Superman #5 - The Mummy Strikes!

This isn't quite as planned, as my laptop is having a few problems reading my latest set of pictures, featuring all of my lovely MCM Expo goodies, from my memory card. So, whilst I wrestle with the technical issues, I figured it was probably worth  getting back to the bread and butter of this blog - the life and times of the Post-Crisis Superman!

Don't forget to grab the latest episode of the 20 Minute Longbox. Not only is it a super-sized episode featuring my good friend Jon M. Wilson as a special guest-star, but it also contains an exciting announcement about a future project!

And on with the issue!

The Mummy Strikes

Writer-Penciller: John Byrne

Inker: Karl Kesel

Colorist: Tom Ziuko

Letterer: John Costanza

Editors: Andrew Helfer & Michael Carlin

Cover Art: John Byrne

Cover Date: May 1987

Release Date: 12/02/1987

Superman dreams of fighting Apokolitian Warhounds in Washington DC and the arrival of Wonder Woman. The two defeat the Warhounds together. Wonder Woman makes to leave, but Superman grasps her wrist. The two are about to kiss when Clark awakes, amazed at the intensity of his dream.  Starting to wonder if there might now be place for romance in Superman’s life, Clark realises that he is late for work.

At the Daily Planet, a package has arrived on Clark’s desk. Distracted by Cat Grant’s flirting, Clark forgets about it. Summoned to Perry’s office, he sees a video message from Lois Lane giving an update on her secondment to an archaeological dig that suddenly cuts out. Perry sends Clark to South America to investigate.

Superman flies to South America before changing in a dig tent. As Clark, he meets up with Lois, who has been trying to fix the radio. She accuses him of trying to scoop her again, before reluctantly mellowing as he convinces her that he is here to help. Dr Estevez, the dig chief, shows Clark a piece of machine-tooled metal found inside a 3000 year old jar, the key to the dig. Descending into the site, Clark sees futuristic panels secreted behind naturally grown stalagmites, which are the source of the interference that blocks communications. As Estevez attempts to work the panels, a wall crumbles as two large bandage-wrapped hands burst through.

The hands belong to a giant mummy-like creature that attacks Clark and Lois with eyebeams. Clark gets Lois and Estevez to safety, wondering how he can use his powers without compromising his identity. He uses his heat vision to bring a section of the roof down around him, giving him cover to use his powers. The ‘mummy’ surprises him however, by blasting into the air with rockets. Clark has to pull his punches, as his x-ray vision cannot penetrate the ‘mummy’ to discover if it is a living being or a robot.  He realises that he cannot change into Superman as he hasn’t shaved, and both Clark and Superman being seen by Lois in another country with stubble would be too obvious.

Clark lunges for the panels, trying to halt the attack. A giant explosion rocks the ruins. In the aftermath, Lois crawls into the rubble, looking for Clark. She finds him unconscious, and she and Estevez drag him to safety. Returning to investigate, she comes face to face with the ‘mummy’, whose bandages have disintegrated revealing a large robot underneath.

For the second issue in a row, John Byrne takes an opportunity to move beyond Superman’s rogues’ gallery and bring something new to the table. This issue is all about continuing to establish the world in which Clark and Superman operates, and raising the stakes of the threat. Explanations and revelations will be saved for the next issue; this is all about the setup.

It might be a given, considering that the book is named after him, but this really is Superman’s issue. I love his gentle rebuttal of Cat’s not-so-obvious flirting, caused by him forgetting to shave. I really appreciate the page where Superman flies from Metropolis to South America, going suborbital to get there as quickly as he can. What is implied about this page is Superman’s intelligence. He knows how far away his destination is, and has a strong enough understanding of XXXX to be able to maximise his abilities to get there as quickly as possible.

The fight scene is a great example of Superman’s brains and brawn coming together. Realising that if both Clark and Superman appear to Lois with a five o’clock shadow then his secret will be out, Clark stays in costume and seals himself inside the ruins with the mummy-robot so that he can tackle it without worrying about his identity. This leads to come great visuals as Clark, clad in khakis, a shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a tie, goes toe-to-toe with a 20-foot tall mummy. I also like that he pulls his punches in case the mummy is an innocent living being, showing a respect for life regardless of the circumstances.

The cliffhanger to the issue is nice and strong. Clark, his secret safe thanks to not getting changed, is rendered unconscious by a huge explosion, whilst Lois is menaced by the unwrapped mummy, revealed to be a sleek-but-giant robot. We’ll see next week that the story takes a turn that’s nearly impossible to predict from the information given in this issue, which, in my opinion, makes the story stronger without cheating the reader.

The Geeky Bits: The intensity of Superman’s Wonder Woman dream is probably an after-effect of Prana’s attack in Adventures of Superman #427. Superman met Wonder Woman in Legends #6, and will feel drawn to her over the next year-or-so’s worth of stories. Look for Action Comics #600 to see what will happen between the two of them.

The mysterious package has been seen before, but for the sake of spoilers (!) I’ll hold off any futher commentary until we come to resolve this plotline in the books.

Collected in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol 3. It was covered in depth on episode 7 of From Crisis To Crisis.

Next on World of Superman: Superman #6. Well, what did you expect?

Adventures of Superman #428

Have you seen that new button at the top of the sidebar? That marks me as an official competitor in the MCM/Blogomatic 3000 Battle of the Bloggers that will be taking place at the end of the month at the MCM Expo. I have no idea what to expect, but with such an event taking place on my doorstep, how could I not take part? Click the button for further information, and expect a write-up of the event a few days after it has happened. If you're coming to the Expo, then swing by the event and cheer me on!

Personal Best

Writer: Marv Wolfman

Artist: Jerry Ordway

Letterer: John Costanza

Colorist: Tom Ziuko

Editors: Andy Helfer and Mike Carlin

Cover Art: Jerry Ordway

Cover Date: May 1987

Release Date: 19/02/1987

Three days after his ‘meeting’ with President Marlo, Superman launches a further assault on Qurac’s military forces, decimating its air force and assaulting its navy with one of its own submarines. Superman holds a televised meeting with Marlo, again warning him over harbouring terrorists. Clark and Cat Grant watch television coverage of Superman’s recent attacks, flirting throughout. Their fun is interrupted by Perry White’s appearance on television to publically condemn reputed mobster and city councilman Jay Falk, as he had been instrumental in investigating and exposing him.

Elsewhere in Metropolis, Jerry White, Perry White’s son, tells Jose XXXX that he is ready to quit his street gang. As he reflects on his volatile relationship with his father, his former gang attacks him for planning to quit. As the beat him up, mobsters arrive, breaking up the fight and kidnapping the unconscious Jerry. The crooks contact Perry and demand that he kills his expose on Falk. Perry clears his office, before storming out of the Planet building.

Later that night, Falk throws a party. Superman arrives to confront Falk, demanding to know where Jerry is. Getting nowhere, Superman drags one of Falk’s ‘bodyguards’ to the roof of the Daily Planet, threatening to leave him stranded atop the globe if he doesn’t get the location of Jerry from him. The terrified goon agrees to talk.

Later on, in the Ace of Clubs bar, Superman asks for the location of mobster Louie Lyppe. Taking offence at his style, Bibbo Bibowski thumps him in the stomach, injuring his hand. The rest of the barflies clam up, but as Superman makes to leave, Bibbo offers to buy him a beer.

At home, Perry White is unable to write his expose on Falk, wracked with worry for Jerry. Alice tries to calm him. The two briefly argue about whether Perry should abandon his journalistic principles to save his son.

Returning home, Louie Lyppe is surprised in his apartment by Bibbo. Bibbo intimidates Louie into giving up the location of Jerry. Bibbo then reveals himself as a disguised Superman, threatening to tell Lyppe’s boss about Louie’s betrayal if anything should happen to Bibbo in retribution for his subterfuge. As Perry settles down to retract his story, Superman breaks into the warehouse where Jerry is being held. A mobster holds a gun to the restrained Jerry’s head. Superman uses his heat vision to set the mobster’s pants on fire, before using his super-breath to extinguish the flames and incapacitate the mobster.

Superman returns Jerry to his family. Jerry and Perry argue about Perry taking so long to take action to save his son. As Superman looks on, the two row, before Jerry storms out.

The last issue of Adventures of Superman eschewed the action scenes (after a few pages) for some mind-bending explorations of what Superman means to different elements of his life. This issue brings back the action, opening with one of most dynamic and ferocious scenes of Superman’s might. Superman’s previous assault on Qurac is merely a warm-up for this sustained assault, decimating its armed forces in the space of three pages. This is real balls-to-the-wall action, the standout being the moment when Superman sinks a battleship by bursting through its hull with a submarine. I was debating the merits of Superman Returns a few nights ago, and one of the points I made was that the plane-crash was a sequence that could only occur in a Superman film, Iron man, the X-Men, Captain America and Batman just don’t have the sheer force and combination of powers required to save that plane. The same can be said of Superman’s actions here. Only Superman (or heroes blatantly modelled on him) could use a submarine to sink a ship. I also love that this scene is only a third of the double-spread. I can’t help but think that if this scene was published today, that one panel would take up an entire double-spread (although it would look absolutely glorious).

Later on in the issue, Superman has to play detective to track down Jerry White. One could ask why he doesn’t just do what he’ll do in an upcoming issue of Superman and use his x-ray vision to scan Metropolis, but if he had done so then we wouldn’t have had Superman doing his best-ever Batman impersonation. Superman’s investigations are superb. He forces – and blunders – his way throughout Metropolis from the heights to the dregs of society. I particularly like his not-so-subtle confrontation with Falk, casually destroying a work of art before denouncing it as a fake, making the councilman sweat with every artefact he touches. Straight after, Superman’s Batman impressions comes to the fore as he drags a henchman to the top of the Daily Planet globe, toying with his fear to get the response he needs.

Wolfman’s writing in this scene – and this issue in general – is excellent, and there’s a moment in this scene where Superman flies away from the henchman, making him think that he’s been abandoned in the skyline. The art shows Superman making a loop back around, and when he returns, he says: “Hi, miss me? I had to rescue a cat from a fire”. In this one line, Superman establishes exactly where the hoodlum sits in the pecking order, and that Superman’s attention regarding him is short and fickle, so he’d better start talking immediately. Of course, the thug is too stupid to ‘fess up. Superman’s next lines – click the image to enlarge – are hilarious.

This issue sees the first appearances of three characters that would form part of the Superman family for the next few years: Jerry White, Jose Delgado and Bibbo Bibbowski. When you consider that this title has also introduced Emil Hamilton and Cat Grant, it seems clear that if Action Comics is the team-up book, and Superman is the flagship title, then Adventures of Superman seems to be primarily concerned with world-building. With the exception of last week’s issue (and, of course, the Apokolips-set Legends crossover), each issue has provided depth and development for Metropolis and Superman’s supporting cast. Here, Perry White takes a feature role for the first time, and we take our first trip into Suicide Slum. This Metropolis has depth and diversity, a more textured and real city than that which we’ve seen in the Superman comics for the past few years.

Overall, this is a fantastically strong and enjoyable issue. Whilst the story of the Circle outstays its welcome by the end, Wolfman’s slice-of-life story in Metropolis is incredibly strong, and his use of Superman throughout the issue, adopting different strategies to track down Jerry, is highly notable. Ordway’s art is also superb. He informs the anguish of Perry’s struggles with his journalistic morality with skill, his action sequences are fantastically well-drawn, and his depiction of Superman-as-Bibbo is delightfully ambiguous, making great use of shadow to convey the deception.

The Geeky Bits: This issue was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol. 3 and is covered on episode 7 of From Crisis To Crisis.

Next on World of Superman: Work allowing, midweek will see the posting of the next instalment of my looks back at what I will and won’t be missing in the relaunched DC Universe, whilst next weekend will finally see Superman confronting the mummy!

Action Comics #587

It's a Sunday, which means that it's a Superman day here at World of Superman! For those of you keeping up with my podcast, 20 Minute Longbox, look for that episode to be released late tomorrow as I'm slightly behind with the editing there. Last week's episode is still up, a look at Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #2.

(Covers only today as I'm short on time.)

Enough plugging, enough rambling. We've got us some John Byrne-drawn Etrigan action today. Or have we?

Cityscape

Written and Pencilled by John Byrne

Embellished by Dick Giordano

Colored by Tom Ziuko

Lettered by John Costanza

Edited by Andrew Helfer and Michael Carlin

Cover Art by John Byrne

Cover Date: April 1987

Jason Blood visits a curiosity shop in Gotham. His friend Glenda picks up a trinket shaped like a futuristic city and accidentally activates a hidden switch. The trinket shoots a spike into her arm, causing crystalline spires to erupt upwards from her body. She transforms into a large spire, then sends out spikes into the other people in the shop, causing them to transform as well. Jason avoids a spike, transforming into Etrigan and causing another spike to shatter against him. The spires continue to grow, bursting through the ceiling and transforming the couple above.

Returning from space, Superman soars over Gotham, musing that it is the first time he has returned to the city since meeting Batman. He sees the spires, growing ever larger in the centre of the city. Taking action, he shatters one of them, but he is tackled by Etrigan. The two fight, with the Demon desperate to keep Superman from harming the spires. As they fight, several more spires are damaged. Etrigan is able to halt the combat by showing Superman that the shattered spires have blood oozing from them. Realising what has happened, Superman agrees to help. Etrigan quickly conjures a spell to send Superman back in time.

Armed only with a message from Etrigan to seek out Jason Blood, Superman finds himself in 12^th century England. He quickly locates Blood, who has been expecting Superman. Jason takes Superman underground to a Pool of Knowing to track the source of the trinket. He discovers the location, and Superman flies him there. Above a humble shack containing an old man and his granddaughter, Blood transforms to Etrigan and wrestles free of Superman’s grasp, falling through the sky and bursting in.

Etrigan attacks the granddaughter, revealing her to be Morgaine le Fey. Fey traps Superman in a cage of stone, before preparing to weave her master spell that will result in the trinket, which will create a citadel in the future for her to travel to. She possesses the grandfather to use a human hand to craft the spell. Realising that interrupting the spell will avert the future crisis, Superman breaks free from the cage. Despite Etrigan’s warnings that his actions will cause is death, Superman attack Fey, disrupting and cancelling the spell.

Suddenly, Jason Blood is back in the curiosity shop. Glenda activates the trinket again, but it harmlessly pops open. Another customer looks through the window and sees Superman passing overhead.

Before we get going into this one, let’s just be very clear about one point. Superman’s action in the past, interrupting Morgaine le Fey’s  spell, nullifies the future where the trinket grows into an entire city. Because this future never existed, Superman never travelled into the past. Therefore, with the exception of the last two pages, this issue never happened. It’s also an interesting statement on how time-travel works in the DC Universe. The only reason le Fey doesn’t have her citadel overrule Gotham is because Superman travels back in time to stop this. But without the emergence of the citadel, Superman never participated in the events that caused le Fey’s plan to fail, meaning that logically, her citadel should once again appear until Superman prevents it. Of course, logic rarely applies to time-travel, and for simplicity’s sake, once Superman has definitively prevented the citadel’s emergence, the timeline where le Fey’s plan succeeded simply withered and died, cauterised from causality. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, think of it like this: Superman’s interruption of the spell creates a fixed point in time which determines how time flows from it.

Phew!

I’m not that hot on this issue. I can’t help but feel that the Demon is a wasted guest star. Etrigan is always more interesting when following his own agenda that puts him in conflict with a hero. Here, surprising as it is to see him working with honourable intentions – saving the innocents trapped within le Fey’s citadel – there was little to no personal gain for Etrigan, no hints or suggestions that he’s being anything other than totally altruistic. It’s very contrary to what I expect as a reader, and to me, it feels like the Demon was used because Byrne needed a character who could exist in the past and the present, rather than because there was a story that needed this character to tell.

I also have to wonder why Superman prolongs the climactic battle with le Fey. It’s established towards the end of the battle that Superman is able to break free of the stone prison because whislt magic is used to construct the prison, the prison itself is not magical. If that’s true, why does Superman spend a page and a half loitering in it watching the grandfather get put through unimaginable pain? Again, things are happening because the story demands that it does, rather than for a logical reason.

At this point in the super-books, Action Comics is definitely the weakest of the three titles, but still a good read. This, however, is the first issue that just feels average rather than of a good quality in itself.

The Geeky Bits: The Fourth World aside, The Demon is probably Jack Kirby’s most notable contribution to the DC Universe. Etrigan is summoned by Merlin and bonded to Jason Blood, a knight of the Round Table. This bonding grants Blood immortality, allowing him to participate in events of the current day. Jason can summon the Demon by reciting a short verse, but will always do so as a last resort. His demonic nature has seen him appear in titles as diverse as JLA and Sandman, as well as multiple attempts at supporting his own series across the years. The most recent ongoing Demon series was Blood of the Demon, written and pencilled by John Byrne, running from 2005-2006. In the new 52, Etrigan can be found as a member of Paul Cornell’s Demon Knights.

Action Comics #587 was collected in The Man Of Steel vol. 3, and coverage of this issue can be found in episode 6 of From Crisis To Crisis.

Next on World of Superman: Midweek sees us take a look at the next things I will and won't miss in the New 52, whilst next weekend has us back at our post-Crisis reviews when we take a look at Superman vs The Mummy, with no sign of Rachel Weisz!

Adventures of Superman #427

Hello there. Whew, it’s dark in here. Where’s the light switch? Ah, got it. Close your eyes, I’m turning the lights on… now.

Hello, it’s been a while!

I’m not going to insult you with long tales of woe describing many reasons why I’ve not been active over here. There’s a very simple reason for the lack of activity on this blog. For two months, I’ve not felt like writing about Superman. I’ve been having a great time working on my podcast, 20 Minute Longbox (itself suffering from a lack of time to put an episode together), and for a while, I toyed with the idea of shutting the door on this blog and letting the dust gather.

So, why did I change my mind? Put simply, I’ve been missing Superman. With new blood and, indeed, a new Superman hitting the stands as part of the New 52, I’ve been feeling strongly about the Man of Steel again. More than ever, a project like this seems like something worth doing, celebrating the comics that made many of us Superman fans at a time when, hopefully, many people are finding similar things to celebrate in the new Superman. Oh, and I miss arguing with myself over which order to do the comics in!

I’d like to think that this is a return to regular posting, but if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that this isn’t a promise that I can keep. The best way to keep up to date with happenings over here is to subscribe, either through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs, both of which are over on the sidebar. That way, if I have another absence (hint: I work in retail and Christmas is a-coming), you’ll know when I pick up this project again.

Enough procrastination. If you’ll join me, I’d like to take you on a journey to Qurac.

Mind Games

Brought to you by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway

Lettered by John Costanza

Colored by Tom Ziuko

Edited by Andy Helfer and Mike Carlin

Cover Art: Jerry Ordway

Cover Date: April 1987

Release Date: 15/01/1987

Superman invade Quraci airspace, attacking Quraci defences. He fights his way to the palace of President Marlo, bursting in and confronting the dictator. He accuses Marlo of orchestrating the recent attacks on Metropolis, but the dictator denies this, suggesting that rogue elements in his country are responsible. Superman demands information, but suddenly collapses as a result of a psychic attack from Prana, a feline-looking member of a mysterious group called The Circle. Prana falls to his knees, his mind connected with Superman’s.

Superman sees a vision of his parents on Krypton, instructing him to conquer and rule the Earth. Superman attempts rejects this, causing psychic feedback to Prana, who carries on with the illusion. The two battle further with their minds, before Prana retreats. A drained Superman leaves the palace, confused by the vision of his parents and their oppressive instructions. He returns to the hotel he’s using as Clark Kent and falls asleep, allowing Prana to re-establish contact with him.

Superman awakes in costume, confronted by Bizarro, Metallo, Synapse and Lex Luthor. The villains attack him, demanding to know his true motives, whilst Luthor works to undermine Superman’s confidence. Superman fights back, denying Lex’s words and dispelling the illusions again. Prana is once again weakened and pained by the contact, but he has become determined to mentally defeat Superman. As Clark takes a shower to recover, Prana once again makes contact.

Superman finds himself in Japan, where a Godzilla-esque monster is attacking a city. Refusing to be bowed, Superman quickly defeats the monster, shrugging off Prana’s attack. Prana, weakened by the final assault, dies in the sewers beneath Qurac. His wife, Zahara, steals his powers and combines them with her own, launching one final assault. Superman is confronted by Lana, Lois and Cat, all of whom accuse him of being fickle with his love and lying to them about his origins. Superman is able to withstand this assault, and drifts into a restless sleep. In the sewers, other members of the Circle find Prana’s corpse and Zahara’s unconscious body.

This is a different and interesting issue of Adventures of Superman. Initially continuing the story of the assault on Metropolis, the issues turns into something else, taking some interesting turns and leading us in a far more character-driven direction than the awesomely action-filled cover would suggest.

Prana and Zahara assault Superman’s psyche from four different and relevant angles – his heritage, his villains, force of nature, and his women. I find it amazing that so early on in the life of the post-Crisis Superman, Marv Wolfman lays out the four origins of almost every Superman story. Whilst the vision of Lara and Jor-El and Lex’s gang of villains contain accusations that are easily rejected, the accusations of Lois, Lana and Cat strike much closer to home. Superman does lie to those he loves. At this stage in his life, with Lana not-quite behind him and with Lois and Cat as potential partners, he is fickle with his affections. Frankly, this is a far more realistic and chilling potential outcome of Clark’s alien nature than we saw in Action Comics #794.

Superman taking overt action against a foreign state is a big moment. We saw in The Dark Knight Returns a potential future where Superman is a weapon for the United States Government, covertly assaulting America’s enemies, the fear of his intrusion being as great as the his presence. In his run on Adventures of Superman, Greg Rucka would use the concept of what Superman’s presence in a war-zone would do to the conflict as the driving force behind his story. It’s great to see the sheer power of Superman unleashed against an army, something we’ve not really seen before, and the callous nature of his entrance into the palace, smashing down the doors with a casual flick of his finger, hints at a darker side to his rage that is manipulated by Prana. Thankfully, Qurac would remain in the comics through this run and beyond, and the consequences of Superman’s actions here would be felt in future issues.

As normal, Jerry Ordway’s art is great. The cover is one of the early favourites, and his renditions of Prana’s attacks are just otherworldly enough whilst remaining grounded. I particularly like how he draws the illusion of Krypton, with Zahara and the sewers breaking through into the illusion. Even the panel borders reflect this, become much rougher and unfinished. Once the assaults start, Superman appears shaken and disturbed, pale and sweating, and thin in the face. Although it’s Prana who ultimately dies, Superman is taking a toll from the battle and it’s showing on his face throughout the night.

The Geeky Bits: Qurac was for many years the fictional middle-eastern state used by DC whenever they needed a stand in for countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, that is, a state that supports or condones terrorism and an anti-West stance. It's no coincidence that President Marlo bears more than a passing resemblance to Saddam Hussein. The country once named the Joker as an ambassador, although this was a retcon as in the original storyline, it was Iran. Cheshire once decimated the country with a nuclear weapon. Over the years, more fictional middle-eastern territories, including Bialya, Khandaq and Umec would appear to give more texture to this region in the DC universe.

If, like me, you're wondering who the guy in the orange armour in the villains hallucination is, then you'll be pleased to hear that according to comicbookdb.com his name is Synapse, and his only other appearances were in three issues of Extreme Justice in 1995. And now you know!

This issue was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol. 3 in 2004.

Coverage of this issue can be found in Episode 6 of From Crisis To Crisis

Next on World of Superman: Superman goes a-time-travelling.

Superman #4

It's been a quiet couple of weeks here at the World of Superman. It should have been a bit of a shorter gap between posts, but my free copy of Microsoft Word Starter Edition froze whilst I was writing this post and destroyed most of what I had written. Two short but very enjoyable holidays followed, so now I'm ready to get a new post written.

Please don't forget to check out my podcast, 20 Minute Longbox, the compressed podcast for the decompressed, wait-for-trade age (yes, I'm trying this as the strapline for the show). The latest episode looking at Guy Gardner #5 and Justice League #1 went live a few days ago, and the next episode will be up just as soon as I've got it ready, hopefully tonight or tomorrow night at the latest.


Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Bloodsport

Writer/Penciller: John Byrne

Inker: Karl Kesel

Colorist: Anthony Tollin

Letterer: John Costanza

Editors: Andy Helfer, Mike Carlin

Cover Artist: John Byrne

Cover Date: April 1987

Release Date: 08/01/1987

Lucy Lane and Jimmy Olsen share lunch in a shopping mall. Jimmy is trying to persuade Lucy to snoop around for dodgy dealings at her employer, Intercontinental Airlines, but their lunch is interrupted by a loud cry of ‘FOOLS!’. Jimmy pulls Lucy down as a hail of bullets bursts through the window, striking several members of the public. Bloodsport, a gun-wielding, bandann-wearing muscleman, yells about abuse of freedoms before speeding away on a motorbike. Jimmy activates his signal watch, calling down Superman.

Landing, Superman is met by Maggie Sawyer, who walks him through the crime scene. Realising that Bloodsport’s cries to clean up Metropolis mean that he will strike again, Superman goes on the hunt. Using his infrared vision, Superman picks up the heat trace of Bloodsport’s bike, and follows his trail through the city. Watching his pal fly away, Jimmy jumps into his car to give chase, but a flat battery means that he has to grab his police scanner and continue on foot.

At a bowling alley, Bloodsport is busy shooting up the place when Superman arrives. Bloodsport grabs a hostage and puts his gun against his head, forcing the two into a stand off. Superman breaks the situation by grabbing the gun faster than the bullet can travel down the barrel after Bloodsport fires. With Bloodsport apprehended, Superman is surprised when he materialises a new weapon in his hand, firing a kryptonite needle in Superman’s shoulder. Bloodsport is about to take a headshot when Jimmy arrives, brandishing one of Bloodsport’s weapons. Bloodsport throws a smoke pellet and makes his escape.

Recovering after surgery in hospital, Superman vows to catch Bloodsport, and the fact that he has access to kryptonite has revealed who is funding and providing technology to him.

At LexCorp, Luthor demands to know what has happened and why Bloodsport isn’t being effectively controlled. The scientist Kimberly explains that Bloodsport’s fragile psyche has caused him to target civilian rather than Superman. Luthor order’s Bloodsport’s termination.

Superman locates Bloodsport. The two face off, with Bloodsport conjuring larger and more powerful weapons to keep Superman at bay. As the destruction and chaos mounts, Bloodsport is suddenly hit by a blast. A tank and hazmat-suited soldiers from LexCorp have arrived, drawing Bloodsport’s attention. As he switches weapons, Superman realises that he is actually teleporting the guns in from another location. He ionises the air around Bloodsport, causing his teleport to malfunction and his weapons to disintegrate. Finally able to safely get in close, Superman disables Bloodsport, who reveals that he is holding a dead man’s switch that will detonate his power supply. Suddenly, a parapalegic arrives, using Bloodsport’s real name of Bobby, begging him not to kill himself. The new arrival is Mickey, Bobby’s brother, brought in by Jimmy Olsen. The arrival of his brother breaks through Bloodsport’s delusions and conditioning, halting his rampage.

Jimmy tells Superman that Bobby was never a soldier in Vietnam, having run away to Canada when his number came up as he was afraid to go and fight. Mickey pretended to be him and replaced him in the army, but had his arms and legs blown off. The guilt put caused Bobby to suffer delusions, resulting in several stays in psychiatric hospitals, before he disappeared just before Bloodsport arrived on the scene. The issue ends with a dedication to the names on the Black Wall and those who remember them.

This is a strong issue of Superman from this era. Bloodsport is a strong one-off villain, there’s some great interaction amongst the supporting cast, Lex Luthor is behind the scenes, pulling the strings, Superman uses his powers intelligently to resolve the conflict, whilst a true resolution comes from the actions of a supporting character.

As much as Superman is the focus for Bloodsport’s rage throughout this issue, it is really Jimmy Olsen’s story. We find out for the first time that he is in a relationship with Lois’s sister, Lucy, and that they have been together for a couple of years. It’s not the happiest of relationships, with Lucy angry that Jimmy wants her to compromise her job with Continental Airlines to feed him information, based on little more than a hunch on Jimmy’s part. Jimmy performs the first rescue of the issue, pulling Lucy out of the way of the hail of bullets that rip through the rest of the patrons of the mall, and brings Superman into the situation through a responsible use of his signal watch. Later on, it’s Jimmy who distracts Bloodsport enough to rescue Superman and get him to the hospital, and most notably of all, it’s Jimmy who takes note of Bloodsport’s rantings and does the legwork to peacefully resolve the situation. It's no wonder that DC resurrected the 'Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen' strapline for this issue, and should DC ever collect a ‘Jimmy Olsen: Greatest Stories Ever Told’ trade paperback, I would fully expect this issue to be included.

But whilst Jimmy is working behind the scenes, Superman is front and centre, utilising the full range of his powers in surprising and interesting ways. I’ll quickly brush over the use of infrared vision to track the heat-trail of a bike and its rider throughout  a busy city. There are so many things that would obscure a heat signature, from a powerful exhaust fume, to a hot dog vendor, to those lovely heat-venting manhole covers, and I’m glad that this particular power usage is rarely, if ever, seen again. More interestingly is the way that Superman uses his heat-vision to disrupt Bloodsport’s teleportation device. Rather than directly attack the source of the teleport, Superman uses a minor side-effect of his heat-vision to short it out. I also like how Superman's body behaves during surgery. Once the kryptonite is removed, his invulnerability returns and the doctors are unable to stitch him up, so they have to re-expose him to the kryptonite in order to finish their job. It's a small touch, but one that highlights an integrity and consistency with Superman's powers.

Most impressive of all is the way that John Byrne presents the use of Superman’s speed during the stand-off at the bowling alley. The entirety of page 8 is a fantastically-constructed series of silent panels devoted to the moment that Bloodsport and Superman face each other down with the life of a civilian hanging in the balance. It starts with a short, wide panel showing the distance between the two, before moving into close-ups of the faces, then of the weapons – the gun and Superman’s feet – before hitting slow-motion with the pulling of the trigger and the moving of the firing pin. Finally, Superman moves in, grabbing the gun and moving it away before the bullet travels the length of the barrel. It’s a brilliantly composed and paced homage to cinematic standoffs, that could easily be read whilst the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly plays in the background.

Page 8 is a merely a highlight in a superb issue of art from John Byrne. There’s a real sense of sudden and pointless brutality to the panel where Bloodsport’s bullets cut through the crowds at the shopping mall. For some reason, the inclusion of a priest amongst the victims just makes the violence worse. I’m a big fan of the panel at the bottom of page 4 where Superman views the bodies of Bloodsport’s victims, in which his shocked face, shaking with shock, is the only thing in in a large, white panel, and the rage in Superman’s face when he flies off to track Bloodsport is chilling.

If there’s anything about this issue that doesn’t work, it’s that the story seems to stop two pages before it should do. The final page is the exposition page, where Jimmy reveals the story of Robert and Michael DuBois. There’s no sense of closure to the story, no mention of what will happen to Bloodsport, whether it be jail or psychiatric care, and even Lex Luthor seems to get away with his involvement in the rampage. It’s a small but important flaw in the issue, and it’s a shame that – dedication aside – the issue didn’t have a stronger sense of conclusion.

The Geeky Bits: The Robert DuBois Bloodsport wouldn’t appear again for 8 years, when he would be forced into a boxing match with another Bloodsport, this one a fanatical racist, by his prison wardens. In the aftermath of the boxing match, DuBois would be shot and killed whilst attempting escape.

This issue was collected in The Man of Steel volume 3, the trade paperback collections covering the first year-or-so of this era of Superman, from a few years ago. This issue was covered on episode 6 of From Crisis to Crisis.

Next on World of Superman: Clark Kent goes to Qurac and has some bad dreams.

JLA Classified #49

I really dislike leaving a full week between posts, but unfortunately, every now and again, work rears its ugly head and monopolizes my life to the point where I barely have the energy to to anything other than eat between walking through the door and going to bed. I did, however, find the time to squeeze in the season premiere of Smallville last night, and despite missing out on the best part of five years' worth of plot, I was not surprised to see that a lot of what drove me away from the series is still there.

We had moments of insanely bad acting (especially the scene where Clark returns to the Watchtower, and Tom Welling cannot find a sensible way to deliver the line 'But I'm here now. what about the others, did they make it?'), comedy that wasn't funny or made any sense (I had no understanding of the 'dropping the pen' scene), and, of course, at least one moment where the ambition of the show went far beyond its ability to deliver. The moment where The Blur (euch) raises the Daily Planet globe appears to have been witnessed by about 12 people, which isn't bad for a major metropolitan city.

I was watching for the money-shot. I had heard that Darkseid was to appear in the episode, and as he is one of my favourite villains of all time, I was eager to see how he would be handled in live-action. Well, as it turns out, he was being presented as a non-sequitorial puff of smoke that bore a fleeting resemblance to the villain we know and love. Remember how for about half a second you could see the outline of the true Galactus in Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer? That's how it felt to me.

It wasn't all bad. The John Schneider scene looked for a moment like it was going to a terrible waste of potential, but turned into something quite beautiful and moving. The shadow of Michael Rosenbaum enhanced the episode rather than making him noticeable by his absence (although the fake clone Lex needed far fewer cliches to go along with the effectiveness of his corrupted Lex visual). And the introduction of the Superman, suit, something I wasn't expecting, was very nicely handled, and I like the way that the final shot set the concept of Superman as a prize for Clark at the end of the season, as well as a reward to viewers for ten years of support.

I think I'll do my best to keep up for this series. I'm going to be interested in how Apokolips is handled in live-action, and the return of the Justice Society is going to be more than enough to keep my inner geek satisfied.

**WARNING!**TENUOUS LINK ALERT**THERE WILL BE A TENUOUS LINK IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH**

Talking of my inner geek, on thing he has not been satisfied with is today's review issue for the World of Superman, JLA Classified #49.

To Live In Hearts We Leave Behind


Writer: Andrew Kreisberg
Pencils: Paulo Siqueira
Inks: Amilton Santos
Colors: Allen Passalaqua
Letters: Jared K Fletcher
Cover: Siqueira with Passalaqua
Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Date: Late February 2008
Release Date: 26/12/2007

An insectoid alien race called the Locusta has laid claim to Earth's solar system. The JLA convene on Mars to mount a defence against the invaders. As the JLA engage the Locusta, the Earth waits with baited breath. Linda Park presents news coverage, whilst other people close to the various members of the JLA anxiously await news. Eventually, the Locusta are defeated, the League reunites with their loved ones, and the Earth celebrates.


Whilst this occurs, Lois Lane arrives at Wayne Manor for a pre-arranged interview with Bruce Wayne. Finding that Bruce as been unexpectedly called away on business, she takes tea with Alfred whilst the two wait for news of the invasion.

Yes, it's a short synopsis. Not a lot actually happens in this issue. The JLA beat up some armored crab-aliens on Mars whilst everyone gets nervous on Earth. Lois and Alfred have a not-very-revealing talk. If you're after dense plotting, then you're better off looking at another comic. What there is in this issue is atmosphere, oodles of it. There's a real sense that the people of Earth are genuinely worried about the impending Locusta invasion. Linda West's broadcasts are suggested to be the kind of broadcast to bring the nation together, whilst Jimmy and Lois exchange terse, personal admittances of fear on their Blackberries. Compounding this is the fact that none of the combat on Mars has any dialogue, narration or sound-effects. Although the reader is privy to the action, they are not a part of the League's actions. We are as much in the dark as to how the battle is progressing as Earth is. I'd like to think that the League's triumph here is what gives the public the strength to support future moves against alien attackers, such as the 'Earth To Invaders: Drop Dead' response in Invasion #1.

Lois and Alfred's conversation is both interesting and unrevealing. There's a nice underlying element of dramatic irony in that the reader knows that both parties are concerned for heroes on Mars, but that neither is aware of the other's connections. Unfortunately, this is as far as it goes, and what we get on the page is several pages of small talk that doesn't really make for an interesting read.

I would normally be finishing my review here, summing up the issue as a fairly inoffensive but inconsequential fill-in issue of a title heading towards its cancellation 6 issues later. But unfortunately, I have to address one piffling little concern, namely the fact that the continuityJLA seen fighting on Mars is clearly, thanks to the presence of John Stewart and the predilection of JLA: Classified to use this version of the team, the post-Obsidian Age incarnation of the Big 7 League. The second is the relationship of Wally West and Linda Park, who first appeared in 1989. The third is the awkwardness between Lois and Superman, and the fact that Lois is not romantically involved with Clark, and doesn't know his secret identity. The three elements cannot co-exist. Most notably, John Stewart is only a true member of the JLA following the Obsidian Age, many years after the League's founding, and long after Lois and Clark/Superman are an item and open about Clark's identity.

Putting this issue in this position in the blog is a difficult choice, and doing so requires a pinch of salt. From the Lois point of view, her relationship is entirely with Superman. There is no mention of Clark at all in the issue, and the conclusion is her hugging Superman. Therefore, it can be assumed that Clark is only 'the guy that scooped her' at this point in time. This issue cannot be concurrent with the post-Man of Steel issues, as that version of the League was the infamous International version. Therefore, this League is more than likely a one-off permutation of the Satellite era that just so happens to resemble the later version. Of course, you have to ignore the fact that John Stewart is an icon on Earth when he is far more likely a very green, rookie Lantern, and the fact that Wally West isn't even the Flash yet, nor has he met Linda Park. But in the context of Superman, these elements can be brushed over. Well, I have.

Have you read this issue? What are your theories concerning the placing of this issue? Do you even care? Please let me know in the comments below.

The Geeky Bits: The title is a quote from Hallowed Ground by Thomas Campbell.

Andrew Kreisberg is a writer whose main claim to fame outside of comics was an episode of The Simpsons called Barting Over. His most noteable run on comics was replacing Judd Winick on Green Arrow/Black Canary, which he wrote for 15 issues, and a series called Hellen Killer, which saw Helen Keller become bodyguard to the President of the USA.

Paulo Siqueira is an artist whose work includes runs on Birds of Prey, Anti-Venom: New Ways To Live, and the 2007 Black Canary mini-series.

Next on World of Superman: We get back to the core series of this era, as we examine Man of Steel #5. Hopefully just in time for the first birthday of this blog.

Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder #4

Good gravy, how the time flies. It's been a busy old week over here behind the scenes. There have been more than a few distractions from the actual business of writing about Superman. As well as the already linked podcasts (Amazing Spider-Man Classics Episode 13 and Teenage Wasteland: An Ultimate Spider-Man Podcast Episode 37), the Amazing Spider-Man Classics team wrangled the next episode into shape, added in some extremely dodgy renditions of various television theme songs, and released it as Episode 14. As before, I joined the team, and had a great time whilst doing. it.

In addition to this, a twitter papertrail led me to the SFX 200th Issue Celebrations. I started collecting SFX with issue 37 (Uma Thurman on the cover, promoting Gattaca), and stopped about 100 or so issues later. It's a big part of how I became a SF fan, and I think it's fair to say that without the magazine's glowing coverage of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which started long before the series made its way to the BBC, I may have overlooked the brilliance that was and is Joss Whedon until a lot later. A more direct influence on my comic reading is the article they did to celebrate the finale of Preacher, which turned me onto that series, and in turn to the idea that comics didn't have to be about men in capes and tights. The linked site is a special even they did for their 200th issue, whereby they link one feature from each of their issues. It's a great piece of nostalgia, especially for any Brits out there. Remember the days when the best we had in the UK was Bugs?

Anyway, that's enough distractions. We have some serious business to get down to.


First Thunder Part 4: Men And Boys! Gods And Thunder!


Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Joshua Middleton
Letterer: Nick J Napolitano
Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Artist: Joshua Middleton
Cover Date: Febuary 2006
Release Date: 21/12/2005

Back in Metropolis, Clark relaxes in the Daily Planet newsroom, fending off questions from Lois Lane concerning his scoop from Fawcett City. Meanwhile, Dr Sivana is relishing the fact that he is about to rid himself of Captain Marvel. He doesn't care that this involves murdering a child, and that there is a possibility that the child being targeted might not even be the right one.

In the subway, Billy Batson changes into Captain Marvel, who shrugs off a hail of bullets. He leaps into the attackers, making quick work of them. Turning back to make some lighthearted banter with Scott, Marvel is shocked to see his friend unconscious, with a bullet wound to his chest. Marvel takes Scott to a nearby hospital. The doctors and surgeons work long and hard, but are unable to save his life. At the Fawcett City police station, Spec is being grilled by two detectives. Suddenly, Captain Marvel appears, ripping the door to the interrogation room off of its hinges. Ignoring the policemen with their guns on him, Marvel demands to know who sent him.


Dr Sivana is drinking to cover his disappointment at not having Captain Marvel killed. Marvel appears at the window, shattering all the glass in the penthouse. He grabs Sivana by the throat, wondering whether or not to let him live. When Sivana passes out, Marvel drops him to the floor and leaves. Coming to, Sivana decides to leave Fawcett for good.


The next morning, Clark sees reports of Captain Marvel's rampage. He flies to Mount Everest and finds Captain Marvel sitting in their spot. Superman demands answers as to why Marvel put so many lives in danger, but is taken aback to see him crying. Marvel tells Superman about Scott, that he was his best friend. Superman doesn't understand, and Marvel realises that he has to reveal his secret. He says 'Shazam' and turns back into Billy Batson, telling Superman that he feels it's too dangerous to be Billy anymore. Superman asks who did this to him.


A little while later, Superman confronts Shazam in the Rock of Eternity. He is angry that the wizard has given this responsibility to a child, removing the gift of childhood from Billy. Shazam tell Superman that Billy is a boy who needs guidance. Later on, Clark goes to visit Billy in a run down building. When Billy asks if he is from social services, Clark unbuttons his shirt to reveal his identity. Sitting down, he introduces himself to Billy.

Way back, in my coverage of issue one of this series, I teased in reply to a comment that I don't react to this series in the way I normally react to a Judd Winick comic. I normally find Winick to be a heavy-handed writer, fond of championing social issues but doing so with about as much subtlety as the time Darth Vader decided to use the Death Star to do a spot of light pruning in the garden of his holiday home on Coruscant. Wether dealing with homophobia in Green Lantern, or HIV in Green Arrow, readers have found themselves lectured by the comics they have read. Here, the social issue is homelessness, but instead of making it a focus of the story, Winick uses it as flavouring, an element to enrich the story without having Superman tell the readers that kids living on the street is A Bad Thing. It helps that the homelessness is an element of the original origin story for Captain Marvel.

Although the first three issues of the series don't do much for me, this fourth issue is far stronger. I can really get behind Marvel'sMarvel's driving seat, seeing the fears of a small boy in Marvel's actions comes across well on the page. I particularly like the way Superman redirects his anger when he sees Marvel crying, angrily defending a child's right to be a child to Shazam.

And then we get to the end of the issue, which ends with Superman stripping off to share a bed with a young, emotionally vulnerable boy. Yeah, in context of the issue it almost works as a moment where Superman puts the needs of one of his allies over his own desire to maintain a secret identity. But let's face it, there is a very uncomfortable and more-than-likely unintentional subtext to this scene that is completely wrong for the two characters involved.

The Geeky Bits: In this current age of the multiverse, Earth-53 has Superman as a fugitive, hunted by the JLA for crimes against minors. Or not...

Next on World of Superman: Superman gets locked up in Arkham Asylum. Have I taken the opportunity to skip 15 years of comics and jump right into Emperor Joker? Or have I just reached issue 3 of World's Finest?

Superman/Shazam: First Thunder! #3

First Thunder Part 3: Titans


Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Joshua Middleton
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Artist: Joshua Middleton
Cover Date: January 2006
Release Date: 02/11/2005

The wizard Shazam narrates the secret origin of Eclipso. Knowing that his champion is about to face Eclipso in battle, Shazam fears for Captain Marvel. Spec speaks to the homeless of Fawcett City, looking for information on the boy he saw Captain Marvel turn into. One old man is able to give him some information, and Spec asks for a name.


Superman and Captain Marvel arrive at the site of the demonic ritual. Although Marvel doesn't recognise Sabbac, he recognises the strong magical powers within him. The two engage, but Sabbac belches fire all over them and flies away. Meanwhile, Eclipso uses the Fawcett City Solar Center to broadcast the energy from the black diamond into the sun, causing rays of black light to fall onto the city, turning anyone they touch into Eclipsos. Superman saves Captain Marvel from one of these rays, and the two turn to face their increasing problems.


Doctor Sivana observes the chaos from the top of his building. Spec arrives with a piece of paper bearing the secret of Captain Marvel's vulnerability.


Eclipso is gloating over his success when the machinery used to spread his influence is suddenly destroyed by Superman. The two fight, and Eclipso uses his posessed minions to attack. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Sabbac trade blows. Sabbac is gloating and monologuing, and accidentally gives away that his name is the source of his power. Superman uses his powers to vibrate the air around him, repelling the posessed people, and the uses his super-breath to provide a cushion for them to fall on. Having broken free, Superman races into the sky, and locates the cavern where Sabbac was summoned. Breaking in and destroying the seals within causes the darkness over the sun to withdraw, diminishing Eclipso's power and freeing his minions, including Bruce Gordon. With the sun returned, Captain Marvel is able to face off more effectively against Sabbac. Taunting and teasing him, Marvel makes Sabbac so mad that he yells out his name, returning to human form. Marvel then grabs the human by his mouth, preventing him from re-summoning his power.


Superman and Marvel say their goodbyes, with Superman feeling more comfortable about the world of magic, knowing that he has an ally who can stand up to that power. Marvel changes back into Billy and returns to his shelter, where he discusses the events with Scott. A noise alerts them, and suddenly they are confronted by a group of soldiers, who open fire.

So, this would be the fighting issue, then? We get a full issue of Superman and Captain Marvel vs Eclipso and Sabbac. I'm not quite sure why Eclipso needs to be here, displaying a command over his powers that wasn't otherwise present during the earlier years of Superman's life. Thematically his presence makes a kind of sense, a random element thrown into the mix as a result of Sivana's work with Sabbac, but all he does is occupy Superman and keep him from engaing with Sabbac. When the whole gist of Superman's involvement in this story is to confront his fears and concerns about his ability to face off against magical forces, giving him an easy option to back out of a fight with a supremely mystical being and having him bow out after a couple of punches feels like a cop out. But as we're talking about Superman's resistance to magic, one panel has Superman countering Ecliso's black diamond energy beam thingy with his heat vision, and succeeding. If Superman is able to face down the power of the former Spirit of Vengeance with his heat vision, then why does he have concerns about facing magical enemies? Why does he even have a weakness against such foes?

As is becoming a regular trait with this series, we have more examples of dialogue that just doesn't fit the mouths from which it springs. Eclipso taunts Superman, telling him that he smells of flesh and blood and bone, that he smells mortal. And what does Superman respond with? 'Good. I won't tell you what you smell of.' Wow, this has all the sharp, biting wit of a six year old who doesn't like being called stinky-pants. This isn't the Man of Steel, the figurehead of all heroes on Earth, and reading such poor dialogue coming out of Superman's mouth is just painful. And let's just not start of Superman vibrating the air around him to provide enough kinetic energy to repel twenty of so humans and then directing enough of his breath quickly enough to cushion their fall without blowing them away. My science-type brain kinda melted when I read that.

The Geeky Bits: Joshua Middleton is mainly known as a cover artist, although he has occasionally been an interior artist. He started at CrossGen with the title Meridian in 2000, and next surfaced as the penciller for the 2004 series NYX. However, Middleton's work is often subject to delays, partly because of his all-encompassing work that sees him pencil, ink and colour his own work. Middleton was nominated for an Eisner award for his covers for NYX in 2004.

Next on World of Superman: We finish off First Thunder! Are you prepared to cry? Because the creative team would like you to.

Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder #2

First Thunder: Odd Couples


Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Joshua Middleton
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.
Editor: Mike Carlin
Thanks to Brian Reiber
Cover Artist: Joshua Middleton
Cover Date: December 2005
Release Date: 05/10/2005

One week ago. Doctor Sivana travels to Metropolis for a clandestine meeting with Lex Luthor. Luthor offers up a resource caled Spec, which will follow Captain Marvel to reveal his secrets. In return, Sivana will sell back to Lex the LexCorp shares he has been buying through dozens of shell companies as a prelude to a hostile takeover. Realising that he has been outplayed, Sivana agrees. Spec starts to trail Captain Marvel, and one night follow him into an alley. Marvel vanishes, but a small boy runs out and into an abandoned subway station. Spec realises that his job has just become more interesting...


Now. Superman and Captain Marvel team up to take down the mystical beasts, whilst the gang of crooks, realising that two super-heroes are onto them, beat a hasty retreat. As they leave, they confirm that their second team have captured their target, and that they are working for Sivana. Superman is encased in a magical crystal, which Marvel is able to shatter. Superman is then surprised to see that Captain Marvel is able to withstand magical attacks. The beasts are defeated, and Marvel starts to explain his powers. Realising that it might be a longer conversation, he suggests that they go somewhere to talk.


On the summit of Mount Everest, the two heroes compare their similar and different powers. Superman finds himself about to reveal information about his civilian identity, and gently backs off, explaining that he keeps the two sides of his life seperate.


As night falls in Fawcett City, Doctor Sivana instructs that his plans begin. In a mystical cave, the captured civilian is forced to say a magical word - Sabbac. A mystical explosion sends a beam of energy to the sun, blacking it out. As Sabbac rises, Bruce Gordon is taken over by Eclipso. Superman realises what is happening with his super-hearing, and the two heroes return to the city.

So, a few fast thoughts on this issue, as we're on part two of a four part story and I want to hold the big guns until the end.

I really enjoyed the interactions between Luthor and Sivana. Putting Sivana in the role of a bitchy old queen going up against the stoic, unmoveable, and far superior Luthor work incredibly well, and the only duff moment comes from the point where Lex lowers himself to Sivana's level, with his retort of "Oh come one, what's the hurry? Apart from the fact that you're incredibly old and will probably die soon." It's too blunt for the subtle Lex, and it's also a poorly constructed put down, stumbling awkwardly off the tongue instead of gliding out with barely concealed ease.

As Lex and Sivana spend some time together, so do Superman and Marvel. Whilst their relationship in-combat is pretty bland, their conversation atop Mount Everest is far more interesting. Superman finds himself in a unique position. He's talking to a fellow super-hero without having to constantly be on guard, as he is with Batman, and without the pressures that come with interacting with a member of the Justice League. He seems a lot more relaxed, and finds himself slipping when it comes to details about himself. Although it's Captain Marvel who voices that fact that "it stinks" to not be able to talk, there is a sense of longing on the part of Superman to be able to be free and open about himself without having to constantly be careful of what he says.

The art continues to be fairly solid, although as with the first issue, faces occasionally deviate from the standard model. This issue's biggest offender is Lex Luthor, who conveys absolutely no presence on the panel. I hate to use a word such as 'bland', but I honestly can't think of a better word to use to describe how Joshua Middleton renders Luthor. Well, maybe 'meek'.


The Geeky Bits:  Judd Winick is one of comicdom's more polarising writers. He first came to fame as a cast member of the third series of The Real World, and his experiences on the show as well as his friendship with Pedro Zamora informed his multi award-winning graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned. Winick joined DC in 2000, working on titles such as Green Lantern, Green Arrow (where he revealed that GA's sidekick, Mia Dearden, was HIV positive), Batman (where he resurrected Jason Todd), Outsiders, and other projects. His work is loved by some, and hated by others. The highlights of his DC work would probably be his Green Lantern and Green Arrow runs, whilst the absolute lowlight would definately be the ill-advised and ill-executed Titans relaunch a couple of years ago.

Next on World of Superman: Part three of First Thunder, where things get tragic.

Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #1

And we're back. The latest event to take me away from blogging has been a trapped nerve in my shoulder, which made it almost impossible to lie down without heavy doses of medication, meaning no sleep for a couple of days. Thankfully it appears it has become untrapped and I have recovered my mental state from 'zombie' all the way back to 'normal, if a little geeky'. Later on tonight I'll be joining the crew from Amazing Spider-Man Classics for another shot at recording our episodes. If all goes well then the first should be up by the end of the week. Anyway, enough distraction... shall we take a look at some comics?

First Thunder Chapter 1: A Face In The Crowd!


Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Joshua Middleton
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Artist: Joshua Middleton
Cover Date: November 2005
Release Date: 08/09/2005

The wizard Shazam observes the emergence of super-heroes into the world, and decides that the time has come for him to have a champion again. Captain Marvel makes his first appearance to the world, saving the an aeroplane from crashing into the center of Fawcett City. As Shazam watches, he decress that Marvel is locked in a battle with fate.


Three months later. Superman apprehends a gang of crooks who are breaking into the Metropolis Museum of Natural History and are attempting to steal a 1000 year-old golden statue. To cover their escape, the crooks produce staves which they strike onto the floor, summoning a giant mystical beast who attacks Superman. Superman engages the monster, but after a few seconds of fighting the beast vanishes in a puff of smoke. He spies a coin on the floor, and realises that magic was involved.


The next day, two giant robots attack the Fawcett City Solar Center contruction site. Captain Marvel engages and defeats them after a short battle. In the aftermath, Marvel agrees to leave the robots in the care of Dr Bruce Gordon, the chief scientific advisor of the project. Marvel then takes off. Later that night, Billy Batson returns to his makeshift home in an abandoned subway station. He and his best friend, Scott Cooper, who also knows his secret, discuss Captain Marvel's popularity in Fawcett City. Scott wants Billy to come back to the foster home with him, but Billy doesn't want to be part of the system, happy to sleep rough with the other homeless people.


Doctor Sivana, frustrated by his failed attempts to kill Captain Marvel and his failure to obstruct the Solar Center project, decides to contact Lex Luthor to exchange ideas on killing caped superheroes.


Later still, Billy is scoping out the Mckeon History Museum when he sees a gang breaking and entering. Changing into Captain Marvel, he confronts the gang, who had previously robbed the Metropolis museum. They employ the same tactics, summoning two mystical beasts to cover their escape. The beasts throw Captain Marvel out of the museum into the street. Looking up, he sees Superman, who offers his assistance.

In 2005, Judd Winick launched two projects to highlight not only Captain Marvel but also his relationship with Superman. The first, Lightning Strike Twice, was a three-issue crossover that ran through the Superman titles coverdated June. This was a prequel to Day of Vengeance, itself a prelude to Infinite Crisis. A few months later came this four-part mini-series depicting the first meeting between the two heroes.

This is a perfectly serviceable first issue to the series. It's solid without being spectacular, but is also a surprisingly brisk read. There's very little dialogue in this issue, and this results in Captain Marvel and especially Superman coming across as ciphers, there to wear their uniforms and do some fighting without displaying any character of their own. The two pages of Doctor Sivana work a lot better, as we get an interesting portrayal of the character as well as a nice setup for his role in the rest of the series. I really like the idea that Sivana - pre-mad scientist, and Fawcett City's version of Lex Luthor - would swap notes on cape-killing with Luthor. It's only a little bit crazy, and in the long run makes Superman's inclusion in the story better setup than we get here. I also like the fact that we get a homeless Billy Batson, an element of the character

There are a few slippages in the issue. Some of Captain Marvel's dialogue just seems wrong. The Captain Marvel I know (admittedly I don't know very much, mostly from the pages of JSA) wouldn't yell 'Hey! Iron butt!' at a robot, and such a saying seems out of character for someone blessed with the wisdom of Solomon. Joshua Middleton's art, whilst pretty good throughout the issue, falls down in one close-up of Superman's face that ages him by about twenty years. It's a shame that these little moments occur, as they detract from the comic.

The Geeky Bits: Right, a short history of Captain Marvel in one paragraph. Created in 1940, became the best-selling super-hero of the 1940s and the first comic character to have a live-action adaptation. Publishing ceased in 1953 when DC sued Fawcett Publishing for trademark infringement. Twenty years later, DC bought Fawcett and started publishing Captain Marvel, although Marvel had trademarked their own Captain Marvel in the meantime, so the book had to be called Shazam!. Captain Marvel had a rough ride out of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it wasn't until Jerry Ordway created The Power of Shazam! in 1994 that a permanent ongoing series featuring the character was established. This series ran for five years, and after its conculsion, Marvel joined the JSA until Infinite Crisis came along.

Next on World of Superman: Superman and Captain Marvel do more than say 'hello' in their first ever team-up.

Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #4

Hero


Story: Louise Simonson
Penciller: John Paul Leon
Inker: Dennis Janke
Letterer: Todd Klein
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Assistant Editor: Chris Duffy
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Artist: Walt Simonson
Cover Date: Annual 1995


The Knight

Superman races to the rescue after a Quraci terrorist organisation attempts to derail the elevated subway. He stops the train before it crashes through a section of demolished track, then heads inside to deal with the hijackers. He brings the gunmen to the police for arrest, and is swarmed with adoring and grateful fans. A comment made by one of them makes him think back to the day Pa Kent showed him the ship he arrived in. Later that day, in the Daily Planet newsroom, news of Batman's appearance in Gotham City breaks. Clark rushes out.


In Gotham, Superman grabs hold of Batman's line, and just as in Man of Steel #3, gets involved with Magpie's reign of terror. Once Magpie has been apprehended, Superman talks with Batman. Realising that the law is effectively powerless in Gotham, Superman agrees not to hand Batman over to the authorities. As he leaves, he discovers that Batman has no super-powers, but is a self-made man.

The Ring

The next day, Clark is relating his encounter with Batman to Ma, while the TV hosts an interview with the latest hero, Black Canary. Suddenly, the interview is cut short for a newsflash reporting that a LexCorp satellite has broken its orbit and is crashing towards Coast City. Superman rushes to assist, but is beaten to it by another hero wielding a green ring. The hero almost catches the satellite, but it breaks free. Superman is able to bring it under control and allow the hero to snare it. The hero introduces himself as Green Lantern, and he explains how he gained posession of the ring. When Lantern asks Superman about his origins, Superman is unable to answer. Green Lantern's ring identifies Superman as the last survivor of Krypton, but Lantern realises that Superman doesn't know this, and witholds the information. The two shake hands as friends.

The Speed

Returning to Metropolis, Clark files the Green Lantern story, to the ire of Lois Lane. He then returns home for dinner with his parents. While there, Pa tells him of a freak snowstorm in a neighbouring country. Superman heads off to investigate and finds the Weather Wizard causing havoc. Weather Wizard stuns Superman with a lightning bolt, but while he is recovering, Superman sees a red blur heading into the fight. The blur runs in a circle, causing a tornado to form that dissipates the Weather Wizard's weather, and topples him from his perch. The blur introduces himself as The Flash, and tells of his origin. Their meeting is interrupted by both Lois Lane and Iris West, who have been investigating the Weather Wizard. Superman discovers that the Wizard had intended to scare people away from the town so that he could rob the bank. He is disgusted that millions of dollars of property damage could have been caused to rob thirty thousand dollars.

The Tide

A little later, Superman investigates a suddenly-formed hurricane, expecting to find the Weather Wizard behind it. He is surprised to find an orange-shirted man trapped beneath a tree, recognising him as Aquaman. Aquaman explains that Poseidon is attacking him. Superman is sceptical of Aquaman's talk of gods, and attempts to dispell the hurricane. He is surprised when the weather takes the form of a face and attacks him directly, knocking him unconscious and sending him plummeting into the ocean. Aquaman recovers Superman, saving him from a mystical whirlpool. With Superman recovered, he and Aquaman lead the hurricane to a desert, where the lack of water forces Poseidon to withdraw. Aquaman suggests that the ocean is now angry at Superman, a claim Superman rejects, even after he has been splashed in the face.

The Alien

Returning to Metropolis, Clark wonders how he can file the Aquaman story and get ahead of Lois without drawing undue attention to his scoops. His thoughts are interrupted by a blaze in Denver, and he leaves to assist. The burning building is about to collapse. Superman helps hold it together, but is surprised to meet a green-skinned hero, who heads inside to save more civilians. Through the smoke and the flames, Superman sees the hero finish the rescue, but get caught in an explosion. In order to get away, the hero changes his shape. After the emergency, Superman tracks down the hero, who introduces himself as a Martian called J'onn J'onnz. J'onn tells of how he arrived on Earth by teleporter, not rocket. Superman tells him that reporters most likely saw his transformation, and that he won't be able to live in secret for long. After Superman has left, J'onn thinks about how the two of them were able to save the last trapped civilians, and wonders what could happen if more heroes worked together.


The League

A few days later, Clark hears that most of the public super-heroes have formed a Justice League, but that their first meeting has erupted into violence, with the heroes attacking each other. Superman arrives, to see the League fighting indiscriminately, with no tactics, just fighting. He notices a nearby robot, emitting a beam, and decides that the robot is causing teh violent behaviour. Superman attacks the robot, freeing the league, and discovers that is was being piloted by a small gnome-like being who vanishes. The gnome was Xotar, a being from the future who has managed to teleport himself into the hands of his era's police. Superman officially meets the League, and is invited to join. However, he turns down membership, instead offering to provide support when needed. Clark returns to the Planet, only to find that thanks to some contacts on the scene, Lois has managed to scoop him this time.

The Origin

Seven years later. Clark is at home for Ma's birthday when he is approached by a phantom of Jor-El. The phantom reveals Kal-El's Kryptonian origins, placing Clark in some sort of trance. Pa breaks the trance by whacking the phantom with a shovel, dissipating it. Superman then examines what he now knows of his origin, before deciding that although Krypton gave him his powers, it is his family that has made him a man.

This annual can pretty much be summed up as 'How I Met The Justice League' with a bit of origin-angst thrown in to tie all the meetings together. It's a bit like a cheap buffet - there's plenty of food, but none of it is overly satisfying. The vignettes are all good, but each one feels like it should be a bigger moment standing on its own, rather than 5-7 pages contained within one tale. This feeling stems from the fact that the annual uses Man of Steel #3 as its launching point. The Batman strand feels very much like a summary, rather than a retelling, with corners cut to make it fit into the space, and this feeling permeates the other meetings. What really gives this issue a sense of being rushed is that the needs of the story have Superman meeting the members of the JLA all within a few days of each other. Now, accepted DCU history has the modern age heroes appearing in the wake of Superman's appearance, but having them all occur within a week or so stretches credibility a little.

Out of all the meetings, I think my favourite is the Aquaman one. Not only does it echo the 'out of his depth' elements from both the Action Comics and Superman annuals, but it ends more ambiguously than with a handshake and a promise of friendship. Superman gets it wrong in dealing with Poseidon, by not following Aquaman's instructions, and is shaken by the discussion of Gods actually existing. There's a nice moment where Aquaman teases Superman by claiming that the ocean is angry with him, before splashing him with water, deflating Superman's dismissive attitude towards the Poseidon encounter. The ones I least enjoyed were the Batman retelling, and the first team-up with the JLA, both of which recap previously-told stories without bringing anything new to the table.

What does work, and resonates strongly with this period in Superman's life, is the ongoing thread of Superman's lack of knowledge of where he comes from. This element was downplayed until the last issue of Man of Steel, so to make it into more of a driving force for Superman during his early years helps to retroactively set up the resolution to the mini-series. Each of the heroes serves to pique Superman's interest, and each lets him down in their own way, wether by being a self-made hero, gaining powers by accident, or a gift from an alien, or simply by being an alien but stranded on Earth through very different means. Between this and the constant game of one-upmanship with Lois Lane (brilliantly interrupted by Iris West in the Flash story), this story is firmly placed in the early months of Superman's career. This story wouldn't work as well if it had occured post Man of Steel, or even more than a few months after Superman's first appearance, once his presence is accepted as the norm as opposed to something unusual and unique.

John Paul Leon's artwork is not a great fit here for Superman. One of the key elements of his art that I loved in Earth X was his use of shadow to complement what at times was some pretty minimalistic art. In a series that uncovered the secret history of the Marvel universe (only to be retconned as an alternate universe), the high darkness content in the art was well suited. Here, in a story that introduces the some of the key Silver Age heroes to the modern Superman, his use of shadow feels almost inappropriate. The first appearnace of Hal Jordan's ring contructs should be as alien and unusual as anything seen by Superman, but are rendered here as disappointingly pedestrian. Having said that, I do like his Lois Lane - he captures a keen intelligence and focus in her eyes.

The Geeky Bits: This is the second first meeting for Superman and the Martian Manhunter, following Martian Manhunter #20. Funny how J'onn doesn't feel compelled to mention that he has known Superman for most of his life... although in keeping with an issue not written for another five years he does keep Superman's origin to himself.

Magpie seems to have lost her henchmen who look suspiciously like Mike Carlin and Mark Gruenwald. She also uses her 'Happy Birthday' stick of dynamite in place of the corrosive gas  to cause a distraction, and has her secondary base in the same museum as her first.

As has been pointed out several times so far, the Batman segment is a retelling of Man of Steel #3. The Justice League segment is a retelling of The Brave And The Bold #29, although in keeping the with post-Crisis Justice league history, Wonder Woman has been replaced with Black Canary.

Next on World of Superman: Superman and Batman's rivalry has fatal consequences.