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"Dead Again!," Part 7! Superman's tour of all the people who hate him continues as he goes to Apokolips to check on Darkseid... and, while at it, the Cyborg Superman, who's currently trapped inside a Pokéball there. Using a Boom Tube provided by the nice space gods of New Genesis (see last issue), Superman drops into Apokolips right into the middle of a massive crowd scene. Uh-oh!
(That "uh-oh" was for artist Barry Kitson. I hope he likes drawing mean space gods.)
All Superman wants to do is have a chat with Darkseid, but Granny Goodness' forces are most uncooperative. On top of the 200 shock troopers and parademons trying to kill him, Superman has to deal with the Female Furies and their confounding double entendres. One of them manages to bring Superman down to the edge of the Armagetto, where he's recognized by the resident Hunger Dogs as the guy who almost freed them (and got a bunch of them killed) years ago, during the Legends storyline.
Meanwhile, Darkseid watches this from his palace and instructs his beret-wearing personal assassin, Kanto, to "get to work" on Superman. (Why does a space god who can evaporate people with his eyes need a personal assassin? This is not for mere mortals to know.) Kanto waits until Superman is at the edge of Apokolips' famous fire pits to launch a sonic attack that sends all the Hunger Dogs rushing towards him for help, the idea being that they'll fall into the fire and this will murder Superman... 's soul. Darkseid was probably like, "I really should have been more specific."
Superman prevents the Dogs from getting roasted and heads to Castle Darkseid, where Kanto reveals himself as the mastermind behind that evil plan. Superman, however, is no mood to deal with a guy in a beret right now.
(Kanto will survive. RIP the beret, though.)
Alone with Darkseid at last, Superman accuses him of being the one who put that Superman corpse in his tomb, thus making him responsible for this entire storyline. Darkseid points out it couldn't possibly be him, because he still owes Superman for saving his life (during Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey) and Darkseid is an evil space god of his word. He claims that the Cyborg, who was last seen getting Omega Beam'd by Darkseid (also during Hunter/Prey), ain't the one either, although "his death might not be as final as it seems." What?! Resurrection?? In a superhero comic??? Is that legal?
At this point, Superman is more pissed off than he's ever been, and even breaks one of Darkseid's fancy tables during a tantrum. Darkseid replies with this curious choice of words:
This does nothing to lighten Superman's mood, and he says (yells) that it's "time I shut this godforsaken planet down forever!" Instead, Darkseid shuts him down with the Omega Beams, and Superman finds himself back on Earth. However, Darkseid's cryptic mention of of a "carnival sideshow" has convinced Superman that he finally knows the identity of his tormentor, for real this time. See, carnivals are fun, and who's the funnest Superman villain of all?
Yes, the handsome Mr. Mxyzptlk! TO BE CONTINUED! OR CONCLUDED, POSSIBLY!
Plotline-Watch:
With the "carnival sideshow" clue above, Darkseid considers his debt with Superman paid, and gives us a little tease of his plans for the Cyborg... but that's a whole other storyline.
Don Sparrow says: "Nice that the Hunger Dogs that Superman betrayed as 'Savior' back in the day aren't holding a grudge." Yeah, so they remember Superman "almost freeing" them during the Legends storyline, but they don't remember him selling them out to Darkseid while he was under Amazing Grace's control? Then again, I guess all the ones who would remember that are dead.
It's unclear how much Superman himself remembers; Orion erased his memory of that whole incident at the end of that storyline to spare him the "I accidentally helped commit genocide" trauma, but Superman doesn't seem surprised to hear that the Hunger Dogs remember him as a savior. Maybe he got his memories back at the end of "Day of the Krypton Man," after finally solving his split personality issues (which, in my headcanon, are connected to the suppressed memories)?
This issue contains no references to the Apokolips-related Guardians of Metropolis miniseries that was coming out at this time (also written by Karl Kesel), but it's interesting to see Female Fury Gilotina get the spotlight for a whole page. She'll end up playing a big role in that mini and it works better if you know her as a Fury (I sure didn't before this issue, even though she goes back to Jack Kirby's original Fourth World comics).
Shout Outs-Watch:
Three posts in a month! (If you count the revamped Action #585 post.) This miracle is brought to you by our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris "Ace" Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Join them (and get extra articles) via Patreon or our newsletter's "pay what you want" mode! Both of those also have free tiers, if you just wanna get posts like this one in your inbox. NOTE: If you subscribe, please check your junk mail for the activation email!
This prolific pace is also spurred by Don Sparrow, who's perpetually ahead of me on these write ups. Here's the latest one:
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
Pretty good cover on this one as the angular, minimalist blocks on Superman look electric and painful. It’s also the first time I can remember the connection between Darkseid and the dark side of the force (as a Star Wars reference) being made. It’s also a fairly accurate cover for the story, as the scene and all the characters on the cover more or less appear as depicted. [Max: I don't see Desaad in the issue, though. Is there only room for one lackey in Darkseid's office?]
Inside, we’re greeted with a pretty nice splash page of Superman arriving via Boom Tube.
Kitson does a good job of showing the ghetto aspects of Armagetto, particularly how teeming and crowded it is, and how it just seems like dirty energetic chaos.
Kitson and Kesel draw a much thinner, more humanoid Darkseid than the wide and monstrous versions we’re used to from John Byrne and Dan Jurgens, but it works more than it doesn’t. The image of Superman lifting the dandy Kanto by his collar is a good one. I also never tire of Darkseid doing casual things, so holding a goblet of chilled water is a great image. [Max: Darkseid just loves chilling.]
Page 18’s yelling Superman is like a clinic in 90s hatching technique, and the falloff of light from Darkseid’s omega beams on the following page looks very Keith Giffen to me. Finally, those eye-beams in use is probably the best image in the comic.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
I can hardly think of an issue in recent memory where less actually happened, plot-wise, but that’s been a feature of the "Dead Again!" storyline. On its face, you could summarize this plot as: Superman arrives on Apokolips to accuse Darkseid. He’s briefly delayed and then does so. Zero B-storyline.
There’s a few unfamiliar faces in this issue for me, but they’re interesting characters to call back—the pale woman in red (with the logo that comes dangerously close to that of Vampirella) is Bloody Mary, an Apokoliptan vampire created by none other than the writer artist team of this issue, Karl Kesel and Barry Kitson in Hawk and Dove #35. Gilotina (the conventionally pretty woman in pink) is a Jack Kirby original, but fellow Kesel and Kitson creation Speed Queen (with teal hair miscoloured as brown) also appears in that first group of Furies. Another character I didn’t remember was archer Artemis (sometimes called Artemiz), and then a little research showed she first popped up in Suicide Squad #35 in 1989, an issue whose cover was inked by—you guessed it—Karl Kesel. So it was neat of the super-team to bring back some of these lesser known Furies. We also get a blink and you’ll miss it cameo from a character called Buna, who Dan Jurgens will have a fuller story around in about 9 months’ time. But this issue is considered her first appearance. [Max: She's the green one!]
I gotta say, I’m a little confused by them writing Virman Vundabar as having an actual German accent. His military garb is certainly Prussian in appearance, and any connection to German armies is a visual cue for evil, but I guess I think it’s weird an alien from Apokolips would have an earth-territory based accent. [Max: Does Virman Vundabar speak with a German accent, or do German people speak with a Virman Vundabar accent?]
I apologize for letting modern politics into my writing here, but Darkseid sitting back while his minions riot at his behest, against a force they can’t possibly defeat really put me in the mind of January 6th. Just me? [Max: Darkseid is shown to have some semblance of honor and commitment to the truth in this issue, so I'm not sure the comparison works...]
We all know I love a good Donner Superman reference, and Superman tossing Gilotina into the throng of Furies recalls Margot Kidder’s similar “pain in the neck” bon mot.
I kinda love how everything on Apokolips has an eeeee-vil name. Fahren-Knife? Love it.
I don’t know if there was an edict on the Smallville TV show that Clark wasn’t allowed to throw a punch, but it sure seemed to me like his main move was just to throw people. We get a lot of that in this issue as he tosses Lashina (who I guess could survive it?) and then later Kanto (who should NOT be able to survive the blistering furnace, despite Darkseid assuring the reader he will).
GODWATCH: Interesting version of divine mentions here, as Superman ragingly describes Apokolips as “Godforsaken” and Darkseid self-referentially corrects Superman, saying that Apokolips is God-fearing. A point that would have held more currency if Superman hadn’t put a Mother Box on Darkseid’s owies like a band-aid last time they met.
Very weird of Darkseid to hint to Superman that the Cyborg Superman still lives, but I suppose that’s more of a catch up for the readers.
At least they give a reason for Darkseid’s clue to Superman (owing him for saving his life in Darkseid’s disastrous fight with Doomsday), one which Superman actually picks up on. Yes, Superman absolutely, 100% accurately took Darkseid’s hint that the maniac behind the brain problems Superman is having was caused by that character first introduced to post-Crisis readers in a carnival sideshow, known for his theatrical appearance—Mr. Mxyzptlk. Yup, it’s definitely for sure for sure Mxy. [Max: Yep. Some Fine deduction by Superman.]
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
"Dead Again!," Part 6! Superman goes to New Genesis to check on Brainiac, and it would have been a very short visit if it wasn't for a special guest star acting like an idiot and almost killing everyone. Who could it be?! (Kindly pretend you didn't already see the Atom on the cover.)
Last time, Superman determined that Lex Luthor couldn't be the one who placed a Superman-looking corpse in his old tomb because Lex is in a coma, and so the one responsible must be Brainiac... who's also in a coma. This issue kicks off with Superman asking Professor Hamilton to fix the Mother Box from Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey so he can use it to travel to New Genesis, where Brainiac was taken after his little brain-frying incident at the end of the "Panic in the Sky!" storyline.
Hamilton fixes the Mother Box (rather easily; he probably just had to turn it off and on) and, as Superman uses it to order a Boom Tube to New Genesis, which always looks very cool...
...we see a tiny figure hitching a ride via Superman's cape. Again: who could that possibly be?! My money's on Ant-Man. Or maybe Mighty Man, of Mighty Man & Yukk fame.
At New Genesis, Superman is welcomed by Highfather and taken to meet Orion, Lightray, and Metron, who's busy building himself a new Mobius chair since his old one blew up during Zero Hour (poor Metron probably isn't used to standing up for so long). At this point, an alarm is triggered in Metron's lab -- Superman thinks it's Brainiac, but nope, it's the mystery character who snuck into New Genesis in his cape, who turns out to be... freakin' Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught?!
Wait, no, that's clearly the Atom. He explains that he tagged along with Superman because he wants Metron (an expert in time-related matters) to undo the unfortunate mishap that turned him into a 17-year-old, also during Zero Hour. Metron says he can't do that because "tampering with time's course is forbidden," and Atom proves that he really is 17 by throwing a tantrum, going into Metron's unfinished Mobius Chair, and trying to operate it on his own, the little dumbass.
The result: Atom moves the wrong cable, and Metron's entire lab is transported into hyperspace, where it's about to get pulverized by thousands of asteroids. Superman and Lightray go out to deal with the asteroids, which also looks very cool...
...while Atom goes "I can fix this by myself!," shortly followed by "Nope, definitely can't," so he pops up in front of Metron and agrees to act like an adult this time. Outside, the asteroid situation is getting dire as the lab and everything around it starts getting sucked into a black hole. Even Superman thinks there's "no chance" they'll make it (the "S" on his chest stands for "shit outta luck"), but at the last second, Atom fixes his mistake and the lab is transported back to New Genesis.
Atom feels terrible that he almost killed everyone, but even more terrible that he seems to be permanently stuck as a stupid teen. Where does he go from here? Superman gives him one of his classic pep talks: "You've been given a very special opportunity. A second chance at life. Now I have to go check on Brainiac!" Inspiring words.
Anyway, Superman does go check on Brainiac and, yep, he's in a coma all right. The only evil scheme he could realistically pull off right now would be flooding New Genesis in drool.
Metron offers Superman and Atom a Boom Tube back to Earth, but Supes declines because now he's really figured out who's behind his doppelganger problem, and in order to confront them, he needs to go to the butthole of the universe: Apokolips!
TO BE CONTINUED!
Plotline-Watch:
Where will Atom go from here? Don Sparrow says: "This almost reads like a backdoor pilot for an Atom spinoff, though the character (particularly the teenaged version) sits on the shelf for a couple years until he's made leader of the team by none other than Dan Jurgens in the largely forgotten (but beautifully illustrated—Jurgens AND George Pérez!) 1996 Teen Titans series." Yeah, it's my understanding that the de-aging storyline is (eventually) resolved there. Always wanted to read that series, mainly because Jurgens/Pérez.
I love a good recap page, and this issue has a GREAT one: we see Brainiac's full story, from his ponytail days in planet Colu, to his Milton Fine phase, to his Warworld era, complete with the brain-frying moment that left him all drooly. We even see Superman in his Gangbuster outfit from the time he fought Brainiac dressed like that. Good times. Not for Superman, or Brainiac, but still.
At the start of the issue, Superman says he's gonna ask Metron if the Super-corpse could be a temporal anomaly from the time crisis, but then he never asks him. Maybe he forgot, maybe it happened off-panel, or maybe that's also a temporal anomaly. Are they teasing Zero Hour 2?! (One Hour?)
Sort of a Forever People #1 callback when Superman arrives in New Genesis and Highfather tells him he could stay here among the super-people -- why, he might even find "companionship." The difference is that instead of moping about being all alone, this time Superman says he's actually pretty happy on Earth. What a difference a hot fiancé makes.
Don again: "At first I thought that it was Hamilton narrating, until they got to New Genesis and the narrator horned out over those flying women. The concept of an unseen narrator secretly being the Atom is old hat for Jurgens as he did a near-identical reveal in issue #66 of the pre-Doomsday Justice League comics." Yeah, this is the second time Jurgens pulls this trick, as far as I know. Maybe there's a Sun Devils storyline where it happens five more times.
Shout Outs-Watch:
Non-drooly (okay, a little bit drooly) shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris "Ace" Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Join them (and get extra articles) via Patreon or our newsletter's "pay what you want" mode! Both of those also have free tiers, if you just wanna get posts like this one in your inbox. NOTE: If you subscribe, please check your junk mail for the activation email!
And now: heeeeeeeeeere's Donny Sparrow!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We start with the cover, and it’s a very good one, with the now familiar (but less frequently seen) pencil and ink team of Jurgens and Breeding. They seem to excel at exactly this kind of shiny, techy contraptions, plus it gives us a good grounding in who we can expect in this issue—even one that is something of a spoiler.
We’re greeted by a great full page splash as we start the comic. Mike Manley, the inker for this issue is an interesting middle ground between the thin, scratchy style of Joe Rubinstein, and the slick, thicker linework of Brett Breeding. It’s more controlled, and thicker than Rubinstein, but less solid and more detailed than a Brett Breeding. It works quite well, and there’s a nice three dimensionality to the figures, demonstrated well on page two as Superman chats with Hamilton, his sharp jaw jutting forward.
The lighting on the panel with the reborn mother box lighting up is well done, and three dimensional.
The hatching using parallel lines that Manley employs puts me in the mind of another Atom great, Gil Kane. Once the gang hits hyperspace, the big panel of Superman and a radiant Lightray smashing asteroids is a great one.
Finally we get a glimpse of Brainiac, and I have questions. First of all, last time we saw him, he had green eyes (or at least he did on Action #675—though the back cover to the "Panic in the Sky!" collection has them as red) but here, he has blue eyes. (That we could chalk up as a colouring error, as they also missed his eyebrow colour.) Secondly, when last we saw him (immediately after Maxima lobotomized him) his van dyke beard was scorched off. Yet, here, in captivity, it has grown back, and is perfectly groomed. Is Metron painstakingly shaving Brainiac to his preferred form of facial hair? Or is this yet another function of the mother box? [Max: I think Metron is treating Brainiac's beard as a bonsai-like project to relax.]
Finally, as Superman once again decides who is definitely, no question, absolutely without a doubt behind the hoax corpse, we get a good drawing of Darkseid as well as Hank Henshaw.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
There’s a LOT of exposition in this issue! From Superman’s quick summary (nominally to Professor Hamilton, but really, to us) explaining the history of the Mother Box, to what a Boom Tube is, to a very detailed history of Milton Fine/Brainiac, Jurgens isn’t leaving anything to chance when it comes to a new reader following along. Mostly it works quite well, but I do feel like Superman is giving Highfather the long tour when he gets into the whole Gangbuster guise.
A potential storytelling error there, as even for Metron, constructing a Mobius chair should be beyond his skill. Longtime DC weirdos like me know that the morally ambiguous Metron got the Element X he needed to power the chair from Darkseid, in exchange for giving Darkseid Boom Tube technology, weakening Highfather’s strategic advantage. But maybe Metron is refining the chair, rather than creating one wholesale—then again, we saw it destroyed in Zero Hour, so maybe he really does have to rebuild it. Maybe Element X is now available at 7-Eleven.
I do like that New Genesis’ alarms rely on the “Arrroooga” sound. Until I turned the page, I thought it might be Booster Gold reacting to seeing Power Girl.
Second issue in a row of Superman using the phrase “vegetable” to describe someone comatose.
Sure, Atom’s meddling with the Mobius chair almost kills them all, but you have to admire his youthful exuberance!
Doesn’t it seem slightly out of character for Superman to be the “we’re all doomed” and Lightray to be the one shouting “never lose hope!”? [Max: The corpse would never say that...]
Metron is generally depicted as quite haughty, but here he actually has a legitimate beef. It’s pretty low of Superman to think that Metron and all his New Genesis tech could allow someone as dangerous as Brainiac free rein to reach across the cosmos and create a global hoax on planet Earth—all completely undetected. Can you imagine?
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
Our post for 1987's Action #585, the issue where Superman fights a cemetery, has been updated with a TON more commentary (seriously, how did I get away with those one-paragraph plot summaries?) by me and Don Sparrow, who marked the occasion by drawing the excellent rendition of guest-star Phantom Stranger above. Read it here!
As promised, some of the pin-ups of Guy's finest moments included in Guy Gardner: Warrior #25, by Adam Hughes, Howard Porter, Gene Ha, and Dan Jurgens with Art Thibert. Told ya they were cool.
"Dead Again!," Part 5! After ruling out the Eradicator, Superman thinks he's figured out the only person who could possibly have put a fake corpse in his tomb to convince everyone he's an impostor: Lex Luthor! Well, him or Brainiac, and Lex is closer (at the S.T.A.R. Labs facility where they've kept him since he turned into a Cryptkeeper-looking invalid), so Superman decides he'll check on him first.
Meanwhile, over the past issues we've seen Superman's friends, fiancé, and even his parents have their doubts about his identity, but there's one person who will never doubt him: Superman's Little Pal, Keith the Unlucky Orphan. (Actually, we haven't seen Superman's Large Pal, Jimmy Olsen doubt him either, but Jimmy's opinion doesn't count.) Keith even gets into a fight with another kid who says the real Superman is dead and dares Keith to prove he isn't. While this happens, a frail figure watches Keith and is glad that he's "doin' good."
(I don't know if "getting punched under the rain" counts as "doin' good," but okay.)
At S.T.A.R., everyone's on edge because the guy they hired to build a safer cell for Conduit after he broke out and killed a bunch of guards hasn't delivered yet. Some guards spot someone sneaking around the lab, assume it must be Conduit, and shoot him to hell -- but it's not Conduit, it's Keith! Good thing Superman happened to be coming by to check on Lex, or this issue would turn out even sadder than it already does.
Keith says he wanted to sneak into the lab to prove that the Superman corpse they're studying there is a fake. Awww. I don't think he has the scientific expertise to make that happen, but it's a nice thought. At least his little stunt attracts the press and gives some good publicity to Superman (who kinda needs it after the asshole he's been lately) and Keith himself, making it more likely that he'll be adopted. Keith, however, doesn't wanna be adopted, since he still thinks his mom will come back for him after all these years. Dream on, little buddy.
Anyway, the folks at S.T.A.R. agree to let Superman see Lex if he finishes those tests he's been putting off over the past couple of issues (because he's afraid they might prove he's not the real Superman). Superman lets Professor Hamilton run the damn tests, and Hambone lets him know as politely as possible that he's firmly in #TeamCorpse.
Back to Keith (this is a "Keith issue," if you hadn't noticed), he's still being followed by that frail figure who watches him from afar. Keith sees the figure collapse and goes over to help her -- only to find out that it's his mom. She's been alive all along, which means Keith the Unlucky Orphan was never really an orphan... but might be soon, because she's looking pretty bad. Keith's mom is taken to a hospital, where she explains that she left him because she's got AIDS and she wanted him to be adopted by some nice, non-immunodeficient family.
As it happens, Alice White, who's been palling around with Keith since she started volunteering at the orphanage, wants to adopt him and tries to convince her husband Perry to do it. This is a big ask, since 1) they're super old and 2) they already had a kid and kinda botched that one (Lex Luthor's genes probably didn't help)...
...but Perry eventually says yes. The Whites tell Keith about their decision as they're driving him to the hospital, and at first he's enthusiastic (they'll let him keep his cat Tiger, unlike his former foster parents... maybe they thought it was an actual tiger?), but he suddenly turns sullen, says he can't abandon his mom, and runs out of the car to go see her. Turns out Keith's mom is close to dying, but during her last moments, she gives Alice her blessings and signs some papers to turn her into Keith's legal guardian.
Meanwhile, Superman's been doing Superman stuff (more on that in Don Sparrow's section below), so he's too late to console Keith when his mom dies, but he's glad to see the Whites are there for the kid like the Kents always were for him. Sniff.
Back to the plot of this storyline: the lab results are in, and Hamilton tells Superman that he found a discrepancy... in his readings. As in, he's not the real Superman. Hamilton also lets him ("who... whoever you are") finally see Luthor, which makes it clear that Lex is in no position to pull off any evil schemes. Hell, he can't even perform basic bodily functions on his own.
Superman rushes out and, as he yells "I'M SUPERMAN!" from S.T.A.R.'s rooftop, he thinks to himself that if Luthor isn't manipulating him, then there's only one possibility left: Brainiac!
NEXT: THE NEW GODS! OH, AND BRAINIAC!
Character-Watch:
And so Keith the Unlucky Orphan, who was never really an orphan, is now officially Keith White. As we've mentioned before, Keith will continue appearing but won't really have a running storyline anymore, and eventually he just sorta falls off the face of the Earth(s). According to the DC wiki, he was last seen in a short story from Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 (reprinted in the Superman's Pal's Jimmy Olsen's Boss, Perry White special in 2022) where Perry tells Wildcat of the Justice Society that Keith, now grown up, is leaving Metropolis.
(Wildcat: "Yeah, well, my kid's a talking cat, for some reason.)
But the DC wiki is wrong, because Keith also shows up in last year's Action #1075, in a story (drawn by Jon Bogdanove and Norm Rapmund!) where Perry wins Metropolis' mayoral election and Keith is there with Alice for the celebration. It doesn't look like this version of Keith appears in other comics, so maybe Bog slipped him in?
(Is it me or is Alice is looking very Louise Simonson-esque?)
Plotline-Watch:
This concludes the looooong storyline about Keith's mom, first mentioned just over two years ago in Man of Steel #16, when Keith mistook an Underworld mutant for her. They did have kinda similar hair, as it turns out. This is what led Keith into the Underworld sewers during the "Doomsday!" storyline, which means there are millions and millions of casual comic book readers out there who knew Keith was looking for his mom but never read the end of the storyline. Hope they DuckDuckGo it one day and come across this post.
I like how Superman says "Lex Luthor tried to clone me once that we know of" to prevent Mike Carlin's office from being flooded with letters saying that, actually, there were two Bizarros. Yep, but only the second one was firmly linked to Lex -- at the time, Superman saw the first one as kind of an inexplicable thing that happened to him one day. (Should have called him Inexplicablo.)
The last time we saw Lex in Action #701, he was completely paralyzed but able to think (about murdering Superman, to be more specific), but now we're told that he has no brain activity. He was also very thin but not, like, practically a skeleton. What are they feeding him at S.T.A.R.? Are they feeding him at S.T.A.R.? Did they forget? To be fair, they have a lot going on there these days.
Speaking of which, there's a funny scene where Conduit, from his temporary cell, spooks a guard at S.T.A.R. by just saying "I'm free!," causing the guard to shoot his big '90s laser gun at nothing. The guy they hired to make a new cell, Carl Draper, says he hasn't finished it because he ran into "a setback," which I'm guessing means he blew most of the budget fighting Superman as Deathtrap. (Is it me or is he looking very David Copperfield-esque?)
Shout Outs-Watch:
Definitely not impostor shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris "Ace" Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Join them (and get extra articles) via Patreon or our newsletter's "pay what you want" mode! NOTE: If you subscribe, please check your junk mail for the activation email! I will continue saying this until Jas, Tonio, and l34fd get activated, dang it.
And now, as promised: the great Don Sparrow's also great section!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We begin as always with the cover, and this is a really good one. I half expect Batman to show up as this is a very Batman-coded cover, with the rim lighting reminding me of perhaps my favourite Batman cover of all time, by the late, great Norm Breyfogle, Detective #587. I had a t-shirt of this same image that I wore to all four Michael Gough/Pat Hingle Batman movies.
Inside the coming the double page spread of a bulky Superman is another strong one, his face and hair seeming to be affected by the gravitational forces of his speed.
This issue is a return to form in term’s of Superman’s character, with him acting less rashly as the last issue, and doing more Superman stuff. I’ve often talked about how there are certain images of Superman that are more iconic than others, and this issue features lots of both. The first iconic moment we see a few times is Superman rescuing a child, and I never tire of it. The fact that it’s the hardest luck character this side of José Delgado, Keith Parks, that he rescues only puts the icing on the cake. I love that he embraces him in his concern, hugs being something Keith probably doesn’t get enough of. The flashbulb moment of Jimmy capturing Keith safe in Superman’s arms is another great image.
The appearance of Keith’s ailing mother (who unless I missed something, is known only as “Mama”) is haunting throughout, none more so than the image of her being lit by a streetlight on page 11. She looks so gaunt, it’s a wonder Keith can recognize her so quickly as he rescues her from drowning in an underpass.
The other iconic image from this issue is Superman lifting something heavy, in this case a back-hoe, creating panicked fear from the gang members reminiscent of Action Comics #1.
Bogdanove more than any other artist seems to lend himself to the broad-shouldered squinty-eyed Superman of the golden age, so it’s fitting that he’d be the one to render this homage. Completing the John Bunyan-size adventure is Superman tugging the freighter with giant chains which is, as he notes himself in the comic, “awesome”. [Max: It is.]
I’m not sure if it’s Bogdanove’s affection for retro styling, or if it’s an intentional reference, but Perry and Alice’s old Cord Sportsman-looking car is giving me Daddy Warbucks vibes. The panel of poor Keith unable to part himself from his dying mother is a wonderfully hatched, quiet emotional moment, showing that big and small, Bog can draw it all.
Finally we get our most Batman-like image of the issue as Superman departs S.T.A.R. Labs in hunt of his latest surefire hunch as to who’s behind the Superman corpse.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
I sure hope you’re not offended by the term vegetable, which we now recognize as both a dehumanizing and ableist way to refer to the comatose or otherwise incapacitated, because you’re going to hear it A LOT in this issue. It is thought or said by Superman, Deathtrap/Master Jailer, Professor Hamilton, and then Superman again, which feels like a whole bunch for a B-plot in a 22 page issue.
Need a reminder this story was created in 1994? Look no further than Superman, Jimmy, Deathtrap and Professor Hamilton ALL having at least shoulder length hair!
But how does Superman weld the hull of the oil tanker without igniting the fuel? When he did that trick in Superman III, he used his heat vision in conjunction with his arctic breath, blowing the contents safely into the container away from the metal.
I can’t help but comment, as I write this in March 2026, how morally clear this issue from 1994 is. Without it reading like a PSA, we have several characters dispelling bunk rumours about HIV/AIDS, Superman both rescuing and advocating for refugees, and both Perry’s family and Superman championing adoption. And it all just feels right for a Superman comic, never seeming preachy. Such was the American way, back then.
It’s also quite a thoughtful take on all these issues, especially for its day. The White family acknowledge that a boy with Keith’s tragic history wouldn’t just be instantly whole or healed on adoption day, mentioning a lad like him would likely have special needs, requiring bereavement counseling at minimum. It also matters that Keith’s mother approved of the adoption and was a nice moment. It’s no secret to readers of this blog that I have a soft spot for Keith, so I’m glad he’s hit the lowest point of his life, and that from this point on, things get better for the little guy.
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
Art-Watch: Adventures of Superman #425 (February 1987)
Our post for Adventures #425, the classic "Professor Hamilton tries to blow up a prostitute" issue, has been updated with more pics, a plot summary that isn’t like five words long, and best of all, all-new Art-Watch comments from Don Sparrow. Check it out here!
ANOTHER TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS ANNOUNCED! MOSTLY CONTAINING STUFF YOU ALREADY HAVE, PROBABLY! BUT STILL!
And this time, it didn't take me 7 months to see it! (Shout out to Cori McCreery on BlueSky.) Despite the focus on "Reign of the Supermen" in the blurb above, this does contain material that has never been reprinted before. Here's everything in this big boy:
The entire "Reign of the Supermen" saga, including that one Green Lantern issue and the often neglected Bloodlines annuals starring each of the four Supermen.
The "Spilled Blood" storyline, which is book-ended by the issue where little Adam Morgan gets Toyman'd and the one where Toyman almost gets Cat Grant'd.
Superman's biggest (Bog-est?) showdown with Lobo and the subsequent "lost in space" storyline, which I always hoped would get a TPB collection, if only so it'd get a damn official name already.
"Bizarro's World," which did get a TPB, but it's long out of print (I'm hoping the extras end up here).
And the fantastic Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey mini, which would be a highlight in any omnibus.
Here's what this doesn't contain:
The Supergirl miniseries, but I'm guessing we'll see it in the next volume, since it ties heavily into Lex Luthor Jr.'s downfall and all.
The completely unnecessary L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 issue tying into the "lost in space" storyline. Unforgivable.
The fine Legends of the World's Finest miniseries, which isn't surprising since the original World's Finest mini isn't in these books either, and their connection to the ongoing continuity is loose. Still, those are some good-ass comics and I would have liked seeing them here so readers could follow the full evolution of the Post-Crisis Superman/Batman love/hate relationship.
The Under a Yellow Sun graphic novel, but that's okay because they threw it into the upcoming pre-Triangle Era omni, which makes more sense narratively.
And the two Elseworlds projects published in this period: the Kamandi: At Earth's End mini and the Speeding Bullets Superman/Batman mashup. I don't think anyone expected those... unlike the Elseworlds annuals, which should be in the next book, for the sake of annual completionism (call me annual retentive if you wish).
Overall, I still think it's a shame that they didn't make these fit with the "Death and Return" omnibus 80% of people reading this likely own, but I'm grateful of this series' continued existence and will definitely get even this one. At some point. (DC, I'm still open to being bribed with these books.)
ICYMI: A new post on Action #704 went up last week! Features Superman smacking around a guy who looks like Clint Eastwood in tights.
"DEAD AGAIN!," Part 4! Superman vs. the Eradicator! With the Outsiders mostly just sorta standing around, commentating on the fight but staying out of it. That's why they're called the Outsiders.
We start with Superman rather uncharacteristically shouting "I'M SUPERMAN!" at some Vegas cops because they said "Who goes there?" Of course, it isn't uncharacteristic at all if he isn't Superman but some impostor and the real Superman is still dead, as Professor Hamilton suggested in the previous part of this storyline.
(Sure, buddy, suuuuuuuuurrre...)
Speaking of impostors, Superman is in Vegas to look for one of the Super-pretenders from the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline, the Eradicator, who was last seen hanging out with the Outsiders around here. Granted, this isn't the exact same Eradicator who died in that saga (long story), but he's close enough that Superman thinks he might have something to do with his latest death-related predicament. The cops tell him there are two groups of Outsiders these days, as seen in the latest issues of their series, so they point him in the direction of the one with the Eradicator in it, and Superman leaves without even saying thanks. Again: not very Superman-like...
So, Superman tracks down the Eradicator and his Outsiders to their new hideout: an abandoned government facility at Area 51, which the Eradicator knew about due to his old job as a xenobiologist at S.T.A.R. Labs. Superman and the Eradicator immediately start beating the crap out of each other while the Outsiders debate whether they should help their teammate or not, with the consensus being "meh."
The Eradicator causes a huge explosion and thinks that took care of Superman, because he's never read a Superman comic before -- but no, that just pissed him off even more. Superman is so angry, in fact, that he even tortures the Eradicator by knocking off his protective eyewear and shooting heat vision right at his eyes ("I-It... tickles!" the Eradicator says, which must have sounded very funny in his Clint Eastwood-esque growl).
With the Eradicator defeated, Superman finally gets to the point and asks him about the body that was found in his tomb. The Eradicator is like "THAT'S what this is about?!" and points out that putting fake corpses in abandoned tombs to mess with people's minds isn't exactly his style -- he's more the "shoot lasers at your face" type. Superman realizes the Eradicator is right and stands down... and it's only then that the Outsiders decide to join the fight.
But Superman's had enough punching for the day and just leaves, as the Outsiders celebrate that they "drove off Superman!" Meanwhile, as he flies back to Metropolis, Superman laments having let his emotions get the best of him -- it was silly of him to convince himself the Eradicator was behind his problems without any evidence. In unrelated news, now he knows for sure who's behind his problems: someone who's a master manipulator... and fond of cruelty... and currently in a vegetative state... LEX LUTHOR!
CONTINUED!
Plotline-Watch:
There's a scene in Smallville where we see that Pa Kent is having doubts about Clark being Clark, and of course Ma shuts him down -- but we're given the impression that it's more because she's worried about him having another heart attack than because she's totally sure that Clark is in fact Clark.
Even Lois Lane isn't sure about Clark, to the point that she's having trouble sleeping and forgets to use the spell-check program at work, causing a crisis in the Daily Planet proofreading department ("There's only one 'R' in 'entrails,'" Ron Troupe tells her). At least her cat Elroy seems in a good mood, probably because he thinks Clark is dead again and he always hated that guy.
Wait, so the last issue of Outsiders took place in Vegas? Why were Maggie Sawyer and the rest of the Metropolis SCU there? US geography isn't my expertise, but if Metropolis is supposed to be around New York, isn't Vegas a little out of the way? Maybe she was investigating the space lasers from the SCU miniseries and mistook the Luxor Sky Beam for one? Let's go with that.
The last things the Eradicator says in this issue are "Another few seconds and I would have had [Superman]" (sure, buddy, suuuuuuuuurrre...) and "Nonetheless...*" with the asterisk telling us that the sentence will continue in Outsiders #13. This Outsiders series was never published in South America (despite an Argentinian publisher once promising it), so I've wondered about that sentence for about 30 years. We'll find out on the next Super-Titles Round Up.
Shout Outs-Watch:
Characteristic shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Join them (and get extra articles) via Patreon or our newsletter's "pay what you want" mode! NOTE: If you subscribe, please check your junk mail for the activation email!
You know who's completely in-character? Don Sparrow, and we're all winners for it, because here's Don's section:
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We open with the cover and it’s a good one, as Jackson Guice is probably the artist I most associate with the anti-hero era of the Eradicator. It’s also a nice preview of what’s to come in this issue: Superman absolutely losing it, and looking insane while he does. Also the Outsiders are here.
As promised, once the issue begins, we’re treated to Superman looking like an absolute lunatic on the first splash page. Guice and Rodier are a longterm team on the super-books, but their styles don’t always mesh perfectly—Guice is a detail guy, lots of thin lines, while Rodier’s style is more European influenced with lots of thick brushlines. So at times it works better than others. Page two’s look at Superman looks particularly rushed, especially around the rib cage. Guice has a habit of extreme low angles, which don’t always work either, and we see a number of those on page 3, as well as a Superman s-shield so off-model it probably shouldn’t have seen print.
But, I’d still take a badly hand-drawn Superman shield over artists just dropping the logo in as a digital file as is often seen as I write this. But I digress.
Page 4’s Superman in flight seems like a counterpoint to my complaint about the styles not meshing, as it’s a great, and detailed panel, especially the shine of his hair.
Guice has always excelled at drawing Lois, and there’s a long section with mainly thought bubbles on pages 5-7 that are a real showcase of how to make virtually silent panels interesting.
As Superman tears into the Eradicator looking for answers, I’m struck by wondering who the Eradicator is meant to resemble. With the craggy face and gray hair, I had thought he was meant to put us in mind of Clint Eastwood, but from the side he has more of an R. Lee Ermey energy. Who’s your casting choice for this version? [Max: I'm sticking with Eastwood, and it's kinda nuts to think he was already shortcut for "craggy old guy" 30 years ago...]
The panel of Superman aflame and fighting the Eradicator is a show-stopper, though the colouring looks a little rushed.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
A nice callback to the Superman films, and Lois-as-lousy-speller gag (as well as the luridness of the story as a dark laugh) with Ron calling Lois out on her typo on “entrails”.
You probably didn’t know that in addition to the cash prize, Pulitzer winners also get to claim a tacky coffee mug. [Max: I thought that WAS the prize.]
I do like the continuity of Lois’ cat Elroy only being happy when Clark isn’t in the picture.
It’s kind of the Eradicator to address each Outsider by name as, apart from Looker, (and an unrecognizable Halo) they’d mostly be unknowns to my memory—if not for Max’s awesome Outsider recap posts, that is. [Max: I'll be honest, I've read a years' worth of that series by now and I still forget what they're called.]
A little bit of cheesecake in the Area 51 bunker?
Thank goodness they had Sebastian Faust spouting Britishisms like “bloody coppers” otherwise they would have had to have him drinking tea and eating crumpets to tell us he’s from England, which might compete with the action. He also later says “strewth” which I’d always thought of as an Aussie saying, but it’s apparently used in both countries.
The Outsiders’ hesitance to help one of the Outsiders speaks volumes about the book at that time, and what an unnatural fit the David Conner Eradicator was for the team. If they’re sitting around going “who is this guy?” then you can be sure readers were, too.
Overall, kind of a dumb story, with Superman acting fairly wildly out of character for most of the goings-on. I wonder if readers at the time, knowing Michelinie’s involvement with Spider-Man, worried that this really wasn’t Superman, in a Clone Saga-like twist?
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
NEW PRE-TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS ANNOUNCED! LAST YEAR! BUT I JUST SAW IT WHOOPS!
Shout out to BHof for alerting me of this breaking news story from, uh, last August: a new '86-'99 era Superman omnibus called Brainiac Reborn is coming out in June! And it's exactly what we demanded when the Triangle Era omnibus series was announced: a big book covering all the stuff between the Exile & Other Stories volume and the first Triangle Era one, including essential storylines like "The Brainiac Trilogy" (which gives the book its name and kickass George Pérez cover), "The Day of the Krypton Man," Hank Henshaw's first appearances, "Dark Knight Over Metropolis," and "The Death of Lex Luthor." I'm impressed that they even threw in stuff like Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography, Walt Simonson's Superman Special #1, and Clark Kent's Under a Yellow Sun -- these last two were published after the period this book covers but are clearly set during this era (as evidenced by Superman's hair and Luthor's lack thereof), so they'll fit right in.
Oh, and it's not mentioned in the blurb above, but the book will also have "a foreword by Roger Stern [and] never-before-seen behind-the-scenes extras" so obviously I'm excited for all that. With this book, every main Superman comic and most of the extras published between John Byrne's "The Man of Steel" in 1986 and the end of "Reign of the Supermen" in 1993 will be in print, something that felt like a pipe dream when I started this blog. Six more years to go, DC! Don't flake out on me before the Electric Era, please...
(Hopefully the fact that I'm reporting on this so damn late should make it clear that I'm not getting paid by DC to promote this book. I should, though. Or at least they should give me a free omnibus. Three free omnibi. One for Don, and one for BHof.)
ICYMI: We have a new post about all the Superman spin-offs that came out in November '94! Featuring Superboy, King Shark, and more Maggie Sawyer than, frankly, we deserve.
This month: Superboy vs. King Shark! Steel vs. a serial killer! The Outsiders vs. the Outsiders! Your wallet vs. too many Superman spin-offs!
Superboy #9
First full appearance (he was teased last issue) of King Shark, who is either the son of a Hawaiian lady who got freaky with a shark deity or just a big guy who is massively deformed. Superboy takes a break from perving on women with his new X-Ray goggles to assist FBI agent Sam Makoa in the case of the human shark who eats people. They find him, but Superboy quickly regrets it when he almost gets eaten. Luckily, this is when he discovers that those goggles Professor Hamilton gave him have another, less perverted use: heat vision!
In the end, both King Shark and his "crazy mother" are arrested (since when is it illegal to cut your own arm off you to feed your homicidal mutant son?!), and it's implied that she had other children with the Shark God. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think those other Shark Siblings ever showed up. Maybe the right opportunity just hasn't come up yet, or maybe, just maybe, she was crazy.
Steel #9
There's a serial killer on the loose in Washington, and his victims look like they were hit with a sledgehammer. As the state's foremost sledgehammer user, Steel is a suspect, especially according to a particularly belligerent detective who almost seems like he's trying to divert attention from something. Hmmmm. Anyway, the other cops are so desperate to find the serial killer that they hire a psychic: Steel's friend from all the way back in Man of Steel #22, Rosie.
Rosie tries to use her abilities to find the killer, but all she sees is a detective badge. Hmmmmmmmm. Soon enough, the killer finds her, and he turns out to be a big cat-like monster (King Cat?). Steel tries to save her but it's too late, and with her last words, Rosie reveals that she's always known he's John Henry Irons. It's the fact that both characters are voiced by Shaq what gave him away.
The cops come in just in time to see Steel holding Rosie's dead body and arrest him for murder. None of them see that she had drawn something on the floor with her blood: a bullet. Like, a cop bullet? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Aquaman #3
Superboy guest-stars in this story, which is (perfectly) titled "Arthur Goes Hawaiian." Aquaman, debuting his new hook-hand look, wants to have words with the US admiral who sent him on the ill-fated mission that resulted in piranhas eating his hand (hence the hook). The admiral is in a Hawaiian army base, so when Aquaman gets in a tussle with the soldiers there, Superboy intervenes and ends up stepping all over Aquaman, literally.
Aquaman says "I'll be back," but Superboy doesn't look very intimidated (yes, of course he does Terminator joke). As it turns out, he should have been, because Aquaman returns with a shit-ton of whales and floods the entire base with the resulting tsunami, causing Superboy to almost drown to death for the second time this month.
Superboy is pissed and wants to continue the fight, but that admiral Aquaman was looking for calls him off and says he "shall make appropriately grateful noises to your backers" (a line that has been stuck in my mind for 30 years). So, to recap: Superboy made a chump out of Aquaman, then Aquaman made a chump out of Superboy. The perfect crossover. My only complaint with this issue is that the cover spoils the end of the King Shark fight by showing Superboy's new glasses shooting heat vision, which doesn't even happen in this comic. It is a pretty cool cover, though (by Tom Grummett and Terry Austin!).
Outsiders #12
The Eradicator's Outsiders fight Katana's Outsiders in another classic superhero vs. superhero scuffle, which happens for just as stupid but way less entertaining reasons than the one in Aquaman #3. It's something to do with those psychically addictive sci-fi guns from last issue, which are actually made (birthed?) by a big alien mass with tentacles. No, it doesn't make more sense if you read the comic.
The most interesting part of the issue, to me, is that Maggie Sawyer and the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit show up, and Maggie gets hypnotized by Looker's new vampiric powers.
(Or maybe just by Looker's looks.)
Then some stuff happens that doesn't amount to much, since by the end of the issue, the Outsiders are still mad at each other and split in two teams. At least we get a blurb saying a Superman crossover is coming next, which means the Outsiders will finally get to fight someone other than themselves again. Anyway, let's get back to more important matters, meaning: Maggie Sawyer... after the jump, because this post is getting super long.
Metropolis S.C.U. #1
First issue of a 4-part miniseries about Mags and the S.C.U. gang. This mini is curious because it was first teased almost two years ago in the Superman Gallery special, which showed a sneak peek of the cover to #3, only it's marked as #2 and Superman has short hair in it. I suspect they might have lengthened Superman's hair in the interior pages too... except in this one panel where they were like "eh, no one will notice."
The plot follows the S.C.U. as they investigate a series of mysterious fires at LexCorp facilities, seemingly caused by lasers from the sky. I didn't know dealing with sky lasers was part of Maggie's job description, but okay. She also has to deal with some fires in her private life (she forgot her girlfriend Toby's birthday and her ex-husband is being a dick about letting her daughter visit) AND with Lois Lane being a pain in the ass as she tries to join the S.C.U. for a story. Maggie's like "hell no," until Lois saves Dan "Terrible" Turpin from clumsily falling to his death at the site of a fire (more like Dan "Terrible Balance" Turpin), so Maggie agrees to let Lois try out for the team.
By the way, the S.C.U. members introduced here will continue to appear in the Super-Titles after the end of this mini -- especially Lyle, the science dork with anxiety issues.
There's also a cameo by Terra-Man, who reads about those fires from the prison cell he's been in since 1991's Superman #52 and seems strangely displeased for a villain whose whole deal is blowing up facilities. I wonder if he hadn't appeared for so long because they were holding him for this mini or just because he's, you know, Terra-Man.
Guardians of Metropolis #1
First issue of another 4-part miniseries, this one about Project Cadmus and the usual gang of geniuses there. We start with the Newsboy Legion kids shooting a home movie with Loch Trevor, the flying sea snake from Superman #43, and things get crazier from there.
There's a lot going on, but the main plot concerns Boss Moxie, the nemesis of the original Newsboy Legion in the '40s, coming out of prison after 50 years and hitting up an old Intergang hideout -- which happens to be an evil orphanage ran by Apokolips' Granny Goodness. Meanwhile, the Guardian learns that his sister (who was an old lady while he remains young due to cloning shenanigans) just passed away and left a grandchild named Bobby, currently at that same orphanage.
The Newsboy clones find out about this and break into the orphanage, where Moxie recognizes them and, instead of instantly dying of a heart attack, figures they owe him the secret for how they're still young.
Incidentally, it's established in this issue that Moxie is the father of Intergang's head honcho, Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim. Later on, this was de-established as Ugly was retconned to be Darkseid's son, but I guess both things could be true (Darkseid can possess human bodies...).
The final pages of this issue pick up on another long-running storyline: ever since their first appearance in Superman Annual #2 (1988), everyone at Cadmus has believed that their insane founder, Dabney Donovan, is dead, even though he's been secretly running around behind the scenes pulling crazy schemes, like when he saved Luthor's brain or murdered Cadmus' Director Westfield. Now, he finally presents himself to the Guardian and the Cadmus bosses, but only to kidnap them via a "Mime-Bomb" (exactly what it sounds like) and... take them to the circus. We'll find out what the hell that means next issue.
TO BE CONTINUED! FOR ALL THE ISSUES ABOVE! (EXCEPT AQUAMAN, UNLESS I START AN AQUAMAN BLOG.)
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
"DEAD AGAIN!," Part 3! Superman fights a villain called Deathtrap (or "Death-Trap," according to the title page) and, oh yeah, finds out he himself is dead. Quite a morbid issue, really.
Last week in Superman #94, Professor Hamilton finished analyzing the corpse that was found in Superman's supposedly empty tomb and determined that it is, in fact, the real Superman. So who's the other guy? You know, the one who's alive and also uses more shampoo than Superman used to? The living "Superman" (if that's even his real name) agrees to be examined by Hamilton too, but he has to put that off when an emergency comes up: an old lady had her purse snatched!!! Right in front of some cops, too.
"Damn, now I'll never be able to afford the rest of the hair plugs..."
The old lady is thankful, but both she and the cops have their doubts about this so-called Man of Steel (she actually asks him if he's "not like that... that killer cyborg person," as if he'd just say "oh yeah, I'm totally like that, super evil"). Even he admits that he only bailed from Hamilton's lab at S.T.A.R. Labs because he's worried about those tests proving he's not the real Superman. He could always adopt a new identity, like "The Scarlet Strongman" or something.
Back at S.T.A.R., the scientists not currently occupied analyzing super-buff corpses have called a specialist called Carl Draper to build a new cell for the villain Conduit (who has appeared in seven issues in a row as of this one, so they should really start giving him co-star billing). As a reminder, they need a new cell because Conduit broke out of the last one when someone pissed him off during lunchtime.
Draper overhears Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen talking about how Superman might not be Superman, which, combined with his teenage daughter telling him he couldn't build a prison to hold an authentic Kryptonian, gives him an idea for a little side project: he's gonna find out if this is the Real Steel Deal by making a trap only Superman could escape from. Naturally, this involves creating a supervillain persona for himself, the aforementioned Deathtrap.
Deathtrap uses that little gizmo up there to trap the supposed Superman in an airtight force-field that will suffocate him pretty soon, even with super lungs. Superman tries frying the gizmo with his heat vision, but its "learning computer" has calculated his reaction times and knows how to avoid him (freaking AIs, man). He tries flying out of the atmosphere, but the little thing is speed-proof, space-proof, and even reentering-the-atmosphere-proof.
Next, Superman tries crashing into one of Metropolis' many condemned buildings (demolition companies HATE this man), but nope, the gizmo's still there. He tries shocking it with electricity, but all that does is recharge its batteries. With his oxygen running out, Superman tries one last thing: flying into a steel foundry's blast furnace. That finally does the trick and, more importantly, gains Superman some believers among the foundry's workers. Not everyone's totally convinced, though...
Superman snaps (very un-Supermanly) at that worker who dared question the logic of his current hairdo, telling him that the corpse is "just part of some scheme -- and I'll find whoever's behind it."
NEXT: Superman tries finding whoever's behind it!
Character-Watch:
First appearance of Carl Draper, who in the old continuity went by "Master Jailer," but I guess that name wasn't '90s enough so they changed it to "Deathtrap." Curiously, the original Draper was an old classmate of Clark Kent (nicknamed "Moosie"!) who hated his guts, so it's probably not a coincidence that he debuted on a comic that also includes Conduit, this continuity's foremost Clark Kent hater.
This issue also introduces his daughter Carla, who overhears her dad monologuing about ways to trap Superman at the end of the issue. She will eventually go into the family business and pester Superboy.
At some point in the '00s, Carl would revert back to "Master Jailer," because "Deathtrap" was too '90s.
Plotline-Watch:
That foundry worker who says Superman's hair grew too fast is absolutely correct. As we've pointed out before, Superman had short hair when he went into the Awesome Kryptonian Battle Robot in Action #689 and long hair when he stepped out in Man of Steel #25. I'm gonna assume Karl Kesel added that line as a reference to the 300 letters they got on the subject.
Before being derailed by Deathtrap, Superman recaps the events of his resurrection: first he died (a common prerequisite for being resurrected), then his corpse was placed in a cozy tomb, and then the Eradicator took it from that tomb and brought it to the Fortress of Solitude (as told in Action #690). However, Superman only has the Eradicator's word that this is what happened, and that guy hasn't always been the most trustworthy. This is a teaser for a crossover happening in the next issue of Action.
Speaking of "only having one person's word," this entire storyline relies on Professor Hamilton being truthful, since he's the only one analyzing the Super-corpse (and even if he wasn't, he was perfectly positioned to fudge with the results). I'm not a fan of Hambone reverting to his criminal ways, but if one storyline had to have him as the surprise villain, it should have been this one. The twist could have been that he'd had his mind hijacked by some villain, maybe even one with somewhat similar facial hair...
There's a scene where Lois is trying to have a romantic dinner with Clark to make him feel better about himself, but Lucy Lane invites herself in with one of the Riot Grrrls and they completely ruin the vibe. I think Lucy just wanted to show off that she's got friends other than Jimmy Olsen now. Can't say I blame her.
Shout Outs-Watch:
Explosive (but not damagingly so) shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! You are the wind beneath our capes. Join them (and get extra articles) via Patreon or our newsletter's "pay what you want" mode! NOTE: If you subscribe, please check your junk mail for the activation email!
You might be thinking "Two posts in two weeks?! What is this, 2016?!" That's all thanks to the great Don Sparrow, who wrote up his side of this one so fast that he spurred me to get off my butt and do the same thing for once. So read on for Don's section!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We start with the cover and it’s a good one, incorporating the text of the story title as an element that is crushing Superman with pressure from all sides, which is an apt symbol of this story, but figuratively and literally.
Inside the book we get a fussy Professor Hamilton, who Barry Kitson always draws as a little more manicured than the scruffier version we see from other super teamsters. I’m always amused that even at this late date, street punks are still uniformly depicted as having partially shaved heads, pierced ears, sleeveless shirts and the like. Not that the little old lady is any less stereotypically handled. Though the punk running directly into Superman’s pectorals is a pretty satisfying turn.
A few pages later we see what Conduit is up to, and get more about this Draper character mentioned in the last issue. Apart from maybe Meat Loaf himself, it’s hard to imagine a non-vampire pulling off the frilly cravat look, but it does signal immediately how pretentious Draper is, if his self-aggrandizing dialogue wasn’t hint enough.
The scene introducing Draper’s daughter is confusing, in part because she doesn’t look particularly youthful in a couple panels, but also because it seems odd to me for a child to call a parent by their last name.
A little bit of inker excess on the loving shot of Lois Lane’s miniskirted behind on page 8, but the fisheye Clark Kent is a good one. The image of the flying eye exploding once grabbed is a good panel on page 12, but the whole thing is awfully reminiscent of Superman #2 from all those years ago. If we remember a flying eye that detonated the instant it was grabbed, surely Superman might remember that, particularly since that one, like this one, had enough explosive to level a block.
[Max: I was gonna say this is another classic case of Kesel referencing ideas from old issues he inked, but then I looked it up and that one was actually inked by Terry Austin. Still, Kesel presumably got a complimentary copy too...]
As we’re introduced to the holographic Deathtrap character, it’s a mostly good design (though not really a major improvement over the original Carl Draper Master Jailer design), but his colours make it seem like he’s an NHL expansion team. [Max: I don't know what that means, but it feels true and accurate.]
Superman’s gamely attempt to shake off the force field has some good moments, but the best image of the bunch is when Superman emerges from the blast furnace unharmed like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
Think you got enough pens, professor? [Max: Maybe he keeps accidentally breaking them with his new robot hand? Okay, I meant that as a joke but it sounds like a real explanation...]
Professor Hamilton doesn’t give much of an answer to Lois Lane’s point that examining an invulnerable Kryptonian body isn’t straightforward, not really getting into his methods, aside from assuring her they were verified and re-verified.
I actually think Hamilton is a little too restrained in this issue. If he has scientifically proven that Superman never returned from the dead—and he believes he has—then his casualness is pretty out of place, as it means that the man standing in front of him is an imposter, and likely a dangerous one.
I wasn’t quite old enough to drive by 1995, but was locking radios a thing? I remember yutzes removing it altogether and carrying the radio like a boombox, but I can’t recall locking radios.
What the heck is on Clark’s sweatshirt? It appears to say NZ at first (New Zealand maybe?) but by the next page it seems to say N5? That level of visual drift is usually reserved for AI imagery. [Max: Must be N5... because he's the FIFTH Superman impostor!!]
There’s something so strange about Superman’s anxiety about whether he’s the real deal. It reminds me of when Andy needed Michael to confirm whether or not he himself was gay on The Office. Wouldn’t you be the one who knows?
I’m glad they added the suffocating force field angle, because otherwise it would be dumb for Superman to play along with Deathtrap’s game.
I do tire of all the buildings scheduled for convenient demolition in Metropolis, but I guess that’s better than the willy nilly occupied building destruction we see in modern superhero movies. Also, demolished buildings aren’t just reduced to powder, a lot of stuff gets extracted and equipment used, etc.
I was expecting Superman to try to trace the broadcast of the hologram, which would have to be projected remotely, but I guess when you’re running out of air, you want to deal with that first.
Draper isn’t just frilly white turtleneck with a Nehru jacket corny, he’s sunglasses indoors corny.
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
"Peer Pressure," clima-- I mean, "DEAD AGAIN!," part 2! This is a weird issue because it's more about Superman fighting Conduit (the antagonist of the supposedly concluded "Peer Pressure" storyline) than dealing with the mysterious Superman-shaped corpse that was found in his former tomb (the whole point of "DEAD AGAIN!"), but who cares what the banner on the cover says when we get another classic Jurgens/Breeding slugfest issue?! Me. I do. But I'll survive.
In Man of Steel #38, Conduit springs himself out of jail (well, S.T.A.R. Labs) and Superman puts the whole "worrying about his corpse doppelganger" thing on hold to go recapture him. The fight wasn't going too well for Superman when we last saw him, what with Conduit being able to shoot kryptonite blasts and all, but it looks like being drawn by Jurgens/Breeding has revitalized him.
However, those kryptonite blasts did weaken Superman, which is why that knuckle sandwich up there only made Conduit fall back instead of sending his head flying all the way to Gotham. Realizing this, Conduit is able to wrap Superman up in those cables of his with little resistance, which means Clark will now have to rely on his intelligence to get out of this one. His brilliant plan? Getting the cables caught up on a passing train, which comically sends Kenny flying away as they unravel.
This gives Superman time to regroup and hit Conduit with "guerilla tactics" (as in, hiding to ambush him, not raiding his supply centers with child soldiers). He also figures out he can just cut off Conduit's cables by spinning a metal rod as they're coming to grab him, which is apparently quite painful because "those cables are a part of [him]!" Ouch. Also, eww.
That still leaves Conduit's kryptonite blasts, but Superman takes care of those doing something he probably should have done issues ago: covering Conduit in lead, a.k.a. kryptonite's kryptonite.
(If you ever wondered if the sound of lead melting is "BLORTCH" or "SHLOOP," now you know: it's both.)
Unfortunately, Superman gets a little carried away now that he can finally land a decent blow on Conduit and sends him flying against those train tracks from earlier. While Superman saves a train full of people from Superman's carelessness, Conduit escapes, saying he's got a job to finish. Meaning: kill Clark Kent.
As you might have guessed, Clark isn't home right now, but Lois Lane is, and she's got a visitor. Remember that phone call Superman made before flying off to fight Conduit last issue? Turns out he invited Mr. Braverman, Conduit's dad, to visit him in Metropolis (via supersonic jet, apparently, since he's already there). I guess Superman expected Kenny to melt down and repent upon seeing his dad, but he just gets angrier and decides to kill him too. Plus Lois, while at it.
Superman comes home right in time to prevent that. Conduit doesn't even fight him this time, since he's powerless without his krypto-stench, but he promises Superman that one day he'll uncover his secrets, whatever they might be. By the end of "Peer Pressure," Conduit hated Superman as much as Clark Kent. Now he seems to hate him more. (And no, it still hasn't occurred to him that both of the dudes he obsessively hates have the exact same face. That vibrating face trick must work really well, even up close.)
Superman leaves Conduit back in S.T.A.R., and this time, they promise they won't let him get free! Probably! While he's at S.T.A.R., Superman remembers what this storyline is supposed to be about and decides to visit Professor Hamilton -- right at the very moment that he finishes analyzing that Superman corpse and proves "conclusively" that it's "definitely the real Superman." Say whaaaaaa
TO BE CONTINUED!
Plotline-Watch:
A scientist at S.T.A.R. tells Superman that they've called a "specialist by the name of Draper" to build a better jail for Conduit. A master jail, you might say. (If you don't know WTF I'm talking about, you'll find out next issue.)
Mr. Braverman gets off pretty easily in this issue. Dude bullied a kid into insanity! And he's still going "Boy, that Clark Kent is so swell, unlike my garbage son!" while Kenny is within earshot. I had vague memories of him wondering how Kenny turned out like that and Clark going "How do you THINK?" but I guess that must have been some other awful supervillain parent.
I don't know if this was intended, but I like to think that Kenny was able to see through Clark's "bravado" (pretending he wasn't weakened by the kryptonite) because he grew up competing against him, even if he didn't consciously realize that's who he was fighting. He's gotta know all of Clark's tells and such. That's the main thing that sets Conduit apart from other Superman villains, more so than the radiation or the creepy metal appendages.
Is that Mitch, the no-longer-Superman-hating teen from "Death of Superman," in the train that Superman endangers/saves? Probably not, but I'm gonna tag this post "Mitch" anyway.
It's a nice touch that Corpse Superman wears a lighter shade of blue, like Superman did before "Death of Superman," as opposed to the darker shade we've seen during the last couple of years. This must mean he's definitely the real Superman, 100%, no cheap cop outs!
Shout Outs-Watch:
And we won't cop out from thanking our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! The latest supporter-only article was about an episode of the 1988 Superman cartoon that was written by Marv Wolfman, and if you think that means it's less silly than usual, please look at this short clip:
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And now: it's Don Sparrow time!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
The Man of Steel toyline was still a year away when this issue came out, but it absolutely reads like a commercial for it, as Jurgens and Breeding pull out all the stops to give Conduit a push. And right from the cover, it mostly works, as it’s just a great, minimalist design. We get a little of that tie-dye wave background we saw in the Doomsday: Hunter/Prey storyline as backdrop, but lots of Kirby dots and kinetic energy to go around on this monochromatic cover.
Inside, we’re greeted with an even cooler image of a raging Superman crawling out of rubble, making us grateful for the reunion of Jurgens and Breeding (Rubinstein was Jurgens’ regular inker at this time, and while he’s an amazing talent, too, the slickness and weight of Breedings’ lines on Jurgens’ stuff just feels right).
Immediately after that we get a double page splash of Superman both axe-handling and heat-visioning Conduit, and it’s another pleasure to look at, complete with Will Eisner-like working of the titles and credits into the image in the bricks and rubble below.
I always love Jurgens’ signature tall and thin panels, and the one of his concentrated face, with the glow of Kryptonite radiation creating a shadow is particularly good. A couple of pages later, there’s a great, bright panel of Superman in thought, where even the Tarzan haircut looks kinda cool. [Max: Well, yeah, because it ALWAYS looks cool!]
Jurgens always draws a great Lois, and so her earthtone dress and overcoat look earns a mention here. As Max pointed out, I also like the subtle use of colour, where the more baby blue shade of dead Superman’s uniform contrasts with the deeper version of this era.
We have another great, tall skinny panel of Superman soaring as he taunts Kenny, and his expression a few pages later as he realizes Lois is in danger is t-shirt worthy.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
So, what is Conduit’s invulnerability level? We can assume that Superman isn’t at a hundred percent due to being weakened by the Kryptonite attacks from Conduit, so maybe Superman isn’t hitting his absolute hardest (as he mentions), but he still really knocks the crap out of Conduit, who, though cable and Kryptonite powered, remains a human being. But he seems to shake most of Superman’s blows off without much effect.
I don’t credit the letterers enough on this blog, but this issue has a lot of great work in that regard, from the “Krammm!” as Superman pounds Conduit’s armour, to the whispery “shoop, swoop, shup” sounds of Conduit’s cables in motion, there’s a lot to highlight. [Max: Don't forget the "BLORTCH" and the "SHLOOP".]
It was probably unwise for Superman to use a commuter train full of innocent people in the middle of a heated battle, but I do like that he’s using some strategy and his surroundings to fight Conduit. Using his environment around him does help with the plausibility of what should be a pretty uneven fight.
Why is Jimmy still hanging around the lab with Superman’s dead body? Shouldn’t he be in a labcoat or something?
We also have another weird Jimmy tee. Taking a break from the Spin Doctors references, as far as I can tell Jimmy’s shirt just says “The Blues”. Which is up there with Ron Troupe’s JAM shirt for worst outfit material. [Max: I kinda assumed there was a band called The Blues back then (there WAS one called The Jam), but if so they don't have a very search engine-friendly name.]
It’s interesting that Superman acting cocky and overconfident causes Conduit to make mistakes—I’m sure teenage Clark was always “aw shucks” polite, which would make him even more infuriating—when you’re that type of insecure guy, there’s nothing more hateful than someone who’s hard to hate.
Again, Max beats me to the punch--that really does look like Mitch on that Lextram train, but it would be strange to have him in the comic, and remain silent. He’s usually making Outbursts of some kind. [Max: I see what you did there.]
Kenny’s references (Clark not having the “stones” to face him, Kenny’s father “brownnosing” Kent) are a little coarser than we’re used to seeing in a mainstream code book, but then again, he is a villain.
I do appreciate that Kenny’s father is at least a little douchey, even in the brief time we see him, mansplaining to Lois (who just watched her apartment window get destroyed) that her concern is, and I quote “nonsense!” and that he’s in no danger. By the time the story was over, even I was tired of hearing how great Clark Kent is! But it was thoughtful of him to try to match Lois’ ensemble so closely.
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our chronological issue index!
Beginning a dramatic new storyline: "DEAD AGAIN!" Which I believe is short for "The Death of Superman 2: Here We Go Again!"
PREVIOUSLY: A fight between Superman and his childhood friend/adulthood enemy Conduit broke open Superman's former tomb, revealing a familiar-looking corpse inside. Now many people are wondering if the corpse is the real Superman, who never came back to life after his run-in with Doomsday, and the long-haired dude we've been following over the past year is another impostor, like the one who turned out to be an evil cyborg. Among those doubters is Perry White, who raises some reasonable points, but Lois offers a compelling counter-argument:
Even someone who just got rescued by Superman is like "hmm, I don't know about this guy who saved me from dying in a horrible plane crash..." Clark tries to take his mind off the subject by writing a nice and thoughtful column about Conduit, who's currently sitting in a cell at S.T.A.R. Labs. The next day, a guard there has the brilliant idea of taunting Conduit by reading him Clark's column just when one of his radiation-spouting hands is free (because it's lunch time).
("Noooo! Why did we have to feed him beans?!")
As you might have guessed, this ends with a bunch of dead guards and Conduit escaping from S.T.A.R. Labs. When Superman hears about it, he rushes over to fight Conduit again -- but first, he makes a phone call. Superman tries to take the fight out of Metropolis, but Conduit's krypto-stench has already weakened him. Conduit hits him with a kryptonite blast, causing Superman to come crashing down on a park. Man, these two are causing a lot of park property damage lately.
Superman ends up buried in the dirt, looking quite defeated. Are we gonna have two separate Superman corpses in this comic? No, because this is where the issue ends. TO BE CONTINUED!
Plotline-Watch:
It's been a while since I've read this storyline, so I have no memory of what that mystery phone call could be about. I'm gonna assume Clark just remembered he needed to book his biannual dentist checkup and decided to do it right away before he forgot again, otherwise next thing you know it's five years later and the dentist is giving you a deeply disappointed look. Or so I've heard. I go to the dentist every day, personally.
Maggie Sawyer doesn't think Superman is an impostor, which is good. I'm not convinced Maggie herself isn't an impostor, though, based on how fugly she looks in this issue (see Don Sparrow's section below for a more professional critique of the way she's drawn).
A few pages are devoted to Man of Steel's current co-star, Superman's Boss's Wife, Alice White. Alice is currently volunteering at the orphanage where Keith the Unlucky Orphan lives -- I mean, lived, since the orphanage burned down during a Conduit attack last issue. Now the kids are staying at a creepy shelter, where Keith has a bit of a meltdown when he thinks he saw his long-missing mom. If only there was a loving older woman around who could adopt him!
Alice says that Keith gives her a strange feeling of deja vu, like she's "known him before." At one point I wondered if this meant Keith was being possessed by the ghost of Alice's dead son, Jerry Luthor White. But nah, I don't recall Keith holding up any liquor stores, or getting into satanism, or being a little turd in general.
Elsewhere, Alice (I told you there was a LOT of Alice in this comic) mentions hearing that the rocker Babe donated money to build a new orphanage. Very nice of Babe! Sounds like someone who's definitely not some sort of bloodthirsty monster in secret.
Upon being hit by the weakened Superman, Conduit says "That it? I been hit by the best, impostor -- and, fella, that ain't you!" As a kid, that always confused me, and not just because of the excessive italics (it's the '90s, everyone talks like that). I thought Conduit was saying he's been hit by the "real" (pre-Doomsday) Superman, but I couldn't figure out when that could have happened. Now I'm guessing he's just saying he's been hit by other super-strong people and this latest punch doesn't compare. Presumably he's fought other superheroes while running Pipeline, but the fights weren't interesting enough to be included in their comics.
Shout Outs-Watch:
Deja vu-filled shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Shevlin, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Why deja vu? Because they saw half of this post a couple of weeks ago, since I wasn't able to finish my part until now and threw them a sneak peek. Join them (and get extra articles, plus the occasional preview) via Patreon or our newsletter’s “pay what you want” mode! NOTE: If you've subscribed recently, check your junk mail for the activation email! Still have a few un-activated subscribers in the free tier.
Anyway, heeeeeeeeeere's Don!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We pick up right where Action #0 left off, with the world (and this cover) seeing an eerie short haired deceased Superman still in his coffin. In a little bit of art credit misdirection, this issue features a great Bogdanove cover, but the interiors are a guest spot by Steve Erwin (no, not the Crocodile Hunter) with Jackson Guice on inks (they’re credited on the cover, but the interior breakdown of who did what is buried (pun not intended) at the end of a page of text in the Daily Planet newspaper). The art is mostly serviceable throughout—Guice’s linework keeps it looking familiar, but there are a few gawky facial panels throughout. Page 6 is a good example of that contrast, with a soaring Superman looking right as rain, and then the next panel with a truly terrible low angle shot of Maggie Sawyer (not helped with the shadow on her face looking more like bruising than tone). [Max: At least the color looks better on the digital copy, for what it’s worth.]
Page 10 features Clark with computer screen light visible on his lenses, which is a nice piece of colouring.
The escape sequence where Conduit disassembles his captors with focused blasts from his whole hand is reminiscent of Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan (who is also radiation based) only (so far) Conduit has the decency to wear some pants for Gosh sakes. Still, there’s a wonky facial expression in there, too.
The hardest luck character in comics (even more than Jimmy) remains Keith Parks and there’s a tragic sweetness about his mystical moment with Alice White, where it seems an apparition of his Mama (who, according to my research, never gets a name) leads him right to Alice’s arms, in a nice bit of foreshadowing. [Max: Speaking of names, the DC wiki calls him Keith Steven Parks, citing 2010's The Essential Superman Encyclopedia, but the Planet article in this issue calls him Keith Stevens... unless there's another Superman-loving orphan named Keith at the orphanage, which isn't far-fetched.]
The full-page splash of Superman tackling Conduit in midair (at great personal expense) is a good one as is a page or two later when Superman’s head snaps back with the painful force of Conduit’s gauntlet blast.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
S.T.A.R. Labs' very ‘90s uniforms are surpassed in goofiness only by the image of Jakes’ posture, reading the newspaper with his feet up like in a cartoon. He has a lot of unearned trust in that cage, that’s for sure. It’s also confusing storywise, why those men in containment suits are locked in with Conduit as he begins to radiate through his bindings. They didn’t seem to be in there before, and there’s not much explanation. [Max: I assumed they were there to keep a closer watch on Kenny as he had lunch with one free hand, not that it did much good.]
It’s entirely possible that I wasn’t paying attention in earlier issues, but Clark Kent’s article (read tauntingly by Conduit’s jailers) details that Conduit’s “radiation spouting cables grew from his body”—was that made clear previously? [Max: Nope, in fact I got the impression from previous issues that he got the cables from the CIA experiment, though it’d make sense if that bit of info was classified.]
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!
The great @donsparrow says: A little overdue, but here's the artwork for the Neal Adams Batman, which won the Zero Hour poll. I tried to blend the Neal Adams colours and pose (had to have a hand reaching out!) with what passes for my "style".
If you like Don's style (no quote marks, dude's a pro) check out his latest book, Does Your Mother Know?: A Comic Book Confessional. And if you REALLY like Don's style and/or Batman and/or owning cool shit in general, we're giving away the original ink art of the Bat-drawing above to one subscriber of our newsletter or our Patreon, free or paid! Just leave a comment saying you want in under this post, wherever you're reading it, and you'll be entered into the draw. (Paid subscribers will be entered twice, because that's just how democracy works.)
PS: We finished our Zero Hour coverage, ICYMI! Check out the last post here or the entire saga here.
UPDATE: Just to prove these giveaways aren't an elaborate scam, here's Don's bat-art in the hands of our chum Murray Qualie, who won it via the newsletter! Superman '86 to '99: Definitely Not a Scam.
PS: If you've signed up for the newsletter recently, check your spam folder for the confirmation email! (This is about you, Jas and Tonio.)
PS2: Customary ICYMI link to our latest post, which is about Superboy and other characters less cool than Superboy.
This month: Superboy gets X-Ray vision! Steel gets naked (again)! Superman gets fragged by Lobo... as a baby!
Superboy #0
Or: "Professor Hamilton's Hawaiian Vacation." Good ol' Hambone arrives in Hawaii to escape from all the stress in Metropolis, only to immediately run into a fight between Superboy and his archnemesis, Sidearm! You know, that guy with the robot arm who was introduced in Superboy #1 as a villain the Kid had supposedly fought once before (or a "Giant Rat of Sumatra," a term I learned from our commenter Carstonio). Hambone, the DC Universe's foremost Supermanologist, is so intrigued by Superboy that he puts his vacation plans aside and invites him to be examined at S.T.A.R. Labs' Hawaaiian branch.
Superboy agrees to get, uh, Hambone'd. The Professor reassuringly points out that his experiments never hurt Superman -- "except when he lost his memory and almost married that cave woman."
(Which sounds like a "Giant Rat of Sumatra," but no, that actually happened during the "Blackout" storyline.)
Hambone's examination requires Superboy to recap his origin, because "recapping the hero's origin" is what these #0 issues are all about. He remembers being grown at Cadmus (and hearing Director Westfield saying "You're going to be the next Superman, son!") (🤔), getting freed by the Newsboy Legion, and then, in a scene taking place between Adventures #500 and #501 that we hadn't seen before, fighting his first villain: Sidearm, who was trying to rob an ATM! So that clears up that mystery.
(Side note: Very hypocritical of Superboy to make fun of Sidearm for being touchy about his name when he insisted on calling himself Superman.)
In the present, Ham thanks the Kid for the valuable data by giving him some cool X-Ray specs to make up for his lack of vision powers. Naturally, the first thing he uses them on is Tana Moon's... skeleton (and everything else). The issue ends with members of the Silicon Dragon gang breaking into a prison and freeing someone named "Nanaue," who instantly slaughters them. He sounds nice!
(Side note #2: Kesel and Grummett sure love ending comics with a panel of pointy white teeth in the dark, which also happened in Adventures #505. I've been waiting about 30 years to make this observation.)
Steel #0
Hazard, the criminal mastermind behind every bad thing that's happened in this comic, sends more TOTALLY RAD '90s villains to attack Steel while helpfully recapping his origin for new readers. It's pretty much what we already learned in Man of Steel #22, with a few new details here and there. Oh, and a big part of this recapping happens while Steel is semi-naked because villains took away his armor (again), which reveals the one way Zero Hour retconned his continuity: he now wears briefs instead of boxers.
John is about to get killed by Hazard when his armor magically appears on him, to everyone's surprise, including John's. He manages to escape this villain-filled lair by persuading one of those villains to teleport him away... to the middle of a desert somewhere in the world, but still. Meanwhile, there's some stuff about John's psychic friend Rosie trying to help the cops find a serial killer, and a brief appearance by his former lover/enemy the White Rabbit, who's looking pretty healthy for having apparently blown up the last time we saw her (Man of Steel #22). CONTINUED, I GUESS!
Outsiders #0
The Eradicator's origin is only very briefly mentioned in this issue, probably because "an ancient Kryptonian device gained sentience, pretended to be Superman, and merged with a cranky terminally-ill scientist" was too much to lay on new readers. We do at least learn one exciting new detail about the Eradicator's human identity, Dr. David Connor: he was addicted to pills!
(But very bad at aiming them at his mouth.)
Speaking of addiction, the Eradicator runs across some strange "vampiric guns" that drain energy from whoever is shooting them, which seems like the opposite of how guns should work. He recruits some former members of the Outsiders (who broke up last issue) to figure out where those guns are coming from, and more or less accidentally pulls the gang back together. Problem is, someone else already put the Outsiders back together, and now it looks like both teams are gonna do the "X-Men Blue vs. X-Men Gold" thing. Why can't brooding superheroes just get along?!
Lobo #0
What do you know, this issue also recaps Lobo's origin, this time courtesy of some space criminals who unknowingly ripped him off and now tell each other stories about the Main Man as they await their inevitable disembowelments. At one point the leader of the gang says "Next ya'll be tellin' me he took on Superman!" to which someone else replies "Uhh... yeah. Several times!"
Normally I wouldn't bring up such a minor appearance, but I'm doing it this time because 1) I like showing four covers at the top of these posts and there were only three Superman-related comics this month outside of the main titles (way down from the thirteen the previous month, and that's not even counting Zero Hour and Elseworlds) and 2) I'm using this as an excuse to mention another Superman/Lobo moment from a comic that came out around this time: L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #5, to my taste one of the best Elseworlds annuals that DC put out in 1994. Definitely the funniest.
Most of that issue is devoted to a James Bond parody starring Lobo and his L.E.G.I.O.N. pals, but the real treat are the short "Elseworld Rejects" stories at the end. One of those is about a universe in which Superman's baby rocket ran into... ah, frag it, I'll just show you:
Another "Reject" shows the mashup absolutely no one asked for but everyone needed: L.E.G.I.O.N. combined with the Newsboy Legion, in tribute to the then-recently departed Jack Kirby. (Curiously, this one is drawn by Kieron Dwyer, who will also draw the upcoming Guardians of Metropolis miniseries starring the Newsboys.)
There's also a Silver Age Legion-style story by Curt Swan, a Beverly Hills 90210 parody by Mike Parobeck, and other fun stuff. Some of that stuff is Green Lantern-related, so keep an eye on @greenlantern94to04 for a little bit more on this wacky-ass comic!
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!
Oh hey, I remember you guys from back in the day! Had no idea you were still going… anyway, if you have the time to answer, what are some especially good Lois stories (or just individual scenes) from this era? Anything that goes into her backstory at all?
What do you mean, "back in the day"? Are we officially retro now? Is someone gonna start a superman86to99 nostalgia blog?! I hope so.
Anyway, fun question! Technically, the "best" place to find Lois' backstory would be the John Byrne-written World of Metropolis miniseries, which is where we find out that she was the first 8-year-old in human history to have a favorite newspaper reporter.
(It does make complete sense that she saw a guy yelling curses when she was 8 and said "that's what I wanna be when I grow up.")
However, that mini didn't really dig into what makes Lois tick, plus it has some... unfortunate stuff that other writers wisely ignored ("adult Lex Luthor once videotaped teenage Lois Lane in the nude" doesn't need to be part of the canon). The only Lois backstory that actually matters began to emerge in an issue Don wanted to single out: Action #597, which "has a tragic flashback of Lois' father literally wishing Lois were born a boy, and explains a lot of her hard edge."
That's the issue where the Kents convince Lois that Clark and Superman grew up as "brothers" to protect his secret identity, another silly Byrne idea that future writers pretended to forget about. The stuff about Lois and her dad, on the other hand, became a permanent part of her character (I think it was even referenced by the recent My Adventures with Superman anime). Those flashbacks appear again in Action #655, a solid issue about Lois fighting stupid macho soldiers who evidently remind her of someone.
I think Byrne did a great job presenting Lois and Clark as people you could see falling for each other, but he was also obsessed with finding soap opera-like reasons to keep her mad at him. Once he left, his successors tossed that crap aside and got to work on building a believable relationship between them. I'm a big fan of Adventures #457, the issue where, after believing Clark dead and then, let's say, "brain damaged" for a while (he'd been replaced by a simple-minded shapeshifter from another universe while exiled in deep space), Lois lets it slip that she's interested in him for the first time.
On a similar note, Don adds, with Canadian spelling I dare not alter for fear of causing an international incident: "One of my favourite moments (and to me, the moment where the Jurgens/Ordway approach to Lois officially replaces Byrne's) is in Superman #43, when the no-longer-Eradicator-influenced Clark apologizes for his jerky, Spock-like behaviour, and instead of lashing out, she relents and accepts his apology and embrace."
(You just know Byrne would have squeezed 20 issues of drama out of this.)
Don: "From that point on, Lois is only hard-nosed in her career, not in her interactions with Clark (but still calls him a swine, which I loved). And then that's followed up immediately by Adventures #466, which is, as far as I can tell, the first time Clark kisses Lois (and has major implications as it's the first appearance of Hank Henshaw)."
(Poor José Delgado, though. He looks sadder than all those times a building fell on him.)
This, of course, leads to the engagement and Clark finally getting around to telling Lois that oh yeah he's an alien. For me, the moment when their engaged relationship really kicked off is Superman #59, a.k.a. the "Lois and Clark talk in the mountains" issue. This not only deals with Lois' feelings as someone engaged to a dude who constantly has to fly off to save the world from Solomon Grundy and such, but it's also the point when the writers really begin to take advantage of the fact that Superman has someone to talk now. As in, without lying. (Sure, he could talk to Batman and other superheroes in the old comics, but not every issue and probably not while in bed.)
I'm also very fond of Lois' storyline during "Funeral for a Friend", which doesn't shy away from showing that she's going through the darkest time in her life, but she still finds the strength to get out of bed, put on a frog suit, and infiltrate a government facility to find her alien fiancé's stolen corpse. All of that misery pays off during one of my favorite issues ever: Adventures #505, the moment when Clark finally reunites with Lois after the whole "dying and coming back to life" thing (discounting their brief but emotional meeting in Superman #81, which is also very nice).
That's all I can think of right now, but if anyone's got more suggestions for great Lois issues/moments from this era, go ahead and leave them in the comments (here or in the newsletter)! Thanks for writing in, here are 24 Baldy Awards:
"Peer Pressure," Finale! The climactic showdown between Superman and his childhood pal Kenny Braverman, who now has cables all over his body and calls himself "Conduit." Oh, and he can shoot kryptonite rays. Adventures #0 ended with Superman getting knocked down by Conduit (see: kryptonite rays) and sinking underwater, suggesting that perhaps he's... dead again? Nah, that'd be ridiculous. This issue starts with Superman thinking "Lois...!" and dramatically emerging from the water, which means he either found strength in his love for her or he just remembered she owes him money.
While Superman checks in on Lois, Conduit goes to the secret headquarters of his also-secret organization, Pipeline. Yeah, he has an entire criminal enterprise staffed by more people than a mall, which he created for the specific purpose of murdering one bespectacled reporter.
(I like that they seem to have a bunch of people in a Zoom call in there, presumably about the most efficient way to kill Clark Kent.)
We now reach the part when Conduit goes into another series of flashbacks detailing his life story. Last time, we found out how he joined the CIA as a lab rat and then rose to agent by unintentionally botching a terrorist attack. We skip ahead a few years and see Kenny (already in his final Conduit form) performing a hit for the CIA but getting carried away and killing a ton more people. His superior tries to tell him to take it easy with the killings, but Kenny intimidates him into shutting up. This doesn't strike me as a wise career strategy, but I've never worked for the CIA so what do I know.
Next, Kenny is at a CIA base, looking at photos of his hated high school rival, as every well-adjusted adult does once or twice a day...
...when masked gunmen show up and try to kill him. Before killing them right back, Kenny finds out they were sent by *gasp!* the superior he threatened earlier. For a second, Kenny seems genuinely hurt that he'd do this to him ("But you... you were almost a... father to me!"), but he quickly gets over it and blows up the guy's office. This also counts as his formal resignation from the CIA.
Meanwhile, in the present, the Daily Planet staff takes part in a nice ceremony to celebrate the paper's reopening after it was destroyed by Lex Luthor's missiles in Action #700. Unfortunately, only a few seconds into Mayor Berkowitz's speech, everything starts exploding again, courtesy of Kenny and his Bravermen (Pipeline operatives).
Clark pretends to fall into a hole in the pavement so he can change into Superman and fight Conduit at the city's traditional "empty buildings set for demolition" district. However, some homeless people happen to be squatting in those buildings, so Superman panics and leads Kenny to the nearest empty space: Centennial Park. You know, the place with that big Superman statue that used to be his tomb, which has evidently lost its appeal as a tourist attraction since there's no one in it now. Yep, that thing sure is empty.
Superman seems to be falling to Conduit's kryptonite rays again... but he was only playing possum so he could surprise Conduit and crush the blasters on his suit. The fight ends with Superman pushing Conduit through the base of the statue, leaving him unconscious. Later, as the Special Crimes Unit takes Kenny away (in some sort of net that I guess neutralizes kryptonite-based powers), he makes it clear that he now hates Clark Kent and Superman equally. Oh well. Maybe he can still be buds with Kal-El?
Later still, as a cleaning crew takes care of the debris left around the statue, they look inside Superman's tomb and find... Superman?!
Did he decide to take a little nap in there after that exhausting fight? What's with that unusually pale skin tone? Is he pretending to be a Dracula? And, more importantly, why would he cut his totally rad long hair?! We'll find out the answers to these questions in the next storyline, ominously titled: DEAD AGAIN.
Plotline-Watch:
I kinda like that they never spell out the fact that Kenny got his powers from being born right next to the place where Superman's baby rocket landed in Smallville, showering him in just enough Kryptonian radiation to mutate a baby. We all guessed that the moment we saw that scene in Man of Steel #0.
A non-plot essential but still interesting flashback shows Clark running into Kenny during his college days. The interesting part is that Clark is hanging out with his gal pal Ruby the waitress, from John Byrne's World of Metropolis #3 (1988). Kenny immediately starts putting the moves on Ruby, which Clark claims not to mind because they're "just friends" (I did not get that impression in her first appearance). Within a few weeks, Kenny and Ruby are engaged, but then she accidentally sees the cables on his chest and Kenny absolutely loses his shit. Did he plan to go through an entire marriage without showing his wife his freaky metal muscles? Whatever the case, he threatens to kill everyone she's ever loved if she tells Clark about this, and they break up. Poor Ruby. At least we know from WoM #3 that she ended up married to some other dude (presumably with regular human skin).
There's a short scene where Ron Troupe asks Clark if he's ever heard of Bhutran, a "little Asian country" that's "not even on some maps." Apparently, they just "aced LexCorp out of a big contract," whatever that means. This is setup for a Bhutranese character who will debut soon and is sure to become a long-lasting part of the Superman mythos!
Shout Outs-Watch:
Kryptonite-irradiated shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Shevlin, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Join them (and get extra articles... which I've been slacking on, but got some good ones coming) via Patreon or our newsletter’s “pay what you want” mode! Both of those also have free tiers, if you just wanna get posts like this one in your inbox.
And now: it's the Don Sparrow Super Show. Let's-a go:
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We start with the cover, and similar to the other Zero issues, it’s a fairly straightforward simple cover, and a good one at that. The shadow of Superman’s belt, and the stretch between his hand all the way to his toe is a great piece of dynamic foreshortening.
The longer Denis Rodier inks Jackson Guice, the thicker and looser his lines get. Don’t get me wrong—I love my fellow Canadian Rodier’s inks generally, very confident and brushy, but it’s an imperfect marriage between the lighter, scratchy line I associate with Guice. The shot of Superman soaring out of a very flat Metropolis river has a good energy to it.
Guice has long excelled at Lois Lane, and that’s apparent here, too, as the still-workout-clothes-clad Lois sweeps up from the assassination attempt from last issue.
The final battle with Superman and Conduit ends pretty abruptly, and a little sketchily (particularly that last panel of Kenny’s face poking through). [Max: Always thought he looked pretty funny there. Doesn't help that Kenny's helmet now surrounds his face like the parka of his South Park namesake.]
Overall a little disappointing how quickly this big deal character came and went (though it’s setting up for the big storyline around issue 100). Finally we get the big reveal of the next storyline, as a surprisingly well preserved (and open coffin?) Super-corpse is found by city repair workers.
SPEEDING BULLETS:
GODWATCH: On page 4, Lois thanks God Clark’s alright after their encounter with Conduit last issue.
There’s a lot of manpower associated with “Pipeline”, Conduit’s clandestine organization of influence and assassination—perhaps too many to plausibly believe they could remain in the shadows without anyone slipping about any of their activities. I had a similar thought about Luthorcorp in the mostly great most recent Superman movie—who are all those dorks that program Ultraman’s moves? They just punch in, commit enormous crimes, and then punch out and go home to a pizza pocket? And tell no one about what they did all day?
More Ron Troupe praise. Again, apart from his sartorial endeavours, I don’t have anything against Ron, except a dislike of duplication--the cub journalist slot available in this comic is better filled with the better established and less personality-challenged Jimmy Olsen. But in the next few years there will be a number of duplicate characters for this grumpy old fan.
Lots of lazy shoutouts in the flashback crowd scenes, as “several years ago” Clark and Ruby have their choice of shopping at Kesel-Mart (named for Karl Kesel) or playing an arcade console called Bog Beast (named for Jon Bogdanove). [Max: "Critter Hitter" is a pretty good name for an arcade game, though. I'm gonna look that up on MAME.]
I don’t pretend to know that much about women, but I think Braverman is a bit off the mark jumping immediately to threats like “I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever loved!” Might a simple, “Hey Ruby, I’m a bit embarrassed about my appearance with the shirt off” have sufficed? [Max: Or he could have worn one of those fake muscle suits, like Michael Cera in Arrested Development, and impressed Ruby with his massive pecs.]
The photographer’s professor is a professor Parker, perhaps a nod to another famous photojournalist from a different Marvelous universe. [Max: Definitely a nod, since David Michelinie did write that guy for a good while.]
I wonder if the photography student’s t-shirt was meant to have a logo of some kind in the script, which got interpreted by the letterer as literally those same words, when it was meant to be a drawing by the artist.
Good note on the abandoned building Superman felt fine about destroying having been full of unhomed people—that “abandoned building” trope pops up a lot in comics.
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