Too much so, IMO.

I think the pre-Crisis Luthor's a bit too unbelievable, but I still like the idea of the character having keen scientific aptitude/acumen. That aspect of the character was so de-emphasized post-Crisis that it was all but undetectable, especially after Wolfman left.

Keep in mind that even the Lexwing and this cure for Lois' mother may have been created by Luthor's people and not the man himself. Would it be so out of character for him to take credit for the work of others? Remember how Prof. Hamilton came to hate him. Again, The Unauthorized Biography establishes Luthor coming into his first fortune and building the basis of his empire while in the seventh grade. So unless he built the Lexwing before that (my own Post-Crisis Superman timeline has him in his late 20s or early 30s when the Lexwing came out, which Prof. Hamilton said happened in the 1970s), he probably had others design it for him.

Exclamations of 'Great Rao!' aside, Superman's pining for Krypton wasn't presented so much as an obsession with a planet/era/culture that he acquired in the same way that someone else might feel nostalgia for a period which ended before they were even born, but as a counter to the loneliness he sometimes felt on Earth as an alien with responsibilities and obligations which no one in their right mind would ever place on anyone else.  A life on Krypton would have meant not having to pretend to be meek and mild Clark Kent; it would have presented him with a place where he could have settled down with someone he loved and raised a family instead of having to pass up that opportunity to be Superman.  In short, Superman's fascination with Krypton was less "If only my planet hadn't been destroyed I'd get to wear a cool headband all day" and more "If Krypton hadn't been destroyed then I could have spent my life being an average guy instead of the guy who has to figure out how to solve the world's problems everyday".

It's weird - the way some people feel about Superman's focus on Krypton is how I feel when Byrne's take says things like "at heart I'm just a boy from a small town in Kansas" (Action Comics 600) - does the guy really possess such a limited intellectual curiosity about anything going on in the world outside of Kansas that he'd maintain such a blasé attitude about anything else?  I mean, if I found out that I was from another planet, I'd certainly take an interest.

My dislike for the post-Crisis Superman aside, I have to admit that I really like Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite.  Some of the best Superman stories out there deal with a Superman who's had his powers taken from him (Superman 164, "The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman!", Superman 165 "The Sweetheart Superman Forgot!", Superman 296-299 "Who Took the Super out of the Superman?" Action Comics 300 "Superman Under a Red Sun!") and the writers are left with the challenge of explaining what makes this guy so much better than everybody else other than the fact that he inherited superpowers.  The Superman from the Lois and Clark TV series once remarked that "Superman is what I do; Clark is who I am" and the adage was eventually incorporated into the comics.  I felt that this notion helped cement the idea that without his powers, the post-Crisis Superman simply wouldn't exist - that the sense of responsibility Superman has which would have made him a great man regardless of whether he had powers or not - was no longer central to the character.  It's nice to see here that I'm wrong.  "A simple red rock has robbed the world of its Superman?  No.  I won't let that happen.  I won't let this city fall prey to the constant stream of wackos that keep showing up!  I can't let the world succumb to disaster like Krypton did...  I know I don't even come close to solving a fraction of all the real problems out there but a Superman can make a difference" "With or without my powers I have to stop that juggernaut!"  Even with Prof Hamilton points out that he's powerless, he counters with "if Superman doesn't stop him, who will?" (Adventures 472). 

I believe that it's in part one of this story (if not, then it's definitely in here somewhere) that Superman even remarks that "Clark is Superman" acknowledging that Superman is more than just a fragment of Clark Kent that he can take on and off depending upon the occasion.  This too, I like.  Too often I felt that Byrne's Superman was just volunteer work to Byrne's Kent - like working in a soup kitchen after his real 9-5 job at the Planet comes to an end for the day.  I'm not saying that if something came up, Byrne's Clark wouldn't drop everything and change into Superman, but at the same time, I wouldn't exactly call him pro-active enough that he could rise to a challenge such as this.  Sure, it's Hamilton who's running the tests/giving him the suit/etc. but only at the insistence of Superman who seems willing to wear that robotic armour for the rest of life if it means saving as many lives as he can.  I wonder if that's why we're not seeing him call in The Justice League or Batman - Stern, Jurgens, Ordway wants to make it clear that here's a Superman who can stand on his own two feet and I have to say it's greatly appreciated.          

Superman #50 is a significant issue and rightly so, I remember reading it and I just find it surprisingly enjoyable read and finally Clark asked Lois to marry him and the appearance of Mr. Mxyzptlk and that's really surprises me. Lots of good human interests, drama, and one of my favorite part of that book is the mentioning of Doodly's -- Daily Planet's Hangout and that gave it a nice ring to it and Kevin Doodly's treats Clark and Lois as regulars. I liked that. My dear friend Jeff's who ran a Comic Book Store finds Superman #50 one of his favorite issues and it's really shines and that's why he adores it and the way DC Comics handled the proposal of marriage was totally done just right. That's the beauty of this issue.

Could not agree more.

I don't know how often that has happened so far, but stuff like Superman II (the movie) when he loses his powers he suddenly becomes a push over, what makes him look like a bully that is only tough when having superpowers. I mean, c'mon, you are still 6'4'' 210 lbs Chris Reeve (and 6'4'' 230 lbs "all muscles" in-continuity Superman), so there is no need that this biker can take and could take you down like this... and then when he gains his powers again he takes "revenge". Seems like having a very bad character. 

Action Comics #660 (December 1990)



"Certain Death"
Script: Roger Stern
Pencils: Bob McLeod
Inks: Brett Breeding
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Bill Oakley

Grade: B


I think what I respect most about this Post-Byrne Superman Office is that it never rests, always tirelessly setting new goals for itself and meeting them. In 1988, it was all about finding new direction for the series in the wake of Byrne's abrupt departure. In 1989, it was about resolving old lingering plot points left behind by Byrne, as well as building a careful continuity full of B and C plots in order to make Superman's world feel more real. And, by 1990, it was about making Superman the #1 selling DC franchise again, keeping the cover prices at 75 cents, introducing crossover event after crossover event, and bringing in some of DC's other popular characters (namely Batman and Guy Gardner) as yet another means of boosting readership.

But, by mid-1990, the zeitgeist was beginning to work against them.

The 1989 Batman film had given DC a massive shot in the arm and brought it new impressionable readers, even if those readers were largely flocking to Batman. By January of 1990, the Superman Office had managed to raise sales anyway (according to Action #649 and #587's statements of ownership, sales were up to 216,875 from 99,554 during Byrne's run), and the 1990 Dark Knight Over Metropolis storyline seemed to bring a significant number of Batman readers over to the Superman titles as well. And yet, around this time, Marvel was beginning to attract serious attention with its new breed of hotshot artists. Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, and especially Todd McFarlane were quickly becoming the darlings of the industry with their eye-catching covers and action-packed panels, the more subtle artistry of DC's artists being overlooked in contrast.

And it really didn't help that, four months prior to this particular issue, Marvel figured out how to up the hype a thousand-fold:



Overly exaggerated McFarlane art, multiple covers (including a dealer's incentive variant), chrome/metallic covers, polybags, and a brand-new collector's item #1 issue.

The world took note.

I can speak from personal experience as a dumb kid at the time who followed comic trends blindly. I got into comics with the 1989 Batman film, largely stuck to Batman until Dark Knight Over Metropolis, began following the Superman titles as well, and even while I was appreciating the low cover prices, the major crossover events with cool names and matching border covers, and especially the realism of Clark's supporting cast (yes, that even left an impression on stupid ten year old me, even while I didn't understand much of what was happening in these stories), I packed up and cancelled my Superman title pulls in favor of Spider-Man and X-Men titles only a few short months after this.

The Superman Office is fighting an uphill battle, and the release of X-Force #1 and the Infinity Gauntlet in 1991, followed by the records-shattering X-Men #1 (with 5 different covers), is going to push this office to the point where they will have to kill off their protagonist just to get folks' attention again.


I bring all this up because this issue is clearly intended to shock and garner attention. "The Death of Luthor," with that striking cover and a promise that (seemingly) gets delivered by the close, are a desperate gambit to get the attention of more readers, just as the engagement of Clark and Lois a month back clearly was. Heck, I remember buying SIX copies of Action #662 back in the day because engagements can be broken off, and seemingly dead characters can come back to life, but Lois wasn't going to forget finally learning Superman's secret identity unless the Post-Crisis Supes developed an amnesia kiss power.



So, while we're finally on the cusp of the Triangle Era, the pinnacle of everything this office accomplished Post-Byrne, there is also a desperation to remain relevant at work in these pages. Even the death of Lex Luthor didn't seem able to trigger too much of a media reaction in a world where Spidey had a new comic that came inside of a collectible plastic bag.


And yet there's an appropriateness to this somewhat tacky attention-seeking issue. What's that old legend about the last person to die in a given year being cursed to haunt from the afterlife? This is the final issue of 1990, 1991 is going to mark a new creative high-point in continuity and universe building (most notably represented by those "1991" emblems on the covers that tell you which book to read next -- thus, "The Triangle Era"), and Luthor's "ghost" will haunt in the background, casting a mysterious pall over all that transpires.


The story, itself?

Luthor battling with his own mortality and lack of a successor, doubting that anything he has accomplished will last long beyond his death, strikes as real and powerful. We also get more backstory on his faithful Dr. Kelly, learning that she was once one of the many women he used and discarded, but ultimately brought her back to help him when he learned of his Kryptonite-induced fate. Maybe it's McCLeod's lackluster art, but I felt that section a lot less and felt no new sympathy for the character.

Meanwhile, the Daily Planet grows more real with each passing issue, as the faces and personalities in the background are growing familiar to us and are diligently kept consistent. We may not have memorized all the names yet, but we're sure getting used to the personas:



And this little moment was truly meaningful, as Clark and Lois help Perry through his grief over losing his son:




I remain intrigued with "Keith," a character I still suspect was intended to be a dig at John Byrne:



He looks less like Byrne here, but Curt Swan sure got the resemblance right in Superman #48:







As for Luthor's "death," it's executed well enough. Stern and McLeod make it convincing without ever actually showing a body (thus leaving themselves a way out):



and the ending is kind of classy, Luthor given a nice send-off, both for being a respected citizen by all outward appearances (one guy on the street even notes that a Lexcorp scholarship was responsible for his daughter attending college), and for being a worthy antagonist for Superman, a character who helped to make this franchise what it was:




But (of course) Luthor is coming back in time. I just wonder if the Superman Office had thought out how just yet. Really, this is exactly what the Batman Office had done with The Joker two years earlier. Everyone knew he wasn't really dead; it was just a matter of how and when he would return. Maybe that's why this issue didn't make the headlines it was clearly intended to make.



Important Details:

- Lex Luthor crashes in an experimental Lexwing jet. Superman recovers the cockpit, seat, and Luthor's hand, but the body is not found. Luthor is presumed dead by all.

- Origin of Dr. Gretchen Kelly



Minor Details:

- Only recently, chadwilliam raised the question of how smart the Post-Crisis Luthor really is. That led us to question whether any of the scientific breakthroughs that came out of Lexcorp were actually his own work. Luthor finally addresses that in this issue, suggesting that his own invention first put Lexcorp on the map.



Luthor then goes on to imply that he personally hadn't done anything particularly worthy of note since.

This is fascinating because Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography has him first amassing his criminal empire while in the seventh grade. So he continued his schooling enough to single-handedly revolutionize airplane design while running a criminal empire? I was all set to ignore The Unauthorized Biography and treat it as out of continuity until Superman #50 went out of its way to acknowledge it just this month!



Plot synopsis: Luthor is dying and the rumors are running wild. Deciding he needs to prove something to himself, he announces the testing of a new Lexwing jet with himself as the pilot. Partway through the flight, he ejects his co-pilot and crashes a while later, no remains being found other than his artificial hand. The world accepts his death, including Superman.


Maybe it was McLeod, but I feel like this story could have been more poignant than it was. I wanted to care more for Luthor in these final moments and feel just a little more convinced that this death was real. Still, the characterization was strong and the story truly engaged me at times. I just wanted to feel more over the supposed death of such a critical character.