised to know the title World’s Finest Comics lasted no less than 322 issues, running all the way from 1941 to 1986 (albeit the oversized square bound format lasted until issue #71).
World’s Finest Comics #15 was published Fall 1944 with cover titled “Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder; Superman” by Jack Burnley. World’s Finest Comics #5 features a World War II cover from Spring 1942.
World’s Finest Comics #55*
Issue #55* football cover is by Win Mortimer. By December 1951 the publication had slimmed down to 68 pages, still for fifteen cents. World’s Finest Comics #19* (cover by Dick Sprang) contains an inside Joker story “The League For Larceny!” penciled by Bob Kane. The “P” in grease pencil on the cover? Well, that’s another story.
*sold copy
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