Seems like the Superman books would do that a lot in those days. Something would happen in one book, and a week later another book would say contradict it as if it had never happened.

Although usually, it seemed to be whenever a book had something, anything, that might be even slightly moving toward the ballpark of edgy, another book would turn right around and soften it up. This case is a rare reversal, I think.




In one of those panels, they look kind of like Lenny and Carl from The Simpsons.

And in another panel, they look liked Lenny and Carl race-swapped. So there's some diversity for you.



Could be that Jurgens likes some alternative music. But later he was referencing Van Halen long after Van Halen had gone radio-friendly, so this seems like an isolated case.

The books also referenced the Spin Doctors, but I'm pretty sure that only because of their album Pocketful of Kryptonite and its song "Jimmy Olsen's Blues."

And when the books later featured punk bands and name-checked the "riot grrrls" trend, it seemed like another case of just trying to latch onto something hip right as it stopped being hip.

All of which leads me to think that the "Singles" bit was a product placement. After all, it was a Warner Brothers movie.

Adventures of Superman #491 (June 1992)



"A Good Head on Your Shoulders"

Script: Jerry Ordway
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Doug Hazlewood
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Albert DeGuzman

Grade: C-


I honestly went back to check the credits on this one several times. Cerberus is Louise Simonson's baby, and has been so ever since she came aboard with Superman: The Man of Steel #1. And while she has been writing generally awkward, poorly constructed stories while Jon Bogdanove draws them generally awkwardly and poorly to match, Ordway has been churning out meaningful stories that emphasize the heart and relationships among this franchise's large cast of characters while Grummett draws them adequately. But, suddenly, we have Ordway writing a big Cerberus story...awkwardly and poorly.

Let's start with the big solution to the threat of Metallo in this issue. In case you missed it, Superman is unable to harm him even when he lets loose his strongest blows. Then this happens:





So they slimed him with something that would prevent Cerberus from making him self destruct. That's all well in good, except

1. Then what actually stopped Metallo? He is standing and still poses a threat in that first panel, and he is down and making wisecracks in the second one. There is no mention of this goop actually being able to hurt him.

2. How did the SCU even know to be ready with this goop. No one mentions having previously suspected that Metallo was working with Cerberus until he said so himself.

So the entire climax to this story makes absolutely no sense. Add to that earlier moments of lazy convenience, like when Metallo somehow knows exactly what Superman is thinking for no apparent reason:



or the general absence of meaningful character interactions that are normally the hallmark of an Ordway story. And Grummett's turning in inferior work this time around too. Explain the physics of these two panels to me:



Panel 1: Supes goes straight up.

Panel 2: Supes goes diagnally through a building.

Even panels like this one show far far too much dialogue being pressed into one moment:




I don't generally discuss Grummett. I neither like nor dislike his art most of the time. It's totally adequate. And yet it falls apart repeatedly in this issue, just as Ordway's writing unexpectedly does, all while tacking a topic that seems like it should belong to a different creative team and title.



Important Details:

1. Cerberus is aided by a "dragon lady" and possibly a third character (visible in the first panel, although that might well be Cerberus):




2. Lucy Lane remains in a coma, but her condition is stable.


3. Jose Delgado is paralyzed all over again thanks to Metallo. This will be an interesting opportunity to get a better look at Lexcorp under Lex II since they are the only ones who can repair him. Or maybe someone at STAR Labs can dig up Dr. Stone's files on Cyborg.



Minor Details:

1. Metallo has been recaptured.


2. This seems too specific to not be someone working at DC.



It could be a very very poor likeness of Roger Stern, perhaps?


3. We finally see the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit in action and not totally screwing up:



...or do we?



After a while, backup arrives in the form of TWO guys with bazookas.



Seriously, why does Metropolis even finance such a highly ineffective department? I'd love some backstory explaining that it was the result of the Mayor's efforts to get the National Guard off of their backs or that the team exists for legal purposes (insurance companies need to see the city making some effort to protect itself beyond depending on Superman or something), but the unit makes no sense as is.


4. Did we forget about Supes keeping his other clothes and glasses in a secret pouch in his cape?




5. Yeah, I feel a little bad about bringing this one up, but I also feel like we need to discuss the (unintended, I assume) racism happening in this book exactly when the Superman Office is trying so hard to introduce a positive Black character in the form of Ron Troupe. I guess it's easier to miss or overlook when a comic simply doesn't have any Black people in it. However, in attempting to right that mistake, the office is stumbling with race representation quite a bit. take, for example, this moment:



A disrespectful, loud-mouthed Black teen who speaks in street slang. I mean, look, such people did and do exist, but in a book with so few Black people being represented, maybe this wasn't the way to go, especially when written and drawn by two White dudes.

And add to that this little moment afterwards, in which Jose Delgado saves that same kid:



Note that this is how the story opens. It ends with Jimmy Olsen saving Ron Troupe:



Apparently, Black people need a lot of saving from people who aren't even Superman. Ron Troupe is particularly upsetting as the guy is as upstanding as they come, outright resembling a non-powered Clark Kent, and yet his getting a job at the Daily Planet is dependent upon his connection with a kid who takes his job far less seriously and recently quit, only to get his job back because the people there like him so much. I don't think we're supposed to feel the privilege in this moment of Jimmy selflessly offering to help Ron, but it irks me quite a bit. Troupe should be working his way up so hard (and seeing the payoff as a result) that he makes those coasting above him nervous.



All in all, a totally forgettable issue outside of Jose Delgado's paralysis and the revelation about Ceberus. Too bad.

Superman #69 (July 1992)



"-- Killing Is Serious Business"

Script: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Peter Krause
Inks: Keith Williams
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza

Grade: F


This may be the worst Post-Crisis Superman comic I've yet read; not the most upsetting, certainly not the most tacky nor offensive, but man does this one just fail on every possible level.

I've noted for a while now that Jurgens has seemed rushed/overworked/not giving things is best effort anymore, and that is nowhere more evident than in this issue, which is another shameless effort to sell the fanboys on his creation, Agent Liberty (who does not operate in Metropolis and has no particular reason to keep running into Superman beyond self-promotion). One would expect Jurgens to put more effort into such an issue, especially since we've been building towards this storyline for a while now, but Jurgens ends up having to call in guest artist Peter Krause, whose awkward style absolutely undermines this story at all its key moments:



and Jurgens' writing ends up being even worse.


The goal of this issue appears to be twofold: sell us on Agent Liberty, and show us that Pete Ross is a worthwhile supporting character in this universe worth caring about.

For Agent Liberty, I have to think Jurgens was beginning to notice how big antiheroes were getting. Deathstroke was dominating sales at DC at the time, so his boy, Agent Liberty (who didn't seem to have much of a personality before) is now a guy who can murder in cold blood and yet somehow also has a heart of gold.



Okay. Not a terrible new direction for the character, suddenly having to work against the very agency that made him. I just don't have any particular interest in this character, who has absolutely nothing to do with the Superman franchise beyond the name "Dan Jurgens".

As for Pete Ross and his moral dilemma of whether to kill another man in front of the entire nation or risk Lana Lang being killed...



so much of the problem here (Krause's art aside) is that, not only do we not have a firm grasp on who Pete Ross is and why we should care about him, but Jurgens doesn't seem to know either. A dilemma like this should reveal something meaningful within the character -- it should expose their hidden strengths and weaknesses, their values and character, but Jurgens just has Pete keep flipflopping in the most non-sensical of ways, even after the hit has occurred and Pete now has to decide whether or not to tell someone what's going on.

The answer SHOULD be clear. He's a dead man to these people at this point:





and yet...



"Superman, you've got to find Lana Lang...RIGHT NOW!" Say it, dammit. Say it.

I mean, clearly these guys were never going to let her live any more than they were going to let Pete live. This is just...stupid.

And then Superman lets a single unnamed police officer take Pete away, never once suspecting that it might be an attempt to kill him.




Usually, I save what I'm about to do next for the Minor Details section of my reviews, but this issue is just so completely full of idiotic moments, so let's nitpick, shall we?


1. Thanks for the excessive exposition for the reader's sake:



Even going so far as to address him by title ("JUDGE Kramer") so that everyone understands who that character is. It's hilarious, really.


2. More of this crap, AND they've decided to put this critical assassination attempt in the hands of the loveable boy next door, who has already stood up to them once, and who (for all we know) may not even know how to fire a gun!



Sure it'll work out fine!


3. Superman sure got dumber.



My 81 year old mother could get a clean shot at this guy with Superman guarding him like that.


4. Yeah, Supes. Don't take the one second to inspect Pete Ross' suitcase with your X-Ray vision because you know him so well.



Let's be clear that we're in the Post-Crisis. This Pete Ross was never Superboy's best friend. He and Clark grew up in the same town, and Superman respects him ever since the events of Superman #45, where Pete expressed true empathy for a wronged Native American tribe. That's the full extent of their relationship. They're not best friends, Pete played no role in the Man of Steel limited series that walked us through Clark's childhood and Smallville years, so Superman's trusting him so inherently doesn't make sense. And, even if it did, it takes one second to look at this suitcase with X-Ray vision. Superman trusts Lana, and yet she was a sleeper agent for the Manhunters, right?


5. So much wrong here.



Has Jurgens ever watched a televised session of congress? "Excuse me, I have to make an announcement" is not how you get the floor's attention. On top of that, after this moment, everyone watching decides that they saw Pete give the gun to Lockwood, but that clearly isn't what happened here. They were video recording these sessions in 1992. It wouldn't be hard to go back and see Pete clearly trying to stop him while exclaiming "Nooo!".


6. Back to Superman utterly sucking at his job.



How is he the LAST to know what's going on? Seriously. Even if he was dumb enough not to be in the same room, carefully watching, he has super hearing.


7. ...and super speed.

.

Jurgens keeps conveniently forgetting this. Superman magically kept forgetting to use his powers last issue too.


8. More with the super speed. This conversation takes multiple pages and a lot of dialogue, implying a long flight from the Capitol Building to the nearest hospital.



so that the dude can conveniently die RIGHT before naming his accomplices.

I'm guessing Jurgens did zero research for this story though, because the nearest hospital to the Capitol Building, (then known as Riverdale Hospital, now known as Bridgepoint Health) is 4 minutes away by car during light traffic.





You'd think there'd need to be a hospital nearby specifically for a situation like this. Flying without having to follow roads and slow down for traffic should have had the senator there in, what, sixty seconds?


9. How the hell did an unlicensed military aircraft owned by a secret group get this far into Capitol Hill airspace without detection??




10. Wouldn't this mystery have been a little more captivating if we hadn't been given the answers right upfront?




11. More unnecessary explanations for the sake of the reader. Why the hell would you explain your entire plan to the woman you are holding against her will?




And, seriously, can we stop writing stories in which Lana's life gets turned inside out, already?


12. Show me a Federal Penetentiary where the prison cells look like they're from 12th Century Europe:




13. Okay, you're a judge who also co-runs a shadowy paramilitary agency, and you need to kill a guy who has valuable info on you. You can just hire an assassin:



but why be that efficient when you are f**king JUDGE KRAMER? Let's throw some totally unnecessary and damn risky pagentry into the mix!:



Because killing Ross quickly, quietly, and arousing as little suspicion as possible about his movements just before his death certainly aren't a priority here.


14. Deathstroke didn't shoot Lucy last issue.



He doesn't even use a gun. Why does no one seem to understand this?


15. Last week, Louise Simonson forced a new conflict for Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane that seemed totally arbitrary and artificial.



But, somehow, it isn't an issue now, and they're totally fine.



See, Jimmy? Lucy is totally fine. No need to further extend this conflict that no one is asking for by suddenly actually having feelings for the other girl, right?



Right?


16. I'm so utterly confused by this scene.



Beyond the question of what the hell is happening with Lex's characterization here, I'd like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable about this franchise and its characters by this point, and yet, when I consider this large cast of characters and ask myself who is strong, civic-minded, and a great choice to head a committee devoted to improving Metropolis, Collin Thornton wasn't even on my list. Heck, it took me half a second to even remember who that was. Funny how it was so obvious to everyone else in this scene, though!

And, really, why do we care about this committee and who is placed on it, anyway? Should we discuss who will head the city Refuse Department next?



In the end, this was just a very very bad issue. The plot is entirely forgettable, and the execution is even worse. No one needs this comic.


Imporant Details:

1. Pete Ross is suspected of attempting to murder an informant in the middle of a congressional investigation.

Robin and Jimmy Olsen teamed up enough times during the Silver Age that the boy wonder's inclusion here may have been intended to see if such a pairing had legs in the present day.  Kind of glad the idea didn't take off since Robin is, as you noted, written so out of character here.  

"Extreme problems require extreme solutions!" sounds like the sort of thing Tim Drake was trying to talk Batman out of believing during A Lonely Place of Dying rather than a sentiment the future Robin was taking to heart.  ("That's totally rad, Batman!")

Perhaps because it was thought of as a Jimmy Olsen-Robin story, no one at the Superman offices really appreciated the opportunity this story offered them to examine Superman's reaction to meeting the third Robin. When Byrne had Superman meet Dick Grayson's Robin during his run (can't recall the issue number) didn't the man of steel remark something like, "When I first heard that Batman had taken on a junior partner, I didn't approve" before deciding that since Batman seemed a lot happier, he couldn't really object?  In light of Jason Todd's fate - in a story in which Superman appeared - one would think that Superman's perspective would be worth investigating when his path inevitably crossed with that of Robin Number Three's.  Had the Superman team thought of things in this light, perhaps greater care would have been taken in handling Tim Drake's portrayal.

Superman:  You're taking on another Robin?  After what happened to the last child to wear that costume?
Batman:  Jason was a good soldier but reckless to the point of being self-destructive.  Tim is level-headed and considers all possible-

Cue Tim Drake leaping out of the Batmobile as he drives it off the tail of Batman's giant dinosaur trophy and explodes.

Robin:  Totally rad!!!

As it is, Superman should be coming out of this introduction with Robin less than impressed with Bruce Wayne's child-rearing skills - I mean, was Robin really about to murder Lucy Lane?  

Superman #71 (September 1992)



"Evil's Pawn"

Script: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Dan Jurgens (layouts); Brett Breeding (finishes)
Inks: Brett Breeding
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza

Grade: D


So much of the beauty of the 1990 Superman Office was the thrill of their discovering that, with three monthly titles, they could churn out major, multi-part events practically every month and, with a supportive editor looking to generate sales in their corner, they could shake things up within those storylines as much as they pleased.

Now, two years later, we're feeling the inevitable backlash from this: four issues of content (six if you want to count the loosely related and equally worthless vampire storyline before this) that are forgettable, incomprehensible, and largely inconsequential. Every comic book line has its filler issues that aren't up to snuff, but when this office falters, its a major multi-issue disappointment.

The story itself feels...arbitrary. They just seem to be making things up as they go. Here, Satannus is suddenly evil, and I'm not sure why nor when Superman decided this:



He and Blaze are fighting for control of a dimension and all the souls in it, I guess, except Blaze also wants the Newstime Staff, except hadn't we established repeatedly in the previous issue that she was just using them to get Superman's soul (which doesn't seem to interest her at all here)?

Once again, we're shown that Superman's powers don't work in this dimension...



...except that all of his powers other than flight apparently do?

And don't get me started with why the hell this is the climax of the storyline:



nor why it causes this to happen:



nor why Blaze WANTS to go through the portal Satannus created to the ordinary world.



Weren't they both trying to claim the dimension they're now trying to leave up to this point?

This is some serious "winging-it" nonsense that might get a pass in a single, stand-alone story, but when you've taken eighty eight pages and $5 of an adolescent's spending money (A LOT in 1992!), you owe them a little more than this.


The few positives from this story include being reassured that Jerry White is definitely and truly gone, beyond even the reach of Hellish demons:


Jerry's "appearances" were just illusions concocted by Blaze.

this damn impressive moment for Perry White:



After all, we've just been reminded that this office unceremoniously killed of Jerry White two years back. While Supes, Lois, and Jimmy weren't going anywhere (just yet) who's to say that this wasn't going to be the true and final death of Perry White? For half a second, I was ready to believe it.

and (of course) the coining of the term "Fosgoyle":




I guess it's a big deal that Colin Thornton finally has a purpose in this franchise;



but I call foul on the implication that he was Satannus all along. After all, why would the guy looking to either steal Superman's soul or at least keep it from Blaze (I'm still confused on this matter) fire Clark Kent way back in Adventures of Superman #464, and why would an otherworldly demon who can posses people and seemingly amass limitless material gain for himself in such a way be distraught that his empire is crumbling due to lack of capital only four months back in Adventures of Superman #490?


from Adventurs of Superman #490

Sure seems like such a being wouldn't need to sell out to Lex Luthor. So either we're later going to be shown that Satannus only recently took over Thornton's life, or the Superman Office is just making up even more stuff as they go.


Important Details:

1. Confimed by Satannus that Jerry White is really, truly dead and in some sort of Heaven where he cannot be touched.

2. Collin Thornton IS Satannus.

3. Sam Fosworth's soul now belongs to Satannus (though I missed how/when that happened too!)





Minor Details:

1. Gotta love how, in a chapel full of Newstime employees AND Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry and Alice White, they're the only ones shown in most panels, the only ones who ever seem to talk or do anything, and, at the end, absolutely none of those faceless people in the background died or were even seriously injured when the chapel they were in was collapsing because a giant demon was wailing on it. Lazy.







2. Supergirl goes for a classic Kirby pose and ends up somehow turning her hand into a disjoined mound of mush.



Not sure whether that fleshy lack of linework is on Jurgens or on Breeding, but...eww.

Action Comics #681 (September 1992)



"Odds &...Endings"

Script: Roger Stern
Pencils: Butch Guice
Inks: Denis Rodier
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Bill Oakley

Grade: A+


Well, it's taken long enough, but we finally have an issue that's reminding me what I love about this franchise. From a plotting perspective, it's just a further wrap up of the highly forgettable Blaze/Satannus War and a done-in-one story pitting two villains (well, one isn't a villain anymore, apparently) against each other, but it's the characterizations and small moments in between that make this one soar, like Perry composing the lead Daily Planet article along with the team as one big, functional work family:


Though (once again) where's poor Ron Troupe?


Supes and Maggie Sawyer just taking a moment to process some of the crazy they've experienced over the past few years:




and Lois being a perfect support to Clark:




as well as so many other human moments in this story that do nothing to further the plot and everything to make these characters feel real and lovable:



...and boy do Butch (Jackson) Guise's pencils help!


Speaking of Guise (whose artwork has really become the star of this title), I was concerned at first that we were going to see a repeat of the same problem we've seen from him a lot lately: namely that he can draw gorgeous everyday poses, seemingly from photos or models, but that he couldn't depict comic book action and extreme expressions to save his life. We certainly begin to see that here:




...or, more specifically, here:



Please note that's the same woman from two images earlier!

but he pulls out of this rut and draws a few really dynamic moments after (with some significant help from Rodier):








Seriously, with Stern writing this well, and Guise overcoming pretty much his only weakness as an artist, this book is comic gold!


Now, for those that don't know or remember Rampage, she began as a forgettable Byrne villain waaaay back in Superman #7. Back then, Kitty Faulkner was a low level scientist working on a project that she felt was unethical. As punishment for trying to expose the lead scientist, he caused her to be transformed into, essentially, an orange Incredible Hulk. The true bad guy was stopped, Kitty was cured, end of story. But then, only two issues after Byrne departed from the office, seemingly without warning nor plan for the franchise without him, Roger Stern revisited Kitty and made her into a complex and sympathetic character, dying as a result of her experience, and fearful of seeking a cure that could cause her to become Rampage again. Perhaps most notably, by the end of the story (in which the evil scientist returns to manipulate her once again), there was some evidence that Rampage, once calmed from the shock (and perhaps outrage) of her transformation, had some level of self-control and intelligence:



Superman describes her as "quite lucid," though whether he means Kitty is fully aware or merely functioning at Hostes fruit Pie ad Hulk levels was never really explored because Kitty goes on to make further appearances after that, always as a recovered scientist putting her life back together, and never again as Rampage now that no one was controlling her externally. In Adventures of Superman #450, she is working for STAR Labs alongside Prof. Hamilton, and she then goes on to play a key supporting role in the Will Payton Starman title (note: also written by Roger Stern) in Phoenix, Arizona, still as Dr. Kitty Faulkner.

And now, in the wake of the Will Payton Starman title being cancelled five months earlier, Roger Stern has Dr. Faulkner return to Metropolis, now as the lead director of the new STAR Labs overseeing its reconstruction in the wake of Armageddon 2001. It's a really uplifting move, seeing this character rise back up from a character who was used, abused, and left for dead as much by John Byrne as by her previous employer, to someone who has built back her life better than ever through tireless resilience.



And the growing friendship between Kitty and Lois in these pages is so positively endearing, as well. About time Lois had a life outside of Clark (though I suppose Clark could use a few friends who aren't Jimmy Olsen nor a half-mad scientist, himself).

Anyway, while experiencing all of this for the first time, with the cover of the issue firmly in mind, I couldn't help but grimace. Goddamn, they were going to pull another Lana Lang and tear this woman back down by having her turn into Rampage again...but no.

She does it herself.



In the midst of an emergency, she makes the conscious choice to become Rampage again and, best yet, she is fully in control of herself as Rampage this time, more Jennifer Walters than Bruce Banner.



In fact, she and Superman playing baseball with Hellgrammite's body might be the most fun this franchise has been in over a year!



Really, the awful name and costume aside, I'd be all set to buy a Rampage solo series by this point, except that Stern keeps the character real: this is who Kitty needs to be in an emergency, but it isn't who she really wants to be:



and I respect that choice, though I can't help but think they're missing out on a profitable new character, here. I wonder if they pitched it to Carlin for the up aboves and were told no? Either way, I'm VERY glad Kitty will be playing a role in the supporting cast going forward and have no doubt we will see Rampage again. Sure the resemblance to Marvel's She-Hulk is clear, but the characterization and tone are very different; I truly like Kitty Faulkner better.


As for Hellgrammite, he's finally turning into a character too. His previous appearances have been forgettable at best, his characterization completely vague. So, while I still have no idea what his actual powers are beyond his ability to regenerate extremely slowly, Stern makes the unusual choice to play Hellgrammite both as a terrifying, methodical psychopath:



and as the butt of the joke, totally ineffective once again:



though I'm still left wondering what a guy like this is going to do with the millions of dollars in payment he is demanding from Markahm. Assuming he even has the ability to launder that kind of money successfully, how is he going to spend it? Weird dude with a giant tail just setting up residence in Beverly Hills? Even if he wants to build a high tech lab with the money, does he have the connections to make those purchases? I'd love to see him get the payment in cash, understand that it cost Markham everything, and then just burn it all because he's that crazy, but I doubt the Superman Office is giving his motive that much consideration.


Important Details:

1. Kitty Faulkner is the new Director of the newly rebuilt STAR Labs and now has total control as her alter ego, Rampage.

2. Hellgrammite has slow regenerative powers (it took days for him to regenerate the end of his tail from his previous encounter with Superman), and his backstory has not changed from the Pre-Crisis Brave and The Bold #80.



Minor Details:

1. Remember how it was implied two issues back that (miraculuously) absolutely no one was injured during the Blaze/Satannus War?


from Superman #71


Well someone apparenly forgot to tell that to Stern:



Enjoy that guilt-free malt, Jimmy.


2. I'm wondering if this is the first time we've heard Art Bailey's traffic report, as well as mention of radio station Q-96.



Sure seems like the kind of thing this office would keep bringing back.


3. It's kind of a big deal that Stern has just decided the events of Brave and The Bold #80 (from 1968!) went down pretty much exactly the same way in the Post-Crisis:



I'm not going to go back and examine the issue closely, but it's safe to say that was a very different Pre-Crisis Batman. Sure, it was Bob Haney writing, so there probably weren't any connections made to any continuity occuring in the core Batman titles of the time, but that's still a pretty reckless move to declare an entire 1968 DC comic book still "happened" in the Post-Crisis, especially when it would have been so damn easy to just recreate the Hellgrammite's backstory for the Post-Crisis in half a page.


4. For ages and ages, this office teased that there was something suspicious about the new director of STAR Labs, and now I guess that idea is totally abandoned. No mention whatsoever of a previous director in all of Kitty's explanations about the new job, here:



Incidentally, that's Hellgrammite in the air vent, not the shadowy old director.


5. Poor Jimmy Olsen (who I otherwise cannot stand) has been torturing himself over what happened to Clark Kent since the beginning of the Blaze/Satannus War, and you've got to love how Lois and Superman keep gaslighting him over making such a big deal about Clark likely being lost in a weird dimension full of Satannic demons:



I seriously don't understand why they can't just tell him at this point. Superdickery in the Post-Crisis Era.


6. Please tell me this moment means Supergirl is going to take on a secret identity.



I'm a huge Supergirl fan, and I really like how Matrix is developing into that hero in this title, even with her blind spot for Lex Luthor II.


7. And, speaking of Supergirl, do Stern and Guice have some sort of exclusive control over her at this point? I feel like we only see her in this title ever since the culmination of Panic in The Sky.


8. Sam Foswell doesn't remember that he was a demon nor that Satannus (disguised as Colin Thornton) is really controlling him, and no one other than Superman knows that Foswell was a demon in the first place.


9. I still don't buy that Thornton was always Satannus and hope we'll see an explanation for this down the road.