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.

MCM Expo Days 2 and 3

Wow, what a fantastic couple of days!

First of all, let's check out the loot. I had a great range of purchases and signings at the convention, from personal mementos to some titles that I always knew I should have been reading but never found the budget or time to do so. I even got a piece of artwork from a creator I have respected and adored for some time, but I have to keep quiet about that for the next couple of months!

First of all, the Doctor Who stuff.

 

 All of which are written by Tony Lee, seen below on the left with his artistic partner Dan Boultwood on the right. Both Tony and Dan were incredibly warm and welcoming to a new person at the convention, and they didn't steal my camera when they had the opportunity to do so (always a plus in my book!). If you ever get the chance to meet Tony and Dan, I strongly urge you to do so. The next year looks to be very promising for the two of them, and I can't wait for their upcoming projects The Gloom and The Baker Street Irregulars. The second signature on the trade and the annual is Al Davison, who I talked about on the last blog post.

It wasn't just Tony at the convention with a Doctor Who pedigree. Paul Cornell, the current writer of Action Comics, was a roaming guest, participating in a couple of panels and doing a couple of signing sessions. Now, Paul has just had his fifth issue of Action released, but I've been reading him for about 15 years longer than he's been writing Superman Lex Luthor. And as I still associate him more with Doctor Who than I do with comics, there was only one item from my library that I wanted signed - my first ever (and his first ever) Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Revelation.

Oops, I appear to have got my ugly mug a little too close to a Superman writer...

I had a great time meeting and talking to Kieron Gillen and Sean McKeevie on Saturday, fresh from their success at the Eagles with Phonogram: The Singles Club. I had wanted to meet Kieron both because of this series, but also in the hope that he might have some of his recent Thor run on him. I'm a listener to the Awesomed By Comics podcast, which has ranted and raved over the greatness of his longer-and-better-than-a-fill-in-run Thor writings. We had a chat about the podcast (he's a listener as well), which is why he dedicated in the way that he did. Kieron was absolutely wonderful, very down to earth and modest despite his successes both with Phonogram and the rocketing of his Marvel career. I also got to meet Sean Phillips, and sample Criminal for the first time. Criminal is an astonishing read, a great script from Ed Brubaker and fantastic art from Sean Phillips. Having read the first volume, I'm pretty sure that if this had been handed to me as a short story in just prose, I probably would have had very little interest, but told through the medium of comics it really grabbed me. I look forward to getting hold of the other trades in the future.

The most famous comics creator at the convention was arguably Chris Claremont. Opinion is widely varied of his work, especially anything he's written in the last 10-15 years (and when we finally get to his brief run on JLA, we're not going to be happy with it), but his X-Men run is unparalleled. I have this on DVD, having imported the Uncanny X-Men DVD a few years ago, but before I got this I bought myself a copy of the Days of Future Past TPB, which covers #138-#143 (the immediate aftermath of the Dark Phoenix saga, the introduction of Kitty Pryde, DoFP and the N'Grai, along with the Dante's Inferno annual). I feel very proud of having his signature on the title page.

Other creators I met, but gained no loot from, included Antony Johnston, David Hine, with whom I discussed his first ever Marvel work, the underrated Daredevil: Redemption mini-series, and Bernard Chang, who I told that my favourite panel of his was his recent Bizarro JLA from Supergirl, which included Bizarro Red Arrow (Arsenal) with a quiver full of dead cats.

As well as all of this, I got to see an extended trailer for Paul, sat in on panels on Warehouse 13 and A Town Called Eureka, got freaked out when I realised just how bloody tall Tony Todd is, got my arse handed to me at both Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft: The Collectible Card Game, wondered just why the meme of the con was 'Free Hugs', was distinctly unimpressed by Pocky, drank ridiculously overpriced Mountain Dew and wanted to be gently sick, had an awesome sausage sandwich, marvelled at the ability of 4 Subway employees to royally fuck up an Italian BMT (if the answer to the question 'do you want it toasted' is 'no', then don't put it in the fucking oven!), and walked miles and miles and miles.

As with any con, cosplay was a huge element. In fact, the only time the main theatre was full was when the cosplay championships were on. As most of the cosplayers were characters from manga and videogames, I didn't recognise the majority of people in costume. However, there were a few good comics characters (including the Power Girl in the picture below, whose costume was really rather accurate, if several sizes too big) and a few duff ones, such as the dayglo orange DeathstrokeZatanna and Harley Quinn.

Finally, one of the funniest inadvertent moments of the convention came when I was looking at one of the adverts in the convention center for another event. See if you can spot what I enjoyed so much...

Next on World of Superman: Superman comics! Honestly!

MCM Expo: Preview Night

So, I have lost my convention virginity.

Yesterday was the preview day for the London MCM Expo. As I live ten minutes walk away from the convention center (The ExCel Centre in East London), an appearance was always a given, especially as I had booked the afternoon (and the rest of the weekend) off work.

It was an interesting experience for the first-time convention-goer. I kept hopping from overjoyed to confused to (occasionally) intimidated by the scale of the event coupled with the sheer volume of content focused on areas which I have little to no knowledge. I was very surprised at the high manga and Japanese culture content of the convention. I know manga has been gaining popularity around the world, but I had no idea of the scale of this, or fanatacism of its fans and cosplayers. Yes, I know, my naivety in my expectations of the fans is readily apparent.

Being a comic fan, the first place I went to check out was the artist's alley. There were a lot of empty tables, but more than enough of the big names were present. I got the chance to say hello to Rich Johnson, formerly of Lying in the Gutters and now the founder and head of bleedingcool.com. As a semi-regular poster there (and, if all goes well, a front page article penned by myself has been submitted, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with that), this felt like an important meeting for me. But not as important as the next person I went to see - Tony Lee.

Tony is one of my favourite creators in comics. He is the current writer of the ongoing Doctor Who title(s) from IDW, which have been a great read. He topped the New York Times bestseller list with his graphic novel adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. He was nominated for eight Eagle awards this year for his various projects, and his twitter feed - @mrtonylee - is one of the most interesting ones I read. As I was the first person to approach and buy from him, he cut me a great deal on the latest issues of the Doctor Who comic, and between sucking on his absinthe lolly, he pointed out that one of his Doctor Who co-creators - Al Davison - was present.

I didn't know Al Davison as anyone other than an occasional Doctor Who artist, although his career has been long and varied. His graphic novel autobiography - a work in progress - is a beautiful piece of work, chronicling a difficult and tragic childhood. Check it out at Muscle Memory, but be warned, it's not an easy read.

Finally, I was pulled over by Claude Trollope-Curson of Gronk Comics, who showed me some of his weird and wonderful creations. He did the best thing of making me laugh at his work in seconds, and I was happy to buy a couple of his publications. We ended up reading them on the Underground at 10.30pm on our way to a free showing of Due Date, and even my non-comic-reading girlfriend found his parodies of super-hero culture amusing.

I did some other stuff as well, including trying Magic: The Gathering for the first time in about a decade, and marvelling at all the cosplayers. One guy was dressed as Where's Wally (Where's Waldo for the Americans out there), and he cut a sad and lonely figure winding his way through the long, empty queueing system. I thought that he might have been playing the longer game, and that if the massive queue system was full then he would have been in his element. As the queue started moving as people were let in, I passed him once, then prepared to pass him again. But he had gone. Where was Wally? Suddenly, I understood the genius of his costume choice, and I berated myself for ever doubting him.

I'm really looking forward to today. I'm excited about meeting the Kieron Gillen, who recently wrote an amazing four-issue post-Siege fill-in run on Thor, and who just won an Eagle award for his series Phonogram. I'm hoping to meet Criminal artist Sean Phillips, and I'll be stopping by Bernard Chang's table to pick up the latest issue of Supergirl and hopefully get the panel with Arsenal and his quiver of dead cats signed. But most importantly, I'm really looking forward to meeting Chris Claremont, and Paul Cornell, who will be signing my first ever Doctor Who book, Timewyrm: Revelation, as my love of Who trumps my love of his current Action Comics run.

Right, enough buggering about. The con is open and I need to put trousers on and go there. Follow me on twitter at @quizlacey to keep up with me throughout the day.

A brief update

Shock! Horror! This is not an imaginary post!

So, I've not been around for a couple of weeks. I've been feeling a lot of stress and pressure at work, which has made my non-work life, such as it is, feel very awkward. I've not been getting pleasure from the things that normally help me relax and unwind, and I've spent the last couple of weeks in a state of near perma-tension. All of which has made sitting down to read comics, analyse them, and write about them on this blog a task that has felt like an unnecessary chore, rather than a welcome pleasure.

The good news is that things have quietened down , and I can feel my life returning to normal. I've got a long weekend off ahead of me that I intend to spend geeking out in the most fantastic way. I'll be attending my first ever comics convention, the London MCMExpo, which takes place in a building about 10 minutes walk away from my front door. I'm looking forward to meeting the cream of British comic creators, including the wonderful Mr Tony Lee, Kieron Gillen, current Action Comics writer Paul Cornell, and the legendary Chris Claremont. I'm hoping to get in on the Paul exclusive footage (I'm a big Simon Pegg fan), attend the Eagles awards, and hunt down Lying In The Gutters and bleedingcool.com writer Rich Johnston.


In short, I'm looking to have a great weekend re-connecting with my inner (and outer) geek. And when it's all over, I'm gonna open up my longboxes, pull out my copy of Booster Gold #7 and get some thoughts posted here.

Next on World of Superman: Comics'n'stuff. Honest.

I'm Proud Of The BBC

No posts for a few more days, as I'm pretty horribly ill and can't really focus on much at the moment. But to tide you over, a ratehr wonderful song and video from a comedian I've been following for years. I'm proud of the BBC, and here are a few reasons why...



See you in a few days!

Booster Gold #6

This blog post has had a pretty tortured history. I had a chunk of it written, and then blogger had a fit and deleted a bunch of it. I then tried to get it written again, but blogger wouldn't let me edit or create new posts. After quite some time, I discovered that my browser was at fault, having crashed whilst attempting to update. This happened whilst I was away from my desk, so I had no idea about the update, until tonight when a little popup informed me. So, we're back, but a little behind schedule.

One of the things I got the chance to do whilst not blogging was to take a look at the latest episode of Smallville. As normal, there were things I liked and things I disliked, and as normal, the big money-shot moments just seemed to come across as a bit flat. I really dislike this new version of Cat Grant. The super-bubbly-perky character, the relentless parroting of 'Godfrey' (if she's such a hotshot young reporter, shouldn't she have her own opinions?), the forced pairing with Clark. I would be happier if they wrote the character as a normal person with the views that she has, and let the performance lead the irritating side of the character. I also found the 'lifestyle' comments regarding vigilantes to be incredibly heavy-handed. It's been covered elsewhere in more detail, but I also need to point out that Deadshot and Jonah Hex are two different characters, and nothing is gained by combining the two. And the revelation of the new costume for Clark was spoiled by some really bad CGI, especially on the flags waving limply in the background.

What I absolutely loved about the episode was the Carter Hall/Lois Lane subplot. Michael Shanks was great in Absolute Justice, but playing the identity rather than the hero really gave him the chance to shine. I loved his annoyance at Lois in the first scene, but what really sold me was the closing scene where he wonderfully conveyed centuries of love and loss. Erica Durance as Lois Lane has come on by leaps and bounds since I last really saw her in the role, back when she was first introduced. For probably the first time since the early days of Lois and Clark (or The New Adventures of Superman, if you're British), I was watching the Lois Lane that I have read for years in the comics. I wasn't expecting to be this impressed by her, but she is something I will enjoy watching in future episodes.

I also read the recent JLA/JSA crossover, but if you want to know about that, check out this episode of The LanternCast. The poor guys did the episode once, then lost the episode before it could be released, so they had to do it all over again. And the only way one of them could cope was... well... let's just say he wouldn't have been driving that day!*

To Cross The Rubicon


Creator/Writer/Artist: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Letterer: Augustin Más
Colorist: Nansi Hoolihan
Editor: Al Gold
Cover Art: Dan Jurgens and Mike DeCarlo
Cover Date: July 1986
Release Date: 14/04/1986

Jason Redfern (Fern), a teenage boy, discovers a miniature spaceship in Centennial Park, long with a miniature alien. The alien’s language cannot be understood, so Fern calls him ‘Zee’. When Zee pushes him out of the way of the exploding space-ship, Fern is convinced of his good intentions, and takes him home. At home, Zee projects an image of Superman’s ‘S’ shield, which Fern interprets as Zee’s desire to locate Superman. Catching an advert featuring Booster Gold on the television, Fern realises how to get hold of Superman. He travels to Reilleau Towers, where he is able to see Booster and tell him his story. Booster then publicly calls Superman out through the media to meet him the next day.

The next day, the media is buzzing with Booster’s decree. Clark Kent hears about it at the Daily Planet, and sneaks away to become Superman. Booster Gold arrives at the rendezvous point, having stopped off at STAR Labs to grab a life-support suit for Fern. Although Skeets is sceptical about whether Superman will show, the Man of Steel arrives. Superman is disdainful of Booster, his publicity seeking ways, and the fact that his powers are artificial. Disappointed in the reactions of his hero, Booster walks away. Skeets speaks to Superman, and reveals the secret origin of Booster Gold.

Michael Carter was a prodigious football player, the biggest name in college football in the 25^th century. As he was on the verge of being signed up professionally, he was caught betting on his own games, and expelled from college. With no further hope as an athlete, and needing to make a living, he took a security job at the space museum, as well as enrolling as a student of 20^th century super-heroes. Whilst participating in the studies and his duties at the museum, Michael formulated a plan, cemented when he discovered Rip Hunter's time machine in the museum. Disabling the security robot Skeets, Michael steals various exhibits to create a power suit, then travels back to the twentieth century in the time machine, taking Skeets along with him.

Superman is shocked to hear this, and accuses Booster of theft, and using the stolen equipment to make himself rich. As the two argue, Zee starts speaking. Superman recognises snatches of the language, and is able to discover that a warship is chasing Zee. Suddenly, an energy burst renders Superman, Booster and Fern unconscious. Another miniature alien appears, abducting the heroes, Fern, Zee and Skeets onto his ship, which departs for space.

pre-dates The Man Of Steel #1 by three months, meaning that we have here the very first appearance of the post-Crisis Superman. Booster does it again! This also means that Dan Jurgens debuted his art for Superman before John Byrne, and it's great art. His first panel, featuring Clark changing to Superman in an interpretation of an iconic pose, is wonderful to look at, and as fans of this era know, Jurgens' Superman art is a real keystone of the next fifteen or so years of the character.

This is a great Superman issue, and fits neatly into the timeline between The Man Of Steel #5 and #6. Superman here is confident in his position in the world, having already met and worked with one wave of heroes. Now, with the appearance of Booster Gold several years into his own career, Superman is starting to encounter the next wave of heroes, people whose motivations lie in places other than benevolence. His outrage at Booster's self-centered money-making activities, all of which stem from theft, is entirely justified, and comes from a place of confidence in not only himself but his position in relation to other heroes. The first panel in which Superman appears, a one-page splash where he stands above Booster, looking down with an expression of derision, neatly sets up how he feels, and completely wrong-foots Booster, for who Superman is a personal hero.

Of the two parts of this story, I feel that this is the stronger of the two. We get the first revelation of Booster's origin, devoid of the later embellishments and cliches that Booster would add, and the force of Superman's anger towards Booster has a powerful effect on the reader.

The Geeky Bits: Booster Gold is pretty much the first post-Crisis superhero, despite his first issue being released before the Crisis had finished publication. He has been a mainstay of the DCU, thanks to his high-profile membership of various incarnations of the Justice Leagues from the JLI onwards. He was also the first solo creation of Dan Jurgens for DC, but as before, I'm going to hold off on a full bio of Dan for a bit longer.

The title refers to the Rubicon river, which was crossed by Julius Caesar in 49BC, initiating a civil war. In general, the phrase 'To cross the Rubicon' refers to the point of no return, in this case the moment where Booster travelled in time to the twentieth century.

Next on World of Superman Booster Gold: The second half of this tale where Booster smacks down with Superman. Unless you've seen the cover, in which case you'll see that it's more a case of Superman smacking Booster down. Ouch.

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