#kitty faulkner

[artsycj93]

Here's some late night art posting, and this time we're back in the hard drive archives :D I found some I*ktober doodles from 2016, back when that whole thing was popular.

All these were drawn between 10/2/2016 and 10/4/2016

[superman86to99]

Superman: The Man of Steel #39 (December 1994)

"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!

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

[fancyfade]

Evidently Cissie has field medicine training

young justice #35

[dcbinges]

Superman #24 (1988) by Roger Stern & Kerry Gammill

[why-i-love-comics]

S.T.A.R. Labs info page

[atroposedits]

Batgirl #41

The iconic blob monster fight.

[superman86to99]

Adventures of Superman #517 (November 1994)

"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!