#liri lee

[dc-megatournament]

DC Ladies Only Tournament

Round 1

Linear Woman/Liri Lee vs Madame Rouge/Laura de Mille

Linear Woman

Madame Rouge

Voting ended onJul 15, 2025

Liri's feats:

Quantum Energy Physiology

Time Travel

Retrocognition

Precognition

Electromagnetism

Energy Absorption

Energy Projection

Knowledge Transference

Flight

Intangibility

Metamorphosis

Summoning

Superhuman Speed

Temporal Resistance

Rouge's feats:

Agility

Elasticity

Healing

Intellect

Invulnerability

Shape Shifter

Size Manipulation

Stealth

Tracking

Unarmed Combat

[fancyfade]

I see they're explaining how Steel lived finally (Besides you know, Apokaliptan technology)

Superman: the man of steel #118

IDK if I just missed it earlier, but I knew superman asked Black Racer to let Steel live but I didn't know if he actually succeeded in convincing him.

anyway, black racer when superman asks him to let steel live

[superman86to99]

Superman #73 (November 1992)

The return of Waverider, the Linear Men, and time travel fuckery in general! Clark Kent is having a delightfully awkward double date with his ex-girlfriend (juicy details below), when an old guy in the same restaurant has a heart attack. Before Clark can take off his pants and do something about it, time freezes and our pal Waverider shows up -- the old guy is Waverider’s grandpa, and the little kid in the same table is his younger self. 

(Back when his hair color was “blonde” and not “fire”.)

Turns out this has been orchestrated by the Linear Men, the debatably competent protectors of the timestream, who’ve been looking for Waverider since he stole their time-traveling bracelet one year ago. Supes and Waverider end up in the Linear Men’s HQ outside of time, Vanishing Point, where the group confronts ol’ fire-hair about recklessly messing with history. The main Linear Man then reveals what we’ve known since his last appearance: he’s actually Matthew Ryder, an alternate version of Waverider (or, to be more accurate, Waverider is an alternate version of him). Rather than calming him down, this just makes ‘Rider angrier and he murders himself.

And then Vanishing Point, uh, disappears -- the whole place was made by Matthew using technology from the future, so without him, none of it exists. Superman, Waverider and the other two Linear Men (Liri Lee and Cabl... I mean, “Hunter”) find themselves trapped in a black void, with no way to get out. They can’t even travel in time! And then Waverider travels in time anyway, prevents Matthew’s death, and saves everyone. The Linear Men decide to punish him for murdering their leader and nearly dooming the others to spend eternity in infinite darkness by... offering him a spot in their team. A happy ending for all!

Then we see some panels of someone punching a metal wall, and...

Hey, wait a minute! We already saw that last week! Was this a printing error?! I’m writing DC an angry letter.

Character-Watch:

Aaaaand that’s how Waverider joined the Linear Men, which was his status quo in the comic most people know him from, Zero Hour. Frankly, I’m surprised Superman ever teamed up with that guy again considering he, you know, killed someone in cold blood. To be fair, Waverider does regret his actions, but only after merging with Matthew’s corpse and looking at his life story (just like he used to snoop on superheroes’ lives during Armageddon 2001).

In that sequence we get another hint that Hunter is an older Rip Hunter, DC’s foremost time traveling adventurer, though I think they never flat out confirmed they’re the same person. But whatever: what’s important is that I can now tag this post “Rip Hunter” and thus attract DC’s Legends of Tomorrow viewers.

Plotline-Watch:

The issue opens with Liri Lee visiting Superman at the JLA headquarters, which causes Booster Gold to freak out, since he still remembers when another Linear Person tried to arrest him for screwing with time travel. Don Sparrow says: “Gotta love Booster. Even though he clearly thinks Liri is a threat, he still has the presence of mind to acknowledge that she's a babe.”

Later, we get the official explanation for why the Linear Men let Booster stay in the 20th century: that big dope is "essential to the evolution of man”. Coincidentally (or maybe not?), this line is delivered by Hunter, who will be revealed to be Booster’s son about 16 years after this issue.

Oh, right, that awkward dinner! My favorite part of the issue. It’s always adorable how uncomfortable Clark gets when he’s around Lana Lang and Pete Ross, his two best childhood friends, now that they’re sleeping together. By the way, I called Lana his “ex-girlfriend” because the issue does, but I’m not sure that’s the correct term: she liked him when they were kids, stalked him for a while (due to manipulation by space robots), and blamed him for ruining her life as adults, but I wouldn’t call that dating.

There’s another awkward moment in the issue involving the return of a certain lady-puncher, but I’ll let Don Sparrow cover that in his section, after the jump...

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with a way cool infinity cover, taking Waverider and a fairly traditionally posed Superman, and replicating him into infinity.  Why the cover works so well is the faded nature of the other versions of the pair, so that the one in the foreground really pops.  Really cool cover (especially since I'm writing this review the week DC's new time travel show debuted, featuring a time-ship called--what else--the Waverider!) and certainly a visual hint of things to come, as this issue features more photostat-ing of existing panels and backgrounds than any other issue I can think of!  

A great splash page welcomes us on page 1, along with a pretty cool visual effect of Liri Lee phasing into our reality--I always love it when we see things being outlined in something other than black, especially knowing how difficult that was to do in this era before photoshop.

It's also nice to see Superman's place in the JLA represented here as a reminder for readers who don't regularly pick up JLA.  Another cool effect when Lee disappears on page 3 (and she's drawn very beautifully throughout, as usual, though my liking of her is no secret).

I love the way Jurgens lays out his panels to heighten the awkwardness of when wife-beater Gary emerges from the elevator. 

At the restaurant, Lana looks great, and the repeating background panels are put to good use, with very little of the darkening effect that can happen in comics of this era when panels are repeated (though there is a little).  

While Jurgens draws a great Superman, at times I feel like he gets the nose a little wrong, a little rounder than I picture Superman's nose really being.  I know this is a weird quibble, but after reading tens of thousands of Superman comics, you start to notice these patterns.  My guess is that, like all artists, Jurgens will sometimes use his own face as reference, and since his nose is also rounder than Superman's, it takes on those characteristics.  Adam Hughes has done this as well, and can you blame them?  Who wouldn't want people to associate them with Superman? All this to say, I really love the way Dan Jurgens draws Superman on page 8, very handsome and classic looking.  That's why it's our PANEL OF THE WEEK.

As the story continues, we get more classic timestream energy rainbows, which always look great, and then the photostat repetition pretty much takes over the issue (which makes sense, considering the importance of the issues that are coming up, Jurgens and company might want to save some energy). Superman is oddly ineffectual when Waverider kills the alternate universe version of himself, it's only after Matt Ryder is killed that Superman even threatens taking action, saying "you've gone too far this time , Waverider!  I'll have to..." before trailing off, distracted by reality disappearing (what are Hunter and the others breathing in that utter empty vacuum?).  The intensity on Superman's face as he questions the Time Masters (?) is very well done, making their immediate, "Yeah, whatever, bye" that follows all the more unintentionally hilarious.

[Max: Do I detect a Neal Adams influence there? Also, the panel below has a certain Legion of Superheroes ring to it.]

Lastly, the repeating panel of young Matt Ryder's horror is spooky--I really like the weird candlelit colouring in that sequence. [Max: I there’s a cool parallelism here between Superman having to watch Waverider’s grandpa die without being able to do anything and a situation Waverider himself will be involved in soon...]

All in all a pretty interesting issue, though not much really happens that matters, aside from Waverider joining the Linear Men (but, since this issue has that second cameo last page, I remember this comic going into second and third printings!).  I'm not even sure Superman's horror makes a lot of sense, aside from foreshadowing, since Waverider doesn't actually resurrect Matt Ryder, like, say Lazarus or something. He just plucks him from the timeline before he gets melted, which isn't really the same thing.  

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

That bubble pattern that Matt's grandmother's dress has must be all the rage, considering we saw Lana with a similar pattern a few months back (when she was seductively baring her midriff to God and everybody)...

Why is Clark hitting what is clearly the "up" button on the elevator to leave for the restaurant, when he lives on the third floor? [Max: It’s a rooftop restaurant, obviously. In a residential building.]

I don't think the restaurant Clark and Lois dine at is making the best use of floor space, there appears to be about 30 feet between each table.

I'm not sure I like Clark's churlish attitude toward meeting with Lana and Pete.  I can appreciate the awkwardness, on some level, but he's dreading it as though he hates Lana and Pete, which is a bit out of character--previously he's shown that he cares very deeply for both of them. [Max: I think he still cares for both of them, but any time your childhood friends start hooking up, it’s gonna take a while to get used to it... and he did, eventually.]

Why is Waverider doing this to himself? As he says, he has all of time and space to explore, so why is he choosing to go back to watch his grandfather die?  Why doesn't he go back to his first kiss, or the moon landing, or literally anything else? Also, who is still this upset about their grandfather dying?  Bruce Wayne doesn't seem as upset about his parents' murder as this dude is about his elderly grandfather dying of natural causes. [Max: I got the impresion the Linear Men had trapped him in that moment as part of their plan to catch him, but I could be wrong.]

Is there any difference between Matt Ryder's pink time travel suit, and Brainiac 5's outfit? Besides the green skin, they could be the same dude.

If I were Matt Ryder, I might not be super-stoked that a super-powered identical version of himself is around, particularly working in such close quarters with Liri Lee, who already married a less cool version of Waverider (but that could just be my crush on Liri Lee talking).  Also he cooked him alive.  [Max: Very good point.]

[superman86to99]

Superman #59 (September 1991)

Superman and Lois Lane go sit up on a mountain and talk for six hours. It is one of the best Superman issues ever.

The Linear Men, the mysterious protectors of the time continuum, are feeling slightly bad about that time they did the opposite of their job by sending Superman ping-ponging through different eras of history for six months. One of them thinks Superman should be compensated in some way for what happened, but the rest of the group thinks a better course of action would be forgetting about their mistake and never mentioning it again, ever. The rebellious Linear Person pretends to go along with the others, but then pulls a Wayne's World at the last second:

(You are now reading this entire post in Garth's voice.)

Meanwhile, Lois Lane and Clark Kent are struggling to find time to be together on account of Clark's second job saving everyone in the planet at all times. After having dates interrupted by a submarine accident and a crazy homeless person with a giant robot gun, things start getting tense between the two. So, Superman decides to take Lois to the top of Mt. Fuji, where the only distractions are the wind and the possibility of freezing to death, so they can talk about their relationship, why he decided to be Superman ("Because no one else can") and other stuff. What stuff? We don't know, because they don't show us that part. It's probably icky, anyway.

While they're there, they feel like time stands still -- mainly because it actually does. The Linear Man from the beginning (actually a Linear Woman, called Liri Lee) stopped time for Lois and Clark as a way to return some of the minutes Superman lost during his century-bounding jaunt. The Linear Men still owe him five months, 29 days and 18 hours by my count, but hey, it's a start.

Once the couple returns from their temporal retreat, Lois writes a heartfelt column for the Daily Planet thanking Superman for saving the world every day at the cost of spending less time with his loved ones, whoever they are (but he totally isn't Lois' fiancé, that's some other guy with the same face).

Character-Watch:

First appearance of Liri Lee, the first Linear Person who has a name other than "Linear Person." From the weight this issue gives to her introduction (we only see her face at the very end) and the fact that her initials are LL, I always figured she'd turn out to be important to Superman's life in some way, but as far as I know we never found out much about her. My personal theory was that she's a distant descendant of Superman and Lois, so by helping them patch up their relationship she was actually making her existence possible. You may treat this as canon if you wish.

Plotline-Watch:

The point of this issue is giving a strong foundation to the Lois/Clark relationship, and I think it does a great job. Let's remember that they started dating because he quit his job after being possessed by a Kryptonian death-machine and she realized she missed him at work -- oh, and there's the thing about him lying to her about what species he was for years. So, giving them a moment like this to connect is a great idea. I actually don't mind that we don't see most of the conversation because, well, it's private (also, six hours long).

The amazing secret origin of that crazy homeless guy with a giant robot gun I mentioned earlier is that he found the storage place where the cops put away all of Bloodsport's weapons when they arrested him back Superman #4. I want to read an R-rated graphic novel about this guy.

The homeless guy mentions "guys like him" have been disappearing and getting turned into "freaks" lately. That's a reference to the Cerberus plot from Superman: The Man of Steel, but for a second I thought he was talking about Dabney Donovan kidnapping homeless people and altering their DNA to turn them into giant green Jimmy Olsens.

Speaking of Jimbo, good news: he found a job! Bad news: it's selling hot dogs in the park. Worse news: upon seeing Lois, Clark and Clark's parents approaching his cart, Jimmy runs off so they don't see him and some kids in baseball clothes steal all his hot dogs. Don Sparrow says: "Those baseball kids sprinting away with their stolen hot dogs has a real Norman Rockwell feel, but who's coaching these kids? Why do they think it's OK to steal armfuls of food?" Hey, maybe Luthor coached a Pee Wee League and this is the first time they've smiled since his death.

At the end of the comic we get several Daily Planet pages, including: Lois' full column, an anti-Superman editorial by Sam Foswell, articles about the homeless guy and submarine situations, more Luthor sightings, and best of all, a Big Belly Burger ad:

Don says: "I'd give almost anything to taste a Big Belly Burger, and I love hearing it mentioned on new episodes of The Flash." Same here, although paying the price of a cab ride in Metropolis circa 1990 for one burger seems a little steep to me. Incidentally, Don also points out that the number on the submarine Superman rescues is "650," so that meme is alive and well.

Another thing Don mentioned is that... oh, I'll just let him talk now. Click "Keep Reading"!

Art-Watch (by donsparrow​):

We start, as always, with the cover, and this cover, like the issue bearing it, is an all-time classic.  When I think of Dan Jurgens, a few defining images pop into my head, and this cover is certainly one of them.  I'm usually not a fan of cover text, though this one works as well with the "Finally..." tag as it does without.  I also love how Jurgens--and indeed the whole Super-team of this era--can manage to portray Lois as lovely, and desirable without having her in revealing clothing, or with unrealisticdimensions.  Keep in mind, this is how women are depicted in the top selling comic of 1991.  So the subtlety and restraint this cover shows, with Lois as a real woman looking cute as can be in her tennis shoes really resonates with me.  

The great-looking Lois is also found inside the issue, as Lois and Clark are all dolled up for a fancy dinner out, at what I can only assume, judging from the company at other tables, is the Listen Inn.

The texture and fit of Lois' dress is appealing without being exploitative while still being a noticeable change from the plainer, more professional look she usually has.  This signals to us that this evening was to be an important one, in a nice way.

Jurgens' pacing is also on good display here, as we see a few of his defining layouts, like on page 3, where we have panels sitting overtop one large image, or page 19, where we have the tall skinny panels that he does so well. 

The underwater stuff all looks great, and how dark Superman's cape and uniform get after he's been underwater (on page 8) is a nice touch from the colorist. 

The glow effect from Bloodsport's weapon looks pretty cool on page 12, and also makes me wonder if Superman is getting progressively stronger from his time under the yellow sun.  Certainly Bloodsport's weaponry gave him a harder time in the past, even without the Kryptonite bullets. [Max: Hey, look! It's the origin of the super-flare superpower!]

One more art detail I enjoyed was in the mountain sequence, how Superman and Lois' hair blows around in unflattering ways--as an artist, it's tempting to always have everything looking perfect, so to see their hair whipping around unpredictably (as it would on a mountaintop) is a great touch.

Storywise, this is also such an important issue, and really cements why Lois and Clark are such a strong couple.  They deal head-on with the frustrations of being in love with the world's protector, and also the limitations of unlimited power.  It's 9 months (in real time) since they got engaged, and some of the warm fuzziness of their relationship has worn off, and given way to a deeper, more real world commitment.  When I first read this story as an 11 year old, I remember being frustrated that we didn't get to hear their (6 hour!) conversation on the mountain, where they hashed out a lot of this stuff.  It felt a little like a cop-out to leave such important things unspoken, to the reader at least.  But now I kind of like it.  Like Liri Lee, we are left in some mystery of their intimate conversation, which we can read only through their body language, as the tension between them thaws.

The last part of the issue is a clever conceit that Superman comics return to pretty often--the newspaper article, in this case, a personal editorial by Lois Lane thanking Superman publicly for who he has chosen to be.  Unlike the early 2000s issues of Action Comics when virtually each issue was bookended with a schmaltzy quote (that NO real life newspaper editor would allow, like the example below), these pages read like more or less a real newspaper, so it's a very effective ending.

Stray observations:

Is that Rich Little playing violin on page 2?

One of the submarine crew on page 7 had enough of the undersea life, and immediately after getting free, enrolled in law school to become an assistant district attorney in New York City.

Clark looks weird in shorts.

I get that Superman is compassionate to all, but I think he goes a little easy on the homeless guy with the ray gun, especially since he just killed a cop! (page 12)

Elroy is LOVING the spat between Lois and Clark (page 14). 

Love seeing that same weird tapestry in Lois Lane's apartment from back in the Byrne days (page 18)