World's Finest Comics #198
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeWorld's Finest Comics #198 is a genuine turning point in the series' nearly thirty-year history: it marks the first issue under incoming editor Julius Schwartz that replaced the long-running Superman/Batman formula with a Superman team-up format modeled on Batman's Brave and the Bold, a structural shift that would run through issue #214 and directly inspire DC Comics Presents in 1978. The issue launches the third Superman vs. Flash race — the first two having ended in deliberate ties — and is notable as the first of those contests to produce an unambiguous winner, with Barry Allen crawling across a finish line ahead of a depleted Superman after both heroes are stripped of most of their powers. Its cover, signed by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, introduced another first: the guest hero's name and logo appearing on the cover of World's Finest, a presentational convention that signaled the title's new direction to readers on the newsstand. Taken together, the issue captures early Bronze Age DC at a moment of conscious, editorially-driven reinvention.
In "Race to Save the Universe!", Superman and The Flash are called to the Guardians of the Universe for a high-stakes challenge: a race across time and space to counteract the chaos caused by the Anachronids, beings who move faster than light and disrupt the flow of time. With Denny O'Neil scripting and Dick Dillin’s dynamic art bringing the action to life—complete with Joe Giella’s inks and Tatjana Wood’s vivid colors—the duo hurtle through a surreal, donut-shaped star after being pulled into another dimension, racing against both time and the unknown. Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson deliver a striking cover that captures the cosmic stakes of the race.
In "Race to Save the Universe!", Superman and The Flash are called to action by the Guardians of the Universe to stop the Anachronids—time-warping life-forms moving faster than light—from unraveling reality itself. With the fate of time hanging in the balance, the two heroes must race across dimensions, dodging temporal chaos and strange cosmic phenomena, even as the Phantom Zone inhabitants watch from afar and Jimmy Olsen captures the chaos on film.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
When Mort Weisinger retired from his long tenure editing the Superman family of titles in 1970, DC divided his books among several editors; Julius Schwartz absorbed both Superman and World's Finest, arriving with an agenda to modernize and shed Silver Age formula. Schwartz had already telegraphed the format change in the World's Finest letters column before #198 went on sale — though a scheduling delay meant the new direction arrived two issues later than announced. He assembled a creative team steeped in Justice League experience: writer Denny O'Neil, penciller Dick Dillin, and inker Joe Giella, all veterans of Schwartz's JLA run, with Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson providing the cover; interior pencil credits had long been mistakenly assigned to Carmine Infantino before Julius Schwartz's own editorial records, later made available by DC, set the credits straight.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Third Superman vs. Flash race in DC continuity, following Superman #199 (1967) and The Flash #175 (1967) — both of which ended in ties.
- First issue of World's Finest Comics under editor Julius Schwartz, inaugurating a Superman rotating team-up format that ran through issue #214 (1972) and is considered a direct precursor to DC Comics Presents (1978–1986).
- Lead story 'Race to Save the Universe!' written by Denny O'Neil, interior art by penciller Dick Dillin and inker Joe Giella; story continues and concludes in issue #199.
- Cover pencilled by Curt Swan, inked by Murphy Anderson — interior pencil credits were historically misattributed to Carmine Infantino until confirmed otherwise from Julius Schwartz's editorial records.
- First World's Finest cover to feature the guest hero's name and logo alongside Superman's, a new design convention introduced with this format change.
- The story's central threat — faster-than-light robots called the Anachronids — is engineered by Phantom Zone criminals including General Zod, Jax-Ur, and Professor Vakox; the Guardians of the Universe enlist both heroes to race in the opposite direction to counteract time distortions.
- Batman appears only in cameo; the backup story is a reprint of a Johnny Quick tale ('Joanie Swift, Queen of Speed!') originally from Adventure Comics #181, with art by Paul Norris.
- The lead story has been collected in Showcase Presents: World's Finest Vol. 4 (2012) and the trade paperback World's Finest: Guardians of Earth (2020).
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Adventure Comics #181 (1952)
Reprinted in Gigant #3/1971 (1971), All Star Adventure Comic #70 (1971), Supercomic #51 (1971), Superman et Batman et Robin #37 (1972), Superman et Batman et Robin #38 (1972), Roter Blitz #1/1980 (1980), Superman in the Seventies #[nn] (2000), Superman vs. Flash #[nn] (2005), Showcase Presents: World's Finest #4 (2013), World's Finest: Guardians of Earth #[nn] (2020), البرق [Al-Barq Kawmaks / Flash Comics] #23
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