And the villainous Eradicator in a humanoid form appears in Superman: Rebirth #1.

The concept lives on.

Laughing my butt off again. Man, Chad, when are you going to get around to doing a review thread? I need a regular dose of your wit.

Adventures of Superman #466



"The Limits of Power"

writer and layouts: Dan Jurgens
finishes: Dick Giordano
letters: Albert Deguzman
colors; Glenn Whitmore
assoc. editor: Jon Peterson
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: B-


I'm seeing a trend in this month's Superman titles. Both Ordway's Kryptonite Man story in Superman and this story here had a lot of buildup but ultimately concluded far too quickly with very little accomplished. Considering that it's huge news and yet only first being mentioned this month, I'm guessing next month's Dark Knight Over Metropolis storyline was a last minute addition, forcing Ordway, Jurgens, and Stern to immediately wrap up the storylines they'd planned to tell once Day of the Krypton Man resolved itself.

As a result, there isn't much to this story beyond it being Hank Henshaw's first full appearance (he made a cameo last month) and origin story. Essentially, it's a clear nod to Marvel's Fantastic Four



with a more thought-out Modern Age explanation for their powers. We have a guy made of pure radiation who looks like The Human Torch, an unspeaking mass that was once their quick-to-anger pilot who comes across as a more tragic Thing, the wife of the leader/scientist who is fading into another dimension, giving her the basic powers of The Invisible Girl, and the leader/scientist himself, Hank Henshaw, who is the only one not to receive a power that coincides with the original Fantastic Four. In fact, we're never told what his power is beyond watching his skin peel off



and watching him slowly lose his mind




These two factors provide Jurgens with an out for bringing Henshaw back after Dark Knight Over Metropolis (though no suggestion is offered anywhere in this issue that the story isn't over)



He could still be alive (though wouldn't Superman be able to hear his heart beating?) and he might be deranged enough to want to fake his death.



Jurgens' treatment of two of the astronauts is remarkably endearing and tragic:





but the whole thing just comes off as rushed and a tad pointless. What was the purpose of introducing a team that Superman fails to save from death by the close? The title of the story would suggest Superman should somehow be affected by this, but he isn't. He goes right back to Lois' apartment and does this without batting an eye:




which is hugely important, in and of itself, but comes off as a serious FU to the A storyline of this issue. Again, Hank is coming back in two issues, but nothing about this one suggests the story will continue. It just appears to resolve itself completely unsatisfactorily.

I have to admit the kiss caught me off-guard. I'd always thought that Superman #46 had been Clark and Lois' first kiss. This one seems...rushed. Keep in mind that, while fans of the classic Superman have always wanted to see these two get together, we haven't seen them spend all that much time together in the Post-Crisis. There have been a few striking moments of romantic tension, but there was no natural progression to this specific point. With all the inward reflection Superman has done as of late, we've never once seen him thinking of this, or even considering the point Maxima made just recently in Action Comics that she was the only woman around who was genetically capable of procreating with him. I suppose the implicit point is that seeing Henshaw and his crew die made him decide that life is short, but that still makes this moment pretty abrupt. It feels imposed instead of the culmination of careful long-term development, something this office is usually quite good at.

Who knows though? We haven't seen Lois' reaction to this kiss yet.


Important Details:

- Clark and Lois' first kiss (note: Superman and Lois' first kiss was way back during Superman and The Earth Stealers)

- Some early Byrne stories suggested that Superman had an advanced understanding of technology and sciences, but that is either not the case or it has significant limitations, as he has no idea how to help the astronauts in this story, stating that, "if only I knew more about Krypton's advanced sciences, I might be able to cure him."



Minor Details:

- I generally love Dick Giordano's inking, but Jurgens' faces look SO MUCH better when finished by Art Thibert.

- FINALLY we have acknowledgement that Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane's having previously dated is still in continuity:




- Jurgens isn't letting Clark off the hook as easily as Ordway did. He's still going to face some consequences for leaving The Planet the way that he did while under the influence of The Eradicator Device:







Plot synopsis: Hank Henshaw's spaceship crashes on Earth and the four astronauts begin to gain fantastic powers akin to The Fantastic Four. They head to Metropolis and Lexcorp for help. Clark and Lois begin their date, but Perry interrupts with an urgent assignment for Lois, leaving Clark behind since he's only freelance now. Meanwhile, Mannheim makes it clear to Morgan Edge that Intergang will still help him but is no longer under his control. We also learn that Jose Delgado's bodyguard job is protecting Cat Grant during the Morgan Edge trial. Soon after, Superman arrives at Lexcorp to figure out what is happening with the super-powered astronauts attacking there. He hears their story and attempts to help, but he is too late to save all but one of them (Hank Henshaw's wife). One loses his mind and flies into the sun, another commits suicide via Magnetic Resonance Imaging Booth, and Hank Henshaw simply appears to die naturally. Clark then returns to Lois' apartment and, upon her return, he tells her he wants things to move forward and kisses her, all while Jose Delgado watches from the hallway.

Action Comics #653



"Love & Death"

writer: Roger Stern
breakdowns: Bob McLeod
finisher/inker: Brett Breeding
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Glenn Whitmore
assoc editor: Jon Peterson
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: C+

It's a new era for Action Comics, with George Perez gone and new breakdown artist Bob McLeod stepping in, along with a flashy new logo for the cover, and yet there doesn't appear to be anyone driving this title right now. Whereas Ordway and Jurgens both clearly had new story ideas they wanted to get to in the wake of Day of the Krypton Man (which were then forcibly concluded all too quickly to make way for Dark Knight over Metropolis), this is essentially a filler issue that spends its last few pages setting up DKoM. Perez had been the idea man previously, but neither Stern nor Gammill seem to be in any rush to take things over. In fact, even though Kerry Gammill was essentially doing all of the art for the past few issues (it's explained in this issue's letter page that "layouts" meant only that Perez was providing Gamill with thumbnails), instead of taking over full penciling chores with thus issue, he's completely absent (other than on the cover) for some reason, even though his work has been fantastic. Instead, Bob McLeod steps in to do the breakdowns, and Breeding's finished art and inking aren't able to compensate for what I consider to be a much uglier look:



Heck, McLeod is still making excessive use of motion lines and impact bubbles in the few moments of action he provides in this issue of ACTION comics. I'm not impressed, especially following such awe-inspiring cover art by Kerry Gammill.

Beyond that, there's no real focus to this issue (that seems to happen a lot in this Superman Office), but the most memorable part is probably watching Clark and Lois' romance progress. Apparently, the kiss last issue was well received by Lois, so I'm going to have to put aside my reservations about this romance seemingly coming out of nowhere (the two spent almost no time together in the Post-Crisis after Man of Steel #4), and enjoy watching it progress.



In fact, the entire Daily Planet staff is now aware of it:



including Cat Grant, who remains reverted to her early sexy-baby temptress depiction.



I sorely miss all the depth and redemption the creative teams had given to her over the past year which now appears to be discarded.


Really, the only other significant aspect of this story, beyond the charm of watching Superman get to help out with little things when there's no major emergency (especially helping a kid to fly a kite -- endearing), is the long-awaited return of Amanda McCoy, Luthor's one-time assistant still trying to redeem herself by proving her theory that Clark is Superman, and now increasingly unstable since the detective she hired to help her had been killed:



She gets her moment with Clark



but upon nearly accidentally killing him, she freaks out and flees the scene, losing the Kryptonite Ring as two thugs attempt to gang rape her ():



PLEASE tell me the next issue will ensure that they don't succeed. Poor Amanda's been through enough, and this is a kids' comic!


It's worth noting that I don't believe we've ever been led to understand how McCoy got Lex Luthor's Kryptonite ring away from him. At least I don't recall this ever being addressed. Maybe that's coming up in DKoM.


Minor Details:

- Stern appears to be passionate about advocating for Middle Eastern immigrants. He gave it significant attention at the end of his Superman run in Action Comics Weekly, and now he introduces this sympathetic Middle Eastern couple, the victims of a robbery:



I particularly enjoyed the cut to the next scene, where Superman is reflecting on how much he liked the baklava they gave him.


- Manheim (the leader of Intergang) previously criticized Morgan Edge for allowing a love interest to learn all of his secrets, which ultimately led to his downfall. Is Stern going for hypocrisy here, or is he just not paying attention?




- Intergang is now planning to discredit Cat Grant as a means of helping Morgan Edge win his trial, rather than outright abduct or kill her.

- Alice is back (now called "Allie" by both Clark and Lois), and a few other ordinary staffers get attention once again. "Whit" has shown up several times in the past, and now we have feature editor Mary Powers, an elderly, ordinary looking person. I really like giving The Planet these ordinary faces and personalities to make it feel more warm and fleshed out.



Plot synopsis: Clark and Lois are now "out" as a serious couple at The Daily Planet, Superman finds time (now that Clark is only a freelancer) to help out average citizens in need, Manheim and Intergang concoct a plan to discredit Cat Grant for the upcoming Morgan Edge trial, Amanda McCoy now has Lex Luthor's Kryptonite ring and uses it to expose Clark Kent but, when she nearly inadvertently kills him, she flees and then loses the Kryptonite ring when abducted by two hoodlums, warning of the danger it poses to them and to everyone else (because it IS radioactive).

Adventures of Superman #467



(Dark Knight over Metropolis) "Part II"

writer/pencils: Dan Jurgens
inks: Art Thibert
letters: Albert Deguzman
colors: Glenn Whitmore
assoc editor: Jonathan Peterson
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: B

The brilliant packaging put into Dark Knight over Metropolis continues into this issue. That's got to be one of the most striking covers ever to grace a Batman or Superman book, and I love that the first page is a progression of last issue's first page, only with more things piled on top and the notes indicating a greater sense of immediacy:



However, the actual Batman / Superman teamup proves a bit of a disappointment. On the surface, there are clear efforts made to contrast their styles:





(though these contrasts often feel like overstatements)

and the meeting of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne is amusing,




(interesting, though, that Jurgens/Carlin offer us no internal narration to remind us who knows who's secret identity. It's only been two years since these two last met and discovered one another's secrets; readers are likely to be a tad forgetful after all that time).


But where I continue to struggle with DKoM, especially as the story has now progressed, is the plot itself. So Batman has left Gotham and come all the way to Metropolis just to figure out why a homeless guy had a ring that gave off minimal radiation.



And a quick explanation of this convinces Superman to drop everything (WHILE INTERGANG IS GUNNING FOR CAT GRANT AND LOIS LANE) in order to help Batman solve this by ILLEGALLY BREAKING INTO LEXCORP:



NONE of this makes any damn sense.


The art is great, the characterizations are solid, the framing and design is brilliant, and the promotion is genius, but the story itself is a total mess that was obviously thrown together just to get these two into a comic together.


Important Details:

- Batman and Superman have encountered each other previously in Man of Steel #3, Action Comics Annual #1, and Adventures of Superman #440. They also worked alongside one another in Legends (and maybe in Invasion?) but those interactions were neither one-on-one nor significant in any respect.

- Superman saved Lex Luthor's life in Action Comics #647, leaving him exclaiming, "I'll be damned if I'm going to be indebted to Superman" in Action Comics #648, before being saved again by Superman in Action Comics #649. I bring this up because, in this issue, Luthor recalls Clark Kent having saved his life ages back in Adventures of Superman #447



(even I'd forgotten about this one)

and then clearly goes well above and beyond to honor that debt:



So his owing his life to Superman -- twice -- inevitably matters to him and is likely eating him up inside.

We haven't seen Luthor for a few months now, and this issue informs us that he's been out of the public eye and a relative recluse since losing his hand. Add to that Brainiac nearly conquering his empire and (most importantly) completely besting him, and now his being in debt to Superman for saving his life and getting him out of that mess, and the road is clearly being paved for Luthor's big climax coming up at the end of the year in Action Comics #660.


- Intergang's hit on Clark Kent and Lois Lane was televised, which is really going to hurt Morgan Edge's chances in the trial. Didn't Manheim decide to quietly discredit Cat Grant and leave Kent and Lane alone just a few issues back? At what point did he lose all of his common sense?


- We can cross another item off of our unresolved Byrne plot points list, as Lois is brooding in this issue about Luthor controlling the cure to her mother's terminal illness from way back in Adventures of Superman #424. We haven't really seen Luthor exploit this in all that time though. After all, doesn't he have a thing for Lois, and isn't he used to getting everything he wants?



Minor Details:

- We're told that Luthor's Zenith Awards are sometimes jokingly referred to as "The Baldy Awards." This was also the name of the Superman Office's "no-prize" at the time:





Plot synopsis: Superman is out looking for Batman after finding a note left by him at his apartment. He runs into gangbuster and tries to dissuade him from continuing to risk his life for justice. Batman shows up and says the exact opposite to Gangbuster. He and Superman then discuss the radiation poisoning case in Gotham, as well as the recovered corpse in Metropolis (Amanda McCoy, but they don't know this). Superman agrees to help Batman break into Lexcorp to learn if the woman worked for Luthor, based upon Superman's connecting the ring to Luthor, and they come up with Amanda McCoy's name. Later, Clark and Bruce meet for the first time at Luthor's Zenith Awards shortly before Intergang attacks. Batman and Superman are able to thwart them, but it was just a distraction allowing Intergang to more quietly obtain Cat Grant.

Action Comics #654



(Dark Knight over Metropolis) "Part Three:"

writer: Roger Stern
breakdowns: Bob McLeod
finishes: Brett Breeding
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Glenn Whitmore
assoc editor: Jon Peterson
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: A-


The final installment of the big comic book event designed to attract new readers to Superman, and they leave Bob McLeod on the art? If I were Mike Carlin, I would have sat on Kerry Gammill's front stoop until he agreed to do this issue. How do we go from two issues of outstanding, top notch art to panels like these:



Still, I guess they figured that anyone who'd already stuck around for Parts I and II were going to read this one all the same. And, to be fair, there was something a lot more memorable about this issue than McLeod's awkward artwork...


The Batman / Superman Relationship

Here's the crux of this issue and, in a sense, of Dark Knight over Metropolis all along. When John Byrne first rebooted Superman, he went out of his way to take the antagonistic relationship between Superman and Batman that Frank Miller introduced in Dark Knight Returns and cement it into Post-Crisis continuity in Man of Steel #3. Byrne enjoyed having the two form uncomfortable team-ups again in Action Comics Annual #1 and Adventures of Superman #440, but that level of tension never eased.

A short time after, almost immediately following Byrne's departure from the Superman Office, Roger Stern and Jerry Ordway began subtly undoing a lot of the characterization Byrne had given to Superman, even while doing their best to respect his continuity. Once George Perez came aboard, that shift became even more pronounced, with Superman feeling very much like his Pre-Crisis goody-goody counterpart instead of the regular guy from Kansas Byrne had been going for.

It therefore makes sense that, given the opportunity, they'd want to reverse the Post-Crisis characterization of Batman and Superman's relationship as well, returning them to the friendship and mutual respect they enjoyed in the Pre-Crisis.



In fact, in some ways, the ending of this issue feels reminiscent of the beginning of their original friendship way back in Superman (volume 1) #76:



In that story, it's both their shared dedication to justice AND the mutual vulnerability they share after having their identities revealed to one another that compels them to forge a close working relationship and, ultimately, a great friendship. And we see the Post-Crisis Superman address that shared dedication to justice in this story:



But it's the second element, that shared vulnerability, that ends up playing an even larger role here. While Stern couldn't use the "Oops! You know my secret identity!" trick here (they've known each other's identities since Adventures of Superman #440), Batman and Superman do each experience a moment of tremendous vulnerability at the hands of the other in this story, and its the other's unwillingness to take advantage of that vulnerability that ultimately steers them towards a kind of mutual respect and hesitant friendship:






and all of this culminates with Superman deciding to entrust Batman with the Kryptonite ring that Batman already passed up the opportunity to take from him during that earlier moment of vulnerability:



While this was definitely a fan-boy cheer moment back in the day, as well as a clear nod to Dark Knight Returns (where Batman DID have to take Superman down because he had become corrupted), it's actually so much more important when you look deeper: this is the moment that undoes Dark Knight Returns. In that storyline, Superman and Batman's relationship was based upon mistrust. Batman spent years synthesizing kryptonite in order to take Superman down. Here, Superman gives the Kryptonite to him and asks Batman to be his check and balance. This pair can't end up going down Frank Miller's dark road now. Instead, the Superman Office has put them on track to become something different and a little closer to their Pre-Crisis counterparts.

But nostalgia and good feelings aren't The Superman Office's only motivation in doing this. The jaded Batman/Superman relationship was bad for Superman sales. Both DKR and Man of Steel #3 made Superman look like an utter chump; a character so lame and out of touch with the world that reading him would seem almost uncool. The very focus of DKoM has been to get Superman back in the limelight along with Batman -- they're different, but (in the spirit of every superhero crossover since the dawn of time) if the popular character approves of the less popular character, then don't his fans have to approve as well?


Important Details:

- Superman gives Luthor's Kryptonite ring to Batman, instructing Batman to take him down if he should ever lose control of himself and become a threat. Incidentally, considering the three examples of mind control Superman recently experienced (Sleez, Brainiac, and The Eradicator Device), this is hardly an out-of-left-field concern.

- Cat Grant is beginning to fall for Jose Delgado. Enter a romantic foil for the newly emerging Clark and Lois relationship.



Minor Details:

- I love this recap on the story of Amanda McCoy (largely recounting events from Superman #2 and Adventures of Superman #440).



I love it because of why it's there. Anyone who's been reading the Superman books for a while now (even just going back to Action Comics #653 last month) knows this story; this thorough recap isn't written for them. Instead, it's clearly there for the sake of new readers just entering, letting them know there's a rich backstory at work here while also making it thoroughly accessible to them.

And, with so few Byrne plot points still left unresolved, it reiterates the idea that Dark Knight over Metropolis is the perfect entrypoint for new Superman readers.

And don't forget the ad placed at the back of each chapter of Dark Knight over Metropolis, further echoing this point:




- Batman never did end up having a good reason for sticking around for this storyline.



It seems that the mystery surrounding the Kryptonite ring was always far more critical to Superman than to Batman. I'm still at a loss as to why it warranted Batman leaving Gotham to investigate in the first place. Granted, this entire storyline takes under 24 hours to resolve, but that's still a night in which Batman isn't patrolling Gotham's streets, all because he wanted to know why a hobo had a mildly radioactive ring that wasn't even entirely responsible for his death.


- While I love the continuing theme of the first page being the exact same file, only littered with more content each time, suggesting a greater sense of urgency and panic, I'm confused by this one:



Is Manheim trying to get Edge "fried"? I mean, that would make complete sense, but he's never said as much and, at the end of the story, when everything has gone to heck, the idea seems to first occur to him that they can no longer protect Edge:



What the heck?


- McLoud may generally suck, but I was impressed by this one page, in which Superman enters the ransacked apartment only to find Batman casually reading through evidence on the couch:



(well, I loved everything but that last panel)


- This is truly nitpicky, but how is it that Gangbuster takes an energy blast directly to the back



and can walk away saying this:



when the exact same weapon does this to Superman:



Even Batman watches and reflects, "Don't know how these things work, but if they can hurt Superman, I don't want to find out!"



Overall, while the basic premise of this story never made any sense, and McLoud's art is truly disappointing, what this issue ultimately does for the Batman/Superman relationship more than offsets the bad. This was an important move for the Superman Office, both in terms of boosting sales and in making Superman appealing to a wider audience once more.


Plot synopsis: Batman and Superman rescue Gangbuster and Cat Grant from Intergang, Batman learns the story of Amanda McCoy and explains it to Superman (and to all the new readers), Batman reveals that he has the Kryptonite ring and returns it to Superman, and a short time later, Superman surprises Batman in his cave, clearing the air and entrusting Batman with the ring in case Superman ever needs to be taken down.