Action Comics #584

How are we all doing this evening? Really? That's great!

I'm feeling good, thank you for asking. I spent five hours a couple of nights ago with Jon M Wilson, Zach Henderson and Tyler Crone from Teenage Wasteland: An Ultimate Spider-Man podcast, talking about the first Stuart Immonen arc on the title, The Death of a Goblin. Well, at least, we did for some of the time. Along with thoughts on DCU Online (No, I don't have it yet, I need to become more self-sufficient in Cataclysm before I start to put a second MMORPG into the mix), the rise of Joe Quesada, just how bad Ultimates 3 was (hint: very), moments in Ultimate Spider-Man that make people cry, and more vulgar profanity than the most profane episode of South Park with all the non-profanity edited out.

The episode will be up in a month or so, and I'll be sure to drop a link here if you want to check it out. I'll be interested if only to hear what Zach manages to salvage from our random mumblings.

And talking of random mumblings, how about our review for today?

Squatter!

Storyteller: John Byrne

Embellisher: Dick Giordano

Colorist: Tom Ziuko

Letterer: John Costanza

Editor: Andrew Helfer

Cover Artist: John Byrne

Cover Date: January 1987

Release Date: 23/10/1986

A Superman sighting in Metropolis turns sour when the Man of Steel starts attacking skyscrapers. As the debris hurtles towards bystanders, Cyborg of the Teen Titans appears, using his sonic weaponry to disintegrate the rubble. He then heads to confront Superman, who is ranting and boasting about his superior powers. To get his attention, Cyborg hurls a metal sheet at him. The plan works, but a little too well, as Superman attacks the Titan. Superman rips Cyborg’s arm off, heavily injuring him. Cyborg temporarily blinds Superman with a laser, but is hurled off the top of a skyscraper and crashes heavily to the ground. With his internal communications systems damaged in the fall, Cyborg makes it to a telephone box where he contacts the rest of the Titans for assistance.

Wonder Girl and Changeling respond to Cyborg’s cry for help. Changeling goes up against Superman as an elephant, but is quickly batted to one side. Wonder Girl appears to subdue Superman with a wrecked car, but Superman fights back with a broken mains water pipe. Changing tactic, Wonder Girl binds Superman with her lasso. Meanwhile, Jericho breaks off from teaching American Sign Language to children when he hears a radio report of the combat. Cyborg recovers from his beating just in time to see Superman break Wonder Girl’s lasso, and leaps in to save her. Jericho arrives, getting Superman’s attention by throwing fruit at him. He makes eye contact and jumps into him, but Superman’s alien physiology prevents Jericho from fully taking control, although his presence quells Superman’s rampage. Suddenly, a man on crutches arrives and claims that he is Superman.

Flying across Metropolis, ‘Superman’ explains to the Titans what happened, whilst Jericho ‘pilots’ Superman’s body to keep him under control. Clark Kent had taken a phone call at the Daily Planet from David Gunderson, an amateur scientist who needed Superman’s help for an experiment. Arriving at Gunderson’s lab, Superman was tricked into a trap, and Gunderson was able to switch his mind with Superman’s. Gunderson then locked Superman in his basement whilst he went on a rampage in Superman’s  body, although Superman was able to escape. The Titans take Superman to back to Gunderson’s lab, where he is able to reverse the mind-swap by tinkering with the apparatus.

 In Paris, Lex Luthor reads Clark Kent’s report of the incident in the Daily Planet. Musing on the fact that Clark Kent seems to get all the good Superman stories, he decides to discover the connection between Kent and Superman.

In his column at the end of this issue, John Byrne talks about the genesis of the three post-Man of Steel Superman titles. He writes, “it would be in Superman and Marv’s title (Adventures of Superman) that we would explore Clark Kent’s place in the universe, his attitudes to the world and Superman. In the team-up title, then, the key would be… action” This definition between Action Comics and the other titles is marked, and exemplified by the contents of this issue. With the exception of the final page, none of Superman’s supporting cast appears, and no service is paid to the ongoing plots of Superman and Adventures of Superman.

Instead, what we get is action, and lots of it, featuring the stars of DC’s most popular team book at the time, the Teen Titans. First Cyborg, then the entire team, go up against the mind-controlled Superman, and this issue is little more than a very well-executed fight scene with a superficial plot tacked on. The mind-swap plot, such as it is, is pretty basic and non-descript, although the comparisons between the crripled Gunderson and the pinnacle of super-heroic ability that is Superman had more mileage than the simple homily of “It’s not you body that cripples you, Gunderson. It’s your mind!”. Unlike the similar fallen genius of Emil Hamilton, there is no on-page redemption for Gunderson, which is probably deserved thanks to his failure to disable the mind-control machine to ensure the switch would not be reversed, before going on a power-drunk rampage in Metropolis.

The action is well portrayed. Cyborg’s initial encounter with Superman is brutal and destructive. The fall from the top of the office building is painful, and the visuals of Cyborg without his cybernetic arm and leg are disturbing. The Titans fight with varying levels of success, with Changeling coming across as impulsive and a little reckless, whilst Jericho’s inventiveness to insert himself into the fight, using a piece of fruit, surely the least threatening item imaginable in the destruction of the fight, is deft and amusing.

This is a light issue, short on plot and resonance, but high on power, energy, and panache.

The Geeky Bits:

I mentioned that I would touch on this a while back, but the use of the Teen Titans as the guest stars in this issue tells us a lot about how compressed DC history is when compared to that of Superman. The last time we saw Robin was in Legends of the DC Universe #6, set between Man of Steel #4 and #5. Approximately three years or so passes between that issue and the January 1987 issues of the Superman titles, meaning that Robin has his entire career as Robin as well as some time as Nightwing, including leading the Teen Titans, in this time. Of course, Nightwing doesn’t appear in this issue, but the appearance of the Titans was intended to be contemporaneous to their current adventures in their own title, resulting in this comparison.

Talking of the Teen Titans, their hugely-popular title, The New Teen Titans, had launched in November 1980, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Perez. The success of this title meant that it was the only DC book to rival the popularity of Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men, and the two titles shared a crossover in 1982.

This issue of Action Comics was covered on episode 3 of From Crisis To Crisis.

Next Time on World of Superman: We take a look at the brilliance of Lana Lang.

Adventures of Superman #425

Welcome back to World of Superman. Things are moving rather smoothly here, and there's not a huge amount to report. So I'd like to take this pre-post waffle-space to introduce you to a new podcast out there, hosted by friend of this blog Jon M Wilson, called Golden Age Superman, and focusing, surprisingly enough, on the Golden Age Superman. I got the chance to have a sneak preview of this podast just before Christmas, and the first episode was a good listen, covering the entirety of Action Comics and not just the Superman story. I think this is going to be a really good listen, and I encourage all of you give it a try.

And with the podcast-pimping now over, let's turn our attention to the issue.

Going The Gauntlet

Writer: Marv Wolfman

Artist: Jerry Ordway

Letterer: John Costanza

Colorist: Tom Ziuko

Editor: Andy Helfer

Cover Artist: Jerry Ordway

Cover Date: February 1987

Release Date: 20/11/1986

Emil Hamilton pleads with an unknown listener to hear his story and to understand how he came to be where he is.

A few weeks previously, Hamilton was summoned to a meeting by Lex Luthor. There, he reveals that the company Hamilton was working for when he created his magnetic force-field generator was owned by LexCorp, and that he owns the rights to the generator. He demands the blueprints in return for a paltry payoff to twenty years of Hamilton’s work.  Returning to his lab, Hamilton starts to destroy his work to keep it out of Luthor’s hands, but a visit from Luthor’s goons leaves him fearful for his life. With the police unwilling to assist, Hamilton approaches the Department of Defence, hoping that they will work with him this time, but he is turned down.

Hamilton is approached by Compucon Services, who are interested in helping Hamilton complete his work. A few days later at a public demonstration of the forcefield, industrial saboteurs arrange the death of one of the visiting businessmen.  Branded a thief and a murderer, Hamilton finds himself without any support.

In the present, Superman faces off against the combined Freedom League machine. He survives the first attack, and uses a steel girder to render the weaponry of the machine useless. A missile is launched, and Superman flies through the streets as a decoy, before returning to the machine where he tricks the missile into blowing up on the machine. The machine is crippled, but as Superman prepares to confront the Freedom League inside, Hamilton appears with his force-field generator, trapping Superman and the machine inside an impenetrable force-field. The machine still has some functioning weaponry, which Superman is eventually able to defeat. Bursting into the machine, he is shocked when the Freedom League soldiers inside choose to commit suicide rather than answer for their crimes.  The machine explodes, but Hamilton’s field prevents the explosion from harming Metropolis. However, his contribution goes unnoticed as the public lauds Superman.

A week later, Hamilton broadcasts a challenge to Superman, calling him to Fifth Avenue to save the life of an innocent. Arriving at the location, Superman discovers Hamilton with a gun to the head of a prostitute. Hamilton’s force-fields prevent Superman from flying, forcing him to walk through a series of traps.  Superman battles through the numerous traps, surviving each one but getting weaker with each challenge. His resilience shocks Hamilton, who prepares to detonate his generator, killing himself, his hostage, and Superman. Superman smothers the generator with his body, saving their lives, and shocking Hamilton into realising what he has done.  Hamilton hands himself over to the police, and is revealed to be in jail telling his story to a disinterested guard.

In a voiceover, Lex Luthor reveals that Compucon was another LexCorp subsidiary, and that he engineered the death at the demonstration to drive Hamilton to improve the generator, which he now owns.

The second part of this two-issue story is a great introduction and character piece for Emil Hamilton. Hamilton would later, after Wolfman’s departure from the title, become Superman’s unofficial ‘scientific advisor’, participating in his adventures up until his revelation as Ruin at the end of Adventure of Superman. Even if he had never been seen again, he would have stood out in Superman’s gallery of opponents, thanks to a sensitive and detailed portrayal in this issue.

The focus here is very strongly on Hamilton, opening with a flashback to show how Emil has reached his point of desperation, relegating the resolution to last issue’s cliffhanger to almost halfway through the issue. Emil is a victim of Luthor’s schemes. For the most part he does no wrong, only finally falling foul of the sin of Pride when the public of Metropolis ignores his contribution to the defeat of the Man O’ War. He is good enough to recognise his failings, and to cease his activities when it looks like Superman has seriously injured himself to save him from the exploding generator, telling the police to shoot him if they want, but to help Superman first.

 

Lex Luthor is a master-villain here. Although the gauntlet of the title specifically refers to Hamilton’s set of challenges for Superman, it can equally apply to the events masterminded by Lex. Every obstacle faced by Hamilton, with the exception of the newsmen who ignore his actions, is constructed by Lex, not only to gain ownership of the force-field generator (which he achieves within the first pages of the book), but to discredit Hamilton to the point where he won’t be able to gain funding to repeat his work. Like in the last issue, Luthor’s renown as a scientist is an element, but here it comes from Emil’s respect for Luthor that makes Lex’s takeover more personally galling. At no point in the issue does Luthor threaten Hamilton, but the physical threat of the bodyguards coupled with the assault immediately after Hamilton leaves Luthor’s office, clearly shows Lex’s colours in a way that cannot come back onto him.

The Freedom League and its attacks feels very much like a subplot within the issue. For Superman, the fight is testing, but the real defeat comes when the Man O’ War is disabled. Superman breaks into the machine, only to find that the members of the Freedom League within choose to commit suicide in the name of their goals. This failure is later partially-atoned for when Superman throws himself on the exploding generator before telling Hamilton that he wouldn’t let him destroy himself.

Jerry Ordway is on top form again here. He provides a strong, visually arresting cover, sadly an event not featured within the story itself, and the fight between Superman and Man O’ War really shows how much Superman is thinking on his feet and determined not to be beaten. There’s a highly detailed panel on the final page showing Hamilton’s nervousness and worry whilst in prison that really stands out, and contrasts nicely with the previous page where the height of his madness was depicted with his face basked in red light from the overloading generator. Also notable is the panel where a near-unconscious Hamilton is given the warning by Luthor's goons, as unusually for comics, the full extent of his beating, including several bleeding gashes across his face, is shown.

Although this title takes a breather in the next issue for the Legends storyline to play out, this issue marks a satisfying conclusion to the first act of Marv Wolfman's tenure on Adventures of Superman.

The Geeky Bits: Jerry Ordway is a writer, penciller and inker best known for his re-invention in the 1990s of Captain Marvel, in the Power of Shazam! graphic novel and ongoing series. Starting as an inker at DC in the early 1980s, Ordway’s most notable inking work was over George Perez’s pencils on Crisis on Infinite Earths. As a writer and artist, his work was notable during the 1980s on titles such as All-Star SquadronI and Infinity Inc, dealing with legacy characters most commonly associated today with the Justice Society of America. After Marv Wolfman departed Adventures, Ordway became the title’s writer, moving across to Superman when John Byrne finished his run.

The flashbacks in this issue take place prior to the events of Superman #1, most likely during the three-month gap between the conclusion of The Man of Steel and the start of the relaunched title. The Superman/Man O'War confrontation takes place immediately following the last issue, whilst Hamilton's gauntlet, occuring a week later, happens after Action Comics #584. Directly following his encounter with Man O' War, Superman follow up on his phone call from the last issue, calling on David Gunderson.

This issue of Adventure of Superman was covered on episode 4 of From Crisis to Crisis.

Next on World of Superman: When Superman goes out of control, it falls to the youngest team of heroes to halt his rampage.

Adventure of Superman #424 (or, I love Jerry Ordway)

As I already covered a bunch of stuff yesterday, I thought I'd quickly cover where my reading and viewing in an internet-free world has taken me over the past couple of weeks. There's been an awful lot of Doctor Who, both the new Christmas special, which was spellbindingly brilliant, and the entirety of the Series Five boxed set. I also got to grips with Sherlock, the modern-day retelling from earlier in the year, on DVD, and finally got to the the final episode which has the most amazing cliffhanger. No spoilers, but it's up there with the reveal of Locutus for sheer 'how the hell are they going to get out of this one'-ness!

There were comics as well. A very long time ago, I made an illicit eBay purchase of the then-entire run of Captain America on DVD. I found it a few weeks ago, and picked up where I left off, which was the first issue of Mad Bomb, the return of Jack Kirby to the title in the 1970s. I made it all the way through to about #385 before the scratches on the DVD made the files unreadable, but I had a real blast with the comics, especially the Gruenwald run that I wasn't quite able to finish. From there, I went to the Legion of Super-Heroes, working my way through several years of the 1960s. I generally run cold with the Silver Age - I've been trying to read my way through the Hal Jordan Green Lantern series from the start and can only make a couple of issues in a sitting - but I love the Legion, their ridiculous rules and bylaws, the silly nature of their applicants, and wonderfully absurd concepts such as Miss Terious and Sir Prize. With the return of the internet, I know I won't be able to read as much as I have done, but I had a blast going through these comics and I look forward to reading a few issues a week.

Man O’ War

Writer: Marv Wolfman

Penciller: Jerry Ordway

Inker: Mike Machlan

Letterer: John Costanza

Colorist: Tom Ziuko

Editor: Andy Helfer

Cover Art: Jerry Ordway, Alex Jay
Cover Date: January 1987

Release Date: 16/10/1986

Somewhere in Metropolis, a man storms out of a meeting concerning the future of an oil-rich country subversively controlled by America. Once outside of the meeting, he summons a large mechanical construct to destroy the building where the meeting was being held.

At the Daily Planet, Clark Kent meets the latest addition to the staff, gossip reporter Cat Grant. The two stumble over each other in the lift, and find themselves attracted to each other. Clark and Cat happen upon the destroyed building and start to investigate. Whilst Clark surreptitiously uses his powers to search for survivors, Cat views a note left by the perpetrators, the Freedom League, stating that the destruction is a response to an American invasion. As the two head away, the mechanical construct surfaces again, this time to attack City Hall.

Cat and Clark visit the Suicide Slum laboratory of Professor Emil Hamilton, who claims that the government are trying to discredit him and his work.  He demonstrates a magnetic force-field that Clark is unable to break with his powers, and which is impervious to bullets. As Cat interviews Hamilton, Clark picks up radio messages concerning the attack on City Hall. Sneaking away, he changes to Superman and heads off.

Arriving at City Hall, Superman discovers a large metallic caterpillar-like construct which attempts to detain him with metallic constricting bands before hurling him away. Inside the machine, members of the Freedom League control the battle. Superman recovers from the assault, breaking free from the rubble just in time to be crushed by the ‘caterpillar’.

Superman breaks free from the rubble again and helps rescue survivors of the assault before heading after the construct.  However, all traces of the machine have vanished, forcing Superman to visit Inspector Henderson for further information.  He learns that the Freedom League are likely a Quraci terrorist group. He departs suddenly when he learns of an attack on the Daily Planet. Arriving at the Planet he discovers another type of construct, which is quickly joined by all of the machines. The different machines combine together to form a juggernaut, which faces off against Superman.

Meanwhile, the Lane family gather at the bedside of Elinore Lane, who lies comatose following an accident at a chemical plant she was visiting. Lois is distracted by her personal problems, presenting a bitchy front to Cat Grant when they meet at the Planet. As the machines start to focus on City Hall, Lois leaves the Daily Planet, and is forced into a limousine by Lex Luthor’s driver. The limousine takes her to the airport where Lois meets with Lex Luthor on his private jet. He reveals that the chemical plant where Lois’ mother had the accident was a minor LexCorp subsidiary. Feeling responsible, he has managed to develop an expensive serum that can cure Elinore Lane, as long as she takes it monthly. He gives the serum to Lois for free, only asking that she accompany him to dinner. After dinner, with Lois returning to Metropolis alone, Luthor reveals to his assistant that he purposefully caused the accident to manipulate Lois into becoming indebted to him.

The first issue of Adventures of Superman, picking up the numbering from the first volume of Superman, opens with a strong start. From the off, Wolfman is less interested in re-inventing classic villains, or building Superman’s relationship with the rest of the DCU, and more interested in building Superman’s supporting cast and giving him new and interesting threats to counter. In this one issue alone, we see Lois’s family grow with the introduction of Sam and Elinore Lane, get another addition to the Daily Planet staff with the assured and exciting introduction of Cat Grant, and meet Professor Emil Hamilton, originally conceived to serve the purposes of this story, but who would go on to become a regular member of Superman’s supporting cast and Superman’s go-to scientific advisor all the way through to Infinite Crisis nearly twenty years later.

These new characters immediately jump off the page. Straight away we understand that Lois is not the favoured child in the eyes of her father, and her calling him ‘Sam’ instead of father speaks volumes about her relationship with the main male influence in her upbringing. Emil Hamilton doesn’t have a huge amount to do in this issue, so we’ll take a closer look at him when he takes a starring role in the next issue. But Cat Grant is the real guest-star here. Her introduction is a true classic, forcing Clark into the kind of pre-Crisis bumbling reporter role with the sheer force of her appearance and her attraction to him. Thankfully, we don’t see much of this version of Clark, but to have him bowled over by her beauty to the point that he gets his leg trapped in an elevator door is a lovely bit of humour. Clark and Cat have a great chemistry together, and it’s really evident from the start that Cat is intended as a threat to the concept of Clark and Lois being together.

For the threat, Wolfman gives us Middle-Eastern terrorists attacking public monuments with weapons of mass destruction, all in response to American activities in foreign countries where oil is the motivating factor. It’s an idea that resonates far beyond the original 1986 release and, at least at the start of Wolfman’s year of plots, grounds Superman (mostly) in a realistic world with problems that reflect those of our own. Of course, this is Superman, so the terrorists use a combining Transformer-like assault vehicle. The Quraci storyline forms the main thrust of Wolfman’s year on the title, and goes through its ups and downs over the next twelve issues. But for this issue, it’s Wolfman’s depiction of Lex Luthor that really stands out. Everything that makes the post-Crisis re-invention of Luthor great is present. He’s a notable scientist, devoting his skills to curing Elinore. He’s callously manipulative, toying with the lives of innocents as he did with yacht-full of people in Man of Steel #4 and the armour pilot in Man of Steel #5. In this case, he deliberately orchestrates a near-death experience for Lois’ mother, not to win Lois’ heart but to place her in his debt for years to come. This strong portrayal, coupled with Superman #2, clearly sets up the post-Crisis Luthor in his own right, a more worthy nemesis for Superman than simply an evil scientific genius.

The real highlight of this issue, however, is the art of Jerry Ordway. Through his writing and art, Ordway would come to be as synonymous with late 1980s Superman as Dan Jurgens would be with 1990s Superman, and he literally bursts into the Superman titles here. His designs for the Clark, and especially Lois and Cat, are very grounded in the fashions of the day, which does date the art a little, but shows a closer attention to detail and greater concern for grounding the book in ‘reality’ than John Byrne’s more ‘timeless’ approach in Action Comics and Superman. But it’s his Superman that really stands out. The splash page revealing Superman for the first time on page 12 is absolutely beautiful, distinct from the familiar Byrne rendition, dynamic and full of energy, especially in the way that Superman's arm breaks free of the panel and thrusts right off the page. The cover is similarly iconic, and even quieter moments, such as Superman pondering events whilst in Henderson’s office, look great. Another interestingly composed moment is the panel where Superman perches atop a cinema billboard, confronting the newly-combined machine. Relegating Superman to the corner of the panel lends the attacking machine greater weight, presence and threat.

The Geeky Bits: Although it is never named as such in this issue, the giant Quraci machine is referred to as Man O’ War in later issues.

During the scenes at the Daily Planet, Clark Kent receives a call from Mr Gunderson. This links into this month’s Action Comics issue, where Gunderson is the antagonist (But, as we won’t get there for a couple of posts, I’ll refrain from spoiling what he does. Even though the comic is 23 years old. And even if you haven’t read it, you’ve all probably listened to the episode of From Crisis To Crisis that covers it. Or you actually recorded that episode.)

This issue was covered on episode 3 of From Crisis To Crisis.

Next on World of Superman: We get a bit wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, as Adventures of Superman #425 manages to not only follow directly on from this issue, but take place before it, and after Action Comics #584. Confused? You will (not) be!

Status Update

Evening all.

This is just a fast post to establish where I've been for a little while, and to set out where we'll be going over the next few weeks.

As I've hinted at before, December was a challenging month to find the time to sit down and work through comics. As well as being the busiest month of the year for work, the start of the month saw the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the latest installment of my one and only gaming love.As sitting at a computer, working on my character whilst chatting with friends is generally an easier way to unwind than focusing on writing 1000+ word posts, it became easier to push the blog to one side and focus on getting from day to day without going mad.

Christmas came, and whilst I spent a couple of days with my parents in Gloucestershire with no comics or internet, my internet at home in London decided to die. And it's only come back today, about 9 hours ago. So that made it hard to get any post uploaded.

I used my offline time wisely, though. Thanks to my girlfriend's trip to Israel, I've had access to a laptop (my computer is a desktop), which has come with me to work where I've used my lunchtimes to get synopses written and read and re-read issues without the distractions of twitter, podcasts and the like.

I have the next few posts fully written and raring to be published, and as soon as I can get blogger to upload the panel scans correctly without garbling the images, I will do. I suspect my still-healing internet connection may have something to do with this. Expect a look at Adventures of Superman #424 within the next day or so.

Finally, I want to take the space here and list my three comic-related New Year's Resolutions.

1. At least one post a week here at World of Superman. Even if I have dry spells (late March/early April will be a challenge as I'm on holiday in Los Angeles), I want enough posts published to have an average of one a week, and at least two in every calendar month.
2. To be better at writing e-mails. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I like a lot of what I listen to. Sometimes I have things I want to say to the people who make the podcasts, wether it's to provide information, constructive feedback, or simply to tell people what a good job they are doing. Unfortunately, I tend to listen to podcasts on the go, or at lunch on work. By the time I get home, I've forgotten the need to write an e-mail, or the detail of the e-mail. Well, no more. If you produce a podcast that I listen to, expect something from me down the line.
3. Read more Vertigo. I feel like my comics reading has become to blinkered towards DC, Marvel and heroes. There's nothing wrong with this, but it's a bit like dining out at McDonalds every day, then hearing your friends talk about a great Indian restaurant they went to. So many titles that have been lauded have come out of Vertigo in the last year, and I feel like I've been missing out. So I'll be directing some of my buying money away from titles that I feel like I'm being to be a completist (why excatly is Titans on my pull list?) and into titles and creators who work outside of my comfort zone. I'll let you know how I get on.

As I said, a new, proper post will be up tomorrow. Don't forget to follow me on twitter - @quizlacey -  and you can always e-mail me as well. See you tomorrow!

Superman #1

Well, the December doldrums appear to have hit rather hard this year Despite my best efforts to keep to a schedule, I am almost a month behind schedule with these posts. I can only apologise and ask you to bear with me whilst the Christmas trading season runs its course and I can get back to normality in the new year.

Just a few notes on Superman-related projects that are in progress right now. From Crisis to Crisis is just about to enter the true Neverending Battle era with the launch of Superman: The Man Of Steel #1. Charlie Niemeyer has launched a podcast covering the Bronze Age of Superman, appropriately titled Superman in the Bronze Age. It's up to its third episode, and is doing a great job of presenting the final days of the Silver Age Superman, from the first issue that Julius Schwarz edited onwards. Also, the Superman Forever podcast has altered its format to include coverage of the post-Infinite Crisis Superman, starting with Up, Up and Away. They've just started this, and it makes a great jumping on point for a great podcast.

With all of this Superman attention, I can hear you asking, 'Shouldn't there be a podcast covering the Golden Age of Superman?' Well, I've heard about some plans for this that should be arriving in 2011. I know the people behind this podcast, and I've heard an excerpt from the first episode, and I'm really excited about this project.

But that's enough teasing and promoting. We have a comic to look at.

Heart of Stone


Story and Pencils: John Byrne
Guest Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Tom Ziuko
Editor: Andrew Helfer
Cover Date: January 1987
Release Date: 09/10/1986

Superman bursts in on an abandoned, lead-lined laboratory. He has spent three months searching for the missing birthing matrix. Working his way through the lab he discovers a sealed room, and on entering he finds that it is full of images and data concerning himself. Realising that his suspicions of being photographed (in Man of Steel #4) were accurate, he is then surprised to discover the six-week-old body of a scientist laid on a table, along with an acid bath containing fragments of human bone. To protect the data and to preserve the crime scene, Superman burrows around the laboratory, using his heat vision to fuse the silicates in the soil into steel, before lifting the entire complex into orbit.


Superman returns to Earth and changes to Clark Kent, to allow him to keep a jogging date with Lois Lane. As the two run, they hear an alarm from a nearby bank. Moving to investigate, they discover that the metal doors have been bent out of shape. Suddenly, Lois is grabbed by the bank robber. Clark attacks him, and rolls with a punch to get out of sight so that he can change back to Superman. The robber ignores him, bragging to Lois Lane that he is Metallo, and that he is as powerful as Superman. Superman arrives to contest this, but is surprised when he is hurled clean through a wall and across the street. He shakes off a moment of dizziness and returns to Metallo.


As the two fight, Lois climbs behind the teller's desk to find a tunnel in the floor. She rationalises that Superman tunelled Clark out of the bank to get him to safety. Turning around, she sees that Superman is losing the fight. Superman feels like his powers are draining away. He asks Metallo why he is doing this, but Metallo doesn't feel like answering his questions. He is interrupted by shotgun blasts from the MCU that knock Metallo back. Superman's strength starts to return, and he deduces that Metallo is dead, as he cannot hear a heartbeat. However, Metallo is not dead, and he gets the jump on Superman, telling him that he is going to kill him. The fight continues, with Metallo the stronger fighter.


In flashback, we see the origin of Metallo. He awakes in the laboratory from the start of the issue, and sees his metallic hands. A scientist explains that he has the power to kill Superman. The scientist had witnessed Superman's arrival on Earth in the birthing matrix, and had retrieved the matrix. There he witnessed a part of Jor-El's message, and became convinced that Superman was the vanguard of an alien invasion. He reveals a chunk of kryptonite, a material deadly to Superman, and implants it in Metallo's chest cavity. Realising that the kryptonite will power him forever, Metallo decides that he doesn't need the scientist and strangles him.


Lex Luthor is alerted to the fight between Metallo and Superman. He is angered when he discovers that Metallo could kill Superman, as he had promised to kill Superman himself.


The fight continues, causing the bank to collapse. Metallo emerges from the rubble, his synthetic skin destroyed revealing his robotic body, and grasping Superman's tattered cape. Superman surfaces as well, barely able to stand, but still determined to stop Metallo. Metallo responds by opening his chest cavity, fully exposing Superman to the kryptonite within. Superman collapses in agony, and is only saved when Metallo is inexplicably taken from the scene. Quickly recovering, he asks Lois what happened, but all she can say is that a black shadow fell over Metallo and he disappeared. Superman is concerned that his weakness to kryptonite has quickly become public knowledge, and he knows that someone kidnapped Metallo to get access to kryptonite.

There's a lot to like about this issue. Metallo becomes the first member of Superman's super-powered villains to be updated for the post-Crisis era (discounting the Bizarro from Man of Steel #5, which wasn't even called Bizarro). He bursts onto the scene, posing a credible and lethal threat, bringing Superman to his knees. He is unstoppable, and the city of Metropolis reacts to his attack on Superman in a way that reminds me of when Superman fought Doomsday for the first time. The moment where the bank has collapsed on top of Metallo and Superman, with neither surfacing, is a real heart-stopper. Before the relaunch, every reader would have known that Superman would be victorious, but this early in the post-Crisis era. there is a real feeling that anything could happen. When Superman does reappear, victorious is the last thing that he is. Wracked with pain, barely able to stand, the strength of his character is that he still does not submit, even when exposed to a large chunk of kryptonite for the first time. Even at the end of the issue, all is not well with Superman, and the final panel clearly shows a beaten and bruised Superman who has not fully weathered the fight.

There is a deus ex machina element to the climax of the issue, where an unknown force abducts Metallo, inadvertently saving Superman's life. The next issue reveals this force to have been Luthor (sorry for the spoilers guys, but this comic is twenty-three years old!), and the fact that he has succeeded where Superman failed only serves to strengthen his position and power in this new continuity.

The art here is fantastic. Byrne is no longer providing his own inks, with Terry Austin coming aboard as 'Guest Inker', but in reality staying around for the next three issues until Karl Kesel arrives. The art seems a little crisper than that of The Man of Steel. There's a lovely touch where Metallo's flashbacks to his creation are tinged with green, as if filtered through his kryptonite-powered body (although, considering that the kryptonite gets implanted in his chest just before the flashbacks end, there technically isn't any reason to do so.). Metallo is an imposing presence, especially when his full robot form is revealed (deliciously, with scraps of his fake skin still in place), and the decision to show him in silhouette when he opens up his chest to unleash the kryptonite really heightens his inhumanity.


If there is a disappointment with the issue it's that the minor plot threat that has run throughout The Man of Steel is underwhelmingly resolved here. The shadowy figure, Dr Emmet Vale, dies before he gets the chance to meet Superman, and the menace his unknown presence provided throughout the miniseries is revealed to be psychotic paranoia. His work to uncover as much about Superman as possible is lost when Metallo kills him, and Metallo never shows any sign of having absorbed that information in the future. My memory is being a little faulty, but I cannot remember the laboratory, so carefully placed into orbit, ever becoming a concern again. (As an aside, considering that Vale is willing to handle kryptonite and uranium with no more protection than rubber gloves, his body is probably so wracked with radiation that he is effectively a dead man walking.).

We also have an example in this issue of a Byrne-specific element of the rebooted Superman, that would fade away once Byrne left the book. When Superman is raising the lab into orbit, he notices that the mass has lost its weight once he starts flying, as opposed to being heavy when he was lifting it out of the ground. He then notes that it is as if he is moving the mass with the force of his mind. One of the trademarks of Byrne's reinvention of Superman was to look at how Superman's powers worked, and this is an example of one of those reworkings. Basically, the idea is that if Superman is standing on the ground lifting something, then it is really heavy and he is using his strength to lift it. However, Superman can fly, and when he does so, he uses his mind to make himself fly, at the same time, reducing his weight. Thus, if he is flying something heavy, such as a stolen laboratory containing illicitly-gained research about himself, then like his body it loses its weight. This re-evaluation of Superman's powers also includes the idea that Superman emits a bio-electrical field which prevents fabric sitting close to his skin from coming to harm, although this idea would outlast the pseudo-telepathic-flight one.

The Geeky Bits: As part of the relaunch, the decision was taken to cancel the first volume of Superman, transfer its numbering to the new title Adventures of Superman, and relaunch Superman as volume 2, issue 1. The decision was a fairly simple one - a hard reboot of the Superman numbering would be a strong message to readers, and allow the new ongoings to launch with a bang, as opposed to issue 424 of a 45 year-old comic. As Dick Giordano is quoted in John Byrne's column at the end of the issue, it was "History on the drawing board."

Dr Emmet Vale is pretty much a non-figure in the Superman universe. Other than a brief flashback in 1992s Adventures of Superman #491, his only other appearance is in an alternate universe in the Zero Hour tie-in issue of Action Comics (#703) where, in the other universe, he is the owner of the farm next door to the Kents. In the 2009 Secret Origin miniseries he briefly appears as the chief scientist on the METALLO armour project that leads into the first public appearance of Superman.

Clark here acts on his statement from The Man of Steel #6, where he vows to go after Lois Lane. Here, the two share a jogging date and the animosity from the Superman article of six years previously appears to be a thing of the past.

Metallo and the kryptonite next appear in Superman #2.

Want to know more? This issue of Superman was covered on the third episode of From Crisis to Crisis. It is collected in the second volume of the Man of Steel reprint series.

Next on World of Superman: The great Marv Wolfman and the great Jerry Ordway arrive to kick off their year together on Adventures of Superman with issues #424.

The Man Of Steel #6

If it's Sunday night, then it must be time for a posting. Hey, I kept to my schedule for an entire week!

I've been having a bit of a Superman-heavy week this week. I've been re-reading the entirety of Time and Time Again to allow me catch up with 3 weeks worth of From Crisis To Crisis, approximately 7.5 hours of podcasting. I had suffered one of my periodic itunes library crashes, and in the course of attempting to restore all my user-created data, especially my playlists, I accidentally deleted my podcast folder, along with all of my active subscriptions. I've got them back, but I had a wonderful bug with FCTC that resulted in every episode attempting to download at once, even though I only clicked the 'subscribe' button. So, Michael, Jeffrey, that huge volume of downloading that made your stats look good last week? That was me. Sorry!

Anyway, I got caught up, just in time for them to release another episode, so I had to do the reading and more listening. The blog got another brief shoutout, although I am a little concerned that my last two podcast shout-outs have resulted in the hosts forgetting the name of the site! This little mishap aside, the episode was great, and a rarity for FCTC as they got to spend the entire episode working with comics that they didn't like so much, which was a nice change of pace.

All this rambling aside, I've also been looking at the final issue of The Man of Steel, also the final issue before we hit the relaunched titles from January 1987. Come and take a look with me!

The Haunting


Written and Pencilled by John Byrne
Inked by Dick Giordano
Colored by Tom Ziuko
Lettered by John Costanza
Edited by Andrew Helfer
Cover Art: John Byrne
Cover Date: December 1986
Release Date: 25/09/1986

Superman returns home to Smallville, changing to Clark Kent at super-speed to give the appearance of him arriving at the bus station. As he and his parents make small talk on the way to the farm, Jonathan is quickly silenced before he can give something away. Over dinner, Clark lays out his problems with Lois, the fact that she both resents Clark for scooping her on the Superman story, and her gentle infatuation with Superman.


That night, unable to sleep, Clark sneaks downstairs for some pie. He is surprised to see a ghostly apparition in the kitchen that speaks to him in an alien language. The apparition reaches out for Clark, and as soon as it touches him, Clark finds himself on another planet, dressed in his Superman costume, and able to speak the alien language. A figure approaches him and mistakes him for Jor-El. Realising her mistake, the figure realises that Clark is her son. As Clark tries to process this, he suddenly snaps back to Earth and sees Lana Lang in front of him.


Clark has been sleepwalking during his experience and has ended up at Lana's house. As he gets his head together, he asks Lana what she is doing back in Smallville, as she had left years ago. Lana reminds him of the last time they met, years ago. On the night he discovered that he was adopted and an alien, Clark turned up at her house late at night. They went for a walk, and Lana started to wonder if he was going to propose to her. Instead, Clark took her in his arms and flew into the sky with her. Landing, he gently kissed her goodbye, and left Smallville. Unsure of anything, Lana felt lost and confused, and it took many years for her to come to terms with what had happened.


Parting on good terms, Clark changes to Superman and returns to the field where the birthing matrix crashed. He is surprised to discover that the matrix has disappeared. As he starts to investigate vehicle tracks, the apparition appears again. He touches Superman, causing him to collapse in pain as images and information streams into his mind. Jonathan and Martha arrive, having spent the day searching for Clark in the truck. Seeing the apparition apparently attacking Superman, Jonathan grabs a shovel and whacks the apparition, causing it to disappear in a flash. Superman reveals that the apparition called him 'his son', and flies away to think about what just happened.


As he flies, Superman realises that the apparition and the woman were his real mother and father, Lara and Jor-El. He discovers the story of Krypton, its tragic end, and the fact that he is the last survivor of his world. He can now speak Kryptonian, and has knowledge of Krypton's culture. He lands on a mountain and decides that although his true parents are Kryptonian, and it is his heritage that grants him his powers, it is his upbringing that makes him who he is.

And so it ends as it began, in the fields of Kansas. There's a lovely circular feeling to this issue. After spending most of the series in Metropolis cementing Superman's role in the city and the wider DCU, it's a strong choice to bring him back to Smallville and participate in what is ultimately a very small-scale story that completely defines Superman for years to come.

This issue has three objectives: Introduce and define Lana's place in the new Superman mythos, grant knowledge of Krypton to Superman, and redefine Superman in light of this new knowledge. The Lana scenes work very well. It is revealed that Lana is the person Clark goes to visit back in The Man of Steel #1, and we see what happened that night. Lana's conflict is well-portrayed. Her confusion comes across, even as she rationalises it with the benefit of hindsight. Hers is only a small scene, but it is one of the most important in the whole mini-series. Their discussion concerning Clark's dual responsibilities define his approach towards Lois Lane for the next few years, as he balances both sides of his life. It also helps give Lana definition beyond 'Superboy's Girlfriend', allowing her to move beyond her teenage attraction to Clark and be a strong supporting character in her own right.

The second objective is rather clever, and leads directly into the third. By this point in the series, the reader knew everything that there was to know at the time about Krypton, but Superman hadn't really confirmed that was extra-terrestial. The way that Byrne introduces this knowledge to Superman is deliberately non-specific, allowing for future revelations about Krypton's past, such as the contents of the World of Krypton series, to be available to Superman. It is this info-dump that most likely provides the information for Superman to relay to Lois Lane in that series. But this is more than just dropping the knowledge of a dead people into Superman's mind. The moment where he glimpses Lara and realises her identity is beautiful but brief, whilst the appearances of Jor-El plays into the fears we have seen across this project that Superman's presence on Earth is part of a larger plan (such as J'onn's fears in Martian Manhunter #20, and the drive Superman has exhibited at times to define his origins). Although we have seen that Jor-El's intentions are benevolent, Superman walks away from this issue unsure about his biological father.

The key scene of this issue is the climax where Superman flies around whilst debating the information he has just discovered. The final panel, where Superman declares that although Krypton made him Superman, it is the Earth that makes him human is the single most defining moment for the post-Crisis Superman. In effect, Superman is stating the key principle for Byrne's rebooting of Superman, that the human side, Clark Kent, is the primary definition of character; the hero, Superman, is one part of this character. For many fans, a story that deviates from this simple statement of principle is one that they would prefer not to read, and quite often I am one of them.

The art in this issue is fantastic. Byrne is at the top of his game. The contrasts between the futuristic Krypton and the urban Smallville are strong, and the faces of the characters, especially Lana, sell the words with utter conviction. But it is the final pages again that are the real highlight of the book. Byrne has given himself the opportunity to draw Superman in his element, flying across the globe. The panel at the bottom of page 20 where Superman briefly enters orbit is beautiful to look at, but even this pales in comparison to the final image of Superman standing tall on a mountain top, having reconciled his alien and human origins. Iconic is a word that is used far too frequently, but it applies to this image absolutely. Superman has rarely looked better.

The Geeky Bits: One plotline bubbling throughout The Man of Steel, the mysterious figure who observed Clark encountering the matrix for the first time, who took photographs of Superman in Metropolis, and who stole the birthing matrix, would be resolved in Superman #1.

The placing of this issue in context of the rest of The Man of Steel is hard to do, as no dating information is given within. However, Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #4, published in 1995, recaps this issue, and suggests that these events take place seven years after the events of The Man of Steel #3. Some people have taken this to mean that the span of the entire Man of Steel mini-series is 7 years from the first appearance of Superman at the end of The Man of Steel #1, but this actually suggests that the series lasts for the best part of 8 years, as Superman's encounter with Batman in The Man of Steel #3 takes place 8 months after Superman's first appearance. Ah, dating, ya gots ta luv it! However, I subscribe to the idea that no more than 7 years occurs between Superman's first appearance and the events of this issue, mainly because the idea that Superman was active for 7 years without encountering any major super-villains with the exception of the pseudo-Bizarro feels like stretching credibility enough without adding the best part of another year on!

As a side-note, one of the more interesting comparisons between Superman and Batman is that within months of Batman's first appearance, his major villains were starting to appear, both the psychos and the metas. In contrast, Metallo, Superman's first recurring super-powered villain, took seven (or eight, see above) years to appear. I find that an interesting statement on the nature of both Superman and Batman, and their respective cities.

This issue, along with issues 3-5 were covered on the second episode of From Crisis to Crisis, which can be found here.

The most recent printing of The Man of Steel in TPB form was the first volume in the six-volume series collecting the early issues of the post-Crisis Superman. (Yes, that's not the cover, but Amazon was being a pain and kept linking this, and I rather like its simple iconography).

Next on World of Superman: Phase one of the blog is over. Phase two begins. Superman #1. And at some point over the next few weeks, a special post for continuity nuts that will re-order some of the issues that slot in between individual issues of The Man of Steel. I've been busy!

Booster Gold #7

Well, I'm back. I hope you enjoyed my random mutterings on the MCM Expo. I also hope you found the time to listen to the latest episode of Awesomed By Comics. I sent Aaron and Evie an e-mail about my encounter with Kieron Gillen (Have you read Generation Hope yet? Oh, go on, it's great!) which they then read out on the show whilst also giving the blog a gentle plug. Well, once they worked out what the site address was! There was a slight miscommunication that made it sound like I had asked Kieron to sign my copy of Phonogram with a reference to their podcast, whereas the dedication was all Kieron's idea, based on our chat. Let's face it, if I'm going to claim credit for someone else's ideas, I'll probably choose someone less  well-known than Kieron Gillen!

I also got the chance to read Superman: Earth One. I'll not go into too much detail, save to say that I really enjoyed the first half of the issue, especially the bits where Clark slowly found his feet in Metropolis, but once the aliens turned up to invade, my interest started to wane. The art was wonderful, although the final reveal of Superman made him seem just a little on the weedy side. What did take me by surprise this week was Superman #704, which was one of the best fill-in issues I've read in a long time. It served the wider story, but put a long-overdue focus on the Clark and Lois relationship. For the first time in years, I found myself really believing in their relationship.

And now, an apology. As I've mentioned before, I work in retail, and the next eight weeks are the busiest weeks of the year for me. I'm also angling for a promotion, and with this on top of the pre-Christmas trading, I'm working an insane amount of hours. Therefore, in order to alleviate my guilt at not keeping to the regular, twice-weekly schedule that I would like to, I'm going to scale back my blogging activities over the next few weeks. I won't be giving up the blog, as I really enjoy both writing these posts and my behind-the-scenes oh-so-secret project that only two people out there know about, but I'll need to reduce my schedule to a weekly basis in order to be able to get through the next two months. Still, this should see us through to Legends quite nicely.

And finally, my scanner is playing up again, so no scans today. Go and grab the Showcase Presents: Booster Gold collected edition if you want to see what this issue looks like.

The Lesson


Creator-Writer-Artist: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Letterer: Augustin Más
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Editor: Alan Gold
Cover Art: Dan Jurgens, Mike DeCarlo
Cover Date: August 1986
Release Date: 15/05/1986

Booster Gold, Skeets, Fern and Zee have been taken to the planet Vellar, in a remote part of the galaxy, where they are interrogated by Lord Galeb. They discover that powerful magic has given them the ability to understand the alien language, as well as reducing them in size so that they are the same height as Zee. Lord Galeb, leader of the planet, accuses the heroes of treason, having aided and abetted Zee, who is a traitor, a charge he admits. Booster and Superman attempt to break free, but Galeb's consort, the wielder of magic, brings them down with a magical blast.


In a prison cell, Zee tells of how he attempted to overthrow Galeb's monarchy to free his people from tyrrany. When the revolution failed, Galeb executed Zee's wife and children. Booster wants to head back into action and overthrow Galeb, but Superman counsels holding tight and not interfering in the internal power struggle of the world. The two argue until Galeb arrives to free them, having had his consort telepathically probe them whilst they were unconscious and having discovered their innocence. Booster Gold wants to stay behind and work to overthrow Galeb, but Superman's morals lead him to step in and restrain Booster. The two fight, with Booster throwing everything at Superman, determined to replace the government on Vellar. Skeets speaks to Galeb, before interveneing in the fight by disabling Booster's technology. Booster is angered at his friend's 'betrayal', but when Skeets reveals that Zee never had a family and had been lying to him all the time, Booster hangs his head in shame before apologising to Galeb.


Back on Earth, Lois Lane arrives for a pre-arranged interview as Superman and Booster return from Vallar with Fern. She comments to Superman that he is yesterday's news compared to Booster, but that Booster might not have the staying power of Superman. As she and Booster head off for the interview, Superman confirms with Skeets that Booster's presence in the 20th century is part of historical record and not an paradox. As he leaves, he warns that if Booster uses his knowledge of the future for destruction, he'll have to reckon with Superman.

It's taken a while to get this entry done and dusted. There have been some real life issues, details of which have been given in previous posts, but there has also been one significant factor at play: I don't particularly enjoy this book and find myself fairly uninterested in it. That's not to say that there isn't interesting stuff in here, but the main focus of the plot, the runaround on Vallar, is so generic it hurts.

Part of my problem of this issue is the way that the strongest elements of the previous issue are jettisoned here. The character of Fern, our introduction to this story, plays almost no part in this issue beyond reminding the reader of how he is able to survive in an alien atmosphere. There is no reaction from Fern when Zee is revealed to be a liar and the antagonistic force on Vallar, and he pretty much disappears off-panel on the return to Earth. Also gone is the rich characterisation of Booster that was introduced last issue when his origin was revealed for the first time. Here we are given a hot-headed and arrogant Booster, although he has the grace to show humility when Zee's true colours are revealed. It is hard to disagree with Superman's assesment of Booster Gold throughout, which is suprising considering that this is Booster's book. It's a shame that what was such an important story for Booster Gold in issue #6 should finish with such a weak second part.

The Geeky Bits: The cover to this issue would be neatly reversed by John Byrne when Booster and Superman meet again in Action Comics #594.

Next on World of Superman: It's finally over. The first chapter in World of Superman draws to a close as Superman learns what have known for over a year now when he encounters the image of his father in The Man of Steel #6.