Action Comics #600

I'd be curious to know what sales of this issue were like. In a month where Byrne already had four Superman stories on the stands, and following a month that had offered four regular issues plus the Earth Stealers graphic novel, this $2.50 mammoth was put out. Had Byrne fatigue completely hit by this point, or were fans begrudgingly still putting out the cash for every Superman story he could throw at them? We know Byrne is going to leave in only four more months. I wonder if sales for this issue may have influenced DC's treatment of him at that point, switching from supporting him to the extent that they dismissed his editor when there was a conflict of vision between them, to Byrne claiming that DC wasn't interested in supporting him and his work when he left.

Then there's the whole change-up occurring next issue. Did Byrne choose to be relieved of writing and drawing for Action Comics because too much was on his plate, or did DC decide they wanted a new direction for Action Comics? It seems very plausible to me that Action Comics Weekly was someone else's idea, and Byrne asked to be taken off of the book as a result, requesting to use this issue as a grand send-off of sorts. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to take a new direction with Action Comics was the beginning of Byrne's deciding he wasn't supported by DC leadership and ultimately walking off the book. This is all a lot of speculation, but it fits what I know of the man.

Anyway, this is a terrible terrible issue. Whereas I feel Byrne was starting to do a lot better in his most recent issues, this one is just cover to cover crap. I wonder if he wrote it ahead of the other stories or something, because the writer I've seen improving over the past few issues simply isn't here this time.



"Different Worlds"
story/breakdowns: John Byrne
finishes: George Perez
letters: John Costanza
colors: Tom Ziuko
asst. editor: Renee Witterstaetter (since when? Is she from the Wonder Woman office??)
editor: Mike Carlin
grade: F

It's a good thing Perez does an amazing job finishing Byrne's breakdowns, because this story truly has nothing else going for it. Superman and Wonder Woman talk a whole lot about nothing of interest, they magically get summoned to Mt Olympus because Darkseid has conveniently decided to conquer it at the same time as their date, DeSaad keeps pointing out that there's no logic and lots of risk in Darkseid choosing to toy with Superman and Wonder Woman while he is doing this, but he does so anyway, they turn the tables on him in a way that makes absolutely no sense and then stand in front of him and offer two pages of explanation about how they did it -- with him standing RIGHT THERE, Omega Beams and all -- and, just like last time he faced Superman, he randomly decides he's defeated and should withdraw for no good reason. Really, it's like Byrne just really enjoys having stories where Darkseid messes with Superman and then just feels he should give up out of some weird sense of honor the second Superman implausibly outsmarts him (and, once again, how Superman and Wonder Woman outsmarted him this time made no sense either).

Oh, and after months of unnecessarily build up to Wonder Woman and Superman's first date in both titles, their decision to not date any longer at the end is completely arbitrary and makes absolutely no sense.

Superman: ...I was fooling myself when I thought there might be a chance for romance between the two of us, Wonder Woman. Before Hermes called you away you said I stood as an equal to the Gods. But I don't. More than ever, I see that now. I...admire you, Wonder Woman. I respect you. But...I really am just a boy from Kansas. You're way out of my league!

Wonder Woman: I agree with your decision, Superman, if not all your reasoning. We are of different worlds--different philosophies. Perhaps we can never be lovers...but...I hope we can be friends.

Nothing...NOTHING that occurred in this story in any way would have led to either of them thinking any of these thoughts. At no point was Wonder Woman outclassing Superman, at no point did a difference of beliefs come through, etc. Byrne spent FOREVER leading up to this just to throw it away because it was time for it to be over, just as Darkseid always gives up at the end because it's time for the story to conclude.

Truly, truly a BAD story.


Important Details:

- The Gods of Olympus were created as a byproduct of New Genesis and Apokalypse separating.

- Superman and Wonder Woman decide (quite arbitrarily) that there is no romantic potential between them.


Plot synopsis in one sentence:

Superman and Wonder Woman are on their first date, Wonder Woman is put off by Superman going in for a kiss right away, they talk a bit, Hermes summons Wonder Woman to Olympus, Superman follows, Darkseid has taken over and uses doubles of Superman and Wonder Woman to make them turn on each other, they somehow communicate with one another and work out a plan to turn the tables on Darkseid, Wonder Woman shows him that he has not really conquered Olympus -- the gods are just choosing not to engage -- he willingly leaves, Wonder Woman's publicist decides to tell the papers that Wonder Woman and Superman are in love, and the two decide not to date.




(Untitled Story)
plot: John Byrne
script: Roger Stern
pencils: Kurt Schaffenberger
inks: Jerry Ordway
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Petra Scotese

grade: D-

A story that was so clearly useless filler they didn't even bother to name it. Really, this is an entirely pointless story that isn't even worth reviewing. Fortunately, it was so pointless that it also wasn't as upsetting as the previous story; thus the D-. You can't really screw up that badly when you set out to do absolutely nothing.


Important Details:

- Lois received hand to hand combat training from her father and from a Las Vegas Chorus Girl who had developed her own technique

- Lois' father was a Green Beret

- Lois earned the nickname "Superman's Girlfriend" for getting so many Superman exclusives. By that logic, if she is now resentful that Clark is getting more Superman exclusives than she is, what's his nickname?


Minor Details:

- A minor success with continuity: this is the undercover job we saw Lois planning to undertake in Superman #17

- So the leader of an extortion ring tries to kill Lois with an Uzi, she knocks it out of his hands, runs down the stairs, and then just strolls around like she's safe? Wouldn't this guy's entire organization be desperately trying to kill her before her story sees print?

- Perry seems awfully amused to be scooped by another paper (in another city) about news pertaining to Superman.

- Why would Lois decide to take a shower immediately upon inviting Clark in? Who does that?


Plot synopsis in one sentence:

Lois narrowly escapes from infiltrating an extortion ring and is distraught to learn the news that Superman and Wonder Woman are supposedly in love (see Mindi Mayor's actions in the previous story), Clark shows up at her door to cheer her up, she goes to take a shower, Clark hears Jimmy's signal watch and has to leave, Lois discovers Clark has left and is angry.




"Games People Play"
script: John Byrne
pencils: Dick Giordano
inks: John Beatty
colors: Tom Ziuko
letters: Albert DeGuzman

grade: F-

Ugh.

So we saw previously that Luthor had uncovered something of value on Police Captain Maggie Sawyer. Here I was expecting him to have some way of threatening her daughter or something, but no, the big thing he's uncovered is that she's gay. Okay, that can work, but then we watch how Byrne goes about the story, and it's just embarrassing. Luthor starts having secretaries walk in and lean over the desk, and this actually WORKS in making Sawyer uncomfortable. Come on. Just because she's a lesbian she's going to lose all self control in such a situation? She's a hardened professional, not to mention in a serious relationship. This is just embarrassing.

But then it gets worse. In the end, as Maggie and Turpin are driving away, Byrne keeps using phrases that, I'm certain, are intended to have disturbing double meanings:

"Did you manage to put the "snatch" on it?"

"If Lex Luthor thinks I'm going to tuck my tail between my legs and run..."


And, while you could chalk either one of those up to being harmless and unintended, there's this final line of dialogue that is just all sorts of wrong:


"But he's going to find out he's stuck a big, fat finger in the wrong pie, this time. And what's in there is going to bite off his whole damned hand"

Seriously, Byrne, what the f*** is wrong with you?!


Important Details:

- "Pearl" was the very first assistant we ever saw for Luthor, way back in Superman #1. After that, we saw him with a new female assistant/implied sexual partner each time to imply that they were disposable (as Superman #2, in particular, ended up making clear). But now Pearl is suddenly back. Perhaps Byrne is rethinking the problematic idea of having Luthor replace his second in command virtually every day of the week.

- First appearance of Dr. Kelley, who has known Luthor for nearly his entire life, and vice versa.

- Luthor discovers that he has Kryptonite poisoning from the ring. Yet, way back in Superman #2, when the ring was first created, we saw the following exchange:

Happersen: S-sir--You shouldn't be here without a protective suit. The radiation levels...

Luthor: ...are quite within acceptable tolerances, Happersen. One of the first things we determined was that this so-called Kryptonite could not harm human beings.


You're telling me, with all of Luthor's super advanced scientific equipment, they couldn't tell that the Kryptonite was radiating in a way that could potentially affect human tissue??


plot synopsis in one sentence:

Luthor invites Maggie Sawyer to his office in order to threaten to tell the world she is gay if she doesn't stop trying to take him down, he runs off when he hand starts to hurt, his doctors discover he has Kryptonite poisoning from his ring, and Maggie vows not to let Luthor take her down without a fight.



"A Friend in Need"
plot: John Byrne
script: Roger Stern
pencils: Curt Swan
inks: Murphy Anderson
letters: Albert DeGuzman
colors: Tom Ziuko

grade: D-

So, after doing World of Krypton with Mike Mignola, Byrne was impressed enough with the guy to ask him to do a story for this special issue. Mignola wanted to draw Man Bat. Sure, he's not a Superman villain, but why not? Only one problem. Superman will need a reason to be in a cave and relatively powerless. No problem. Let's create another pointless filler story to do just that, and let's waste Curt Swan's talents (once again) on it instead of a story better suited to showcase his abilities.

Yeah, there's really no point in discussing this story (if you can even call it a story).


Minor details:

- Why does Jimmy know the layout and entire history of a town he showed up in at the last moment in order to photograph an emergency?

- Why would their be no emergency response people on the scene at the tanker leaking toxic flammable chemicals? You'd think there'd at least be police and fire people keeping a distance, even if the guys in Hazmat suits hadn't arrived yet. Instead, the town is literally abandoned.

- How come the workers who believe Jimmy is stealing their forklift can't outrun it?

- Superman can calculate precisely that it must be a shockwave of radiation from Krypton's destruction causing his being depowered (even rationalizing it in terms of computing time and distance), but he can't provide any estimate as to how long it will last or even if it will ever go away?


plot synopsis in one sentence:

Jimmy is on hand to photograph a tanker containing toxic chemicals that has caught fire and is about to blow, he signals for Superman, Superman arrives to stop it (and possibly succeeds in doing so, though this was hard to tell) before suddenly becoming weakened, he explains that a Kryptonite shockwave resulting from Krypton's destruction has finally reached Earth and has Jimmy place him in a cave for shielding purposes before Jimmy goes to seek help.




"The Dark Where Madness Lies"
writer: John Byrne
art: Mike Mignola
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Petra Scotese

grade: B- (only because of Mignola art)

It's hard to believe, but while the previous story was a pointless bit of filler with no actual plot designed to get us to this final story, this final story is ALSO a pointless bit of filler with no actual plot designed to get us to Superman #18, where the story is (what Byrne laughingly calls) "continued". It's okay, though, and here's why -- Mignola inks his own pencils! Eight pages of Mignola penciling and inking Man Bat and Superman going at it in a cave. Sign me up! This issue, in general, has convinced me more than ever that John Byrne is a total douche, but this final non-story was a nice breath of fresh air at the end of it all.


plot synopsis in one sentence:

Man Bat shows up in the cave Superman has been left in, Superman is delusional with Kryptonite poisoning and tries to kill Man Bat, he comes to his senses, and Hawkman shows up to help him.


EDIT: Byrne Countdown
24 stories remaining until he leaves
14 stories remaining actually written by him

Superman #18

"Return to Krypton"
writer: John Byrne
special guest penciler: Mike Mignola
inks: Karl Kesel
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Petra Scotese
asst. editor: Renee Witterstaetter (guess she's sticking around)
editor: Michael Carlin

grade: D+


What the hell was that?

Okay, so there's a shockwave of Kryptonite hitting the Earth now from when Krypton exploded fifty years ago (that part makes sense), so Superman decides to go back to the source of the explosion (why?), on the way there, we see that the Kryptonite debree covers all space between Earth and where Krypton used to be (this is physically impossible), Superman goes down into the debris field where Krypton used to be (again, why?), randomly starts hallucinating an Elseworlds story in which the Kryptonians escape to Earth, and then at the end Byrne has completely forgotten about the Kryptonite being all over space and even in Earth's orbit. It's just gone without explanation.

Seriously. How do you write this crap and get away with it?

Fortunately, we had Mignola art to make the trip worthwhile, and while the What If? story about Kryptonians coming to Earth and inevitably making humans second class citizens was hardly unpredictable, it made for decent storytelling.


Minor details that made absolutely no sense:

- If Superman is back in Krypton's solar system, why is he worried that his super strength might tear his exosuit? He shouldn't have any super strength in Krypton's solar system. Even using the explanation that his cells work as batteries for yellow sun radiation, he was on death's door when he left Earth due to overexposure to Kryptonite. He didn't have any "charge" left.

- Superman says at the end, "Since I learned of my alien origins, I've cherished the notion--the conceit, really--that the race of Krypton were somehow above the pettiness that's plagued humankind all these years." Uh, why? Byrne went out of his way to make the Kryptonians look like utter jerks and fools; in his own words, "A Krypton that deserved to die." Where on Earth would Superman get the idea that they were somehow superior, and why would a fevered delusion occurring in his own mind change that?

- Everything else I said above. This issue made no damned sense.


plot synopsis:

Continued from Action Comics #600, in which Kryptonite from the destruction of Krypton has made its way to Earth and is killing Superman, Hawkman and Hawkwoman take Superman back to where Krypton used to be for no explained reason, Superman enters the debris field and has a hallucination, while succumbing to Kryptonite poison, of what might have occurred had Jor-El gotten the Kryptonians safely to Earth, it ends badly and Jor El ends up being a defender of humans, taking down Kryptonians and adored like Superman, and The Hawks rescue Superman, and he decides more than ever that he is of Earth and not Krypton (though he'd already clearly decided that before), oh, and somehow all the Kryptonite that began this story is mysteriously gone.

Action Comics #601

I guess the idea all along had been to use Superman (DC's most famous and best loved character for at least another fourteen months) to advertise lesser DC properties. Back in the day, there was DC Comics Presents and, Post-Crisis, Action Comics became a team-up title, much like DCCP before it. But I guess that didn't work too well, particularly while Byrne was writing, choosing his favorite characters instead of the ones DC wanted to plug, doing a poor job of introducing them, and limiting the title to its own internal continuity so that it didn't take readers long to realize they didn't need to read Action each month to keep up with Superman.

So now, in place of that, DC is trying something a bit bolder. In the age of the direct market, why not try releasing a weekly comic to appeal to regular readers? I have no idea how well this would have worked on newsstands (both with how inconsistently books were ordered/stocked and how infrequently readers at those stands came in for their comics), but for the direct market, twice the cover price for six stories each week featuring a rotating selection of characters/premises was a damn compelling idea and, flipping through this issue, quality is apparent throughout.

As I've indicated previously, I don't see any point in reviewing the non-Superman features in this book, but, for this first issue in the new format, I think it's worth noting that each of the features boasts stunning art and layouts, even while it's too soon to judge the writing and plotting. Gil Kane back on Hal Jordan, Dan Spiegle on Secret Six, Mike Grell on Blackhawk, and of course, Curt Swan doing a retro Superman Sunday newspaper style strip all just scream quality. And, while some of these properties were obscure to readers in 1988 (hello copyright renewal!), providing a regular home for Hal Jordan with a Curt Swan Superman centerfold each month would certainly have been enough to entice me. I would have bought a subscription to this mag on the spot.


"Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!"
writer: Roger Stern
pencils: Curt Swan
inks: John Beatty
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Tom Ziuko
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: A (based on Swan's pencils and an inability to expect much else from the first two pages of a story)

How great to finally see Curt Swan's pencils getting the attention they deserve! Swan's return to Superman should have been a big deal prior to this, but when he returned to do both The Earth Stealers and a filler story in Action Comics #600, the inking was all wrong, and absolutely nothing was made of his return. He was treated like a regular fill-in artist. But this medium -- a two page spread laid out exactly like an old Sunday strip -- seems custom made for the nostalgia generated by Swan's pencils. It looks brilliant, and Oakley and Ziuko do a competent job of making Swan's pencils soar as much as they should.

Nothing much happens in the span of only two pages, and I suspect that will be the challenge of doing these Action Comics Weekly reviews, but it was still a beauty to behold.


Minor Details:

- On the letters page, Mike Gold announces that Superman is now being published twice a month. I've double checked with Mike's Amazing World, and this was never true. Perhaps it was planned and then abandoned? Maybe that had been part of the original idea behind getting Byrne off of this book -- to make another Superman story each month that would sell better under the actual Superman indica since it wouldn't be just another useless team-up.


plot synopsis:

Clark is on the roof of The Planet, taking a break, when he hears a cry for help, so he changes into Superman just in time to prevent three men in suits from shooting a fourth man they were chasing. Continued next week!

World of Smallville #4

"Return to Smallville!"
writer: John Byrne
pencils: Kurt Schaffenberger
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Carrie Spiegle
colors: Petra Scotese
asst. editor: Renee Witterstaetter
editor: Mike Carlin
grade: F

Ah, the fourth installment of World of Milleniu....I mean Smallville. Truly, did we need to spend the first half of this story being reminded of the entire premise of Millennium and all that the Manhunters did to Smallville as if we hadn't been reminded of these very same things just last issue? Heck, we're even given some of the same imagery this time around. Who needs a recap of a recap that was provided just last issue?

The second half of the story is no better because the focus is, once again, on Lana Lang, everyone's favorite Debbie Downer. Byrne makes her trip to Metropolis even more tragic than we'd previously suspected, with her dual life as a Manhunter agent costing her job after job, finally resulting in her being destitute and deathly ill. After this and LOTS of talking and comforting of Lana in the present tense, she finally comes to the big awareness, designed to make her less of a sad sack, that the only reason she was so dependent upon Clark was because the Manhunters programmed her that way, but now that they're gone, she's over it and ready to move on. What does Clark do in response to this? He tells her he loves her, then modifies the sentiment, then passionately kisses her, and then flies away. WTF?! Is he trying to be indirectly responsible for a suicide??

There's really nothing else worth noting in this story, other than some stupid additional information Byrne adds to try to make things more believable, but which just make things more ridiculous, including Lana's reason for returning to Smallville being that, after 20+ years of functioning perfectly, her microchip implant must have malfunctioned for some reason (couldn't the Manhunters have just ordered her home?) going into elaborate explanations of how they probably abducted her from her home to repair the chip and then brought her back, etc. It's all so unnecessary and implausable.

And, as a final nonsensical detail, when the Kents find Lana ill, they call the other town doctor. That's right. Smallville now has two town doctors. So now explain to me how only one of them managed to surgically implant every child in Smallville with the Manhunter microchips if he wasn't seeing all of them as patients?

Stupid, stupid, boring, unnecessary issue. Not even worthy of a plot synopsis. Just add what you know from Millennium to Man of Steel #6, and add a whole unnecessary scene about Lana being destitute and miserable so that the Kents can spend pages upon pages comforting her.


Byrne Countdown
18 stories remaining until he departs
9 stories remaining actually written by him

Action Comics Weekly #602

Mostly strong second installments this time around. The Green Lantern lead feature continues to be shocking and intense, Secret Six is becoming very interesting reading, and Blackhawk is all out fun. The only two losers of the bunch are Deadman, which is just adequate, and Wild Dog, which isn't interesting me at all.

And, as for Superman...


"They Can Run, But They Can't Hide"
writer: Roger Stern
pencils: Curt Swan
inks: John Beatty
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Tom Ziuko
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: C

Unfortunately, only two episodes in, you can already feel the strain of storytelling in this 2 pages per week format. Stern needs to advance the plot from Superman having rescued a man from murderous pursuers to the larger plot, but he also has to deal with the murderous pursuers. Being as powerful as Superman is, this isn't going to be much of a fight. At most, it would take four panels, but that's a third of the week's installment, so instead Stern tries to expand out the conflict, having Superman allow the villains to escape, then having them separate, and trying to create a forced climax by having one of the bad guys land on a railroad track with a broken leg and a train coming. It's forced and uninteresting reading, and it isn't giving Swan much of an opportunity to do anything interesting either.


minor details:

- The intended victim claims to have no idea who is trying to kill him
- The pursuers appear to have been from out of town


plot synopsis:

Superman stops the thugs from killing the man they were pursuing, he allows them to escape at first but then pursues, the villains, in a mad rush to escape, become divided, with one never getting into the escape car (Superman apprehends him), and one lunging for the hood, eventually falling off, landing on a railroad track with a broken leg, and a train approaching.

Adventures of Superman #442

"Power Play"
co-plotters: John Byrne & Jerry Ordway
script: John Byrne
pencils: Jerry Ordway
inks: Andy Kubert
letters: Albert De Guzman (I feel like that space between "De" and "Guzman" disappears and reappears every other issue)
colors: Anthony Tollin
asst. editor: Renee Witterstaetter
editor: Mike Carlin

Grade: C-

It's true that I always enjoy the Byrne stories co-plotted by Ordway more than the ones without, but this issue still suffers from a whole lot of Byrne-isms. What's, perhaps, most unique about it though is how ambitious it's trying to be. This is the first and only time that a story begun in one Post-Crisis Superman title has been continued in a different one without being a pre-publicized major crossover event. It really is as if Byrne knows he's leaving soon and is rushing to get it all in, not willing to wait a month to wrap up this story. Add to that a team-up with the Justice League that feels like an idea Byrne had always meant to get to in Action but never got around to. This definitely feels written by a man who knows his days are numbered.


The story itself is of a pair of villains who do the exact same thing as Amazo, so why Byrne needs them is beyond me. It's a nice, drawn out battle in which, as usual in a Byrne story, Supes gets trounced. Also in typical Byrne fashion, the solution that finally gets rid of the villains makes only the slightest of sense, and the villains withdraw out of some weird sense of honor because they have been beaten, even while an entire alien invading fleet has their back. Technically, didn't Superman lose first? Why does their loss the second time around count more? And what race invades others based upon whether or not they can pass a test? You don't round up forces, plan an invasion, and then play the equivalent of Superhero checkers to decide if you go through with this plan. Is their leader Harvey Dent or something? This is exactly the same kind of garbage Byrne keeps pulling with Darkseid.

Then we get some bogus overly extensive explanation of how the aliens' powers worked where none was needed, and no real clarification ever happens anyway. It's still a fantastic plot device, paragraphs worth of explanation provided or otherwise. I guess I'd like to know why, if these aliens were actually robotic drones designed to sap superheroes' powers and use them against them, they built TWO drones -- one big and powerful, and the one powering it small and vulnerable? Seems like a pretty big deficiency to me, unless exploiting that was the real test.

But there I go giving a bad story more consideration than its worth.

The only other aspect of this story really worth discussing is Lois' characterization, which is finally coming around after years of neglect since the Man of Steel limited series. It was an EXCELLENT choice to have her reach out to Jose DelGado in the most profound of ways WHILE a big story is breaking on the radio, to which she chooses to give absolutely no attention. When it goes on to mention that Superman is missing and to question his integrity, the scene becomes even more powerful. With surprising subtlety, Byrne never says anything, and Ordway never shows anything. You just KNOW the conflict raging in Lois' mind, and you know her affection for Jose has won.

... of course, in an attempt to be cute, Byrne undoes all this at the end, having Lois rush out to the scene of the battle as soon as she hears Clark is involved.

And what was with Clark rushing out at the end to fight Dreadnaught anyway? We know he went to Prof. Hamilton for help and then came out as Clark Kent with super powers, but how? ...And WHY??? Couldn't he have approached the professor for help as Superman (thus preventing the need for a costume change) and then come back fighting AS SUPERMAN??? I simply don't get it.


So this was a problematic issue at best, and a clear sign that Byrne is rushing to get it all in. The next few issues should be all over the place in a mad rush to hit all of Byrne's remaining ideas if this was any harbinger of things to come.


Important Details:

- First full appearance of Psi-Phon (not that I suspect he's coming back; his cameo was in the final panel of Superman #19)

- Supergirl arrives in Smallville, may be from the Pre-Crisis or the Pocket Universe (since she remembers Smallville being different), and appears to be in telepathic contact with Lex Luthor.



Minor Details:

- Weird match cut from the end of the previous issue. In that one, Dreadnaught is approaching Superman and, only in looking back, do I now see Psi-Phon lingering in the back, covered by thick shadow. At the beginning of this one, it's nearly the same moment, but Psi-Phon is out front, speaking to Superman. I was very disoriented at first.

- It's apparent in this issue, in particular, how the pages were divided up between primary and secondary stories for reprint purposes. The switching between the Dreadnaught and Psi-Phon A plot, the Jose DelGado B plot, and the Supergirl and Jimmy's missing father C and D plots is often times jarring in this issue and absolutely dictated by page length over pacing.

- It's been mentioned several times that Metropolis is the largest city in America, but the idea that it would take Superman several hours to reach his apartment by foot seems extreme. And couldn't he get a cab? Lois and Jose are about to.

- Lois kicks total butt taking down those thugs on the street!

- The little details matter too. I really enjoyed how authentic it felt as Lois had to explain to the taxi driver how to unwedge Jose's wheelchair from the trunk.

- Way to make Aquaman seem even more useless than he already does. As the first to arrive, and the one who manages to do the absolute least amount of harm to Dreadnaught before losing his powers, he truly comes off as the most useless member of the Justice League, and that's WITH Dreadnaught inexplicably suddenly being at a dock by the water. Amazing that Dreadnaught opted NOT to use Aquaman's powers to talk to fish in taking down the rest of the Justice League, right?

- The Supergirl teasers are getting more frustrating by the moment. It really seems like they wrote up a whole issue for this, and are putting one page of the story at a time into each issue. This one ends in a completely weird place, with Supergirl conveniently running into Lana Lang, and the story just cutting out from there because it's the end of the page.

- Ordway goes out of his way to have every label on Jose DelGado's pantry counter turned to the camera. He pulls down Kesel brand coffee, and Karl Kesel left Superman as inker just this month. Did someone actually leave this Superman office on good terms, or is this Byrne or Ordway's attempts to say "no hard feelings"? Or, perhaps, this is a joke since, in trying to open the coffee can, DelGado exclaims, "Damn! I'm never going to be able to do anything for myself!!" which may well have been how Byrne felt in working with the inker?

- Where had the Post-Crisis Captain Marvel appeared prior to this? Byrne clearly likes the character and makes him far more of a bad-a$$ than the rest of the League.

- Why do all the Justice League members know Clark Kent at a glance? Are they all avid fans of his daily column??



Plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence:

A completely de-powered Superman gets his rear handed to him by Dreadnaught, he sneaks away on foot, Jose DelGado is released from the hospital, and Lois takes him back to his apartment, the favor Superman asked of the sailors last issue (now described as a "call" he made -- HUH??) turns out to be summoning the Justice League for help, they arrive one at a time to take on Dreadnaught and each have their powers sapped, Superman changes into Clark Kent, finds Prof. Hamilton, and asks for his help, Supergirl arrives in Smallville, seems to be talking to Lex Luthor in her mind, and runs into Lana Lang, Lois pep-talks DelGado into not giving up and appears to have made up her mind to be committed to him, Jimmy Olsen's mother refuses to allow him to go out to see the battle and instead wants his help figuring out what happened to his father if he was still alive and free (in Vietnam?) two years after he was supposed to have disappeared, Clark Kent shows up to fight Dreadnaught with new powers the Professor apparently gave him that never get explained (maybe a variation of his force field? He certainly didn't create new tech on demand in a matter of hours!), and Psi-Phon becomes overloaded by all the combined power, explaining that this was a test to determine if Earth should be invaded and then disappearing, so Clark and the Justice League members surmise how his powers actually worked, and then Lois shows up to reprimand Clark for endangering himself like Jose DelGado did.

World of Metropolis #1

"A Reporter's Story"
writer: John Byrne
pencils: Win Mortimer
inks: Frank McLaughlin & Dick Giordano
letters: Todd Klein
colors: Tom Ziuko
assistant editor: Renee Witterstaetter
editor: Michael Carlin

grade: C+

Two interesting things to note about this series before even reviewing its contents.

First, whereas World of Krypton and World of Smallville were relatively disposable limited series, embellishing upon backstory we already knew and not adding anything readers of Superman truly needed to know, World of Metropolis is positioned to do a lot more, revealing origins of supporting cast members for the first time and, of course, revealing the big secret surrounding Jerry White (but we're not supposed to know that yet).

Second, this is the last major storyline of Byrne's. Everything else is just filler at this point. So it's a bit odd to watch the culmination of his building the foundation of the Post-Crisis Superman Universe with the full knowledge that he's about to walk away on bad terms with the company. Fortunately, Jurgens and Ordway will be more respectful to the foundations Byrne laid than he was to the foundations Carlin and Wolfman tried to lay.

Regarding the issue, itself, it's ambitious in its scope, but it's ultimately a disappointing installment. Most of the drama of the story is centered around a big twist that's given away by the cover, itself. The rest of the drama lies in the relationship and competition between Lex Luthor and Perry White, but it doesn't work. If Perry has always been brimming with integrity, and Lex has always been Lex, how in the world have the two been the oldest of friends for all this time? Couldn't Byrne have given us some snapshot of what that friendship was like before having Lex try to destroy him? And I can't accept that Luthor's sole motivation for all he does is to buy the adoration Metropolis already gives to Perry White. Newspapers may have already been on their way out in 1988 (hard to believe this has been true for so long now), but I sincerely doubt there was EVER a time that a city worshipped a single newspaper reporter like that, especially one who'd been off to war for the past two years and, therefore, had not been writing for a while now. And, surely, in the present day of 1988, with Perry having been editor for two decades now, he wasn't enjoying that adoration any longer, so why would Lex still be doing what Lex does? Are we supposed to assume he got bored for a decade or so and then sprung to life with jealousy again as soon as Superman showed up?

It seems like the whole Perry and Alice love conflict is intended to provide a contrast to the relationship between Jonathan and Martha in World of Smallville. In both cases, our idealistic protagonist returns from war to find his lover with another man, but the morality is far more blurred this second time, and while Alice tries to put it all on Lex, I'm not sure she succeeds in doing so. Really though, Byrne utterly fails to help us understand where her temptation came from. What did she see in Lex that was so appealing? Byrne has too much fun depicting him as a soulless, jealous devil. Poor writing for a guy trying to add some complexity, really. And, whereas the whole infidelity bit makes the potential for great emotional conflict, it goes under-used. What does any of this really mean to Perry? And how can we understand the impact this has upon his relationship with Alice when their relationship remains so undefined? All we do is see them kiss and push the plot forward through expository dialogue. There's no heart; no relationship evident, even though Byrne expects us to root for these two somehow.

Beyond this all, though, possibly the greatest failing of the issue is Mortimer's pencils. They're awkward at times (ex: Clark and Lois smiling adorably at each other as they continue the very serious fight over Clark getting all the Superman stories that's been going for a while now), and downright jarring/confusing at others (ex: Mortimer never indicates when we are moving between the present and a flashback!). Nothing about his style is deficient; if you asked the guy to do a sample drawing of Superman for you, you'd be pleased, but he's utterly failing at all the nuances an artist must understand to keep a story flowing and comprehensible.


Important Details:

-Perry White and Lex Luthor were best friends for many years

-Perry worked for the Planet for close to 23 years before going to Vietnam. He began working there at the age of ten as a copy boy.

-Perry fought in Vietnam for two years

- ten years old, plus 23 years, plus 2 more years makes Perry 35 years old in this story. We also know from Adventures of Superman #433 that Jerry White was born in 1969, making this story set in either 1968 or 1969. Therefore, if the present day of the Superman title is 1988, we can assume Perry White is approximately 55 years old in the current day.

-His fiance, Alice, had an affair with Lex Luthor while he was gone

-Upon returning to America, Perry saved the Daily Planet by rallying together a team of investors, and became editor in chief as part of the deal.

-We are given a TREMENDOUS amount of facts surrounding the history of the Daily Planet, including its relationship to George Washington, that probably aren't relevant here.



Minor Details:

- I love how Perry remarks that he was once young and like Jimmy, and the story soon cuts to a flashback where he still looks old and out of shape, just without the gray hairs.

- Pages 6 and 7: Okay, Byrne. We GET that Lex Luthor is evil. Tone it down and try telling a more mature story that doesn't involve him cackling with triumph and then oggling all the female help just because he enjoys being cruel.

- A young (probably 5 year old) Lois Lane takes a tour of the Daily Planet with her class and watches Perry White curse out his complacent peers with righteous anger. I have to admit it's damn cute that this moment becomes the prototype for all that Lois Lane is. This is truly the ONLY reason this issue gets a C+ as opposed to a C or C-.

- Are we supposed to know who Ling is? He's the wealthy, high profile Chinese(?) investor that Perry used his investigative skills and influence as a reporter to turn away from a life of crime.

- Seriously, even IF a city could worship a reporter the way that Byrne seems to be claiming they can in this issue, how could said reporter getting married make a major headline in a paper? (especially the paper said reporter works for -- awkward)

- Adventures of Superman #433 establishes that Jerry White was born in 1969 (thus making the present day of the story 1968 or 1969). Yet America remained engaged in Vietnam until 1975, so why did Perry serve only two years?

- Who's sick to death of Jerry White and has two thumbs? THIS GUY!


plot synopsis:

Perry and the gang are celebrating a great front page Superman scoop by Jimmy Olsen, Perry thinks back to how he used to be like him (you know, Vietnam Vet with a fiance looking to save his newspaper single-handedly; the resemblances are abundant!), he starts having an awkward amount of internal thought balloons while still in the presence of his employees, we finally get to a full-fledged flashback about him returning from 'Nam, Lex is having an affair with his fiance, she regrets it and resents Lex, arguing that he manipulated her, Perry finds out that Lex is going to sell The Daily Planet and confronts Lex, during this time Lex makes it obvious he has been sleeping with Alice, Perry calls in all his favors to assemble a team of buyers for the paper, a young Lois Lane on a fieldtrip witnesses Perry at his most dramatic, he accepts the condition that he must take the position of Editor in Chief, Perry and Alice reconcile and marry, she becomes pregnant, and, while Perry is celebrating, she looks at the Lexcorp building and sheds a tear, while the present day Perry, Alice, and Jerry White meet for lunch.