Worlds Finest #318 (1941)

A bizarre little sign of the times. Ever since appearing together on the cover of World's Best Comics #1 in 1941, DC has always been aware of the sales potential of the teaming of their powerhouses of Superman and Batman. But by the mid-eighties, the general public had started to tire of monthly team up between the two. In fact DC had sensed something was up a few years earlier and tried giving Batman a break and let Superman team up with other heroes such as the Atom, Doctor Fate, and the Vigalante in a sort of prototype DC Comics Presents.

But the truth of the matter was that the stories just weren't clicking anymore. So DC started added new 3rd tier heroes and villians to get potential readers interested again. Null and Void, the Network, Swordfish and Barracuda, Elecutrix, and returning and a brief story a few issues earlier, Sonik.

Sonik was basicly the love child of Black Lightning and Vibe. What makes this issue special is it's overall 80-ness! From page 1 featuring an MTV veejay, to a boy in a bubble who suffers from a disease that has weakened his immune system, to a famous child pop star who grows into a world famous music star and befriends the young boy in the bubble. Penciller Jose Delbo's art make it planly clear that we are talking Michael Jackson here! And Joey Cavalieri's story whether he realized it or not even managed to convey the whole Michael Jackson/young boy creepiness.

It's a shame as all these characters faded into limbo within 5 issues as World's Finest closed up shop 5 issues later.