Every installment of I Love Ya But You’re Strange I spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories. Here is the archive of all the installments of this feature. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have a suggestion for a future installment!
This is a rare strange Silver Age story that actually takes place over TWO issues, 1969's World's Finest Comics #186-187 by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, where Batman and Superman travel back to the 18th century where, in honor of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman and Superman battle over whether Batman is...a witch?!
Our story begins with Batman becoming fascinated by his ancestor, "Mad" Anthony Wayne, the Colonial general. He's then given a gig of protecting a priceless bust being donated to the Gotham City museum. The bust is destroyed. Batman figures he'll ask his buddy Superman to reassemble the mystery bust so they could at least see who it was of...
A bust of Anthony Wayne that looks just like Bruce Wayne? That's curious. Oh well, the only thing you can do when something like this pops up is to, of course, TRAVEL THROUGH TIME. How neat must it be to have a friend like Superman who's, like, "Hey, curious about something? Let's travel through time to find out more info!"
I also love Superman just stealing the drapes of the museum to form clothes.
How weird is the noise Batman is making as they travel through time? That should be a thing in all comics from now. If you travel through time, you have to make, "Uhhhh" noises.
Okay, so they arrive in the past, but disguise themselves as locals so as to not stand out. But then they meet Anthony Wayne, who is trying to capture a British spy. An accidental tear reveals Superman's red cape, and he figures that THEY must be British spies, too! Batman KNOCKS OUT HIS HORSE WITH JUDO!!!
Okay, so now that there overwear is trashed, they decide to just wear their costumes and play it off like they're actors.
The S is for Shakespeare.
Yes, that actually happened. The S is for Shakespeare.
Anyhow, they see a poor woman is about to be killed for being a witch. Superman comes up with an odd way to free her...
but he's pissed that Batman gets all the glory...
Dude actually called her "the goodies."
This leads to Superman, naturally enough, framing Batman for being a witch...
Benjamin Franklin shows up, because of COURSE he does, and he tries to free Batman using his lightning hitting a kite trick, but while he tries to do that, Superman keeps blocking the lightning!!
Yes, this comic is so awesome that Benjamin Franklin is using lightning hitting his kites to try to break Batman free from his stocks, only Superman is blocking the lightning. I love how that's all that Franklin's got up his sleeves to get through the lock.
Okay, that's the first part of the story. Go to the next page for the bizarrely awesome conclusion!
Batman cleverly turns the tables on Superman by convincing the people that SUPERMAN is a witch!
Only Superman embraces it...
Damn, Andru and Esposito drew the hell out of crazy Superman.
Superman then goes to work for the British and they ask him to capture Anthony Wayne. Batman goes with them, and a young soldier named Robby follows Anthony Wayne, as well. Batman tries to sacrifice himself for Wayne...
We then learn that Superman's been possessed this whole time...
That is one crazy story...but crazy AWESOME!
If you have a suggestion for a weird but awesome comic book story that you'd like to see featured here, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com