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The Kryptonian Cybernet Issue 62
______________________________________________________
T H E K R Y P T O N I A N C Y B E R N E T
_______________________________________________
http://www.kryptonian-cybernet.com
Issue #62 - May 1999
______________________________________________________
CONTENTS
--------
Section 1: Superscripts: Notes from the Editor(s)
A Summer of Change
Comments on our fifth anniversary, a departure from the
KC staff, and the start of some changes for the web site!
Ratings At A Glance
Titles Shipped April 1999
The KC Newsroom
Alex Ross artwork, the Metropolis Superman festival, movie
and videogame news, Wizard previews this summer's comics,
and a few tidbits about upcoming comic book projects.
Section 2: An Interview With Mark Millar
Steven Younis, of the Superman Homepage, talks with the
writer of Superman Adventures and the co-writer of Action
Comics about Superman, his career, and more!
And Who Disguised As...
Five Years Burning Down the Road
J.D. Rummel starts with a hodge-podge of topics and then
turns his attention to the recent Superman/Fantastic Four
crossover.
The Mailbag
Section 3: Superman: The Animated Series
"In Brightest Day"
DC's TAS Universe welcomes a new hero into the fold in
the form of Green Lantern -- but will even Superman be
enough help to overcome the evil of Sinestro? Episode
review by Denes House
"Prototype"
John Henry Irons and Lex Luthor have teamed to create
a suit of battle armor for the Metropolis SCU, but the
prototype has a problem that Lex is willing to ignore.
Episode review by Scott Devarney.
Web of Steel: The KC Guide to Superman on the WWW
The tour of web sites no Superman fan should be without
continues, as Jon Knutson turns his eye to sites which
focus on Superman movies and Christopher Reeve!
Section 4: New Comic Reviews
The Triangle Titles
Superman: The Man of Steel #89, by Mike Smith
Superman: King of the World #1, by Shane Travis
Superman #145, by Thomas Deja
Section 5: New Comic Reviews
The Triangle Titles (cont)
Adventures of Superman #568, by Edward Mathews
Super-Family Titles
Superboy #63, by Rene' Gobeyn
Supergirl #33, by Thomas Deja
Superman Adventures #32, by Cory Strode
Section 6: New Comic Reviews
Team Titles
JLA #30, by Anatole Wilson
Young Justice #9, by Gary Robinson
Miniseries
Batman & Superman: World's Finest #3, by Simon DelMonte
Superman's Nemesis: Lex Luthor #4, by G.M. Nelson
Section 7: New Comic Reviews
Specials
Superman 80-Page Giant #2, by Thomas Deja
Batman #566, by Rene' Gobeyn
Section 8: The Phantom Zone
The One, True Original Superman
Episode #10: The End of Earth-2
Bob Hughes discusses the final Earth-2 stories, and the
problems inherent in trying to separate early Superman
lore into the two worlds.
Section 9: The Phantom Zone
Supergirl's 25th Anniversary
In honor of Supergirl's 40th anniversary, Scott Devarney
looks back at Action Comics #555 and Supergirl #20, two
issues published for Supergirl's 25th anniversary.
Superman Stories
Legends -- The Miniseries
Sean Hogan looks at the crossover that followed up Crisis,
in which Darkseid tried to turn the people of Earth against
its heroes, and how this event affected Superman.
EDITORIAL STAFF:
---------------
Jeffery D. Sykes, Publisher and Co-Editor-in-Chief
Shane Travis, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor of Comic Reviews
Neil Ottenstein, Executive Editor of STAS Reviews
DISCLAIMERS:
-----------
Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, JLA, Young Justice, and all
associated characters, locations, symbols, logos, and events are copyright
and/or trademarks of DC Comics. This magazine, its publisher and
contributors, and any content related to the Superman family of characters
are not authorized by DC Comics. Use of these copyrighted and trademarked
properties is not intended to challenge said ownership. We strongly suggest
that each reader look to the media sources mentioned within for further
information.
All original material published in The Kryptonian Cybernet, including but
not limited to reviews, articles, and editorials, are copyright 1999 by The
Kryptonian Cybernet and the respective authors. Reprinting in any format
is expressly forbidden without the permission of The Kryptonian Cybernet
and the contributing author.
Opinions presented within this issue belong to the authors of the articles
which contain them. They should in no way be construed as those of any
other particular member of the editorial or contributing staff, unless
otherwise indicated.
This magazine can be distributed in whole, freely by e-mail. Permission is
also granted to advertise subscription information on other on-line
services and/or websites. Should you desire to share this publication with
other on-line services and/or web sites, please contact Jeff Sykes at
sykes@kryptonian-cybernet.com for permission.
THE KRYPTONIAN CYBERNET is available by e-mail -- to subscribe, simply send
an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" in the Subject: field to the
following address:
To: kc-request@kryptonian-cybernet.com
Subject: subscribe
This will subscribe the address from which the message was sent. If the
address is successfully subscribed, you will receive a copy of the list's
welcome message. If you have any problems, contact Jeff Sykes at
sykes@kryptonian-cybernet.com.
Back issues are available via ftp at ftp.kryptonian-cybernet.com. These
archives can also be reached via the Kryptonian Cybernet Homepage:
http://www.kryptonian-cybernet.com
__________________________________________
SUPERSCRIPTS: Notes from the Editor(s)
------------------------------------------
Jeff Sykes (sykes@kryptonian-cybernet.com)
A SUMMER OF CHANGE
To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit dumbstruck. When we first began
organizing the production that would become The Kryptonian Cybernet, I had
absolutely no idea how long it would last, or even if there would be very
much interest in the magazine. But here we are, more than sixty issues and
several thousand readers later, celebrating our fifth anniversary! For that
I extend my most heartfelt thanks to our readers and contributors for
continuing to make the magazine what it is today. We'd obviously be nowhere
if not for the many fans of the Man of Steel.
Over the last five years, we've seen a lot of changes in both Superman and
the Kryptonian Cybernet, and as we enter our sixth year of publication,
we're due for an entirely new round of changes in the coming months. I'm
referring, of course, to the overhaul of the Superman titles scheduled to
begin in just a few short months. Regardless of what we may individually
think of the previous and/or current creative teams, we must admit that the
impending changes have generated a buzz of anticipation about the Superman
titles which just has not been felt in quite some time. Now we simply need
to hope that the new teams can rebuild the audience for the first among
super-heroes.
I'm also referring to personal changes. It appears that I have completed
all of the major results for my dissertation, and so now I only have a
couple of months of writing left before I *finally* graduate with my Ph.D.
In late August, I will be joining the faculty of West Virginia Wesleyan
College, where I have accepted a position as Assistant Professor of
Mathematics. This is a small, liberal arts college on the cutting edge of
mathematics education -- and of education in general -- and I am eagerly
anticipating beginning my professional career!
And then there are some changes coming for the magazine, several of them
beginning this month. First, let me wish a fond farewell to Anatole Wilson,
who has been reviewing new comics for us since our very first issue. He's
going to be leaving us as he settles into a new job, and I'm sure that our
readers will miss his reviews as much as I will. Hopefully, his absence
will only be a temporary one, but we certainly wish him the best in all of
his future endeavors, regardless of whether or not they involve KC.
Next up, Shane has informed me that we're in need of some new participants
for the new comics ratings team, so if you'd like to contribute ratings for
new comics, contact Shane Travis at travis@kryptonian-cybernet.com. Not
only is joining the ratings team a quick way to share your opinions, but it
also gives you a foot in the door should you want to contribute full-blown
reviews!
Those of you who read the magazine by e-mail or on our web site are already
aware of our biggest change -- the Kryptonian Cybernet has moved to its own
domain, no longer dependent upon the more than ample generosity of our
readers. Our web site is now located at www.kryptonian-cybernet.com, and
with its debut comes a few design changes for the site. But these are just
the tip of the iceberg! In the coming months (though probably not until
after I've finished the dissertation), we'll be converting all of our back
issues into HTML editions, so that all of our back issues will be available
at all times. I also have plans on converting our annual Superman comics
indices into a much more user-friendly format, and I'll probably build up
an all-new media section around Neil Ottenstein's reviews of the Fleischer
cartoons. Furthermore, with this new web site, we're finally going to be
able to use cgi scripts. This means that, down the road, we're finally
going to be able to make the site searchable, and we'll be able to more
easily offer increased interactivity in the forms of reader interest
surveys and contests.
It doesn't just stop at the web site, though, as we also now have our own
e-mail server and mailing list under the same roof. The big new feature of
the mailing list is that it provides an archive service -- so if you don't
receive or accidentally delete a section of the magazine, you'll be able to
retrieve that section directly through the list! You'll also notice several
new e-mail addresses throughout this issue of the magazine, as we try to
make all of our contact addresses more uniform.
Finally, our new domain also runs its own ftp server, so we've been able to
combine our multiple archive sites into one. You can now access back issues
of the magazine at any time of the day from ftp.kryptonian-cybernet.com --
just start with the "pub" directory and go from there!
I'm rather excited by all the possibilities presented with our new domain,
and I hope that you'll enjoy the new features as they arise! Just give me
some time to get that dissertation done, okay? :)
So... who's gonna volunteer for next issue's editorial?
__________________________________________
RATINGS AT A GLANCE: Titles shipped April 1999
-------------------------------------------------------------
Prepared by Shane Travis (travis@kryptonian-cybernet.com)
Just a little plug; we've lost a lot of good reviewers and raters through
attrition, and are always on the lookout for more. If you are interested in
making your opinions known, see Jeff's comments in this month's
"Superscripts" or follow the instructions found at the bottom of this (and
every) "Ratings at a Glance" column. There's always room for more input!
Key:
----
Issue -- Issue for which 'Current' Rating and Rank are calculated. The
'Previous' columns refer to the issue immediately prior to
this.
Rating -- Average Rating, in Shields (maximum rating is 5.0). The number
in () indicates how many people submitted ratings.
Rank -- The relative ranking of the book among the regularly-published
Superman titles. (T) indicates a tie.
Average -- Average of the ratings for this title over the previous six
issues, each of which is weighted equally, regardless of the
number of people who assigned it ratings. If the average is for
fewer than six issues, the number of issues is displayed in ().
Current Previous Average
Title Issue Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank
----- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
Superboy 63 4.1(4) 1 4.1(8) 1 3.85 1
Young Justice 9 3.8(4) 2 2.4(5) 9 3.50 2
Sup 80-Page Giant 2 3.6(5) - 2.6(5) - -- -
Batman 566 3.5(6) - -- - -- -
Supergirl 33 3.2(5) 3 3.3(6) 5 3.30 4(T)
Man of Steel 89 3.1(9) 4 3.3(8) 4 3.05 7
JLA 30 3.0(6) 5 3.2(7) 6 3.30 4(T)
Superman 145 2.9(8) 6 2.9(8) 7 2.77 8
Superman Adv. 32 2.8(4) 7 3.7(5) 3 3.42 3
King of the World 1 2.6(8) - -- - -- -
Adv. of Superman 568 2.7(6) 8 2.8(7) 8 2.73 9
World's Finest 3 2.4(5) - 4.0(4) - 3.13(3) -
Lex Luthor 4 1.0(7) - 1.6(5) - 2.00(4) -
Action Comics ** ** ** 3.8(7) 2 3.17 6
** _Action Comics_ was not published in April due to the release of the
one-shot _Superman: King of the World_. All four Triangle Titles will
be back in June.
"The Good..."
SUPERBOY #63 (4.1 Shields)
- This title continues its immensely popular "Hypertime" arc, leading the
pack for the second straight month and pulling down its third straight
rating of 4.0 Shields or better. Not only that, but the six-month average
for the title is the highest for anything since Scott McCloud's run on
_Superman Adventures_.
"The Bad..."
SUPERMAN'S NEMESIS, LEX LUTHOR #4 (1.0 Shields)
- Well, folks, we have a new champion of sorts. The final issue of this
mini-series shattered the previous low-water mark of 1.6 Shields (held by
the execrable _Man of Steel Annual_ #6) and gains the dubious distinction
of holding the worst single-issue rating I've seen during my tenure with
the Kryptonian Cybernet. I'm not sure that this *specific* issue was that
much worse than all the rest, but up until this point there was always
hope that it might pull out of its tailspin. When it didn't, frustrated
readers who shelled out for the whole thing vented their annoyance.
"...And the Ugly"
SUPERMAN 80-PAGE GIANT (3.6 Shields)
- There were a few decent stories in this compilation -- moreso than in
the last one by quite a ways -- and at least one gem (Millar just keeps
getting better and better), but the art! Oh, the humanity! If you're going
to publish 80 pages of Superman stories, DC, at least get people who can
draw the title character!
Information for 'Ratings at a Glance' and the ratings accompanying
the monthly reviews of Superman comics are obtained from KC readers.
Anyone interested in contributing may contact Shane Travis
<travis@kryptonian-cybernet.com> and will be added to the monthly
mailing-list to receive a Ratings Form.
__________________________________________
THE KC NEWSROOM
---------------------------------------------
By Jeff Sykes (sykes@kryptonian-cybernet.com)
A PEACE OF ROSS
Alex Ross' original art for _Superman: Peace on Earth_ will be auctioned on
June 28 by the Warner Bros. Studio Store Gallery and Sotheby's in support
of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF. If you can't afford to bid on the
originals, the gallery will also release a limited edition lithograph in
Warner Bros. Studio Stores on June 11. The lithograph measures 36 inches by
29 inches and is made from the first two pages of _Superman: Peace on
Earth_, recounting Superman's origin. The lithograph will be limited to an
edition size of 350 and will cost $425.
THE METROPOLIS SUPERMAN FESTIVAL
Alex Ross will be attending the Metropolis Superman Celebration auction the
evening of Saturday, June 12 in Metropolis, Illinois, Home of Superman. He
is donating some of his _Superman: Peace on Earth_ original art and other
original pieces to the auction that will benefit children's charities and
the newly formed Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. One of the
featured pieces is the "origin" page from _Superman: Peace on Earth_ that
the Warner Bros. Studio Stores will be offering as a lithograph on June 11.
This art will not be available at the Sotheby's auction mentioned above.
There will be over 250 Superman pieces up for bids at the auction, ranging
in price from $20.00 to $15,000.00. Also featured will be an original
Christopher Reeve Superman costume. For more information and an advance
ticket flyer contact David Olsen at Dolsen223@aol.com or Jim Bowers at
Flying78@bellsouth.net (the 2 auction organizers). On Friday, June 11,
there will be a fantastic film festival at the Merv Griffin Theater
featuring Superman II with extended scenes, a Kirk Alyn tribute
presentation, and George Reeves Superman episodes on 16mm film. Admission
is free. Artists Alex Ross, Kerry Gammill, and Rick Stasi will all be on
hand during the 4-day Superman celebration to sign autographs for the fans.
See the Super Museum (which houses the largest Superman collection on the
planet), meet the stars, and meet other Superman fans from across the
country! For general celebration information, contact Becky Lambert,
President of the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce at (800) 949-5740 or
Metrochamber@hcis.net.
SUPERMAN FOR 64 ONLY
For a while, anyway. The Comic Book Wire (part of the Comic Book Resources
site at http://www.comicbookresources.com) reports that Titus Software has
pushed back the release of the PlayStation version of their Superman video
game to the end of the year. The Nintendo 64 version of the game, based
upon the Superman animated series, should be on stores by the end of May.
SUPERMAN MOVIES
* _Superman_, the 1978 film debuting Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel, is
scheduled to air on the Fox Family Channel on Sunday, June 6 at 7:00 PM
Eastern.
* _Steel_, the 1997 movie starring Shaquille O'Neal, will air six times
on HBO in June: Tuesday, June 1 at 5:15 PM; Monday, June 7 at 10:00 AM;
Saturday, June 12 at 9:30 AM and at 7:15 PM; Wednesday, June 16 at
2:00 PM; and Sunday, June 27 at 3:00 PM.
* There has been a lot of discussion lately about Alex Ford's spec script
for _Superman Lives!_, which was apparently rejected by Warner Bros. in
favor of the latest Dan Gilroy effort. Visit Fabio2's Superman Lives
Page for an interview with Ford about his script:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/2930/alexford.html
The entire Ford script can be found at the House of El:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/2181/superman.html
1999 SUMMER PREVIEW
_Wizard_ #95 (July 1999) presents a sneak peek at the comics for this
summer and beyond. Here are a few tidbits from the preview, some of which
you've probably already heard...
JLA:
After the two "No Man's Land" issues of JLA, Grant Morrison kicks off his
final arc on the series, the anticipated arrival of Mageddon. Look for tons
of heroes and villains, the return of Prometheus, the debut of an all-new
Injustice Gang, and maybe a few dead JLAers. Following this storyline, Mark
Waid steps in as new writer and plans a team half the size of the current
line-up. JLA specials on the horizon include _JLA: Superpower_, _JLA: Prime
Evil_, and _JLA/Witchblade_.
SUPERGIRL:
Supergirl's status as an Earth-born angel draws her into September's "Day
of Judgment" crossover, and she'll later finally have to face the
Carnivore.
SUPERMAN:
After the Elseworlds-type story arc already solicited, look for the debut
of Strange Visitor in another four-part arc which leads into _Superman_
#150. Shortly thereafter, the new creators come on board, and your guess is
as good as mine -- nobody's talking... yet.
YOUNG JUSTICE:
No real news here, as _Wizard_ only reports the crossover with _Supergirl_,
the first two parts of which have already been solicited.
SUPERBOY:
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. _Wizard_ hasn't word one to say about the best
title being published by DC. Fortunately, Karl Kesel's doing a pretty good
job of advertising his book to the online community, as he recently dropped
by Newsarama (http://www.AnotherUniverse.com/newsarama/index.html) to leave
some word about his upcoming _Superboy_ plans:
After Hyper-Tension, we're doing a 2-parter in the Wild Lands (the
Kamandi-esque island introduced in _Superboy_ #50), then the Demon
guest-stars in issue #68 (we'll drag every DC Kirby creation into
this book one way or another!) and we finally get back to Hawaii
in SB #69.
Issue #70 starts a new major storyline, tentatively called The Evil
Factory, where Cadmus finally does all the horrible things with
genetic research and cloning that everyone's always been worried
they'd do! This storyline will tie up a lot of loose ends, some
going back as far as SB #49! Right after that, Superboy has a little
crossover with the Superman books, setting things up for the next 2
or 3 issues of his own title. And then... who knows! Tom (Grummett)
and I certainly don't lack for ideas -- the real trouble is trying
to figure out which idea to do next!
AND A FEW TIDBITS
* August brings the wackiest Superman crossover since...well...perhaps
ever, when the heroes of the DCU meet up with the Looney Toons characters
in _Superman & Bugs Bunny_, a four-part miniseries by Mark Evanier, Joe
Staton, Tom Palmer, and Mike DeCarlo! Evanier's not saying too much, but
he did tell Newsarama that Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Gremlin will "inter-
mingle" the two "universes", resulting in some natural meetings and some
outlandish ideas. How about a race between Flash, Speedy Gonzales, and
the Road Runner? Or what about the Duck Knight or Kal-Elmer? I think you
see where we're going here... <g>
* In addition to the _Superman vs Predator_ miniseries we mentioned last
month, DC and Dark Horse are also collaborating on a Superman/Terminator
crossover.
* Devin Grayson (_The Titans_) will bring Superman back into the world of
No Man's Land in October's _Shadow of the Bat_ #92.
* _Superman: Man of Steel_ writer Mark Schultz told the Comic Book
Continuum that the change in editors on the Superman titles seems to
have occurred, "more or less smoothly." Looks like the transition period
has begun!
__________________________________________
AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK MILLAR
---------------------------------------------------------
From The Superman Homepage (http://come.to/superman)
Reprinted with permission
Mark Millar is a writer for DC Comics, writing the popular Superman
Adventures comic books, and also co-writing with Stuart Immonen on Action
Comics.
The Superman Homepage (http://come.to/superman) would like to thank Mark
for agreeing to do this interview, and for fitting it into his busy
schedule.
This interview is Copyright 1999 by Steven Younis (steve@younis.com.au). It
is not to be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express
permission of the author.
The Kryptonian Cybernet would like to thank Steven and the Superman
Homepage for agreeing to share this interview with our readers.
---------------------------------------------------------
Q: Can you please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?
My name is Mark Millar. I'm handsome, Scottish and twenty nine years old;
the same age as Superman. No matter what they tell you, Superman is 29. The
only guys who want him to be thirty five are friends of mine who are
dangerously on the wrong side of thirty. I'm a script-writer and, more
specifically, a comics script-writer. Movies and TV are starting to play a
big role in my life, but comics are my own true love. Superman comics in
particular. Superman is the reason I got into this business and suddenly
finding myself as the most prolific writer of Superman material is
something I still can't quite fit into my head.
Q: When did you become a Superman fan and what got you into Superman (the
comics, radio shows, television shows, movies)?
Mark Waid told me to tell you this... It's actually fairly embarrassing
and, as Mark so brilliantly put it, "on the razor edge of PATHETIC", but I
believed in Superman as a REAL PERSON until the age of around six or seven.
My brother told me he fought during the war and disappeared shortly
afterwards with the other heroes and I had no reason to disbelieve him. We
didn't get the George Reeves show over here until 1989, but I found a
photograph of Reeves in an old school encyclopedia on American pop culture.
I was six or seven at the time and the photo said nothing about a TV show.
As far as I was aware, this WAS Superman. Who WOULDN'T believe in him?
Q: What do you think of the Superman Homepage?
Brilliant. Pros always lie and say they don't check out the reviews, but we
scan every single one on the message-boards, homepages, Usenet, etc. The
Superman Homepage always gives me a fair review, which probably makes me a
little biased, but it's my favourite web page on the Internet... aside from
the Jenny McCarthy one.
Q: Who would you like to see play Superman on the big screen in another
Superman movie?
Don't laugh, but I thought Nic Cage was an interesting idea. I hated Dean
Cain so much and thought he looked, acted and sounded more unlike Superman
than Teri Hatcher. Compared to Cain, Cage actually IS Superman and the fact
that he's an Oscar-winning actor would, I think, bring some much-needed
dignity after the TV show. He doesn't look like Superman, granted, but
ANYONE can look like a superhero with the right wig, make-up, special
effects, etc.
If I could choose anyone, I think I'd opt for Daniel Day-Lewis. The last
rumour I heard from a friend in Hollywood was that he was being seriously
considered. Being Irish shouldn't prevent him from tackling such an
all-American role. I mean, Superman's from Krypton, isn't he?
Q: In 1998, Warner Bros. celebrated their 75th Anniversary by rereleasing
movies from every decade, including Superman from in the 1970s movie
section. Did you see Superman when it was rereleased? If so, where, and
what did you think seeing the movie 20 years later again on the big screen?
How did it make you feel?
It made me feel angry because we didn't GET the 20th Anniversary screening
over here. I was really pissed off about that, especially when all my pro
pals in the USA rubbed it in. Originally, I saw the movie in the ABC cinema
in Glasgow. I was nine years old when it was released and actually threw up
with excitement whilst waiting in the queue. One of my four older brothers
took me and, as I've said to him countless times, it changed my life
forever. I'm writing comics thanks to that movie. It's still my all-time
favourite.
Q: When did you first decide that you wanted to write comic books?
As soon as I saw my first one. I can't remember if it was an issue of Tec
with Batman on a white horse or Superman #297. Either way, I knew
immediately that this is what I wanted to do, despite being four years old.
Q: Where did you go to college?
Several places. I trained to be a priest for a bit at Blairs College in
Aberdeen, but discovered girls and left. I went to a regular comprehensive
and eventually to Paisley University. However, my parents both died when I
was in my teens and I had absolutely no money. I had to quit my degree in
the final months due to mounting debts and find a job. Cue comics!
Q: How do you go about becoming a comic book writer?
I broke in at an easier time, but still spent six months writing one six
page script every day and sending it in to a British comic called 2000AD. I
worked nine to five, five days a week for six months for no money. More
than anything, a writer needs dedication and, if you're good, you'll be
hired. It's as simple as that. No conspiracy exists to keep out good
writers.
Q: Would you recommend that others join the comic industry?
It's very tough at the moment, especially for new guys. That said, you'll
be hired if you're at least as good as the people they're currently using.
However, the writers have actually improved a lot lately. 90% of comics
used to be unreadable. Now I'd say it's about 50/50.
Q: In your opinion, is the comic industry still a strong business?
No, but I think it will improve thanks to the efforts of the creators. Good
comics builds enthusiasm and enthusiasm builds a recovery. Right now, the
biggest problem is getting the books to people. The collapse of the direct
market means that so many people I know can't even FIND comics to spend
their dollars on.
Q: Who's your favorite comic book hero?
Come on. Do you even need to ask? Although, I must admit, I like Batman
too.
Q: What version of Superman is your personal favorite?
Mark and Alex pinned him down perfectly in Kingdom Come. This, to me, is
the best DC Comics have ever been and should be suspended above the
keyboard and drawing-board of every freelancer. I'm also a massive fan of
the mid-70s Maggin/Bates/Swan stuff. Kingdom Come appealed to me because it
evoked this period which inspired me so much.
Q: Which do you think of when writing a Superman story?
Somewhere between Curt Swan and Alex Ross. These two Supermen look nothing
alike, but both seem to be channeling the real guy... wherever he is out
there.
Q: Can you let us in on any future/up-coming Superman projects you are
working on or will soon be working on?
Well, I'm writing Superman Adventures until Christmas and have a lot of
good stuff coming up there. The one I'm writing at the moment features The
Parasite draining Mr Mxyzptlk's powers and going on a rampage through space
and time. These are the kind of stories you couldn't get away with in the
regular books and I've had a ball over the last eighteen months writing
this stuff.
Also out soon is Team Superman with the brilliant Georges Jeanty. The idea
behind this story features Superman being responsible for the accidental
deaths of three hundred people and exiling himself from Earth... or so it
appears!
Superman: Red Son is the biggie. This is Superman's "Dark Knight" and is a
three issue, prestige format Elseworlds series which Wildcats' Dave Johnson
has been drawing for three years. It's incredible and, hopefully, will be
out by the end of this year. The basic premise is Superman's rocket landing
in the Soviet Union in 1938 and Superman growing up in a triumphant USSR.
Truth, Justice and the American Way? No thanks, Comrade!
Q: What is it like now that you are part of the DCU Superman team?
Groovy.
Q: How did the position come about for you? Who contacted you?
Maureen McTigue and Joey Cavalieri contacted me, but Stuart Immonen was the
man who recommended me. I really love Stuart. He's a very gracious
collaborator, a solid ideas man and one of the three best artists in the
business. I owe my position on this book to him.
A few "off topic" questions:
Q: Do you have any bad habits?
Like all Scotsmen, I like a drink and can often end up in fights... even at
conventions!
Q: What is the best advice anybody ever gave you?
Grant Morrison, 1988: "Forget being an artist, be a writer!"
Q: Who would you most like to sit next to on a long airplane flight?
Grant Morrison and I are best pals and always travel to Cons together so
he's the one I'm most likely to spend eighteen hours with on the trek from
Glasgow to San Diego. We always get drunk and snigger the entire trip.
Everyone sitting near us HATES us.
Q: Who would you least like to sit next to on an airplane flight?
Hard to say, really. I wouldn't mind sitting next to someone I dislike
because it would give me the chance to bug them for eighteen hours. Forrest
Whittaker maybe... I don't know why, but he's the actor I hate more than
any other on Earth.
Q: What is the one thing you can't live without?
Everything.
Q: If you were down to your last $10 how would you spend it?
An issue of Superman Adventures for me and another four for my big
brothers. I'd spend the remaining five cents on candy!
Thanks for allowing me to interview you!
Thank you.
__________________________________________
AND WHO DISGUISED AS...
---------------------------------------------------------
A Column of Opinion by J.D. Rummel (rummel@creighton.edu)
Five Years Burning Down the Road
We have a lot to tackle in this issue, so I'd better get cracking.
Let me start by saying thank you to all of those who voted a Kaycee to "And
Who Disguised As..." as their favorite regular column. It warms my cranky
old heart to know that others out there read the words. Notice I didn't say
you agreed with the words. I know some of you differ with me from time to
time.
On that same theme, this issue marks our fifth anniversary. As always, my
hat's off to Mr. Sykes and the crew who have done the real work on this
labor of love. Can you imagine how good things would be if we were _paid_
to do this mag?
If you have not seen _The Matrix_ yet, you should make a trip to the
cineplex. I say this not because it's a great film (it's not), but because
the effects will leave you wide-eyed as you imagine what a Superman movie
could be like using such technology. Same goes for _The Mummy_. These films
make me think that a Superman flick will really fly. 'Course, if the script
sucks, then it won't matter. And speaking of bad writing...
[Warning: Spoilers for _Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction_
contained below]
How many of you out there have been waiting years for Superman and the
Fantastic Four to team up?
Me neither.
But, they went ahead and did it. Okay, maybe some of you really were
clamoring for it, but upon reading this oversized, uninspired,
heavy-handed, curiously boring set of pages, I cannot imagine it is what
you wanted.
The story opens with Galactus present at the destruction of Krypton. As
Kal-El is rocketed to Earth, big G makes a mental post-it that the contents
of the matrix ship will have value to him someday.
Yes, Galactus, he who is above mere good and evil, will have some use for
the last scion of Krypton. While I presume we are supposed to understand
that this is because Superman is the core of modern super hero comics, this
idea just bombs for me. You know, has any writer ever tackled _why_
Galactus retains a human form and the various accoutrements of a biped with
opposable thumbs? The concept of Galactus is brilliant, but his execution
at the hands of so many writers has been stunningly unimaginative.
Anyway, Galactus sends off some mechanical device that follows baby
Kal-El's ship to Earth, where, as any reader of Dan Jurgens' work will see
coming for hundreds of miles, the less than engaging villain, the Cyborg
Superman (in patented, mysterious shadow) follows the alien construct.
On the planet, Jurgens handles Superman fairly well for a few panels. The
people and the cops are pretty blase about a giant bomb that has plopped
down in the middle of the city (I guess from the fumes trailing from it, it
rocketed there -- no explanation is given). All concerned don't consider it
much of a problem because He will surely arrive to deal with it. And of
course, He does arrive, melting the detonator with his heat vision. Next,
he detects the radio signal of the back-up detonator being used by some
generic terrorists (in politically safe shadow shouting generic
anti-American epithets). As Superman flies into action, he is interrupted
by the crystal and a projection of his biological father, Jor-El. The
Jor-El-ogram tells him that Krypton was done in by Galactus and sonny must
avenge the old homestead. As the projection fades, Superman, apparently
suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder, proceeds, without dealing with
the terrorists (who were planning on going up into atoms when the nuke
detonated so are probably deeply conflicted because of all the free time
they are now faced with) to filling out his pater's deathbed photo-op.
Cut to the Marvel universe where the Fantastic Four are undergoing some
Reed Richards' type pseudo super-science testing. The Thing is holding up
some gi-normous Total Gym segment and the Torch is shooting flames into a
large plastic dog dish. This is supposed to invoke King Kirby, but Jurgens'
handling of each character is so hackneyed it is almost infuriating to
think he got paid for this. He reduces the FF into their raw types. Reed is
purely cerebral, while the dialogue he gives the Thing renders him at the
level of some dim-witted child. The Torch is sort of empty. Only Sue
Richards and Franklin are mildly interesting to read. Almost everything the
FF do in this opus reads like some high school creative writing assignment
gone horribly wrong.
The story goes on to detail how Superman arrives (at least he and the FF
don't fight right out of the gate, for god's sake) and how Galactus kidnaps
Superman in order to make him into his herald by gold-plating him and
giving him the power cosmic. Instead of the Silver Surfer, he is the Gilded
Glider, or something. There is no rationale for this action, no attempt
made to justify it regarding the reality created by the writer. This is bad
writing 101. Many boring pages later, Superman rebels when he is reminded
that Galactus kills planets full of people and Superman comes from two
planets full of people. The Action Ace is able to restore himself by
getting in touch with what he stands for. The touchstone for this is
Superman's encountering Franklin Richards' Superman action figure. This
might have been compelling in a good story, but here, the discerning reader
just sort looks at it and feels bad for what might have been. As for the
rebellion, can't someone get Galactus into a twelve-step program? I mean,
how many heralds does this guy have to go through before he sees a pattern?
The story lamely reveals that Galactus didn't really eat Krypton, the
message from dad was modified by that pesky Cyborg Superman in order to...
Do any of you really care at this point? Certainly Superman doesn't seem to
care what the last letter from his father really said.
I won't bore you with further details, suffice it to say that it never
improves. The good guys win, unless you count the buying public among the
good guys. This is not Ed Wood comics, because it is pretty to look at, and
professionally produced, but the story telling reminds me of kids making up
super hero adventures stories on the playground without the excuse of
childhood's innocence.
When resources come together to produce a magazine of this size, the public
should have reason to believe that the end product will be a cut above the
usual fare. Tragically, _Superman/Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destruction_
is a wrong-headed, colossal waste of time and money. The creators' and
yours.
Away!
And Who Disguised As... is copyright 1999 by J. D. Rummel. Its contents may
not be reproduced in any format without the written permission of the
author.
__________________________________________
THE MAILBAG
-------------------------------------
(mailbag@kryptonian-cybernet.com)
KC Responses are indented and begun with ****
========================================
From: Douglas Tisdale Jr (dmtisdale_jr@yahoo.com)
Thanks for Sean Hogan's wonderful article on continuity, particularly his
in-depth analysis of the Elseworlds titles. One thing which has always been
prevalent in the Elseworlds that he did not touch upon, however, was that
the story always ended more or less the same, with the character at the end
in some variation of his familiar red-and-blue costume, invariably with
some sort of pentagon (or triangle) on his chest and the same sort of moral
impetus in his heart. For example, in _Superman: A Nation Divided_, which
takes place during the American Civil War (one of the best of the recent
Superman Elseworlds and yet not one which Sean cared to mention... did he
not read it?), Atticus Kent, who rises from the rank of Private all the way
to Major, sports a Union Army uniform with a stylized "uSa" across his
breastbone. At the end of this story he leaves the Army to help the
Indians, saying in a letter to President Lincoln that "Wherever I travel I
shall advance the causes of freedom and liberty all the days of my life!"
At the end of _JLA: The Nail_, the Justice League fights for a new respect
"thanks in part to their newest member... they call him Superman." Even the
end of _Speeding Bullets_, the Superman/Batman origin crossover that Sean
mentioned, finds Bruce Wayne, the adopted alien son of Thomas and Martha,
adhering more to the principles which guide Superman than those which guide
the Batman. And what about _Superman: The Dark Side_, which had Kal-El's
rocket intercepted by a boom tube so that the child might be raised on
Apokolips? Even at the end of that three-part story the character that had
started out as Darkseid's superhuman soldier, responsible for the
destruction of the New Gods' homeworld, wound up destroying his evil
adopted father and working to bring life back to both worlds.
What does all this mean? I think it means that the character traits of
Superman are so strong that they will exist for him no matter what setting
he might be in, that his goodness is so inherent that even in the darkest
of situations (such as Apokolips) the good man that is inside him will
eventually surface and triumph (the similarities in costume are, I submit,
inexplicable except as a happy coincidence). And, lest this phenomenon be
thought to be only existent in Elseworlds, there are even examples of it in
the pre-Crisis "Imaginary Tales" which Sean mentioned. A chief example of
this is the tale of Superman's "other life," in which the Batman and Robin
show Superman how his life might have turned out had Krypton not been
destroyed. What Sean took for amazing "coincidences" I choose to see as
reflecting the inevitability of which I speak -- even had he not been
transported to Earth, Kal-El would have wound up as protector of the world
he called home.
========================================
From: Lee Seitz (lkseitz@hiwaay.net)
I've been a Kryptonian Cybernet subscriber from the very beginning. It's
amazing how much KC has improved and expanded in since it began. You and
your co-horts have a lot to be proud of and I wish you continued success.
I'm afraid, however, that I won't be able to stick around for the rest of
the ride.
Lately I've noticed the number of messages in my e-mail inbox keeps getting
larger and larger. I currently have the two latest issues of KC in it,
still largely unread. Something had to give, and I'm afraid it's KC.
This is by no means a reflection on the quality of the e-zine. It's merely
a change in my interests. I will check in on the KC web site from time to
time to see how things are going. Keep flying!
**** Thanks for the kind words, Lee. I can certainly understand that our
interests change from time to time, and there's no reason to keep
stuffing the mailbox with something you just don't have time to read.
We'll keep chugging along, and should you ever get the urge to join
back up -- well, you know where to find us. :)
========================================
From: Jon B. Knutson (waffyjon@execpc.com)
Great KC, as usual, but I have a teeny, tiny nit to pick...
In Sean Hogan's "Superman Stories" column, he wrote:
"When John Byrne re-booted Superman in 1986, he created Lex Luthor as a
businessman, rather than the mad scientist we knew and loved (well, you
know what I mean)."
I hate to be picky, but everything I've read about the reboot points the
finger to Marv Wolfman as the originator of the "Luthor as businessman"
idea.
You may recall Marv was the original writer on _Adventures of Superman_.
Just want to ensure credit is placed where it's due.
**** Byrne's own introduction to _The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told_
confirms that the suggestion of Luthor as a "super-businessman" came
from Wolfman. Thanks for pointing that out, Jon.
And that wraps up a rather short Mailbag this month. Surely someone
out there has a strong opinion sure to spark another debate... :)
See ya next month!
-- Jeff Sykes
__________________________________________
SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES
---------------------------------------
Episode #50: "In Brightest Day"
-----------------------------------------------
Reviewed by Denes House (househld@borg.com)
February 6, 1999
Written by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Butch Lukic
Guest-Starring: Ted Levine as Sinestro
Michael P. Grieco as Kyle Rayner
Peter Mark Richman as Guardian #1
Pat Musick as Guardian #2
David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen
George Dzundza as Perry White
RATINGS:
Average: 4.1/5.0 Shields
Denes House:
4.0 Shields
Nathan Bredfeldt:
4.0 Shields - The character parts were great, the fighting bits were
dull. I missed the yellow weakness most. And really, a female
Guardian? Geez.
Roger Day:
4.0 Shields - I like seeing new characters being introduced and I hope
they keep bringing more in. I would like to see Wonder Woman in an
episode or two.
Curtis Herink:
4.0 Shields - Once again, the creators show that they know the source
material from the comics, even though they are not bound by it.
One complaint: The defeat of Sinestro was too easy.
Neil Ottenstein:
4.7 Shields - I loved seeing a good treatment of Green Lantern and
all the many tributes.
Karen Whitney:
4.0 Shields - I really liked how they connected the Green Lantern
origin with Superman, having Kyle Rayner work at the Daily Planet.
There were some cute sight gags while the ring was looking for a
new person. I particularly liked the scene with Kal-El, Kyle, and
the Guardians of the Universe at the end.
REVIEW
The episode opens with Jimmy Olsen spending some time with his friend, Kyle
Rayner. Kyle is an employee in the Daily Planet's art department who longs
to be a comic book artist, but who keeps getting rejection letters (from DC
Comics!). As they chat at Gil's Ristorante, a thug steals Jimmy's camera.
Reacting quickly, Kyle grabs a wine bottle off a nearby table and knocks
the thief over with a well-aimed throw. The thug attacks Kyle with a knife,
but Kyle blocks it with a tray and knocks the thief cold. "You're a hero in
my book," Jimmy tells him.
Meanwhile, Clark Kent and Lois Lane are at Mission Control, covering the
landing of a space shuttle. As the shuttle begins to enter Earth's
atmosphere, an erratically-flying alien ship collides with the shuttle,
throwing its trajectory off. Superman goes to the rescue!
The alien ship crash-lands in a secluded, wooded area. Its dying pilot,
Abin Sur vows to keep the green lantern safe. He talks to the green ring he
is wearing. "Go. Find another... choose well." The ring flies off under its
own power.
Over the ocean, Superman brings the shuttle down to a safe landing on an
aircraft carrier, to the cheers of all the sailors.
The ring flies to Metropolis, and searches the city, deciding on Kyle
Rayner (in the men's room!). Kyle puts on the ring and his clothing is
transformed into the uniform that Abin Sur wore -- the uniform of the Green
Lantern! Perry White barges in looking for Rayner, who suddenly is back in
his street clothes, to his dumfounded surprise.
The shuttle safe, Superman now searches for the alien ship and finds Abin
Sur dying. "The Green Lantern needs your help, now," Abin says, then his
body disappears. Suddenly a glowing yellow orb appears in the sky. From it
steps Sinestro, who uses his yellow ring to scan Abin Sur's ship. "He hid
the lantern -- where is the power ring?" he demands. Trying to get the
information from the Man of Steel, he attacks. Satisfied that Superman
doesn't know where the ring is, he flies away.
As Superman recovers, the green lantern appears and speaks -- "Abin? Abin
Sur?" Superman touches it and is instantly transported to Oa, in the
chamber of the Guardians of the Universe (one of whom is female!). His
arrival confirms their worst fear -- Abin Sur, Green Lantern of Sector
2814, is dead.
Back at the Daily Planet, Kyle is intently drawing a schematic of the
damaged shuttle. Suddenly, his ring flashes and displays a holographic
representation of his schematic! Kyle stares at the ring intently, it
flashes again, and he is transformed into the Green Lantern! He shakes his
head, and is clothed as Kyle Rayner again. Startled, he goes outside for
some air. Just then, a little girl chases her errant ball into the street,
in the path of an onrushing tanker truck. Instantly, Kyle is Green Lantern,
and rescues the girl from in front of the truck, which crashes. GL saves
the driver and contains the fire, much to the amazement of the wondering
crowd. Enter Sinestro, who attacks the confused GL. He fires yellow arrows
at Kyle, who instinctively throws up a green energy shield, which stops the
arrows (it stops yellow arrows!). Using their rings, the two fight with
energy-based fists, missiles, shields, and the like.
Superman, on Oa, is told about the Green Lantern Corps, founded to promote
order and justice throughout the universe. The Guardians have recruited GLs
from many species (we see images of Salakk, Arisia, Kilowogg, Tomar Re and
more) all of whom have used their power wisely, except one. "Sinestro." The
Guardians stripped him of his power ring, but he gained a yellow ring and
began killing GLs and destroying their rings, increasing his power. The
Guardians urge Superman to help Green Lantern defeat Sinestro. "He cannot
do it alone."
This is a solid episode, one that actually has a beginning, middle, and end
-- unlike many recent S:TAS episodes. The origin of Green Lantern is well
told, mixing elements of the Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner origin stories to
make a fairly coherent whole. Kyle is well characterized, describing
himself as "just an artist! I doodle in the margins of notepads -- I live
half my life in a fantasy world!" As Superman observes, "you sound perfect"
for the job.
Once again, Jimmy, Lois, and Perry have virtual cameos, though it is nice
to see Lois at all these days, and she gets a zinger of a line (along with
a dud joke about the men's room). The animation is crisp and effective, and
the solid-light constructs Sinestro and Kyle create with their rings are
creative and varied.
The script is solid, and when Kyle recites the Green Lantern oath, my hair
stood on end. Superman seems shoehorned into the origin story, but it *is*
his show, after all. There are plenty of in-joke references to Green
Lantern characters and artists throughout to please the comic book fan, but
they are not overwhelming.
In short -- good, with few standout moments, but very little to nit-pick
on. I give it 4 out of 5 shields.
In addition, Curtis Herink comments on various tributes to the Silver Age
Green Lantern and his creative team: Gil's Ristorante refers to artist Gil
Kane, and Kyle's art is clearly in Kane's style. (I wonder if it was
actually done by Kane. Can anybody find out?) Broome Lake USAF Base refers
to John Broome, who did most of the writing. And of course, the jet was
marked Hal Jordan, the man who first received the power ring from the dying
Abin Sur. (Was that really over 35 years ago?) I did not notice any
references to the editor, Julius Schwartz, or the inkers, first Joe Giella
and later Sid Greene, but maybe they slipped by me.
__________________________________________
Episode #31: "Prototype"
----------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by Scott Devarney (devarney@ll.mit.edu)
October 11, 1997
Written by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Curt Geda
Guest-Starring: Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor
Michael Dorn as John Henry Irons
Xander Berkeley as Sgt. Corey Mills
Cynthia Gibb as Trish Mills
RATINGS:
Average: 3.6/5.0 Shields
Scott Devarney:
3.9 Shields
Nathan Bredfeldt:
2.8 Shields - Twenty-two minutes of foreshadowing for a future Steel
appearance.
Roger Day:
4.0 Shields - The attachment between the suit and Cory is interesting.
Curtis Herink:
3.6 Shields - A good episode marred by too many coincidences. This
episode clearly shows how the Superman of the animated series is
far less invincible than the Superman of the comic books. In fact,
except for his superior flying abilities, this Superman is very
similar to the one in the Fleischer cartoons.
Neil Ottenstein:
4.0 Shields - Very exciting episodes. I liked the foreshadowing.
Karen Whitney:
3.5 Shields - Liked how the "villain" in this episode (other than
Luthor) was really the suit rather than the person in it. Nice
way to introduce John Henry Irons.
REVIEW
Lex Luthor gives a press conference announcing the development of a new
law-enforcement armor. This armor provides officers with enhanced strength,
flight, and an array of sensors. Testing the suit will be Sergeant Corey
Mills, "the SCU's most decorated officer".
A fire breaks out in a nearby building and Sgt. Mills assists Superman in
rescuing several trapped victims. Meanwhile, Dr. John Henry Irons, the
suit's creator, discusses concerns about the suit with Luthor. He is afraid
that, because it interfaces with the operator's nervous system, the suit
will make the operator increasingly more aggressive. When Luthor
imperiously dismisses Dr. Irons objections, Dr. Irons quits.
Sgt. Mills is shown going over the edge. He craves the suit more and more
and he starts referring to it as if it were another person. When his
recklessness almost kills a band of car thieves, Mills is placed on medical
leave and the suit is placed off-limits. The separation from the suit
throws Mills into a rage; he sneaks into SCU headquarters and steals the
suit.
As Dr. Irons works with Superman and the SCU to find the armor's weak spot,
Mills confronts Luthor in his office. In the process, Mills breaks Luthor's
huge, shark-filled aquarium tank but Superman intervenes before Luthor
becomes shark food. Superman and Mills mix it up, but during the fight the
suit overloads Mills's nervous system and he goes catatonic. Later Mills is
in a hospital, and still catatonic, but he's given a prognosis for a full,
if slow, recovery. Dr. Irons laments about the damage that the suit caused,
but Superman believes that the suit is still a good idea if it can be made
safer. This leaves Dr. Irons with a lot to think about.
The appearance of John Henry Irons is a pleasant surprise and lays the
groundwork for Steel's appearance later in the season, in the episode
"Heavy Metal". That Lexcorp is the company for whom Irons develops the
armor, and later disassociates himself from, works exceedingly well. It
ties him more firmly into the Superman universe and gives him a better
reason for Steel to debut in Metropolis. It also sets up a potential story
of Luthor trying to reclaim Steel's armor.
Speaking of Luthor, this is Luthor at the height of callousness and
arrogance. Clancy Brown gives yet another outstanding performance as the
ruthless tycoon. It's obvious that Luthor is fully aware of the damage that
the suit would cause Sgt. Mills, yet he doesn't care; he reaps the initial
glory for developing the armor and he can quietly distance himself when
things go wrong. In the process, he creates a super-strong menace for
Superman.
The pacing of Sgt. Mills' deterioration is done well. After Dr. Irons
voices his concerns about rising aggressiveness, we see Mills trying to
crush Superman's hand in a friendly handshake. Then we progress from Mills
roughly handling armed bank robbers, to trying to kill car thieves, to
turning on Superman and the SCU. The foreshadowing gives the episode a
tragic feel as we see Mills plummet from being an earnest police officer to
becoming a raging maniac through no fault of his own.
The only thing about Mills that rankles is Luthor's introduction of him as
the SCU's most decorated officer. This is clearly hyperbole on Luthor's
part; we all know that honor goes to Dan Turpin, even before his death in
"Apokolips... Now!".
__________________________________________
WEB OF STEEL: THE KC GUIDE TO SUPERMAN ON THE WWW
-------------------------------------------------
By Jon B. Knutson (waffyjon@execpc.com)
Greetings, fellow KC readers, and welcome to the third installment of my
new column which will point your way to the many Superman-related sites on
the web. As always, if you are interested in the guidelines I follow when
reviewing sites, there's a page up at:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Capsule/7801/webofsteel.html
This time around, it's a themed column featuring the Superman movies and
Christopher Reeve fan sites! Let's get started...
SUPERMAN CINEMA
http://members.aol.com/dsupermanc/index.htm
Though I reviewed this site last month, I'll recap it due to its relevant
content. This is a great Superman movie site, with plenty for you to check
out... unfortunately, there were a few broken links, which mars this
otherwise very nice site. You won't find a whole lot of photos here, but
there are some other nice multimedia items, as well as reviews of all the
Superman movies, with promises for more in the near future. Four and
one-half shields.
SUPERGIRL (THE MOVIE)
http://www.nydirector.com/Slater/sg.htm
While there are several sites for the Christopher Reeve Superman movies,
there aren't many for its spin-off, _Supergirl_, starring Helen Slater.
This site is one of the few, and is part of an overall Helen Slater fan
site. It's a very nice little site -- but don't think I'm putting it down
for its size... given that it's a single page that's part of a larger site,
it does a nice job. Four out of five shields.
SUPERMAN LIVES
http://widgett.home.mindspring.com/html/superman_lives.html
This is a relatively minor site, but worth checking out for some
(admittedly out of date) information on _Superman Lives_, the proposednew
Superman movie. It offers proposed casting based on rumors, as well as the
author's own picks for the main characters. Links to the Internet Movie
Database for each actor or actress mentioned help keep this site in the
three out of five shields range.
AN OLD JON PETERS ARTICLE
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/entertainment/html98/supe_032798.html
No rating here, just a link to a year-old article about Jon Peters and his
efforts to get production going on _Superman Lives_...
PEOPLE FOR A BETTER SUPERMAN MOVIE
http://www.servtech.com/~jmac/votes.html
Here's another site I won't rate... however, if you're very much against
the idea of Nick Cage playing Superman and Tim Burton producing, you might
want to cast your vote here...
POSTERS, POSTERS, AND MORE POSTERS
This won't be a real review... instead, it's a listing of sites at which
you can buy posters from Superman I, II, III and IV! Just remember to
compare prices before deciding where to buy!
http://www.blarg.net/~dr_z/Movie/Posters/
http://paradisecinemas.com/S.htm
http://starscomeout.com
http://posterpalace.com/cryptkeeper_page_s.html
http://www.ccinet.com/~russpod/1-sht.html
CHRISTOPHER REEVE HOMEPAGE
http://209.1.224.12/Hollywood/Studio/4071/index.html
This Geocities site is dedicated to the man who portrayed Superman through
four movies. One nice thing about this site is that you have your choice of
frames or no frames. Features a biography of the actor, reviews of his
movies and other appearances, news about Chris Reeve, and links as well. No
photo gallery, but the links page does open a new browser window with the
link, which is always appreciated. The site appears to stay updated -- the
last update was no more than a week before I checked it out. Five out of
five shields -- a photo gallery would've been nice, but the new browser
window on clicking a link makes up for it, in my opinion. Of course, with a
rating that high, that makes the Chris Reeve Homepage this month's
Kryptonian Cybernet Web of Steel Site of the Month!
That's it for this issue, super-surfers... join me back here next time for
a potpourri of sites! In the meantime, if you run or know of a Superman
site you want to see featured in "Web of Steel," e-mail me the URL at
waffyjon@execpc.com and I'll fit it in as soon as I can.
__________________________________________
NEW COMIC REVIEWS
----------------------------------------
Comics Arriving In Stores April 1999
Would you believe we managed to review everything for the second month in a
row? What am I gonna do without anything important to say in this space?
Oh, I suppose I could just shut up and let you get on to the reviews! <g>
Ratings Panelists:
-----------------
AW: Anatole Wilson GN: G.M. Nelson SDM: Simon DelMonte
CoS: Cory Strode GR: Gary Robinson ST: Shane Travis
DWk: Douglas Wolk JSy: Jeff Sykes SY: Steven Younis
EJ: Enola Jones MS: Mike Smith TD: Thomas Deja
EM: Edward Mathews RG: Rene' Gobeyn
As always, the first rating given after the average is that of the
reviewer. The average rating given for each book may correspond to a
larger sample of ratings than what is printed following the average.
==============================================
THE TRIANGLE TITLES:
-------------------
21. SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #89 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Prelude to a Coronation"
Writer: Mark Schultz
Penciller: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Tom Nguyen
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Assoc. Ed.: Maureen McTigue
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen, and Patrick Martin
RATINGS
Average: 3.1/5.0 Shields
MS: 3.0 Shields
DWk: 1.8 Shields - "Ancient Kryptonian warrior technique" my earthling
tushie. This is a slapdash episode that makes very little sense on
its own. Nice work on Lex's thoughts, though.
EJ: 2.6 Shields - I enjoyed the use of his Kryptonian heritage to shield
him from dominus, but the poor art flawed the issue.
EM: 3.3 Shields - Nothing spectacular in this issue, but it wasn't a bad
read. I'm just growing tired of the Never Ending Story-arc.
JSy: 3.1 Shields - The art on this title just keeps on getting better.
On the other hand, the story-telling felt a bit off here, as
Superman seemed to be embracing his Kryptonian heritage a bit
more than we're used to seeing. I'll reserve judgment until I
see where Schultz takes this angle...
SDM: 3.2 Shields - An entertaining and well-drawn comic, featuring a
likeable Superman, a determined Lois, and some very interesting
ideas. If only all of the "Superman Rex" story were this good.
ST: 3.6 Shields - Nice to see Superman thinking, and Dominus counter-
thinking, using Lois as a weakness as well as a strength. As for
the mental technique, the best I can say is that it smacks of
pre-Crisis Superman. In fact, there's been a *lot* of Kryptonian
references slipping in during the last few months, quite contrary
to everything Byrne tried to do.
SY: 3.2 Shields - An interesting development. Nice to see Superman using
his brains for a change... even if he is sleeping on the job. :)
TD: 3.2 Shields - Deus Ex Machina! Deus Ex Machina! The Kryptonian mind
technique is a crock, but otherwise Schultz and Mahnke pull off
what *should have been* the climax to this series with style and
some excitement. I like this team!
Review by: Mike Smith <mike_p_smith@hotmail.com>
I'd have to call this the first "lackluster" issue from the new creative
team of Schultz and Mahnke, if only because it was the first issue that
didn't impress me beyond belief. This is an above average 'Triangle Title'
issue and nothing more, but at least it's above average. I'm not that hard
to please, really.
Our story opens in the ruined Fortress of Solitude as the Martian Manhunter
surveys the damage and finds Lois Lane. Just before Dominus can move in for
the kill, Superman comes rocketing out of the Phantom Zone to knock him
loopy. With Dominus temporarily out of the way, Superman begins to prepare
for the next move. First, he sends Lois away with J'onn, and then he
deactivates the malfunctioning Superman robot designed to protect Lois
Lane.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman is ferrying Lex Luthor and Outburst back to
Metropolis. Not much else to say, here. Like I said, it's a 'triangle'
story, so we have to a couple of danglers in to build up to the next
installment.
Already in Metropolis (gotta love that super-speed), Superman delivers the
robot to Emil Hamilton and convinces Emil to trust him. Hamilton agrees to
repair the robot and gives Superman a device to monitor brain waves.
See, Superman has picked up on the fact that Dominus can only hurt him when
he's awake, so he plans to use an old Kryptonian meditation technique that
will let him battle Dominus on a more level playing field. The problem is
that Superman is still new at it, so Dominus has no trouble breaking his
concentration and zapping him back to Metropolis, where there's a big
explosion and the bystanders are shocked to find...
...we're fresh out of time! Join us next week as....
It's almost like revisiting the old Simonson/Bogdanove days, where a
typical issue of _Man of Steel_ could only be as good as the issue of
_Action Comics_ that came before it. This is a set up for the _Superman:
King of the World_, pure and simple, and there's very little here to give
this installment any value on its own. Compare that with issue #88, which
stood alone pretty well, and #89 which happened to feature an important
plot twist.
At least Schultz manages to throw us a few goodies on the way. Superman may
be desperately preparing for a battle we all know won't happen in this
issue, but at least he's being realistic and methodical in his strategy.
The nod to his Kryptonian roots was a nice way to tide over our
imaginations while we wait for S:KOTW to come out.
Let's not forget the swell artwork either. Mahnke gives us two superhero
cameos and all sorts of exotic locales, and they all look like they could
be absolutely real. Besides that, he makes a guy with no arms look dynamic
in a fight. Mahnke can do no wrong.
I found the scene with Emil fairly ambiguous. On the one hand, it's great
to see Superman making apologies to one of his friends, and re-earning his
support and trust. On the other hand, Hamilton only shows up lately when
Superman needs a favor. If we're going to keep this guy in the supporting
cast, let's reassert his character. Supes can have his gadgets, but Emil
should at least get a few scenes with Dolly in the donut shop like he did
back when Ordway was around. "Technical Support" isn't a characterization.
Judging it for what it is, this is indeed the "Prelude to Coronation." It
simply sets up the stage for the next part of the story, and it does this
well. Still, I think there could have been a bit more substance thrown in
just to make this a more memorable read.
==============================================
22. SUPERMAN, KING OF THE WORLD #1 Jun 1999 $4.95 US/$7.95 CAN
"King of the World"
Story: Karl Kesel
Pencils: Doug Braithwaite
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Letter: Steve Dutro
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Associate: Maureen McTigue
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Walt Simonson
RATINGS
Average: 2.6/5.0 Shields
ST: 2.4 Shields
DWk: 0.9 Shields - This long, wretched storyline stumbles to a halt. The
"superman as world ruler" idea was handled so much better in
_Miracleman_ this is just embarrassing by contrast.
EJ: 3.5 Shields - Finally an ending to this! I loved Dominus's "females"
line, and the way he was defeated was inspired. Seeing the last
page -- the subtle use of his wedding ring, showing Clark Kent was
back -- was worth the price.
EM: 3.7 Shields - Surprisingly pleasant, but it didn't need to be a
special; this could have been in any one of the regular books.
JSy: 2.8 Shields - As portrayed in this storyline, Dominus is nothing more
than a Freddy Krueger rip-off without the bad one-liners. Aside
from the waste of a potentially great villain, the big problem
here is the length; this could have been done in a monthly.
SDM: 1.4 Shields - THUD! Whatever good ideas were here died a painful and
boring death. Luthor is a stick-figure villain, the story feels
incredibly rushed (especially the events related in the first four
pages), and things return to the status quo a bit too quickly.
TD: 2.4 Shields - Dragging out the inevitable. Did anyone not see the
Dominus-as-Supes twist coming a mile off? An unnecessary final
chapter to one of the better mega-events Team Super has had.
Review by: Shane Travis <travis@sedsystems.ca>
And so we come to the latest in a line of Triangle Specials, a line that
started well with the Wedding Edition, but has of late brought us such
clunkers as _Superman Red/Superman Blue_, _Superman Forever_, and _Save the
Planet_. Unfortunately, this overpriced oversize with the gold-stamped
cover falls more surely into the latter camp then the former.
Synopsis:
>From the huge explosion that graced the final scenes of _Man of Steel_ #89,
only one figure emerges -- Superman. Dominus is nowhere to be found -- a
fact that worries Superman so much that he, with the full help and
cooperation of the JLA, declares martial law over the whole planet so that
he may better search for his reality-bending foe.
Of course, not everyone takes this radical step with quiet aplomb; Lex
Luthor almost degenerates into a fit of apoplexy as he considers the news.
He only perks up when a worried Lois Lane, desperate to uncover 'the real
story', contacts him with the suggestion to work together towards a common
goal. Together with Emil Hamilton, Rusty the Lois-protecting robot, and
Outburst, they infiltrate Superman's new fortress.
In a hidden and highly guarded sub-sub-sub-basement, this motley team finds
and breaks into a prison vault that holds... Dominus? But wait! All is not
as it seems! When Superman appears and threatens the intruding Lois,
Dominus leaps to her rescue. As the two square off, it is revealed that
Dominus-prisoner is really Superman, and Superman Rex is none other than
the world-warping Dominus! Geez, who saw _that_ one coming?
While the JLA and the Elite Brigade (aka Outburst and the other guys) foil
Dominus' plans to use the Superman robots to wreak havoc, No-neck and the
Big Blue Cheese hold a contest of cerebellums; Dream-realities vs. The
Amazing Kryptonian Theta State. It's a match to see whether tall, dark, and
creepy can shift realities faster than Supes can adjust. He can't, and
after some truly awful wordplay, Clark gets his hands around Dominus'
nonexistent throat. (Seriously! He grabs what isn't there, and Dominus
goes, "Ghrk!")
Now it's Kal-el's turn to shift the tide, creating a replica of Kismet and
her homeworld. Dominus is momentarily caught off guard, but he blasts
through the illusion and forms his 'body of souls' so that he can whale on
Big Blue all by hisself. Not content to thrash him, Dominus wants to break
his spirit and knows just the trick; he scene-shifts them all to Krypton
just as it is exploding. This proves to be his undoing, however; Kal grabs
a Phantom Zone projector and sends him into the ultimate prison.
Crisis over, fortress destroyed, robots stopped. Superman says he's really,
*really* sorry. JLA vouches for him (again). Superman flies off without
even explaining to the world what happened to Dominus, goes home to Lois,
and dreams happy dreams.
The End.
Opinion:
This book held together on first read better than it did when subjected to
the careful scrutiny needed for a proper review. Overall, the pacing of the
story was quite good, flowing well from one development to the next. This
was helped along by Braithwaite's layouts. Most of the pages are quite full
without ever seeming busy, and the few full-page shots that he inserts are
used to good effect. The strength and resourcefulness of Lois -- something
often seen during this arc -- are also evident here in full force. Finally,
there are some really nice 'bits', like Emil's teleporter and the one-panel
banter between Plastic Man and Superboy. Unfortunately, there aren't enough
of them.
Some of the faults in this story lie in the grand, sweeping nature of what
it is attempting to do. Simply put, Superman asks the nations of the world
to recognize him as their ultimate authority... and they all agree. In
_Peace on Earth_ Paul Dini masterfully showed us how utterly impossible it
was for Superman to do something as simple as deliver food to starving
people in other nations, yet Karl Kesel would have us believe that Kal-el
could declare worldwide martial law just by asking for it. While I realize
that this wasn't ever intended as the focus, trying to swallow this pill
chokes my suspension of disbelief. I can rationalize this acceptance by
postulating Dominus' control over world leaders, but wouldn't it have been
nice to hear Dominus gloat about it in one single panel?
Dominus himself poses another problem. When first introduced, he sought to
wrest god-like power from Kismet. Once he sent Superman packing and usurped
Kismet's place, however, Dominus seemed to diminish in power rather than
grow. Where once he exerted total control over the Man of Steel's
perceptions, now he could only influence him subtly. Where once he sought
to usurp a celestial destiny, he now wanted to be proclaimed ruler over a
backwater mudball called Earth. From a being who seemingly controlled an
entire dimension, he was reduced to a thug with a 'body of souls', beating
on Superman in a fashion no different than Metallo, Cyborg, The Parasite,
or any other villain-of-the week. Dominus' origin was one of the high
points of this arc, but revealing it seemed to somehow limit him, both in
power and scope.
Finally there are the small bits -- little things that eat at you, picking
away at the enjoyment of the story. Why, for instance, does Batman make an
appearance, given his current troubles in Gotham? For all the good he does
-- two appearances in two panels -- he would have been better off excluded
entirely. In this same category comes the rationale for Dominus' defeat.
"At the last moment I overloaded his power -- gave him as many different
versions of Krypton that(sic) I could think of." From whence did Superman
*draw* these images? This is not the time-travelling, dimension-hopping
Superman from pre-Byrne days. He doesn't have extensive knowledge of
parallel/Hypertime/what-have-you Kryptons, so this explanation makes no
sense. Far better, IMHO, would have been if Kesel had excluded this bit of
mumbo-jumbo and simply let Kal get the drop on Dominus. The end would have
been the same; after all, what could be more empty than a Phantom Zone in
an imaginary universe?
Really, this was not Kesel's best outing. I realize that he was not solely
responsible for the direction in which this book progressed, but he has
been part of the rotating weekly team for quite a while now, and has done
far better with far less. All in all, a rather mundane ending to an arc
that went on about four issues too long, and one that certainly didn't need
an extra-size, extra cost special edition to tell the tale. Just to finish
on a positive note, though, I will say that the cover was quite
eye-catching, and it was nice to see Walt Simonson's work again. Sad,
though, to damn this book with such faint praise.
==============================================
23. SUPERMAN #145 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Public Hearing"
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Steve Epting
Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Assoc. Ed.: Maureen McTigue
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Steve Epting, Joe Rubinstein, and Patrick Martin
RATINGS
Average: 2.9/5.0 Shields
TD: 2.8 Shields
AW: 1.0 Shields - This story compares Superman's actions with the bomber
pilots in Viet Nam? Just following orders? Destroying the village
to save it? The analogy just doesn't work.
DWk: 1.4 Shields - Wait: so the point of the story is that in the course
of a months-long, violent global revolution, _one person was
injured_? This takes the "at least no one was hurt" cliche to a
new level.
EJ: 4.0 Shields - Now THIS is more like it! Clark Kent! YES! And dealing
with the fallout -- wow. This tale of forgiveness spoke volumes
and made up slightly for the storyline of the last few months.
EM: 2.5 Shields - @#^*! Fricken' Dan Jurgens! Only Jurgens could come up
with a hate-mail campaign for Superman. This was painfully bad,
but it wasn't part of the Lex Luthor mini-series, so it is granted
some leeway.
GN: 3.5 Shields - Jurgens provides an innovative spin on Superman's
current situation without excusing his behavior. Epting and
Rubinstein are really coming along.
JSy: 4.0 Shields - I love stories which deal with how the people around
him see and are affected by Superman (which also explains why I
love _Astro City_), and Jurgens turns in a pretty good example
of just such a tale. Plus, Steve Epting is *leaping* towards
the top of my "list" of favorite artists.
SY: 4.0 Shields - I've been looking forward to seeing how Superman would
deal with the whole mess Dominus left him. Winning back the
people's trust is going to make for some great reading (I hope).
Reviewed by: Thomas Deja <tdj723@webtv.net>
It's a pretty dramatic cover that presents itself on _Superman_ #145; an
interesting take on the image from the film _Patton_, with a man in a
wheelchair, dramatically lit, burning Superman's cape with a giant American
flag as a backdrop. (Epting seems to have a terrific talent for finding
dramatic symbolic images for the covers of this book, and it's going to be
a talent I'll miss come the advent of McGuinness.)
It's also somewhat inaccurate.
This is the latest 'Metropolis Mailbag' story -- a tradition started many
years ago by Dan Jurgens. It's also going to be his last, so there's a
little bit of an event to it. Luckily, while it is not as fun as the early
issues of the 'Superman Rex' arc, it does show that Jurgens is planning on
going out in a dignified manner that might reflect well on his run as a
whole.
It's 'Cleaning Up After Superman Rex' month, and we see Supes flying above
Metropolis, stubbornly keeping his super-hearing open so he can hear
*everything* people are saying about him regarding the events of the last
few months. Not surprisingly, most of the comments he hears are negative,
and even when the Action Ace swoops in to prevent a gasoline explosion the
citizens are all but spitting on him. During the course of his actions, he
runs into the postmaster general of Metropolis, who leads our hero to a
storage room where hate mail for the Man of Steel has... ummm... piled up.
A lot.
This leads Supes to visit the man on the cover -- a military man paralyzed
from the waist down. As Clark, Supes interviews this man and learns his
story. The patient was a pilot on an aircraft carrier who was ordered to
destroy the munitions Superman confiscated from the ship. Supes used his
heat-vision on the plane to stop pursuit, but unforseen results caused the
pilot to hit the ocean without a parachute and caused his injury.
Clark is ashamed, and speculates that the man hates Superman. The pilot
says it's quite the contrary; if one of the Superman robots had not fished
him out of the water, he would have drowned. With this revelation, the
statement he made at the beginning of the conversation -- about not being
in the wheelchair if not for Superman -- takes on a new meaning.
It's a tricky thing Jurgens tries to do, and for the most part he succeeds.
As I've stated before, Jurgens does have a talent for writing narration
that when used correctly makes for good stories. While our unnamed pilot
sneaks into 'authorial mouthpiece' mode once too often (the point where the
pilot wishes that Superman succeeded in 'making soldiers unnecessary' comes
*this* close to being wince-worthy), his monologue works to show Clark --
and us -- that even the most wrong actions can have good aspects to it.
Unfortunately, there's not enough of Clark talking to the pilot, and too
much 'People v. Superman' argle bargle. The dialogue of the bystanders
watching Superman stop the gas spill from getting out of hand is horrific,
and the whole set-up of the scene is just plain wrong. Jurgens gives us a
*blind* newsman, for God's sake. I also find it inconceivable that a crowd
would gather to harass Superman so close to such a disaster. It's bad
blocking is what it is, and it does a disservice to the meat of the story.
The thing that bothers me the most, however, is Epting's art job this
issue. It looks rushed and clumsy, so much so that I had to check to make
sure the inker was the same. Epting does manage some great sequences; the
opening sequence that starts with a two page spread of Metropolis with
Superman very small in the middle while he listens to the insults of the
city, and ends up zooming in slowly to Supes' pained face, is spectacular,
but most of the pencil seem tired. Superman, I swear, has this perpetual
frown on his face that makes him look like a dark-haired Barry Bostwick
(from _Spin City_), and the pilot seems to be modified from last issue's
Luthor. On top of that, every male character sports these distinctive,
prominent noses that just seem weird. I'm hoping this is just a temporary
anomaly (the cover seems to indicate it is), because I've come to think
very highly of Epting and want to see him go out on this title with a bang.
"Public Hearing" has its flaws, and it should've been a lot better than it
was, but at least Jurgens isn't embarrassing himself any more.
__________________________________________
THE TRIANGLE TITLES (cont):
--------------------------
24. THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #568 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Lookin' Good"
Writer: Louise Simonson
Layouts: Tom Morgan
Finishes: Denis Rodier
Letterer: Albert DeGuzman
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Color Separations: Digital Chameleon
Associate Editor: Maureen McTigue
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Tom Grummett, Denis Rodier, and Patrick Martin
RATINGS
Average: 2.7/5.0 Shields
EM: 3.3 Shields - A stand alone issue! Now if they can just get the
other creative teams to do some...
DWk: 1.8 Shields - There's supposed to be an ethical conflict or two at
the middle of this story, but it's so crudely presented that
there's no conflict at all -- except the fight scene, which is
pretty boring in its own right.
JSy: 3.0 Shields - I love it when Metallo pops up (they've kind of turned
him into the ultimate Transformer, dontcha think?), and I was
thrilled to see Superman defeat the villain with his noggin (pun
intended). The art, however, was just not at all to my liking.
SDM: 2.5 Shields - Adequate but nothing special. Metallo's getting to be
a bit repetitive, isn't he? Simonson tries very hard to show how
the public regards Superman after his actions but we see too much
of the story through his eyes and thus there's no balanced view.
Luthor's plan to embarrass Supes was logical but I can't believe
that Lex has been reduced to manipulated opinion polls! OK art,
but I miss Grummett already.
SY: 3.0 Shields - Great to see more of Superman and Lois' team work. I'm
interested to see what effect (if any) this has on Lois' job at
LexCom.
TD: 2.5 Shields - So now we're back, more or less, to the status quo,
with Superman having bad guys thrown at him at an alarming pace.
Ho-hum... Metallo being arguably the second most overexposed bad
guy in the Triangle titles after the Cyborg.
Review by: Edward Mathews <em11@is3.nyu.edu>
Synopsis:
Lois Lane lands an exclusive interview with Superman on Lex-TV to try and
explain his behavior to the world in the aftermath of Dominus. Luthor
allowed the interview to further his own agenda, but a surprise visit from
Metallo keeps the interview from ever happening.
Review:
It is refreshing to see a one issue, self-contained story come out of any
of the Superman titles lately. Normally, the name Louise Simonson on the
front of a Superman book makes me cringe, but she managed to turn in a very
good story. She deals with how the rest of the world views Superman's
actions since the Dominus debacle and does so in a way that makes some
sense. More importantly, we see Superman helping people with everyday
dangers (well, everyday in Metropolis), like fires and prison breaks. I'm
happy that these big events have aftermath issues, because this is when the
creative teams actually shine. It is reminiscent of the "World without
Superman" issues. The characterizations of Luthor and Lois Lane are dead
on.
Simonson managed to bring me back to my childhood with the kids playing
"Justice League" on the roof. Like any self-respecting member of
Generation-X, I used to play Super Friends, and my little 5 year old
cousins play Batman and Superman today, so it made the opening sequence
work for me. The fact that young Hector interpreted Superman's recent
actions as a "might makes right" philosophy highlights how media can affect
young children. It was very well done without becoming an ABC "After School
Special."
Art:
It's not Stuart Immonen, but it was a serviceable issue. It was very
Byrne-meets-Bog. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I hope that they
are only here for fill-in issues. Superman looks anatomically huge and his
head looks tiny, yet everyone else looks proportioned. If the book was
called _The Adventures of Superman's Cast_ then it might not bother me so
much, but the main character in the book should look good. Serviceable
doesn't cut it with your main character, DC. At least Tom Grummett does the
cover.
Conclusion:
This is a jump-on issue. If you haven't been following the Superman books,
you get all the information you'd need to start reading them again. It's
definitely worth the cover price, and even if you don't want to continue
reading, it is a self-contained story, earning at least 1/3 of a shield for
that alone.
__________________________________________
SUPER-FAMILY TITLES:
-------------------
SUPERBOY #63 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Hypertension! Part Four: For Every World -- A Doomsday!"
Storytellers: Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett
Colors: Buzz Setzer
Letters: Comicraft
Ass't. Editor: Frank Berrios
Editor: Mike McAvennie
Cover: Tom Grummett, Karl Kesel, and Patrick Martin
RATINGS
Average: 4.1/5.0 Shields
RG: 4.5 Shields
EM: 4.2 Shields - An army of Superboys is about to go toe-to-toe with an
Army of Doomsdays and you have to ask what I liked? Kesel and
Grummett give us another fun read!
JSy: 4.0 Shields - Too... much... happening! The least enjoyable issue of
this adventure, but still a fun and exciting read. I almost wish
that a Westfield had survived to plague Superboy in future issues
(how do you go up against your "dad"?), but what I'm *really*
interested in knowing is what's up with Metron!
SDM: 3.7 Shields - The best story in "Hyper-Tension" so far. Great
characterization, and I loved the return of Westfield and the
alternate Knockout. Black Zero is a very intriguing villain, as
well, and who else but Karl would use the Challengers as well.
Review by: Rene Gobeyn <bedlam@frontiernet.net>
If you're not already reading this title, you might want to wait until the
next story arc begins. Jumping on now would likely lead to more questions
than answers. On the other hand, don't wait too long; in less than one
year, this book has gone from one of my least favorites to the first book I
read. Everyone to whom I've recommended this book is enjoying it, and can't
wait for the next issue. According to my shop, it now outsells all the
other Superman titles -- high praise in my area.
At the end of last issue Superboy watched dozens of Doomsdays escaping from
confinement after being told that they were to be sent to our Earth. This
issue takes up there, and Black Zero almost casually puts them away again.
If this wasn't bad enough, we find out that the real coordinator of all the
problems is Paul Westfield -- actually, *all* the Paul Westfields of all
the other Earths in Hyper-time. The combined force of Metron, Westfield(s),
and Black Zero are intent on trying to convert Superboy to their cause when
Knockout and the Challengers of the Unknown show up to crash the party.
Things aren't looking well for the good guys. When Superboy tells Knockout
that her boyfriend, the Superboy of her Earth, is dead, she goes ballistic.
To escape her wrath, one version of Paul Westfield jumps into the Hyperium,
causing *all* the Westfields to poof out of existence. It seems that when
you interact directly with Hyperium, it destroys all the 'yous' in all of
Hyper-time. Neat. At least we won't see him come back again on our Earth.
Westfield was like a father to Black Zero, so he takes the combined
disappearance of all of them quite poorly. He forces their surrender by
threatening to drop Knockout into the Hyperium, then locks them all in the
chamber with the Doomsdays. We then get the treat of hearing how the
Challengers wound up here. To make a long story short, it could be that
these Challengers came from our Earth. As the Doomsdays start to break
free, Superboy and Knockout manage to get the door open, but Knockout
sacrifices herself to buy the others some time to stop Black Zero.
Whew! This story is turning into a rocket sled ride, but the end is in
sight. I just hope it's not a brick wall. If you aren't reading _Superboy_
then you are missing out on a great story. It's like reading vintage Kirby
with a 90's twist. Solid writing with nicely detailed, fast-paced graphic
storytelling. I just wish that there had been some advancement on the home
DCU plot, or at least a sign that Kesel and Grummett had remembered that
there is a supporting cast. We could easily have done away with a page or
two of fight scenes to make room for a glimpse of what is happening back at
Cadmus.
I did like the use of the Challengers. As vintage Kirby characters they
would be great additions to the Superboy cast. They would also be perfect
Hyper-time adventurers.
I'm not sure where DC is going with this Hyper-time stuff of late. Sure,
it's a great gimmick, and works well for a character like Superboy, but I
hope that The Powers That Be don't overdo it. It would be very easy to do.
While my favorite stories of late have Superboy going off on these little
side trips (e.g. the Wild Lands), I prefer it when he manages to get home
and interact with the rest of the cast, advancing the main story-line a bit
each month. Hyper-time would work, but I would hate to see a gimmick take
the place of good characterization and plot development.
==============================================
SUPERGIRL #33 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Above a Murmur"
Writer: Peter David
Guest Penciller: Jason Orfalas
Inker: Robin Riggs
Letters: Jack Morelli
Colors: Gene D'Angelo
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Assistant Editor: Frank Berrios
Editor: Mike McAvennie
Cover: Leonard Kirk, Robin Riggs, and Patrick Martin
RATINGS
Average: 3.2/5.0 Shields
TD: 3.0 Shields
EM: 4.1 Shields - PAD keeps bringing back parts of old Mae's life as her
former mentor, Elizabeth Perske, becomes a part of Linda's
professional life as an artist. The fill-in art was very good, but
Leonard Kirk is missed.
JSy: 4.1 Shields - Some strong moments from PAD in both the humor and
"mysterious plot development" departments, but can we please
get on with it? I'm ready for some more significant movement of
the larger story. Orfalas and Riggs turn in some beautiful art,
though Supergirl's legs seem awfully long when she's out of
costume...
ST: 2.5 Shields (Story: 2.0, Art: 3.8) - Orfalas' fill-in pencils were
beautiful, and it's obvious now how much Riggs brings to the team,
but the story said little, did nothing, went nowhere. I know it's
set-up, but we've had more than our fair share of set-up lately,
and another confusing fight with a new foe doesn't help matters.
SY: 2.5 Shields - Kind of confusing. No real body to this story, but I
get the feeling it's heading towards something bigger. It better!
Review by: Thomas Deja <tdj723@webtv.net>
Okay, it's time to play 'Humor Tom' for a second.
One of the minor annoying things about Peter David as a writer is his
tendency to think ahead -- far ahead. Maybe too far ahead. After all, it
took him years to position The Hulk as the character he wanted to write;
his ultimate goal for Aquaman took two miniseries and three year's worth of
a regular title.
Now I'm all for a writer like David who comes to a book with actual ideas
he wants to explore. Hell, David is one of the very writers I trust to
handle 'relevant storylines' because he's a man that thinks things through
and likes to look at situations from several angles. The downside is that
every once in a while he coughs up an issue like the one before me this
month, where a lot seems to happen, and it seems to be deathly important,
and you have a vague idea why they're important, but your understanding of
the whole keeps slipping out of your grasp.
We begin with Linda wandering the Earth as she dreams. We see her looking
in on various personages and reflecting on them, starting with her parents,
moving on to her friends, and finally settling on her foes. Then she gets a
vision of the woman the readers have glimpsed a few times before, most
recently in Matrix hallucination in issue #30. Linda names the being as
Ember, and becomes convinced that this personage is coming for her,
prompting her to jump out the window...
... and run into Cassandra, from issue #20's Millennium Giants crossover.
Cassandra warns Linda that Murmur is on his way, wishing to harm the Maid
of Might. So is Ember, but the trick is Linda has to understand Ember
before she defeats her, and Linda will fall no matter what she does. Having
fulfilled the foreshadowing quotient for this month, Cassandra leaves.
Murmur turns out to be this knight-looking dude riding a gryphon whose
weapons can hurt Supergirl, and he forces her into battle just as Dick
Malverne and Elizabeth Perske show up to let Linda know they've arranged a
museum show in Paris. So the Maid of Steel and Murmur mix it up, the
villain all the while hinting that he's messed up Earth Angels before.
Supergirl only turns the tide after she listens to a mysterious voice
inside her head and gets aggressive. The defeated Murmur promptly
disappears, his weapons turning to dust.
There are other things going on as well. In an interesting scene that seems
to imply that Linda is getting a bit arrogant, we see her intruding on a
domestic disturbance and being told off, to which Linda replies that she
may not answer the next scream. There is an implication that under certain
circumstances, Andy Jones shares a Corsican Brothers-style link with Linda.
During her dream-state, Linda discovers Cutter and Mattie's new
situation.... but these are all brief moments placed on the side of the
main story -- a main story that is a lot of implication and fore- shadowing
with little in the way of actual momentum.
One of the things I did like, for some reason, was David's writing of
Linda's inner thoughts this time out. There's something surreal about some
of her comments that give flavor to this issue. They're not full fired
jokes, but when Linda remarks that the best time for a 'somebody riding a
winged something' to come calling is when she has company, or when she
complains that her costume sometimes... ummm... rides up, it makes her a
lot more human, and brings the storytelling down to earth. Refreshingly,
none of the lame vaudeville I dread every month surfaces. I presume that
David is saving that up for _Young Justice_ (and _Young Justice_ can have
it).
We've got another guest penciller this time out -- a guy by the name of
Jason Orfalas -- and he's not half bad. I like the way he conveys a great
deal of emotion through the very complicated grill-like mask of Murmur, and
in many places he reminds me of a bastard cross between Gene Colan and
Kevin Maguire. He also has an interesting eye for detail. Little things
like Linda pulling her nightshirt down while asking Cassandra if she could
get dressed might be missed, but they add a lot to the scene. And I must
admit that the visual gag on page 17 made me smile with its maliciousness.
I really wish David could've been a tad more forthcoming with "Above a
Murmur". If he had, this could've been a lot better. As it is, it's an
interesting, befuddling and at times frustrating read.
==============================================
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #32 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Sullivan's Girl Friend, Lois Lane"
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciller: Neil Vokes
Inker: Ron Boyd
Colorist: Marie Severin
Separations: Zylonol
Letterer: Phil Felix
Assistant Ed.: Frank Berrios
Editor: Mike McAvennie
Cover: Mike Manley, Terry Austin, and Marie Severin
RATINGS
Average: 2.8/5.0 Shields
CoS: 3.0 Shields - A nice piece of fluff, well constructed and drawn, but
fades from the mind a few hours after you read it. A perfect
example of a biodegradable story.
JSy: 2.2 Shields - Hurry back, Mark. Actually, it's rather frustrating
trying to comment on this one, because I can't place my finger
on exactly what's wrong with it. I just know that it bored me,
and I have a strong sense that I've seen this story told before.
ST: 2.1 Shields - This isn't really a Superman story; neither the focus
character (Sullivan) nor the villain are from the Super-cast, and
the female lead and hero could have been played by *anyone*. It is
also deeply unsatisfying, treating such interesting ideas as
stalking, love vs. infatuation, free will, and even the penal code
as it relates to mind control in only the most superficial manner.
SY: 3.8 Shields - A fun read! A change from the action and villains we're
used to.
Review by: Cory Strode <Solitaire.Rose@worldnet.att.net>
If you were to ask me what the big difference was between the stories of
DC's Silver Age and current comics, I would say that modern stories tend to
focus on who Superman has to hit to solve a problem, and the stories of the
Silver Age were more concerned with Superman figuring out a puzzle to solve
a problem. I've been reading some Silver Age Superman stories, and there
are many where Superman goes for the entire story without throwing a single
punch. One of the good things about _Superman Adventures_ is that it does
focus on the puzzle aspect, yet does not forget that you need an active
action sequence to keep modern comics audiences interested. A lot of older
fans say that they don't make comics like they used to, but I don't see
many of them picking up the Adventures books. This issue is a perfect
example of both the good and bad aspects of the Superman Silver Age
stories.
Michelinie starts the story off with a bang, introducing a new villain
called "The Commander" -- although we don't get his name until page six.
(We should have known much sooner; that's a mistake the editor should have
caught.) Perry White is working on an expose of a criminal, and The
Commander -- who is able to exert a hypnotic control over his victims --
wants to make him forget all about the criminal. At the same time, we're
introduced to Ben Sullivan, who works in maintenance and has a big crush on
Lois Lane. The two stories intersect when The Commander (OK, maybe they
didn't give the name earlier in the story because it can't suck enough)
blasts Lois with his hypnosis ray while trying to get the information from
Perry White.
As Superman defeats The Commander, Ben hustles Lois out of the room so that
she won't get hurt in the battle. As he checks to see if she's OK, he
realizes that her memory has been hypnotized away. He lets her know that
she's Lois Lane, she's a crack reporter... and she's his girlfriend.
Clark knows that something is wrong as he watches Lois fawn over Ben like
she's a smitten teenager. Just as he confronts Ben about it, The Commander
escapes from custody due to a post-hypnotic suggestion he planted in a
number of cops. Looks like a job for Superman, and he makes short work of
the policemen without hurting them. As for The Commander, Lois smacks him
in the head with a steel chair, proving that even though she's under a
hypnotic suggestion she can still defeat bad guys using moves she learned
from professional wrassling.
After the battle, Clark reminds Ben that if he really loved Lois that he
wouldn't want to manipulate her, but would be willing to give up his own
happiness for hers. Sullivan does just that, ordering Lois to remember
everything. Of course, Lois is not happy about the whole thing, and the
story ends with Ben apologizing for what he did, and Lois not knowing if
she'll ever be able to be friends with him again.
This story was fun. Not anything deep or too serious, but a nice piece of
fluff, meant to pass some time without much fuss. Most of the stories on
this book by fill-in writers have been like that, and read like nice
episodes of a long-running TV series; nice, brief entertainment. There's
nothing wrong with that. Not every comic has to have deep themes,
earth-shattering events, or powerful character studies. We spend so much
time now looking for the next big event, we forget that the object of any
entertainment medium is primarily that -- to entertain.
Michelinie plotting has a few flaws. The is the villains name; it isn't
revealed soon enough (a point to which I alluded earlier) and it's an
incredibly bad name for the villain, which means he won't be showing up
again. The other problem is that the defeat of The Commander came out of
the blue. Nowhere are we shown that Lois accompanied Superman to the
break-in, so her appearance comes out of nowhere.
Art-wise, I felt that Vokes did very good job to moving the story along.
His layouts are solid, if unexciting, and he alters the character designs
of the animated series to fit his own style. As with his last outing, the
characters he creates for the book fare better than those that have been
designed by others. Ben is one example of this; he is an expressively done
character, making him seem more of a sweet guy who wrongly takes advantage
of a situation than a creepy stalker (which could have easily been the
case). Also, the simple, iconic design of The Commander makes me wish he
was a more interesting character, because his look was far more appealing
than his powers... or that name. <shudder> I have often said that this book
is a very hard one to draw, because the bold ink lines must carry the art
without using shading to cover up artistic flaws, and Vokes turns in a very
good job.
Michelinie didn't seem to get his feet under him on the regular Superman
books, which is too bad. His long runs on Spider-Man and Iron Man show that
he is a good writer of serialized fiction, and this issue shows that he can
write one-shot stories that are at least entertaining, even if not too
memorable. I don't think his approach would work on this book long term,
but for an issue now and then he's a welcome addition to the team.
__________________________________________
TEAM TITLES:
-----------
JLA #30 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Crisis Times Five, Part Three: Worlds Beyond"
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Howard Porter
Inker: John Dell
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colorist: Pat Garrahy
Separations: Heroic Age
Assoc. Ed.: Tony Bedard
Editor: Dan Raspler
Cover: Porter and Dell
RATINGS
Average: 3.0/5.0 Shields
AW: 4.0 Shields
EM: 4.0 Shields - The only two things missing are Mxy and Bat-mite... :)
Not much Superman content this month, but the visit to the 5-D was
interesting to say the least!
JSy: 2.0 Shields - Sigh. Is anything going to happen in this story? We're
no further along now than we were at the end of the last issue. I
could stomach the pace if there was some character development
going on, but all we're getting is a bunch of fight scenes.
ST: 2.3 Shields - Too much happening, and nothing going on. While I
realize that a 'true' superteam would fight the war on as many
fronts as possible, showing all five (six? seven?) of them means
that *everything* gets short shrift.
SY: 3.5 Shields - At last some explanations! But why is Superman listed
in the Role Call at the front of the book when he doesn't have any
part to play in this issue?
TD: 2.0 Shields - What in Sam Hill is going on here? Things are so out
of control I can no longer keep track, and Joe-Kubert-style last
panel excepted, it's a mess. Oh, and where's Mopee?
Review by: Anatole Wilson <anatolewilson@yahoo.com>
In the 1970s, Robert Mayer wrote a satire called "Superfolks," in which a
hero based loosely on Superman must come out of retirement to face some of
his greatest friends and foes. One of these foes is an impish character
based on Mr. Mxyzptlk, who has become tired of playing the fool and gets
down to causing some serious evil. (If you can find it, this book is highly
recommended, though some may find it offensive and, at times, depressing.)
In this issue of JLA, Grant Morrison looks at this possibility from a
different perspective: what if the imp in question -- this time Aquaman's
foe, QWSP -- takes a cue from his nemesis and embarks on a grim 'n' gritty
turn of his own, triggering a war not only in his own dimension, but in the
third dimension as well?
This comic is jam-packed with Morrison's typical collection of complex
complications:
- Triumph, with mindslaves Gypsy and Ray, takes over JLA headquarters and
destroys Steel's costume, although John Henry Irons manages to slip into a
ventilator duct before he is incinerated with his suit. He makes it to his
workshop with Hourman's help.
- Batman and Aquaman go to JLA headquarters to surprise Triumph.
- Sentinel and Zauriel find what they consider a humane way to free the
Spectre from his living-world shackles; accelerate the passage of time so
that the beings on the "planet" live out a full evolutionary cycle, and
wait for the planet to "die" of old age.
- Green Lantern and Captain Marvel discover that former Aqua-foe, the
fifth-dimensional QWSP, is the malevolent being behind all the chaos.
(Batman, of course, deduces this on his own).
- The rest of the JLA and JSA members try to protect J.J. while he learns
to guide Thunderbolt in its battle with big blue LKZ. The two Djinn are
taking the battle to levels that will soon destroy the Earth. QWSP appears
before them and asks which one is heroic enough to give their own lives to
end the conflict.
In "Worlds Beyond," Grant Morrison asks a lot of questions:
1) How do you humanely end the life of a species in order to save even
more lives?
2) What happens when a race of immensely powerful beings stop playing
buffoons and get seriously nasty with their powers?
3) What happens when one of those beings has to follow the command of a
kid whose lack of language skills causes him to resort to profanity?
4) And finally, why is it a bad idea to create a comic about B-grade
heroes, give them lousy or non-existent costumes, and then abandon them?
For question 1), I'll say that this is one of Morrison's more clever
solutions. On one hand, Sentinel has deprived the "Spectre-race" of many
opportunities, like the chance to interact with beings outside their own
planet. On the other hand, is it murder if you live out a normal life and
never know the difference? (Zauriel watchers may note that in his most
useful role to date, he becomes a statue that the Spectre-race worships.)
For 2), the answer is "duck and cover!"
For 3), we can only thank the Comics Code Authority that we don't have to
graphically see this one out. It is perhaps the only major flaw in this
issue that Porter and Dell -- who have so imaginatively captured the
fifth-dimensional battle so well, and effectively bend reality around their
little fingers for the Green Lantern/Capt. Marvel segment in this issue --
can't really illustrate "Go kick that big blue *%$&&!$!"
And for 4), well, because they can come back some day with more power and
worse haircuts and make your life miserable. (By the way, this is the third
time in thirty issues that the JLA headquarters has been assaulted. Has
anybody given any thought to the fact that a stationary HQ is just a target
for a team's enemies? If a team must have an HQ, why not something that
moves around, or is hard to find?)
Morrison's pacing and characterizations, like always, are nearly seamless,
and besides the problems I mentioned above, Dell and Porter have a real
flair for Fifth Dimensional surrealism.
On that note, I must regretfully announce that I am giving up my little
critics' corner as I pursue a career change and some writing projects that
I hope will propel me into that nebulous zone where I become the criticized
instead of the critic. I will, however, continue to contribute to the
Kryptonian Cybernet when possible, and will not relinquish my title as the
Kryptonian Curmudgeon, nor my right to complain when the Super-teams just
don't match up to "the good old days" -- whenever they were. I've been with
KC since the beginning, and I can only stare with amazement that Jeff
Sykes, Shane Travis, and the rest of the crew have kept this going as long
and successfully as they have, with many more issues to follow, I'm sure.
My hopes for next issue? I hope that the JLA realizes that their
headquarters is a sitting target and move it to an asteroid or somewhere
equally inaccessible. I hope that J.J. either dies, or (worse yet) has to
repeat seventh grade English. I hope Zauriel does something useful for a
change. Finally, I hope Mr. Mxyzptlk and -- dare I say it? -- Bat-Mite are
the two unaccounted-for Djinns who turn the tide of battle and kick some
serious big blue *%$&&!$!
Signing off for now....
==============================================
YOUNG JUSTICE #9 Jun 1999 $2.50 US/$3.95 CAN
"Thug of War"
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Todd Nauck
Inks: Jon Sibal & Lary Stucker
Colors: Jason Wright
Letters: Clem Robins
Ass't Ed.: Frank Berrios
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Cover: Nauck and Stucker
RATINGS
Average: 3.8/5.0 Shields
GR: 4.0 Shields
EM: 3.9 Shields - Tinky Winky make kids do bad things through bad video
subliminal messages. Uh-oh! hehehe...
JSy: 3.6 Shields - Whew. Glad the regular team's back. Bad guys using a
cute, popular kids' show to brainwash children into violently
attacking their parents? Geeze, PAD, trying to use up those cans
of worms before the new year? Still an interesting read, though
not quite as humorous as usual. (So... is Bart simple or pure of
mind? <g>)
ST: 3.7 Shields - Good to see the regular team back, and in style.
Nice teamwork between the members of YJ, and I really liked the
'bonding' between Cassie and Cissie.
Review by: Gary D. Robinson <robinfam@akron.infi.net>
Did you ever have one of those days?
Out of the goodness of your heart, you've agreed to help a friend babysit
two little brats. This exhausting endeavor leaves you snoring on a couch as
it floats in a sea of discarded toys and games. Then, something penetrates
the unconscious. You fuzzily open an eye and see... the little brats coming
at you with a knife! Naturally alarmed at this turn of events, you're still
somehow able to take charge of the situation. You wrestle the kids,
flipping one into a heap of toys and grabbing the knife away from the
other. Panting, you straddle the miniature murderer and begin to
interrogate him. You hold his deadly blade in your hand.
And who, at that moment, should walk in but Mom--"eeeeeeee!"
Thus does PAD announce his return to a mag that, in my view, can't do
without him -- even for one month. After a rather dull fill-in issue, PAD
is back with his own unique mix of satire and whimsy. Let's all breathe a
sigh of relief, then brace ourselves for a YJ two-parter. Part One is
entitled "Thug of War," but I like to call it "Return To The Temple of
Doom."
I'm still marvelling at the ingenuity that married such wildly diverse
elements as those nauseatingly saccharine Teletubbies (thinly disguised
herein as "Hugga-Tugga-Thugees") and the ancient cult of Kali. Who else but
PAD woulda thunk it? Using these roly-poly TV doughboys to exert their evil
influence on small children, the Kali-worshippers are responsible for the
above-mentioned troubles of Arrowette (what Bill Watterson might call "The
Revenge of The Baby-Sat"). Luckily, Wonder Girl rescues her before she's
carted off to jail for child endangerment. The YJ girls join the YJ boys
and hop the first Super-Cycle for Calcutta. There, in a castle the very
duplicate of the one Indiana Jones visited in 1934 (save for the satellite
dish, of course), the kids find a heap o' trouble not just for them but --
shudder -- for the world!
Of course, #9 is just the set-up for #10, but this one's a peach all by
itself. In particular, I was struck by the crazy logic of it all: Take, for
example, Arrowette/Cissie's desperate battle to save herself from a couple
of demon-possessed kids, followed by her arrest as an accused child-killer.
I shook my head and thought, "Isn't that always the way it is! You try to
help and what thanks do you get?" Then there's the little gem of a scene at
the door of the castle or temple or whatever it is: to the sinister giant
who appears, Impulse, again acting his namesake, innocently pipes, "Hello,
we were wondering if you know anything about a weird Thugee cult." He gets
this reply, "Yes, I do. They have created a child-friendly image in the
form of the Hugga-Tugga-Thugees and made them an international phenomenon.
But secretly, certain of the tapes contain sorcerously subliminal images,
visable only to the very simple and pure of mind." The giant very politely
and obligingly lays out of the scope of their evil plan, bids the kids good
day, and shuts the door. Like the skits of Monty Python, like the best of
Bugs Bunny, it's silly and logical all at once. I read the story yesterday
morning. I'm still smiling and chuckling over that single panel today.
For this, I can even forgive the very baaad joke in the last panel of page
17. Of course, you'd have to be an old coot like me to get it.
The art, which took a dive last issue, is pretty much back to its proper
look and feel for this title. As for the writing, well, I don't know where
PAD was last time. Maybe he was on vacation. If so, he's rested, he's fit,
and -- what can I say? -- he's back!
__________________________________________
MINISERIES:
----------
BATMAN & SUPERMAN: WORLD'S FINEST #3 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"Year Three: Light in the Darkness"
Words: Karl Kesel
Pencils: Dave Taylor
Inks: Robert Campanella
Colors/Seps: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Bill Oakley
Assoc. Ed.: Joseph Illidge
Editor: Darren Vincenzo
Cover: Taylor and Campanella
RATINGS
Average: 2.4/5.0 Shields
SDM: 2.0 Shields
AW: 1.0 Shields - The story was pointless; Illuminata's blinding
grotesque and gratuitous. A severe drop in quality from the first
two issues.
EM: 3.0 Shields - I like the art, but it seemed intentionally confusing
in the first part of the book. Clark didn't look like Clark.
JSy: 2.4 Shields - Okay, I'm *really* not enjoying this roller-coaster
of quality. The final scenes seem to have been the point of the
story, but since the characterizations of both Superman and Batman
felt wrong in those scenes, I'm not sure what that point was.
SY: 3.8Shields - Boy! Clark cuts things close with letting the Daily
Planet staff know his secret identity! The irregular artwork
played a big part in hiding the fact that the fake-Superman in the
beginning actually was the real steel deal.
Review by: Simon DelMonte <sdelmonte@aol.com>
On the second anniversary of Harrison Grey's death, a man who thinks he's
Superman -- despite no apparent super-powers -- ineptly helps stop a
super-villain named Illuminata outside Wayne Foundation headquarters.
Before long, Batman investigates and figures out what we soon learn: the
man in the costume is really Superman, faking insanity so he can be thrown
in Arkham to write an expose for the Planet.
Before long, Illuminata launches a break from within Arkham. Supes and
Batman have to clean things up, but not before the Joker gives Illuminata a
nasty present. After all is said and done, Batman chastises Supes for
assuming the former would be there to watch the latter's back but sort of
compliments him for surviving a night in Arkham. Supes questions the logic
of the World's Finest team continuing their annual get-together, but Batman
knows things will seem different in the morning.
Alas, this issue was a dud. A lot didn't work for me: my letdown at
discovering that Superman really was who he "pretended" to be; Illuminata,
whose purpose was to bring to light the usual conspiracies; the standard
"Arkham Breakout" plot; and having Supes infiltrate Arkham for an expose.
Haven't we seen a lot of this before? As a whole, it made for flat reading.
The breakout-at-Arkham scenes were also rather run-of- the-mill. As
dangerous as the Bat-villains are, they (with the notable exception of the
Joker) aren't portrayed as much of a match for Superman AND Batman.
Finally, there was a glaring continuity error here when Bruce Wayne is
talking to Lieutenant Gordon. It's pretty well-established that Jim Gordon
was promoted to captain during Batman's first year. Every _Legends of the
Dark Knight_ story arc makes that clear, never mind that in _Batman Year
2_, Jim Gordon is commissioner. This is a very small error but it says a
lot about what passes for editorial skills these days, and perhaps about
how well the writer knows the subjects.
==============================================
SUPERMAN'S NEMESIS: LEX LUTHOR #4 Jun 1999 $2.50 US/$3.95 CAN
"Lex Luthor: Dark Victory -- Chapter Four: The Triumph of Tragedy"
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciller: Val Semeiks
Inker: Dennis Janke
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Joe Rosas
Color Separations: Digital Chameleon
Associate Editor: Maureen McTigue
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Semeiks and Janke
RATINGS
Average: 1.0/5.0 Shields
GN: 2.3 Shields
AW: 0.5 Shields - Super-villain comics almost never work. Like almost
everyone else, I hate a comic where I can't root for anyone to
win.
EM: 0.0 Shields (since they won't allow for negative Bizarro shields.)
I cannot apologize enough to the innocent trees that were
sacrificed for this mini-series. I took my comic shop owner at
his word this week, and exchanged this for another book.
JSy: 0.5 Shields - Oh, criminy. Michelinie owes us an apology for writing
this ridiculously pointless miniseries, DC owes us an apology for
foisting it upon Superman fans, and I feel like apologizing for
bothering to advertise it in Coming Attractions. At least the art
was occasionally pretty.
ST: 1.5 Shields - This issue was better than last, and if not for some
ridiculous mistakes (1) Superman can't fly off to other stars, and
2) Lex would rather die than ask Superman for help) it might have
made it all the way up to 'average'.
SY: 2.5 Shields - I'm just glad it's over! Although I did think Lex's
plan was quite smart.
TD: 0.0 Shields - A rushed, disappointing ending to a sad, sad little
miniseries. It's the kind of offensive tragedy that makes me want
to torture the editor who authorized it. A waste of my time,
giving me nothing in return except a bad taste in my mouth.
Reviewed By: G.M. Nelson <KALEL224@aol.com>
At long last, we come to the conclusion of the Lex Luthor mini-series.
To recap, Luthor is being plagued by Krisma -- who (unknown to the general
public he has taken by storm) is an alien mutated by one of Luthor's space
probes in an attempt to reduce Superman's powers. Krisma, who now emits
psychic pheromones that cause his people to worship him and who can use
this power to influence humans, came to earth to take revenge on Luthor
because his people now only want to serve him to the exclusion of all else.
After pretty much trashing Luthor's reputation by revealing illegal arms
deals and causing everyone in Metropolis -- even his beloved daughter Lena
-- to hate him, Krisma offers Luthor an opportunity to end the suffering by
taking his own life.
As issue 4 picks up, Luthor tries to turn the gun onto Krisma, but is
forced by Krisma's power to fall to his knees and reveal all his little
secrets. With no one else left to turn to, Luthor first tries to turn to
his worst enemy, Superman, for help -- only to learn the Man of Steel is
off investigating a nearby star that underwent a recent change. In fact,
the star is the same one Luthor was trying to affect in the experiment that
mutated Krisma. (That's supposed to be irony at work.)
Ultimately, Luthor manages to pull his own fat from the fire, sneaking into
Lexcorp and using the communications equipment there to inform the people
of Krisma's planet that the one they worship is here on earth, (One might
have thought that the effect would have worn off with Krisma off planet,
but they come a running anyway.) After being discovered by Lexcorp
employees, Luthor is brought before Krisma. For five pages, Krisma uses his
superior strength to pretty much beat the tar out of Lex (he hefts a
helicopter in one scene), until a fleet from his home planet shows up and
takes him away to continue worshiping him -- much to his distress. After a
brief visit from the just-returned Superman, Lex is left to ruminate on the
events of the past few days and plot how to edit tapes and bribe officials
so he might restore his reputation. But little Lena loves him again, so
that's okay.
Overall, this chapter wasn't a bad story in and of itself. It certainly
held together better than the three issues that preceded it, and it
probably is a more effective conclusion than this story deserved.
Nonetheless, this series will probably -- and deservedly -- get savaged in
next year's Kaycees.
As with the earlier chapters, however, the story was marred by poor
attention to details. Michelinie has Superman traveling to a nearby solar
system to check out a star's activity. Sorry, but this ain't your
pre-Crisis star-hopping boy in blue. This, in combination with the
continuity glitches that have plagued this title from Issue 1, makes me
wonder if an editor actually looked at this at all.
Worse, the conclusion leaves us with a "protagonist" who is plotting to
distort the facts in order to make all the problems Krisma caused go away
so that he can continue to engage in illegal arms dealing, promote crime in
his city and, oh yes, discredit and destroy the world's greatest super
hero.
On the plus side, the art doesn't seem as rushed as in the past two issues,
with Semeiks and Janke really coming together this time out. Page one is
particularly nice, with some effective highlights on the gun Luthor is
holding, and on his ring (which he really shouldn't have anyway, but that's
quibbling, and we covered that last month).
This story might have worked better as a 48-page one-shot. Instead, by
dragging it out and showing Luthor (protagonist) and Krisma (antagonist) as
pretty much on the same level, it can at least serve as a lesson to future
writers: If you're going to use an established villain as the lead, the
character needs to show some personal growth in the course of the story. Of
course, that can be difficult with a character as defined as Luthor, but
that may make for another, possibly more important lesson: Don't do it.
__________________________________________
SPECIALS:
--------
SUPERMAN 80 PAGE GIANT #2 Jun 1999 $4.95 US/$7.95 CAN
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Editor: Maureen McTigue
Cover: Tony Harris, Ray Snyder, and Patrick Martin
RATINGS
Average: 3.6/5.0 Shields
TD: 3.3 Shields
DWk: 4.2 Shields - Why is this so much better than the entire Dominus
storyline? Try real psychological complexity, for a change.
Millar's story drives the rating way up: the first convincing
picture of why Lois and Clark love each other so much. Plus John
Henry Irons in character again!
GN: 3.2 Shields - Jurgens nails Luthor's characterization once again.
He's going to be missed more than people realize on the monthly.
JSy: 3.5 Shields - Better than average, and the Millar story from Lois'
point of view *almost* made this worth the price. I think I'd
like to see some more of the "bonding" between Superman and
Supergirl.
SY: 4.0 Shields - Loved the Mark Millar "Lois" story at the end. The
whole book was great, except the "Steel" story was waaaay off with
its characterisation and by itself brought the rest of the book
down a whole ratings-point.
Review by: Thomas Deja <tdj723@webtv.net>
If you remember, I was not all too fond of last year's _Superman 80-Page
Giant_, feeling it was a dumping place for all the inventory stories Team
Super couldn't place anywhere else. Well, to my surprise, this new batch of
80-Pagers revolve around themes -- thus in _Green Lantern 80-Page Giant_ we
get a set of team-up tales, in _Young Justice 80-Page Giant_ we get a
series of Elseworld-style satires...
... And here we get a series of stories revolving around public reaction to
the 'Superman Rex' storyline. Not a bad idea, I must admit. What's even
better, we do have a series of good stories -- albeit some of which are
marred by some truly nasty-looking art.
And now, the individual tales themselves.
=+=+=+=+=
"Under Control"
Writer: Michael Jan Friedman
Artist: Peter Doherty
Letterer: Patricia Prentice
Colorist: Noelle Giddings
TD: 2.3 Shields
A man who seems to have lost everything in life -- his job at Lexcorp, his
wife, his kids -- is saved from suicide by Superman. Rather than lecture
him, Superman decides to take the man on his rounds for the night in the
hopes of showing the man that life is worth living.
Michael Jan Friedman spins a pretty damn good tale, reminiscent (in all the
good ways) of a pre-Crisis Supes story. He definitely has a feel for the
'just folks' quality of the Man of Steel; the sight of Superman bringing
the unnamed man a cup of coffee is both visually amusing and emotional
right, and the script itself never veers into the preachy.
It's a decent start for the book, except that the art is ill-formed. Very
sketchy in a faux-Vertigo way, Doherty does little to engage the eye.
Particularly galling is the fact that almost all of the characters in this
story are sad sacks with unpleasant faces; even Superman looks like he's
suffering from mild gastrointestinal disease. Luckily, though, the art is
only slightly off, not like in our next story...
=+=+=+=+=
"If I Had A Hammer"
Story: Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty
Pencils: Eric Canete
Inks: Shawn Martinbrough
Colors: Tom Ziuko
Letters: Ken Lopez
TD: 2.3 Shields
GOOD LORD, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS ART????
Sorry, got ahead of myself.
Steel, furious with Superman for having 'dishonored the S,' shows Blue a
different road to help and compassion in a small African town.
I'm not the world's biggest Chuck Dixon fan (I detest the way he handles
many of his characters), but I must admit that "If I Had A Hammer," like
"Under Control," won me over. Except for an ill-advised fight scene with
some tanks at the very end, the story is basically Superman and Steel
helping rebuild a village while they discuss how best to help humanity.
It's refreshing to see these two heroes, both intelligent men, working
things out in a way that's constructive and beneficial. It's also fun to
see that Supes is won over not by 'the Iron Man of the DCU', but by Dr.
John Irons.
Unfortunately, this messed-up art job just makes my eyes bleed. It is
angular to the extreme, turning everyone in the story into bizarre,
well-built stick figures. Every panel is busy with unnecessary details
(especially Ken Lopez's sound effects) that constantly distract the reader.
I don't know where DC got this Eric Canete, but they need to put him in the
same tomb in which they imprisoned Josh Hood and forget he ever existed.
Let us never talk of this art again.
=+=+=+=+=
"Redemption"
Story: Eric Luke
Pencils: Brian Denham
Inks: Andy Lanning
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Trish Mulvihill
TD: 1.5 Shields
Wonder Woman works out her feelings for Superman when the Man of Steel
visits her Wonderdome.
Even at ten pages this story felt padded. It's a very thin story, which
basically boils down to, "Gorsh, Diana likes Clark in that way," and is
filled with the sort of whining a lot of beginning writers mistake for
depth. The thing that struck me the most about this story was that it
really didn't belong here, as it said more about Wonder Woman than it did
about Superman. I kept thinking I had somehow stumbled into a 'Lost Pages'
excerpt from an upcoming _Wonder Woman Secret Files_.
And once again we have an art job that is truly hideous. Penciller Denham
seems much more comfortable drawing monsters than he does real people; his
centaurs and minotaurs are fine, but his Wonder Woman is basically a
Popsicle stick with breasts.(The poses on page 24 are impossible to look at
without wincing.) He also draws a Man of Steel who looks 60 years old, and
compounds the sin with some angles and shots that just should not be tried
by an artist of his limited range. Maybe there's space in that hypothetical
tomb for him, too?
=+=+=+=+=
"Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen in Who Do You Trust?"
Story: Joe Casey
Art: Mike Oeming
Letters: Comicraft
Colors: Moose Baumann
TD: 1.3 Shields
It's a tough call between this and the two stories that bookend it, but I'd
have to call this one the worst of the lot. Jimmy is called away from a
lunch at Planet Krypton to get shots of a 'Chronal Bacteria' run amuck at
nearby S.T.A.R. Labs. The bacteria has already turned the scientists
studying it into monkeys... or cavemen... or something; Casey is never
clear on this. When Jimmy arrives, he gets turned into a ten-year-old.
Along comes Supes to save the day, even after young Jimmy has a tantrum,
causing our red-headed hero to write an editorial that defends Big Blue and
inspires Clark to keep fighting the good fight.
The reason "...Who Do You Trust?" fails is because it's not a story; it's a
series of incidents strung together in a sequential fashion. What's more,
it's a series of incidents that are supposed to be funny, yet are written
by Joe Casey -- a man whose previous attempts at humor are notorious for
falling flat. There's no reason for the Planet Krypton sequences except to
convey some half-assed anecdotes about the Superman robots, and the last
sequence, featuring the editorial, seems to come from a different story
entirely.
As for Oeming's art, it's very Evan Dorkin-esque without Dorkin's bite and
sharpness. Furthermore, in keeping with the apparent theme of this annual
of Artists-Who-Can't-Draw Supes, Oeming gives us a ridiculous, Gumby-like
thing with an Alfalfa-like spike in the center of his head standing in for
the infamous cow-lick.
So there are a few amusing moments (Jimmy's tantrum did make me smile), but
overall this is a dog.
=+=+=+=+=
"Sibs"
Written by: Doselle Young
Pencilled by: Mike Collins
Inked by: John Stanisci
Lettered by: John Costanza
Colored by: John Rosas
TD: 1.9 Shields
Following on the heels of the Jimmy Olsen story comes a Supergirl story
that suffers from the same problem. Linda and Clark meet at a dinner to...
I dunno, hang out and encounter a bunch of laid off factory workers
planning to blow up their former employer's site with themselves in it.
Superman sort of lectures them into giving up.
It's funny that in a book whose first story shows us a Superman reluctant
to lecture we get a Superman who is nothing but lectures. Young touches on
a lot of things without really focusing on any of them: Linda's 'earth
angel' status, Supergirl's hero-worship, corporate downsizing, etc. The sad
thing is he seems to know nothing about plotting and pacing. "Sibs" tries
to do the Pulp Fiction gag of going back and forth in time but fails
miserably because the changes in scene appear arbitrary.
Luckily, in Mike Collins we have an artist capable of drawing a decent
Superman. Unfortunately, this is not one of his best efforts. Collins,
usually able to do graceful yet powerful figures, here creates
grotesqueries out of Supes and the Maid of might, exaggerating pectorals
and bosoms to extreme levels. His faces are shockingly shoddy, generating a
truly ugly Linda and a spokesman for the doomed factory workers whose
features change from panel to panel. I was very disappointed in this art
job, as it could have saved the show.
=+=+=+=+=
"Frustration Eternal"
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciler: Gordon Purcell
Inkers: Jim Royal and Ray Snyder
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Ian Laughlin
TD: 3.5 Shields
Now this ... this is more like it. As you know, my favorite Dan Jurgens
piece to date was "Checkmate," the utterly chilling portrait of Lex Luthor
on the day of his daughter's birth. For his contribution, Jurgens delves
into Lex's head again, and pulls out another winner.
It's Lex Luthor Day in Metropolis, and an adoring public is honoring the
man. We hear him give a self-congratulatory speech, see him being cheered
by everyone, then watch him rudely turn down an invitation from the
President of the U.S.A. After all, Clinton will be gone from office
shortly, while Luthor -- to his own mind -- is forever.
Through the eyes of Lena's nurse, we see Luthor become, if possible,
crueler and nastier than ever. Thanks to a visit from Superman, we learn
why he is unhappy on what should be the eve of his biggest triumph:
Superman's recent bout with dictatorship has raised the ladder of success.
Now Luthor cannot be satisfied with being King of Metropolis; he must be
King of the World.
This is an excellent story, with Jurgens once again utilizing the
essay-style narration that has served him well in the past. It doesn't say
much that's new about Superman's greatest enemy, but it does bring an
element or two we may overlook at this point and put it into sharper
relief. I'm not exaggerating when I say this says more in its ten pages
about what drives Superman's greatest enemy than that misbegotten,
just-ended miniseries said in four issues.
Luckily, in Gordon Purcell, we have a decent, solid penciler with a talent
for faces this story needed. Purcell's Luthor is a man behind a mask,
turning on the media figure when doing his speaking engagement, but
otherwise showing the world a neutral, inoffensive face-until we see the
hard line of the man's mouth. It's good stuff all around.
Memo to DC: If you ever try that lame-brained Lex Luthor miniseries stunt
again, here's the team to produce it.
=+=+=+=+=
"From Krypton with Love"
Writer: Mark Millar
Art: Sean Phillips
Letterer: Pat Prentice
Colors: Pam Rambo
TD: 4.5 Shields
After lunch with Luthor, Lois reflects on the man she married, thinking
back on the qualities that made her love him.
On the principle of saving best for last, Millar and Phillips slams home
this fairly simple, very sweet, and absolutely dead-spot-perfect
illustrated essay on the Lois and Clark relationship. Notice I say 'essay',
for the story elements are not only minimal, but repetitive; just as in the
first story, a major plot point involves saving children from a fire.
Despite that, this essay, written in Lois' point of view, is one of the
best glimpses into what makes Superman tick I've seen in a while. Through
wonderfully understated prose, Millar gives us examples of the types of
things that make Clark such a good man that would not come out in a normal
comic book: his delight in life, his concern for his wife's health, his
willingness to do things he doesn't have because its what's expected of
him, and his joy in doing it. Millar also gives us a glimpse of how knowing
Superman has changed Lois; when Lois calls this her first genuinely adult
relationship, it feels natural and not at all forced.
Now, I know there are lots of you out there going, "Awwww man, not another
Sean Phillips art job," but Phillips works here because this piece is not
one of big gestures. It's one of small considerations and loving thoughts,
and Phillips' eccentric art helps drive the point home marvelously. I defy
any other Superman artist to do the last shot better. This is a great piece
of work.
=+=+=+=
You'll notice that, no matter how bad I claimed some of the stories are,
none reached the low ratings of some of the stories in the first 80 Page
giant. It seems that after an initial year of scattershot experimentation,
DC has finally figured out what they can do with this format. By doing a
narrow casted focus on what the individual stories are about, this issue
delivers a much more entertaining mix.
Can't wait to see what _Superman 80-Page Giant_ #3 is going to be like.
==============================================
BATMAN #566 Jun 1999 $1.99 US/$3.25 CAN
"The Visitor"
Writer: Kelly Puckett
Penciller: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Eduardo Barreto
Colorists: Richard and Tanya Horie
Letterers: Schubert and Costanza
Assoc. Editor: Joseph Illidge
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Cover: Bogdanove and Barreto
RATINGS
Average: 3.5/5.0 Shields
RG: 4.0 Shields - Superman learns a lesson about Gotham.
AW: 3.0 Shields - What keeps popping up in the back of my mind is that
the JLA completely rebuilt Metropolis after Action #700. Gotham
and its people don't deserve the same? Artistic license goes only
so far...
EM: 4.5 Shields - Why is a bat-book the highest rated Superman book this
month? *sigh*
GN: 3.3 Shields - Bog and Barreto make a pretty effective art team here.
The story effectively spotlights the limits of even a Superman in
NML -- and Batman as well.
JSy: 3.0 Shields - An interesting tale, with some nice art by Bogdanove
and Barreto, but I think that I probably don't know enough about
the details of "No Man's Land" to have fully appreciated the book.
SDM: 3.4 Shields - A well-written Superman story, if perhaps a bit hard to
believe. I'm not sure I fully understand why Gotham isn't ready
for rescue yet, but Puckett gets Supes right, and the art of Bog
and Barreto is great. Why didn't Bog draw this well in MOS? Also,
I'm growing quite fond of "No Man's Land" and stories like this
helped change my opinion of this stunt.
Review by: Rene Gobeyn <bedlam@frontiernet.net>
Welcome to "No Man's Land". If you haven't been reading the Bat-books for
the past few months, then the appearance of Gotham City may have been a
shock. In the past few years, two serious plagues and a major earthquake
have hit Gotham. The city's infrastructure has collapsed and the population
has been decimated, and the government has decided that Gotham is simply
not worth rebuilding. After evacuating everyone who wanted to leave from
the city, they blew the bridges, effectively cutting the city off from the
rest of the country. There is no law, and no order.
In the shattered remains of the city of Gotham, Superman tries to help
bring order to the chaos. Batman gives Superman twenty-four hours to try to
accomplish something of value, then disappears into the night. Much to his
credit, Superman doesn't try to do it all himself. Instead, he gets the man
who was once the chief engineer of the city power plant to help him in his
efforts to bring electricity back to the city.
After much effort, they get the plant back on line only to find that Mr.
Freeze has cut the main trunk, which feeds the city. While Superman is
handling that, the power plant is visited by some of the `concerned'
citizens, and the chief engineer learns something of the costs of doing
business in "No Man's Land". The story closes as Superman and Batman come
to an understanding.
Right now, some of the best stories being told in the DCU are happening in
the Bat-books, but there has been a lot of discussion amongst their
followers on how and why the world has turned its back on Gotham. One
question keeps being asked; where are the other heroes? When Metropolis was
damaged in the Clone War, the heroes turned out in force and repaired it
almost overnight. Why is Gotham so different? When Superman and his robots
were attempting to stop crime and war around the world, why didn't they
help in Gotham?
This book doesn't even attempt to explain these obvious inconsistencies,
beyond a wink and a nod that Batman wouldn't have tolerated the intrusion.
When Batman gives Superman 24 hours to do all the good he can, Batman does
so knowing full well that Superman is likely to fail. Giving Superman
credit, he really tries. There were a few points in the story where the
differences and similarities between Superman and Batman are brought
forcefully to mind.
A good example is the sequence where Superman and Mr. Freeze come to an
`understanding'. He took a page from Batman's book on intimidation; the
implied threat was far more than he would have used anywhere else. In
Gotham, though, it seems to be the only language they understand. It shows
how much Gotham has affected Superman. The last page, where Superman asks
the engineer why he is doing things the way he is, points out just how out
of touch with the people of Gotham he is. As a follow-up to _Superman: King
of the World' this worked really well.
When Superman fails, Batman doesn't rub it in. Instead he explains that it
took him even longer to realize that the people of the city aren't ready to
accept rebuilding. Batman will wait and watch over them until they are.
This story is one of the finest Superman Stories I've read this year. It's
a shame that it didn't appear in the one of the core titles. The real pity
is that the people who don't read the Bat-titles will miss this one. It's a
look at Superman through different eyes.
__________________________________________
THE PHANTOM ZONE: Reviews of the pre-Crisis Man of Steel
------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ONE, TRUE, ORIGINAL SUPERMAN!
---------------------------------------
by Bob Hughes (rhughes3@ix.netcom.com)
(or see my web page, "Who's Whose in The DC Universe" at
pw2.netcom.com/~rhughes3/whoswho.htm)
Episode 10: The End of Earth-2
I received an E-Mail a couple of months back from a reader chastising me
for bringing the Earth-1/Earth-2 concept into Superman history. The reader
(whose missive I have misplaced) pointed out that the stories were not
originally done with that concept in mind and that forcing the stories to
fit into a convention decided upon later was artificial and inaccurate. He
is, of course, correct.
When I started writing this series, I had in mind going through the various
Superman stories of the past and definitively consigning them to one Earth
or another, ending up with a complete chronology of the adventures of the
Earth-1 and Earth-2 Supermen. It didn't work out that way, precisely
because I found the concept too artificial and confining. The actual
development of the Superman character didn't work that way and the fiction
wasn't useful in exploring the subject that I'm really interested in -- how
Superman developed and changed through time and how the stories reflect the
ideas and morays of the eras in which they originally appeared.
So, with this article I'll try to dispose of the entire subject of multiple
Earths and then next month we can go on to really fascinating topics --
like bottle cities or robots or something.
In 1956, Robert Kanigher and Julius Schwartz brought back the Flash. The
character hadn't been seen since 1951, so, using the standard rule of thumb
that the average length of a comic book fan's attention span is 5 years,
they assumed they could get away with starting all over from scratch. But
just to forestall any letters from old-time readers, they had Barry Allen
shown reading a comic book featuring the old Flash.
The new Flash was a hit, and was followed by a new Green Lantern, a new
Atom, and a new Hawkman -- but there were more old time readers than
Schwartz had thought there were, and they wanted to see the old versions
again also. So, in _Flash_ #123 in September 1961, they brought back the
original Flash and placed his adventures, and by extension all the other
heroes of the Forties, on a parallel world called Earth-2. Eventually (in
1963), the entire 1940s Justice Society of America was revived to meet the
modern Justice League of America.
But this caused a problem for a number of characters. Batman, Superman, and
Wonder Woman had all been members of the Justice Society of America. And
their books had never been cancelled, so there was no break in adventures
after which it was possible to state that a new version of the character
had replaced the old one. Wisely, the editors at DC chose to ignore this
issue. It wasn't until 1969 and _Justice League_ #73 that the Superman of
Earth-2 made his first appearance. It wasn't until _All Star Comics_ itself
was revived in 1976 that any information was really provided about this
version of Superman.
If there was going to be an Earth-2 Superman, somehow he should be
differentiated from the current version. The distinctions that were decided
upon were all artificial and ahistorical. It was decided to use the Fred
Ray Superman chest symbol on his costume, rather than the Wayne Boring
version, even though both existed simultaneously. In the Fred Ray version,
the serif on the top bar of the S slants over and meets the side of the
shield, while in the Boring version, the bar is straight up and down and
just stops. This difference is rather trivial. If the editors had seen fit
to really explore the variations in Superman's costume that existed in the
Forties they could have given him an S shield with a black background, a
blue S on his cape (instead of yellow), yellow boots and a white belt. Now
that would have been a different looking Superman!
Other artificial distinctions were made. Clark was said to have worked only
for the Daily Star, even though he began working at the Daily Planet in
December 1939. George Taylor was stated to be his only editor, even though
Perry White first appeared in December 1940, and Clark worked for both
editors interchangeably for almost two years after that. Luthor was shown
to be a red head, even though he became bald in December 1940. Despite the
fact that the Earth-2 Superman had traveled through time by 1947, he was
shown to not even be able to fly!
Despite these contradictions, the Earth-2 Superman was awarded his own
back-up series after a publicity stunt in _Action Comics_ #484 (June 1978,
Superman's 40th Anniversary) in which a story was presented showing
Superman finally marrying Lois Lane. The series was entitled "Mr. and Mrs.
Superman" and was primarily written by E. Nelson Bridwell. Although well
written, the new series piled up even more contradictions, particularly as
regards the history of Kryptonite. Despite the story in _Action_ #141
(February 1950) which revealed how the world found out about Kryptonite,
Bridwell wrote another story in _Superman Family_ #202 with a contradictory
account of the same events.
Still and all, most of these contradictions can be explained away, and
assigning Fifties Superman stories to one version of the character or the
other can be an interesting parlor game -- one played by Nelson Bridwell
himself, incidentally, who decided that the last Earth-2 story was
"Superman vs the Futuremen", which was published in _Superman_ #128 all the
way in April of 1959!
We start off with a classic Curt Swan/Stan Kaye cover showing Superman (not
wearing the supposed Earth-2 costume) being encircled in rings being shot
out of a purple flying saucer.
"Great guns... I'm caught in a super-trap by super-villains from the year
2,000! Even my Superman powers can't help me escape!"
Inside, Bill Finger, Wayne Boring, and Stan Kaye start off this
super-length 18-page extravaganza by announcing that the Flying Saucer
pilots are not Super-villains at all, but Space Police, chasing Superman.
What's going on here?
After the obligatory splash, the story opens in the FBI offices, where a
whirring noise is heard and a round purple globe with spider-like legs
suddenly appears! The two men who step out, dressed in green with
Superman-style shorts and cape and baseball caps on their heads, announce
they are from the Earth Bureau of Investigation from the Year 2000. To
prove it, their shirts have giant triangle symbols containing the letters
"EBI" on them. They are looking for a dangerous outlaw who is known to have
been hiding in the past for many years, using the name Superman.
Yes, the man the FBI know as Superman is in reality a space pirate from the
future called the Shark! The EBI was finally closing in on him, when he
drank a serum which gave him super-powers and sped off through the
time-barrier to escape them. It took the future policemen years to build a
time machine with which to chase after him. Now they demand the FBI's
cooperation in arresting him. Reluctantly, the agents agree!
Superman is perplexed by the strange accusations, and afraid of the unknown
future weapons the EBI agents aim at him. Quickly, he escapes to hide in
his Fortress of Solitude, where he dictates a message to Perry White. He
tells Perry the truth of his origin, how he was rocketed to Earth and grew
up on a farm, where he developed strange powers as a teen-ager. Dad Kent
counsels Clark that when he grows up he must use his powers to help mankind
as a Superman. So Clark goes off to the big city to become a newspaper
reporter. The whole sequence looks remarkably like the origin page from
_Action Comics_ #1, with nary a mention of any of the developments and
enhancements (like Superboy) made over the years since.
Superman delivers the tape to Perry, who promises not to play it until
Superman is taken into the future. Then Superman flies off, avoiding Air
Force jets who are trying to force him down. The EBI agents tell the FBI
that the only way to capture Superman is with a strange substance from the
future called Red Kryptonite! This special variety will take away
Superman's powers for two hours -- time enough for the EBI to capture and
subdue him. Part One ends with Superman being shot in the shoulder by a
policeman! Superman is captured and placed on a stretcher and wheeled to
the time machine. Lois makes her tearful good-bye. The EBI agents expose
him to the Red Kryptonite again because its effects were starting to wear
off, and "ZZZ-ZZZ", they're off to the future!
"All right" Superman states. "I'm ready to go to trial!" Hah! retort Vard
and Boka. There will be no trial, because they're not really EBI agents.
They spray Superman with Red Kryptonite again and this time it paralyzes
him so completely that they are able to display him as a statue in the
Superman museum. That night they fly him off into space to the planet
Saturn. Earth's oceans are drying up, but Superman could bring balls of ice
orbiting around Saturn to Earth, where governments would pay Vard and Boka
billions to get access to the water. And if Superman won't help their
nefarious scheme, they'll go back in time and dry up all the oceans in his
time!
It takes all his ingenuity for Superman to escape from the false cops and
their infinite supply of Red Kryptonite, but he does. He then replenishes
Earth's oceans for free! Whattaguy!
Now, armed with a note from the real EBI, exonerating him from the false
charges, Superman whizzes back through time, using the time machine, and
just barely catches Perry and Lois before they listen to his taped message
which reveals his secret identity!
Why did Nelson Bridwell consider this an Earth-2 Superman story? Well, for
one thing, the origin sequence doesn't mention Superboy. Second, the FBI
had never heard of Red Kryptonite (this was its first appearance in a
Superman story, by the way, but it had been featured in several Superboy
tales) and it didn't act the way Red K is supposed to act. The same piece
is not supposed to be able to affect Superman twice.
But the clincher is the fact that, if Superman had had a career as
Superboy, then the entire tale of his really being a space pirate known as
the Shark would be impossible. Unless there are six-year-old space pirates
in the year 2000).
Bill Finger and Mort Weisinger probably didn't think they needed to worry
about these little inconsistencies, but _Superman_ #128 also featured a new
innovation that would change the way comics were created and marketed. It
was only the fifth issue of Superman that had a letters page, but already
readers were asking questions. If Superboy has a dog, shouldn't that dog
appear in Superman also? asks Scott Snyder. How can Clark Kent get a
passport if he was born on Krypton? asks Edward Katz. If Earth people went
to Krypton would they become super-weak? asks Ralph Azuz. Why don't you
create a Supergirl? asks Gabe Levy.
It soon became evident that the 5-year rule that editors had lived by
didn't hold, and that readers really cared about the plot holes that
writers had been hoping no one would notice. Consistency was demanded, and
any failure, no matter how minute, was taken to task. Although Weisinger
never explicitly said so, it soon became evident that as far as he was
concerned, continuity for Superman began in 1958. No story from before that
time was considered canonical unless it was reprinted in an Annual, and
even then it was often rewritten to conform to the new history of Superman.
Of course the stories from before that time were never consistent, so
constructing a logical chronology for an Earth-2 Superman requires a lot of
stretching of a fan's imagination. Superman works for both the Daily Planet
and the Daily Star? Easy, one was a morning and one an afternoon paper
owned by the same company. Eventually the Planet, like most afternoon
papers in the real world, was shut down. And every paper has more than one
editor, so why can't Clark work for both Perry White and George Taylor? And
why can't Luthor just shave his head? Nothing to it -- fans can think up an
explanation for almost anything.
But many stories before 1958 must refer to the Earth-1 Superman -- if they
mention Superboy, or feature other events important to Earth-1 history,
like all the Superman-Batman team-ups in _World's Finest_. Some other clues
exist as to which Earth a story should belong. The last adventure of Mr.
Mxyztplk appeared in _Superman_ #105. Mr. Mxyzptlk was introduced 3 years
later in _Superman_ #131.
Krypton stories that contradicted or duplicated later events, such as
_Superman_ #123's "Superman's Return to Krypton", which was replaced in
continuity by the _Superman_ #141 version, can easily also be consigned to
the Earth-2 character. By extension, this means that the version of
Super-Girl introduced in that same story is also an Earth-2 character.
I could go on and on, but I won't. To wrap up, the last originally-recorded
adventure of the Superman of Earth-2's career was in April of 1959. Despite
his ironic statement to Lois that he intended to stick around for a long
time, he disappeared completely soon after that, under the spell of the
Wizard, an old Justice Society foe, who used his magic to make Clark forget
he was Superman.
Freed of the overshadowing presence of Superman, Lois Lane discovers that
she really loves Clark Kent and they marry. Soon after that though, Lois
discovers her husband has super-powers and must be the lost Man of Steel.
Without Clark's help she figures out that the Wizard is behind it all, and
gets him to reverse his spell. The world has a Superman once more, albeit a
married one (_Action Comics_ #484).
Upon George Taylor's retirement, Clark Kent becomes editor of the Daily
Star in _Superman Family_ #196. Clark and Lois attend the wedding of Bruce
Wayne and Selina Kyle in _Superman Family_ #211, where it is revealed that
the Earth-2 real name of Two-Face is Harvey Kent, not Dent.
The Justice Society reforms in 1963, after an attack by their old enemy
Vandal Savage (_Flash_ #137). Superman helps them battle Aquarius and meets
the Superman of Earth-1 in 1969 (_JLA_ #73-74).
In 1975, after the death of his wife, Bruce Wayne renounces his Batman
career and becomes Police Commissioner of Gotham City (_DC Super-Stars_
#17).
In 1976, Superman's cousin Kara comes to Earth and takes the identity of
Power Girl just in time to help Robin and the Star-Spangled Kid form the
Super-Squad and defeat Brain Wave. Superman re-joins Power Girl and the JSA
to battle Zanadu, the Chaos Lord (_All Star_ #62-63) but resigns soon
after, trusting Power Girl to carry on in his place (_All Star_ #66).
In 1977, Commissioner Bruce Wayne, under the influence of the Psycho
Pirate, tries to disband the JSA. Only the intervention of Superman brings
them all to their senses (_All-Star_ #69).
In 1979, Superman's best friend, Batman, dies, the first member of the
Justice Society to fall in battle (_Adventure_ #462). Mr. Terrific follows
shortly thereafter (_JLA_ #171).
In 1981, the revived Atoman shows up on Earth-1 where he battles the
Earth-1 Superman and Batman. The Earth-1 Superman returns Atoman to Earth-2
and Superman's custody (_World's Finest_ #271)
In 1982, Superman 1 and 2 battle Ultra Man on Earth-3, where they meet a
good Luthor (_DC Presents Annual_ #1).
In 1985, Earth-2 is destroyed by the Anti-Monitor. Only Clark and Lois
survive. They go off into a golden doorway with the young Alexander Luthor,
presumably never to be seen again.
In 1999, the one, true original Superman is glimpsed in the mini-series
_The Kingdom_, proving that the never-ending battle is not over yet.
__________________________________________
SUPERGIRL'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY
--------------------------------------------
By Scott Devarney (devarney@ll.mit.edu)
Before beginning this month's review, I'd like to thank Brad Ferguson. In
my previous review, I'd paraphrased a quote, "The Golden Age of comics is
10", and I'd asked anyone to send in the correct quote and its author. Brad
informed me that the quote actually is, "The Golden Age of science fiction
is 12," and its author is Robert Silverberg. Thanks again, Brad, for the
help and the words of encouragement.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first appearance of the Silver
Age Supergirl, Kara Zor-El. She debuted in _Action Comics_ #252, cover
dated May 1959. To commemorate this anniversary, I'll be looking at a pair
of stories that celebrated Supergirl's 25th anniversary, _Action Comics_
#555 and _Supergirl_ #20.
Eschewing a standard Superman/Supergirl team-up, writer Paul Kupperberg
created a "parallel story" using the same villain, Parasite. Each story had
the same basic structure: hero saves civilians; hero is shown in his/her
secret identity; Parasite attacks hero in his/her secret identity; hero
recovers, fights Parasite, and is defeated; hero escapes from trap and
defeats Parasite; heroes meet and compare notes. The idea was to highlight
each hero's similarities and differences.
ACTION COMICS #555, "Reunion"
Written by Paul Kupperberg
Pencilled by Curt Swan
Inked by Dave Hunt
Lettered by Ben Oda
Colored by Gene D'Angelo
Edited by Julius Schwartz
May 1984
The story begins with Superman saving a construction worker as a disguised
Parasite looks on. Later at work, Clark calls Linda Danvers at her Chicago
apartment and arranges to meet her in Midvale at 12:17 pm. As he's working,
Clark begins to feel weak and dizzy. He goes to the storeroom to change to
Superman and is attacked by Parasite. Parasite drains Clark to normal human
power levels, knocks him out, and leaves.
Clark recovers and goes after Parasite. After battling, Parasite deposits a
drained Superman into a floating metal box with only 4 minutes of air in
it. While guarding the prison, Parasite reveals that he isn't draining
Superman for his powers; they are coming from somewhere else. While this is
going on, Superman frees himself by using a lens from Clark's glasses,
which, being made from the rocket that brought him to Earth, can cut metal
as if it were butter. Superman then plays mind games with Parasite which
makes it easy to hypnotize the villain into returning the stolen powers.
Superman then meets Supergirl in Midvale who mentions that she just had
trouble with Parasite or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Superman reveals
his surprise, which remains off-panel, and we see Supergirl's reaction.
As a Supergirl anniversary story, this is a disappointment. She only
appears in a total of 5 panels plus the cover. Although I can appreciate
Paul Kupperberg and Julius Schwartz wanting to do something different, to
properly celebrate, "the anniversary of Supergirl's debut in ACTION
COMICS", as it says on this issue's cover, a Superman/Supergirl team-up
would have been more appropriate.
As a Superman story, this is an enjoyable Superman/Parasite battle. Most of
the matchup is a typical slugfest, but there are moments, such as when
Superman rides Parasite like a bucking bronco, or using Clark's glasses to
escape the trap, that are really fun. Superman's exploitation of Parasite's
limited intelligence is also amusing. The fact that Parasite has never been
the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree has always been his greatest
weakness and it was interesting to see Superman take advantage of it.
Another great thing is seeing Clark at work. So often, Clark's job is seen
as merely an interruption between his Superman duties. It's nice to see him
devoting a fair amount of time to his job, by attending a meeting and
preparing a news update, to remind readers how he manages to stay employed.
For people who don't care for crossovers, Paul Kupperberg gives a mostly
complete story, Superman's battle with and capture of Parasite. There are
still a few questions remaining, such as: What is Superman's surprise for
Supergirl? From where is Parasite draining power, if not from Superman? And
what did Supergirl mean when she said she fought the Parasite or a
reasonable facsimile? For the answers to these questions, we turn to:
SUPERGIRL #20, "Celebration"
Written by Paul Kupperberg
Art by Carmine Infantino and Bob Oksner
Lettered by Rod Ollerenshaw
Colored by Gene D'Angelo
Edited by Julius Schwartz
June 1984
In Chicago, a disguised Parasite causes a police helicopter to go down by
siphoning the pilot's aviation knowledge, which brings Supergirl to the
rescue. Parasite drains a little bit of her strength as a test. Supergirl
recovers and rushes home in time to receive Clark's phone call, switch to
Linda Danvers, and head to class.
Parasite arrives on campus, still disguised, tracking Supergirl's
emanations. He detects her by forcing Linda to pass out at his feet. Linda
awakens in an alley and flies to the Fortress of Solitude to get checked
out. After receiving a clean bill of health from the Fortress computers,
Supergirl returns to Chicago, where she's lured to Parasite by the
launching of his airborne cell. Parasite reveals himself and manages to
overpower Supergirl. He then places her in the cell.
Trapped with only 4 minutes of air, Supergirl uses her comb of kryptonian
metal on a cell wall. She ordinarily uses this comb to affect the molecules
of her hair, transforming between Linda's straight brown hair and
Supergirl's curly blonde hair. She reasons that since the comb affects
molecules, it should affect the cell wall's molecules.
Parasite waits out the 4 minutes and, believing that Supergirl is dead and
knowing that his time is almost up, he transfers the stolen powers back
into the supposedly dead body of Supergirl. Supergirl, of course,
immediately arrives and beats the tar out of Parasite. During this final
fight, Parasite reveals the truth: he is actually a clone created to
transmit any power he steals to the real Parasite, who is battling
Superman. Shortly thereafter, he dissolves.
Supergirl rushes to meet Superman in Midvale. Amidst the members of the
Justice League and the Teen Titans, Superman unveils a floating statue of
Supergirl to commemorate the anniversary of her landing on Earth, at
exactly 12:17 pm EST in Midvale.
On a side note, this story mentions that Hawkman supplied antigravity metal
to provide the statue's floating effects. In the text piece of _The Shadow
War of Hawkman_ #2, mini-series writer Tony Isabella retcons this, stating,
"Since Hawkman is on record as being opposed to the open use of his
advanced science for fear that it might fall into the wrong hands, I can't
believe that he would ever put that technology on public display. So if you
look closely, you can see the strings that are actually holding up that
Supergirl statue."
Although this story has some interesting ideas, the execution is flawed.
Parasite creating a clone for funnelling stolen energy is a unique strategy
for a villain whose usual method of operation is to drain people and engage
in brawls. This adds some cunning and ingenuity to his ruthlessness.
Unfortunately, the plot holes are big enough to drive a trailer truck
though sideways. Probably the biggest involves how Supergirl regains her
powers. Parasite-clone is about to die, so he _conveniently returns the
stolen powers to Supergirl!_ Why bother? He knows he's doomed, so why not
take Supergirl's powers with him? If I remember correctly, there is no need
for him to return the powers since Supergirl would eventually regain them
over time. For this story's ending, she has to quickly regain them to meet
Superman in Midvale. Reclaiming the stolen powers makes more sense in the
Superman story because he regains them in the process of defeating
Parasite.
Supergirl doesn't come across well either. Using her comb to affect the
cell's molecular structure seems like faulty logic. The comb is designed to
change her hair color, so for all she knows, the comb would just change the
color of the wall. She gets lucky that the comb weakens the wall. Another
thing that feels wrong is that Supergirl doesn't recognize Parasite until
he reveals himself to her. She's been suffering power drains and is smart
enough to use the Fortress computers to rule out physical ailments; she
even narrows it down to the mysterious guy on campus. At that point alarms
should have been ringing in her head. She even mentions later on that
Superman has told her about Parasite. At the very least, she should have
used the Fortress computers to identify known supervillains with energy
leeching powers.
Overall, Supergirl deserves better. This crossover suffers from the typical
"great setup/disappointing conclusion" syndrome. The Superman chapter is
pretty fun, but the Supergirl chapter is pretty bad. This is surprising
considering that the 1980s _Supergirl_ series was Paul Kupperberg's baby.
__________________________________________
SUPERMAN STORIES
------------------------------------------
By Sean Hogan (shogan@intergate.bc.ca)
Legends -- The Miniseries
In an earlier article where I reviewed the first post-reboot year of the
_Adventures of Superman_, I mentioned that one of those issues was a
cross-over with the _Legends_ miniseries. This month, I'm going to review
the 6-issue miniseries and the Superman tie-in issues.
_Legends_ was created as the follow-up to the _Crisis On Infinite Earths_
maxiseries. Where _Crisis_ destroyed the multiverse and numerous
characters, _Legends_ was to serve as an introduction to the new DC
Universe and a springboard to the many new series emerging in the wake of
the Crisis. _Legends_ was plotted by John Ostrander, with script by Len
Wein, pencils by John Byrne, and inks by Karl Kesel.
_Legends_ introduced the new versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, and The
Flash (Wally West), the new Suicide Squad, and the Keith Giffen Justice
League, and also spun off mini-series for Cosmic Boy (more about this
later) and Captain Marvel .
The first issue of _Legends_ opens on Apokolips, with Darkseid plotting
revenge against Earth and its heroes. Darkseid gets right to the heart of
the tale by conveniently musing that, "to some these puny creatures are
legends, the stories of their greatness inspiring others to their greatness
as well! Perhaps the time has come to strike at the very core of the
problem -- to destroy the very concept of such legends. Then perhaps,
humanity will become more ... compliant."
To begin his attack, Darkseid sends three agents to Earth. The first attack
is a physical one, as a fiery creature called Brimstone emerges from a
nuclear generator to easily defeat Firestorm.
The second is a more subtle attack on the beliefs and hopes of the
population. Darkseid's agent, Glorious Godfrey (calling himself G. Gordon
Godfrey -- anyone else having Watergate flashbacks?) uses his powers of
persuasion to convince America about the "threat" that super-heroes pose.
Godfrey denounces them as vigilantes -- using violence to solve problems
and providing negative role models for children.
The third attack is both a physical and spiritual assault against Billy
Batson and his alter ego, Captain Marvel. Dr. Bedlam, inhabiting a
construct known as Macro Man, draws Captain Marvel to battle. Macro Man's
apparent death by Cap's magic lightning bolt horrifies Billy, who vows to
never become Captain Marvel again.
Other characters are introduced in this first issue -- including the new
Flash (Wally West), Changeling, and Cosmic Boy. We also see the genesis of
the Suicide Squad as Colonel Rick Flag meets the formidable Amanda Waller.
The issue ends with Cosmic Boy being saved from Brimstone's attack by the
so-called "Detroit League" JLA (named after the location of its
headquarters and led by the Martian Manhunter, this version of the League
featured "second stringers" such as Vibe, Vixen, Steel (not John Henry
Irons), and Gypsy, along with the Elongated Man and Firestorm).
The second issue of _Legends_ has Brimstone quickly defeating the "Detroit
League" JLA while spotlighting characters that would eventually form the
new JLA -- including Batman, Guy Gardner (Green Lantern), and Blue Beetle.
This issue shows Godfrey's manipulations begin to take effect as a mob
attacks and seriously injures Batman's partner, Robin (Jason Todd), while
other heroes face similar mobs. Superman enters the story as he meets with
President Reagan, who decides to ban all costumed superheroes until the
crisis of confidence has passed. The Phantom Stranger also enters the tale,
appearing on Apokolips as an observer and counterpoint to Darkseid.
Matters are desperate by issue three as we see the public turning against
the superheroes in public and in private. Most of the issue deals with the
Suicide Squad -- a group of villains pressed into service by the government
-- and their attack and defeat of Brimstone. The heroes themselves are
having no success. Flash and Changeling are besieged in Titan's Tower by
ordinary citizens, Superman reluctantly agrees to obey the President's
edict, and Billy Batson faces the angry father of a young friend who says,
"It's about time somebody did something about those super-powered menaces!"
Issue four has several villains trying to take advantage of the situation,
while individual heroes, in breach of the President's ban, stop them. In
one memorable scene, two policemen wrestle when one tries to capture Black
Canary, resulting in one cop accidentally killing his partner. The
survivor's horror at his action quickly turns to anger and hatred --
blaming the death on "that so-called superhero!"
Although matters seem desperate for our heroes, we finally see evidence
that the tide has begun to turn. The heroes refuse to let evil win, and a
new player enters the game as Kent Nelson dons the helmet of Dr. Fate. The
issue ends with the Phantom Stranger goading Darkseid, saying he will never
win as long as noble beings such as Superman still live. Darkseid decides
to take a direct hand in the matter, sending his Omega beams to bring
Superman to Apokolips -- and leading to the three Superman crossover
issues.
_Superman_ #3 has Clark Kent vainly trying to outrun Darkseid's beams. As
the Omega beams make contact, he is transported to Apokolips and lands at
Darkseid's feet. Darkseid appears not to recognize "this cringing mortal"
(boy, those glasses sure are effective!) and tosses Clark out of the window
and into the slums far below.
Clark is besieged by the lowlies who inhabit the Armaghetto. They steal his
clothes until Superman. standing revealed, shrugs them off. Disguising
himself with rags, he sets off to try and discover Darkseid's involvement
in the events on Earth. However, Superman is forced to reveal himself and
intervene when he comes across a woman about to be killed by
shock-troopers. One of the Apokolips demons captures Superman and flies him
straight into one of Darkseid's dreaded fire-pits. As the issue ends, we
see Darkseid watching from overhead and laughing as Superman disappears.
_Adventures of Superman_ #426 opens with a near-dead Superman being fished
out of the fire-pits by a scavenger. When an angry mob surrounds Superman,
he is saved by a woman known as Amazing Grace. Grace proclaims Superman as
the Savior they have been waiting for to lead them to victory against
Darkseid.
Superman, suffering from amnesia and lacking his super-powers, still shows
himself to be a hero by defeating the parademons sent to attack the crowd.
The mob embraces their Savior, as does Grace -- later and more intimately.
Then, in some wonderfully drawn pages by Jerry Ordway, Savior and the
lowlies rise up to battle Darkseid's army.
In apparent victory, Savior and Grace address the gathered lowlies. Savior
reminds them that they have defied the will of Darkseid because of their
hopes for freedom and for a savior. He ends by saying, "and now it is time
for the great change. Let that last great hope ... be ended!"
With those words, parademons swoop down -- decimating the assembled crowd.
Superman,as Savior, enjoys the massacre saying, "The revolution is over,
Grace. We have won." He turns to accept praise from "my true master", as
Darkseid steps forward from the shadows to say, "You have indeed served me
well, my son..."
_Action Comics_ #586 opens with Orion and Lightray of the New Gods hurrying
to Apokolips on orders from Highfather to save Superman. Meanwhile Savior
struggles under the training of Granny Goodness. Darkseid, aware of the
approaching New Gods, revives Savior's superpowers and sends send him to
battle. Darkseid reveals that what he has done is dangerous -- as
Superman's powers require his full, active brain to drive them. He has
created an illusion that Savior's powers come from his father, Darkseid, to
prevent Superman from regaining his memory.
Savior clashes with Orion and they engage in a furious battle until Orion
hears Savior/Superman call himself "the son of Darkseid". While Lightray
fends off and blinds Grace, Orion stuns Savior long enough to convince him
that Orion is the true son of Darkseid. Orion then uses a Mother Box to
reweave the broken fabric of Superman's mind. Superman, bellowing
Darkseid's name, rushes toward the lord of Apokolips.
Darkseid, hearing the yell, sends out his deadly Omega beams to annihilate
his enemy. This time though, Superman is prepared and outraces the beams,
flying straight toward Darkseid. Quickly turning at the last minute,
Superman evades the beams and lets them impact their master. Darkseid is
injured, but not defeated, and he and Superman continue to battle until
Darkseid acknowledges defeat and creates a boom tube to transport Superman
back to Earth.
With Superman's rescue, Orion and Lightray leave Apokolips. Orion reveals
to his friend that when the Mother Box restored Superman's memory, it did
not let him remember his actions on Apokolips so that he will not be
tormented by his guilt over the slaughter and betrayal in which he played a
part. Even though his memory was cleansed in this story, the issue of a
similar guilt would be dealt with in a later story -- after Superman's
execution of the Phantom Zone criminals.
Meanwhile, in _Legends_ #5, Billy Batson's friend Lisa finally convinces
him that someone needs to reason with the mobs and that the world needs
it's superheroes. Billy finally accepts his responsibilities and utters his
magic word, transforming himself once again into Captain Marvel. It is only
then, with the wisdom of Solomon, that he realizes that he had been duped
and that he was not responsible for the death of Macro Man.
As the miniseries draws to its climax, Dr. Fate begins gathering the
heroes. One by one we see various heroes disappearing as Dr. Fate tells
them, "You are needed!" Meanwhile, Godfrey has captured Captain Boomerang,
one of the members of the Suicide Squad, prompting Amanda Waller to gather
the rest of the squad.
As Godfrey exhorts the crowd gathered in Washington D.C., Dr Fate appears
with his assembled heroes. Darkseid, watching from Apokolips, gloats to the
Phantom Stranger that "to preserve their ideals, your heroes will either
have to battle the very people they profess to protect or else allow
themselves to be destroyed by them. Either way, Stranger, Darkseid wins!"
The issue ends with a hint as to how the dilemma might be resolved when
Jason Todd drags himself from his hospital bed and dons his Robin costume
-- heading off to help "even if it kills me!"
_Legends_ #6 begins with Darkseid gloating and recapping the plot for the
reader. The Stranger replies that Darkseid has, in his pride and arrogance,
ignored one crucial factor that will lead to his downfall. That factor
isn't immediately apparent as the heroes battle the public, Apokolipsian
War Hounds, and Parademons. As the heroes disperse to the various threats,
Godfrey strikes and steals the helmet of Dr. Fate, forcing Kent Nelson to
flee the mob.
New players join the fray including the Suicide Squad, the Martian
Manhunter (who saves the President's life), and Wonder Woman. In the post
_Crisis_ universe, this is the first appearance of the Amazon warrior. And
as luck will have it, the first hero to witness her debut is Guy Gardner
who, coming up from behind her, can only say, "eep". Unfortunately, he then
recovers what wits he has and starts his usual yapping.
Finally, the heroes again assemble in the middle of a mob. Incited by
Godfrey, the mob moves closer. Watching from Apokolips, the Phantom
Stranger reminds Darkseid of the forgotten crucial factor. Suddenly, from
between the legs of the mob, children begin to emerge -- including young
Robin. The children form a wall between their parents and the heroes. The
deadlock is broken when Godfrey grabs young Lisa and slaps her. His action
shocks the crowd, making him lose his influence over them.
In desperation, Godfrey puts on the helmet of Dr. Fate, hoping to control
its power, but the helmet destroys Godfrey's mind. The crowd reels, finally
released from Godfrey's power and begs forgiveness of the heroes. Dr. Fate
uses the opportunity to press the heroes to form a new Justice League. Many
of the heroes accept the offer, although Superman declines but says that he
will be there when they need him.
And that's it. _Legends_ is a nice, self-contained story (as is the three
issue Superman crossover) and well worth reading. Pick up either the six
issues or the trade paperback and enjoy the tale. Although none of the
crossover issues are required, you may want to pick up ones that are of
interest to you (all the crossovers are listed at the end of the trade
paperback and in ads in the regular issues).
Only one of the threads in _Legends_ would return to have a significant
impact on the Superman legend -- the _Cosmic Boy_ miniseries. Although
Cosmic Boy was only in the first two issues of _Legends_, his tale
continued as he launched into an epic battle with the Time Trapper.
Next issue, I'll review the _Cosmic Boy_ miniseries and issues of the
Legion of Super-Heroes and Superman comics -- as we remember the death of
Superboy, "The Greatest Hero Of Them All!".
__________________________________________
***********************************************************
End of Section 9/Issue #62
