Credits | Characters | Plot Summary | Comments | Reprinted In World's Finest Chronology | Legion-Relevant Stories Editor: Mort Weisinger Writer: Jim Shooter Penciller: Curt Swan Inker: George Klein Feature Characters: In the future: Superman (Klar Ken T5477) and Batman (Bron Wayn E7705) Villains: The 30th century descendant of the Joker, his father (in flashback), and Muto Other Characters: In flashbacks: Batman and Superman the 6th, Batman and Superman the 15th, Batman the 19th "Danger of the Deadly Duo" (17 pages) The descendants of the original Superman and Batman fought together against evil for generations. However, the father of the current Joker killed the last Batman at a ceremony by rigging the dais to explode. The blast also killed the Batman's family, along with several other spectators. This means that the current Superman has to fight alone against the current Joker. However, it turns out that Batman had an infant son too young to attend to the ceremony, and the boy, Bron Wayn E7705, grows up not knowing of his family heritage. Once grown, Bron journeys to Wayn Manor on a private asteroid and accidentally discovers the Batcave. Learning of the super-careers of his forefathers, he decides to become the newest Batman and revenge himself on the Joker who killed his family. He quickly trains himself both physically and mentally for the job, and outfits a utility belt with futuristic devices such as powerful mini-jets with which he can fly, a molecular diffuser to allow him to pass through objects, an invisibility beam, a brain-wave tracer, and a feature adjustor to change his appearance. His mode of transportation is the spacecraft known as the Batship. The latest Batman seeks out the current Superman for help in finding the Joker. However, it turns out that the current Joker has teamed up with Superman's arch-nemesis Muto, who had escaped from another dimension in which he had previously been trapped. The two heroes must band together against the two villains. Batman is able to deduce where the Muto-Joker team will strike next. Batman and Superman are able to force the crooks onto a planetoid of constant electrical storms. Superman cannot follows Muto into a cavern dripping with sea water, as the water could kill him, but he repeatedly slams into the ground overhead and Muto must rush out of the cave before it collapses on him. As he exits the cavern, Superman places an encephalo-helmet on his head which neutralizes the super-powerful brain waves of the mutant. Meanwhile, Batman is after the Joker, who is the son of his family's killer. He is able to get past every weapon the Joker uses against him, and when he reaches the villain, he beats him soundly in an attempt to get the Joker to reveal where his father is. Using a trick, the Joker stuns the Batman and tries to kill him, but the plan backfires and the villain kills himself. The future Superman appeared before in Superman No. 181/2, Action Comics No. 338/1 and Action Comics No. 339/2. It was at the end of the last tale that Muto had been imprisoned in the dimension of his birth by Superman. The future Superman is not affected by kryptonite, but can be weakened and killed by sea water; fallout from a past atomic war has contaminated the oaceans of all planets. The future Batman is Batman the 20th. The future Joker is also the 20th in his line and his father, who killed Bron Wayn's family, was the 19th. Superman: Past and Future |
