Planetary: Crossing Worlds

(WildStorm)
™ and © WildStorm, an imprint of DC Comics

In Planetary: Crossing Worlds, readers see three match-ups with a multiversal theme.

Planetary/The Authority isn’t actually a team-up, since the two teams work independently of each other, without so much as the otherwise-“obligatory” fight scene. The only “crossing worlds” here is an other-dimensional version of The Authority that makes a brief appearance at tale’s end.

Planetary/JLA is an odd beast. It’s an Elseworlds tale with a different version of each team than those to which readers are accustomed. Despite the order of billing, it is the JLA’s story, although only a few of its members are featured and those lack super-heroic identities. A better title, perhaps, would be “The Adventures of Bruce, Diana, and Clark in Planetary Land.” With neither the familiar JLA nor the recognizable Planetary, it’s not so much bad as it is pointless. Why tell the story with neither “real” team?

The real star, from a fan standpoint, at least, is Planetary/Batman. In it, Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner, and The Drummer meet, not one, but several versions of Batman. Detective Comics #27, The Dark Knight Returns, Neal Adams, and Adam West are all acknowledged—and Cassaday does a phenomenal job pulling off depictions of the various Batmen. Real “fanboys” (of both genders) will love finding out where Elijah Snow was in 1986.

— Jack Abramowitz

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