--- title: Batman v Superman—The Story That First Brought Them Together description: Their meeting in 'Batman v Superman' won't be the first canonical: https://time.com/4261682/batman-superman-history-together/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-24T15:00:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:57:56.342Z article:section: History og:title: Batman v Superman—The Story That First Brought Them Together og:description: Their meeting in 'Batman v Superman' won't be the first og:url: https://time.com/4261682/batman-superman-history-together/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt620191a216b4a8a5/69888b46524fc091dbdf736d/bvs-21584rv5.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Batman v Superman—The Story That First Brought Them Together twitter:description: Their meeting in 'Batman v Superman' won't be the first twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt620191a216b4a8a5/69888b46524fc091dbdf736d/bvs-21584rv5.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How World War II First Brought Batman and Superman Together  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 24, 2016 3:00 PM UTC  A scene from Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice A scene from Batman v Superman: Dawn Of JusticeClay Enos/Warner Bros.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 24, 2016 3:00 PM UTC When Batman and Superman come together in this week’s _Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,_ it will be far from the first time that the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel have crossed paths. Shortly after Batman’s 1939 introduction, the two characters [were appearing on comic-book covers together](http://ti.me/1UngLD1), but they generally stayed apart from one another in the stories inside. That changed, however briefly, in 1941, when they both helped [raise money for WWII orphans](http://allstarcomics.blogspot.com/2010/07/all-star-comics-7-1000000-for-orphans.html). In [_All-Star Comics_](https://books.google.com/books?id=kxQEhkcO0fYC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=justice+society+of+america+war+orphans&source=bl&ots=DLaWikebAi&sig=FUHctBaf7DXYJ2%5FdcjXt0-Recqs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKybjL7MXLAhXFOj4KHUecD08Q6AEIKDAC#v=onepage&q=justice%20society%20of%20america%20war%20orphans&f=false)[ #7,](https://books.google.com/books?id=kxQEhkcO0fYC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=justice+society+of+america+war+orphans&source=bl&ots=DLaWikebAi&sig=FUHctBaf7DXYJ2%5FdcjXt0-Recqs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKybjL7MXLAhXFOj4KHUecD08Q6AEIKDAC#v=onepage&q=justice%20society%20of%20america%20war%20orphans&f=false) that October, the Justice Society of America (a group of mostly lower-level superheroes) makes a promise to raise $1 million for the cause. Though Batman and Superman are not central to the story, they appear in a few panels at the end to help the heroes make their fundraising goal. Even if the two heroes’ joint participation was unusual, there was a close relationship between the war effort and the American comics industry. The events taking place in the real world quickly trickled down into the stories of superheroes. [One 1940 story](http://time.com/vault/issue/1940-03-11/page/50/) had Superman preventing the U.S. from having to enter the war by exposing a fictional dictator as a mockery. In other cases, the stories were more directly related to world news—as was the case when the Justice Society addressed the [very real concern](http://time.com/vault/issue/1939-05-01/page/20/) of children who lost parents in the fighting. For Superman, at least, that close link between comics and world news caused plot problems, as TIME [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1942-04-13/page/80/) in 1942: --- > “” --- It wasn’t until 1952 that Superman and Batman appeared in a real story together. In _Superman_ #76, they both appear in a [story](http://genius.com/Superman-the-mightiest-team-in-the-world-annotated) called “The Mightiest Team in the World”—and it wasn’t exactly war-orphans levels of serious. Bruce Wayne decides to go on a cruise so he can “forget crime, for a change”…and he happens to choose the same ship on which Clark Kent is vacationing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4261682/batman-superman-history-together/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4261682/batman-superman-history-together/"},"headline":"How World War II First Brought Batman and Superman Together","datePublished":"2016-03-24T15:00:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:57:56.342Z","description":"Decades before 'Batman v Superman,' they first met up to help WWII orphans","url":"https://time.com/4261682/batman-superman-history-together/","keywords":["movies","Comics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt620191a216b4a8a5/69888b46524fc091dbdf736d/bvs-21584rv5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt620191a216b4a8a5/69888b46524fc091dbdf736d/bvs-21584rv5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Batman V. 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