The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight. They're two of the most well-known, popular, and instantly recognizable super heroes in all of fiction. They both strive to uphold justice. They both take on dangerous criminals and super-powered madmen. They both serve on the legendary Justice League. Separately, they're two of the world's greatest super heroes. Together, they're the World's Finest.

Throughout their 75 yearlong careers, over the course of multiple media, Superman and Batman have encountered each other on a number of occasions. Sometimes as allies, sometimes as enemies, almost every single time for an awesome adventure. Currently, you can find these adventures monthly in the pages of Batman/Superman by Greg Pak, and in about two years, you'll be seeing the two team up on the big screen for the first time in the Man of Steel sequel, with Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman and Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck donning the cape and cowl.

With the latest issue of their team-up title out this week (kicking off the "First Contact" crossover), we decided to reminisce on some of their previous adventures—mainly ones where they don't beat each other up—and give you all 6 Superman/Batman Team Ups Worthy of the the Award of Awesome!

 

1. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Prior to Batman/Superman, there was Superman/Batman, a title that kicked off with a pretty badass arc that had then-President Lex Luthor manipulating events in order to paint the Dark Knight and Man of Steel as wanted fugitives. This led to, essentially, Superman and Batman vs. EVERYONE. They took on supervillains, mercenaries, and even their fellow superheroes in battle after awesome battle. The storyline was even adapted into an animated film, and speaking of animation...


 

2. World's Finest (DCAU)

It was a moment fans of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series had been waiting for. Sure, there was Super Friends before that, but this was different. The Animated Series gave us a much more mature and grounded version of these characters, and they were going to finally unite onscreen to take on their greatest enemies. The payoff was everything we wanted and more. Kevin Conroy's Batman and Tim Daly's Superman played off each other perfectly, as did Mark Hamill's Joker and Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor. The action was great, the story was great, and the animation was perfect.

 



3. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Before the LEGO versions of the World's Greatest Super Heroes appeared together on the big screen in this year’s hilariously amazing LEGO Movie, they joined forces in the world of video games, with unquestionably spectacular LEGOtastic results. It's one of the most fun co-op games we've ever played and just thinking about it makes us want to go play it again.

 



4. Earth 2 #1

What makes this particular team-up noteworthy? Because it featured the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of Earth 2 sacrificing their lives in order to beat back the forces of Darkseid. It was entirely unexpected, undoubtedly heroic and, honestly, it's the way we want to believe these heroes would go out: fighting side-by-side as friends till the end.

 


5. Superman #76

It's the first Superman/Batman team up story ever! It's a super fun Silver Age story and deserves to be checked out just for its historical importance. You can actually find the full tale in the recent Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years collection. Check out "The Mightiest Team in the World," a.k.a "That time Superman and Batman randomly and coincidentally ended up sharing a cabin while on a cruise." Like we said, Silver Age.

 



6. World's Finest #195

What more do you need to know than this cover? The story inside is just as amazing and crazy, but the cover... the cover alone is one of the most insanely awesome comic covers ever.

 

 

There are, of course, plenty more instances of Superman and Batman teaming up. We've only covered a few of them above, so in the comments, let us know what some of your own personal favorite adventures are.