World's Finest Comics #246
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeWorld's Finest Comics #246 is the debut issue of Baron Blitzkrieg, a Nazi-empowered super-villain created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Don Heck whose WWII-set origin in the book's Earth-Two Wonder Woman back-up gave DC a durable antagonist who would go on to menace the All-Star Squadron and appear in major crossover events for decades. The issue also marks a key moment in the Bronze Age Dollar Comic era, arriving just three issues after World's Finest transitioned into an 80-page anthology format — a structural experiment that allowed multiple creative teams to explore very different corners of the DC universe in a single issue, from Bob Haney's continuity-bending Superman mythology to gritty Green Arrow and Vigilante strips. The lead story's premise — that Superman secretly had a hunchbacked twin brother, Kor-El, actually the Parasite in disguise — typifies the provocative, anything-goes storytelling that defined Haney's long tenure on the title, while Gray Morrow's Vigilante installment, in which Stuff the Chinatown Kid is killed by the Dummy, gave that Golden Age strip an unusually dark emotional punch. Taken together, the issue is a vivid cross-section of mid-Bronze Age DC ambition: big villain introductions, tabloid-scale mythology, and street-level heroics all under one Neal Adams cover.
In "The Prisoner of the Kryptonite Asteroid!, Part I: Across Time," Superman, Batman, and Ram Drood race toward a deadly asteroid prison, where a captive named Kor-El is trapped in a kryptonite fortress. As their rescue attempts fail, Superman makes a desperate choice to enter the prison alone—knowing it may cost him his life. Meanwhile, back on Earth, a mysterious figure claiming to be Superman’s twin rises to power, while Ram Drood works to revive the fallen hero.
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World's Finest #246 was published on May 19, 1977 (cover-dated September 1977), during the brief but distinctive Dollar Comic phase that began with issue #244. Writer Gerry Conway scripted both the Wonder Woman feature — in which Baron Blitzkrieg was introduced with art by Don Heck and inks by Vince Colletta — and the Green Arrow segment illustrated by Mike Nasser (later Mike Netzer); the lead Superman/Batman story was handled by longtime WFC contributor Bob Haney with pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger and inks by Murphy Anderson; and Gray Morrow drew the Vigilante chapter. The cover was supplied by Neal Adams, whose credit was confirmed via the letter column of issue #249. Dennis O'Neil and Jack C. Harris shared editorial duties over the issue's multiple features.
Trivia · 10 facts
- First appearance and origin of Baron Blitzkrieg (real name Baron Reiter), created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Don Heck, debuting in the Earth-Two Wonder Woman back-up story set during World War II.
- Baron Blitzkrieg is depicted as a former Nazi concentration camp commandant who was disfigured when an inmate threw a bottle at his face; Hitler subsequently ordered German scientists to experiment on him, granting him superhuman strength, invulnerability, heat vision, and flight.
- The lead Superman/Batman story — 'The Prisoner of the Kryptonite Asteroid!' written by Bob Haney, pencilled by Kurt Schaffenberger, and inked by Murphy Anderson — introduces the concept of Superman's secret twin brother Kor-El; the figure is later revealed to be the Parasite (Maxwell Jensen) in disguise.
- The Superman/Batman lead story was later reprinted in The Best of DC #66 (November 1985).
- Issue #246 is part of the 80-page Dollar Comic phase of World's Finest, which began with issue #244 (April–May 1977) and made the series one of DC's first titles in that expanded format.
- The issue features a Vigilante (Greg Sanders) back-up illustrated by Gray Morrow in which Stuff the Chinatown Kid is murdered by the Dummy — the story also retells the Vigilante's origin — representing first appearances of Earth-One versions of both the Dummy and Stuff.
- The Green Arrow segment, scripted by Conway and drawn by Mike Nasser, pits Oliver Queen against Slingshot (David Drayson), a cop-killing assassin whose weapon matches his name.
- The dramatic cover was pencilled and inked by Neal Adams (credit confirmed via the World's Finest #249 letter column); Baron Blitzkrieg was later adapted for live-action television as 'Baron Reiter' in Season 4 of Arrow (2015), portrayed by Jimmy Akingbola.
- Conway brought Baron Blitzkrieg back almost immediately in the oversized 1978 treasury edition All New Collectors' Edition #C-54 (Superman vs. Wonder Woman), again scripted by Conway with art by José Luis García-López — the treasury even included a footnote directing readers back to World's Finest #246 for the villain's origin.
- Baron Blitzkrieg subsequently became a recurring antagonist in Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron series, cementing his place as one of DC's primary Earth-Two WWII super-villains.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Comic Reader #143 (1977), Super Adventure Album #9 (1978), Superman #2/1978 (1978), Marvila, la Mujer Maravilla #236 (1980), The Best of DC #66 (1985), Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams #3 (2006), Batman: Demoniske møter [Alle Tiders Superhelter] #[nn] (2006), Batman Collection: Neal Adams #4 (2010), Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams #3 (2013), Batman by Neal Adams Omnibus #[nn] (2016), Batman by Neal Adams #3 (2020)
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