Adventures of Superman #497

December 1992
"Under Fire!"
Jerry Orday (writer), Tom Grummett (pencils), Doug Hazlewood (inks), Glenn Whitmore (colors) , John Costanza (letters), Mike Carlin (editor)

After trapping Doomsday momentarily at the bottom of a lake, Superman returns to help Bloodwynd rescue Mitch and his mother. News crews report that Doomsday is slowly but surely heading toward Metropolis. Superman and Maxima keep fighting Doomsday until Maxima accidentally triggers an explosion that knocks them both out but leaves Doomsday standing. After being helped by the Guardian (Jim Harper), Superman realizes that he's the only one who has a chance of stopping Doomsday.

Comments

The entire issue is, like almost all the others, an extended fight scene, broken up by brief character scenes with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Supergirl (Matrix), and Lex Luthor (who was at this time posing as his own illegitimate son in a cloned body with a full head of hair and beard; long story) that all ultimately add little to the plot. There's also some foreshadowing about Bloodwynd's real identity, but that all turns out to be a plot over in "Justice League." The art is quite good and the fight scenes do have a cinematic quality, although it's also very workmanlike for the era. I've said it before, but...for all the effort the writers are trying to put into making Doomsday an exceptional threat, the story doesn't hold half the significance it should.

Page 3, Panel 1; Page 7, Panel 4 - Why is Superman a little suspicious of Bloodwynd? Because in "Justice League" it turns out that Bloodwynd is really Martian Manhunter, forced into disguise and brainwashed by a demon enemy of the real Bloodwynd. This also explains why Bloodwynd is terribly ineffective in a burning building.

Uncanny X-Men #110

March 1978
"The 'X'-Sanction!"
Chris Claremont (writer), Tony DeZuniga and Dave Cockrum (pencils and inks) , Andy Yanchus (colors), Annette Kawecki (letters), Archie Goodwin (editor)

While the X-Men relax with a baseball game, a superpowered criminal named Warhawk sneaks into the mansion while disguised as a repairman. Later, while the X-Men are in a training session in the Danger Room, Warhawk immobilizes Professor Xavier, Jean, and Moira, and sabotages the Danger Room so that the traps become thoroughly life-threatening. Eventually they escape and detain Warhawk long enough for the police to arrive and take him away. Xavier remarks that Warhawk was telepathically shielded and had foreknowledge about the mansion and its defenses, meaning he had to have been sent by someone who knows about the X-Men.

Continuity Notes

It's the first time the X-Men play baseball, which became a pretty important recurring thing through Chris Claremont's run. It hasn't been used much since the early '90s, except by the occasional writer seeking to score nostalgia points.

Comments

By definition it's a throwaway issue, but since it's written by Chris Claremont there's some character moments involving Wolverine's short temper (the character really was softened up) and attraction to Jean and foreshadowing what would turn out to be the Hellfire Club plot. It's the kind of story - the X-Men face a threat but there's still an unsolved mystery lurking around it, building up to future stories (ideally) - that would eventually devolve into self-parody in the '90s, but by this point it still works as a fun little action story, in spite of some stiff fill-in art.

Footnotes

Page 19, Panel 4 - Warhawk started out as an Iron Fist villain, explaining Wolverine's thoughts on this panel.

Superman #74

December 1992
"Countdown to Doomsday!"
Dan Jurgens (writer and pencils), Brett Breeding (inks), Glenn Whitmore (colors) , John Costanza (letters), Mike Carlin (editor)

Although Maxima is determined to chase the monster Superman and Booster Gold christen Doomsday, Ice convinces her to take a severely injured Blue Beetle to a doctor. Doomsday's rampage reaches a house inhabited by a woman, her teenage son Mitchell, and an infant. The remaining members of the Justice League and Superman combine their powers against Doomsday, but they fail to even stagger him. The fight causes a gas line to explode, destroying the family's house and trapping the mother and her baby. As Superman chases after Doomsday, afraid he'll kill again, while Mitchell screams for Superman's help.

Comments

I should apologize for fanning out on both my readers, but...Superman would not ignore someone's plea that he save a family, even if he was after a superpowered Adolf Hitler clone armed with a nuclear missile launch code. Apparently I wasn't the only one who objected to this scene, because, in the next installment, Jerry Ordway goes out of his way to explain that Superman thought one of the Justice Leaguers would be able to save the family, even at the risk of contradicting Jurgens' script. It's not the worst characterization of Superman that ever was but it does add to the case that Jurgens never had a good grasp of what makes Superman...well, Superman.

The whole story just feels fundamentally unnecessary. It's obvious from page one that the whole purpose is simply to set up Doomsday as a credible threat, yet he still mainly comes across as little more than an extremely tough mindless bruiser. Even the scene I complained about above apparently was written in just to emphasize, as if most readers wouldn't grasp it, that Doomsday is such a serious threat Superman would compromise his own idealism. It's not convincing. To be fair, Jurgens does try to fatten up the script by adding a human touch with a family in distress, but for the most part they come across as cliches; the mother is as saintly as the teenage boy is obnoxious. As negative as this review is, it's hardly horrible, but it is a prime example of event storytelling that never comes close to being the epic it's marketed as.

Uncanny X-Men #109

February 1978
"Home Are The Heroes!"
Chris Claremont (writer), John Bryne (pencils), Terry Austin (inks) , Andy Yanchus (colors), Joe Roesen (letters), Archie Goodwin (editor)

Professor Xavier, the X-Men, and Lilandra all arrive at Xavier's mansion. Talking with her parents, Jean remembers promising Corsair that she won't tell Cyclops that he's his father. Later Jean tells her parents about turning into the Phoenix, which upsets them. Banshee, Storn, Colossus, Wolverine, and Moira MacTaggert head out to the woods on the mansion grounds for a picnic. While alone Wolverine is attacked by a man in a superpowered suit named James MacDonald Hudson, who calls himself Weapon Alpha and refers to Wolverine as "Weapon X." James tells Wolverine he was sent by the Canadian government to bring Wolverine back to Canada; of course, he objects. Wolverine and Weapon Alpha's brawl spills over to the clearing where the picnic is taking place. During the fight Moira is wounded and Weapon Alpha, outmatched, teleports away, thinking he'll return with "Alpha Flight." Wolverine tells the others that James and he "were buddies...almost brothers" and that "today's fracas was jus' the beginnin'."

What's Important?

It's the first appearance of James Hudson, whose better known by his later moniker of "Guardian." Along with that, it's the first time the Canadian superteam Alpha Flight is ever mentioned. However, Department H has yet to be named; James only makes a vague reference to "Control." Finally Wolverine is, for the first time, referred to as "Weapon X"...

Comments

I've commented on this before, but...in these early issues, Storm makes herself naked a lot, doesn't she? I guess you really can't recover childhood innocence.

This is the sort of "character-building" issue that Claremont perfected during his run and which had become (and still is) a staple of team superhero books. Nightcrawler's characterization as the carefree team member is built upon, Cyclops broods some more, and Storm and Wolverine turn out to be nature-lovers. It's a good issue for studying the influential Claremontian approach to superhero soap opera, but it doesn't offer much more than that.

Justice League #69

December 1992
"Down for the Count"
Dan Jurgens (writer and pencils), Rick Burchett (inks), Gene D'Angelo (colors) , Willie Schubert (letters), Brian Augustyn (editor)

The Justice League (Booster Gold, Blue Beetle II, Ice, Bloodwynd, Maxima, Guy Gardner, and Fire) work to rescue truckers and other motorists from a horrific pile-up, which authorities say was caused by a "monster man" that was seen walking into the woods. Maxima telepathically scans for the being, finding him and discovering that "he's hate, death and blood lust personified! Nothing more." As the Justice League fights the monster in the forest and then at an oil processing plant, Superman is being interviewed on the Cary Grant show, where he tries to explain his ethics in response to audience questions. The monster effortlessly beats the entire Justice League into submission. Superman calls off the interview when he learns about what's happening in time to help Booster Gold, who tells him "it's like doomsday is here!"

Comments

I haven't read any of the Dan Jurgens run on Justice League aside from this issue, although I do know that it wasn't well-received. So I don't know if my comments will indict his run as a whole, but I can say that this issue feels like it's trying to capture the atmosphere of the still relatively recent Kieth Giffen run but with less humor. Where there is humor here, it feels forced (like Ice wishing she was watching TV instead of on a mission or an audience member asking Superman about Fire's ranking on the "babe-o-meter.") Generally speaking, the comic just feels...bland, at least blander than it should be when it features characters like Guy Gardner and Booster Gold. It's hard to even think about substantial criticisms to make about it. It doesn't help that this whole issue just exists to build up the fact that Doomsday is, well, really freakin' powerful.

Well, to be fair, the interview with Superman is a nice touch, even if the fact that he's asked about "his greatest fear" is blatant foreshadowing. Unfortunately, it also illustrates what I don't like about Dan Jurgens' interpretation of Superman. Jurgens' Superman often comes across as a humorless, somewhat authoritarian character lacking the touch of humanity; really it's the sort of Superman you'd expect to appear in a story featuring other characters, not the one you'd want to see starring in his own series.

The Tomb of Dracula #22

July 1975
"In Death Do We Join"
Marv Wolfman (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks) , Linda Lessmann (colors), John Costanza (letters), Roy Thomas (editor)

In Moldavia, a couple save their daughter Petra from her husband Gorna, a vampire, but he vows to keep returning until he finally "claims" her. Petra recalls how Gorna was a possessive and abusive husband and how, before he "died" of vampirism, he vowed to never let her be with another man, a promise he kept by killing her lover. Meanwhile Dracula, who survived the confrontation with Doctor Sun after all, happens to arrive in the village, looking for a coffin he placed in the village years ago. Gorna appears and orders him to leave "his territory." An enraged Dracula attacks him with lightning, but Gorna shrugs off the attack and departs for Petra's house, where he's again driven off by Petra's father. Dracula follows him there and interrogates Petra on who Gorna is. With that knowledge, Dracula finds Gorna and destroys him, freeing her.

Continuity Notes

On the question of whether or not Dracula has the innate ability to control all vampires, we see that vampires can disobey him, but this comes as a total surprise to Dracula. It's implied but not at all explicitly stated that Gorna's obsession with his wife is what makes him immune to Dracula's control.

Comments

Almost all of the issues in "Tomb of Dracula" have been stand-alone, with occasional contributions toward an overarching stories, so you can make the case that the whole series should be read without the usual comic book nerd concerns about how each issue affects continuity and so on. With that in mind, this story still manages to feel inconsequential. Wolfman tries to give the story weight by tacking on a truly disturbing take on the vampire mythos - what if an abusive husband became a vampire? - but underneath it's still just an issue where Dracula brawls with another vampire. At least this issue is a showcase for some of Gene Colan's best work; I'm thinking especially of the designs of the masked, robed villagers who are prepared to kill Gorna in ceremonial fashion, and the image of the skeletal, deformed Gorna. It's good enough that it makes the issue worth a glimpse, despite the lackluster story.

Superman: Man of Steel #18

December 1992
"Doomsday, Part One"
Louise Simonson (writer), Jon Bogdonave (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Glenn Whitmore (colors) , Bill Oakley (letters), Mike Carlin (editor)

In a metallic box underground in a forest, a fist with claws growing out of its knuckle pummels and tears its way through. Eventually the figure, completely wrapped in a costume that looks like surgical scrubs, bursts out of the ground. In Metropolis, a group of Underworlders force their way into a power plant with the intent to shut down the city's electricity. An orphaned boy named Keith, aware of the Underworlders' plans, sets out to find the Underworlders' base, even though the Underworlders told him that they're holding his real mother hostage. At the Daily Planet, Lois finds a message, telling her to tell Superman to go to the basement under the power station. Leaving a note on Clark's computer, Lois sets out alone and finds a homeless man she knows named Charlie...along with the Underworlders, who have shut off the city's power, causing Clark to never see the message on the computer. They claim that Charlie is working with them. Overhearing their conversation, Keith realizes that the Underworlders were lying about his mother and heads to a basketball court to alert Superman by spraying the Superman insignia using spraypaint, a tactic that works.

Thanks to Keith's warning, Superman arrives in time to stop the Underworlders from taking advantage of the lack of lights to invade the city. Superman beats them and destroys their weapons. Finding Lois, Superman is about to whale on Charlie when an aggravated Lois explains that Charlie was working with the pacifist Underworlders and was a mole for them and Lois. The other Underworlders decline Superman's offer to find a place for them on the surface while Lois asks Charlie to be her underworld correspondent. As Superman and Lois leave, Charlie wonders if he should have told them about "Bloodthirst." In the meantime, Doomsday rampages across the landscape, killing wildlife and causing massive car accidents in the process. Oberon learns what's happening from a trucker via CB radio and alerts the Justice League.

Continuity Notes

Since we're starting in mid-series here, let's clarify several things: the Underworlders are a motley crew of homeless people and refugees from Warworld stranded on Earth after the "Panic in the Sky" storyline. Bloodthirst, of course, turns out to be a villain in the wings, although he doesn't appear until Adventures of Superman #507, which came out exactly one year later.

Anyway, the big deal here is the first full appearance of Doomsday (sort of, since he's still mostly shrouded); we've only seen his fist up until now. His claim to fame as a character was being the one to kill Superman, but he's been used frequently since.

Comments

It's hard to believe now since DC has spent the decade drawing on its Silver Age past, but the early-mid '90s, especially 1993 and 1994, were the years for putting its flagship characters through the ringer. Superman died, Wonder Woman lost her position as ambassador to mankind to another, and Batman's back was broken. Interestingly, in all three cases each of the heroes was replaced by an "edgier", more violent version of themselves, perfectly suited for the atmosphere in superhero comics that prevailed in the early '90s, but the old traditional interpretations were eventually restored to their rightful places.

I think there might be a PhD thesis in there.

Anyway, when this story hit I had just been initiated into comics geekdom, via the influence of a comic geek cousin and three boxes filled with random comics my parents gave me for Christmas. Early on I became a Marvel devotee, but unlike some I didn't close myself off entirely to the other member of the Big Two (to this day I still don't get people who do exactly that, especially if they're older than 12, but I digress...) and I just had to follow the story detailing the demise of an American icon. Now I'm pretty sure that I knew the score well enough by then that I understood that Superman, one way or another, would be back, but it still felt like an event. The one character that embodied the very best in the human race would die at the hands of an entity that represented meaningless, pointless destruction.

I can't now articulate the reasons why, but I was disappointed. It just seemed like a letdown that Superman would be beaten to death by something that was essentially a cosmic thug. Now I can understand the thematic aspects of it - noble humanity versus pure brutality and all that - but still it made the whole affair less interesting that they invented a villain purely for this storyline. For now, though, the opener is better than I expected, even if, unfortunately for those reading this in trade, it starts off with the end of another storyline.

Despite that, this opener at least overcame my expectations. The art is strong if fairly typical for the era and what makes the story work is all the little touches Louise Simonson makes, like Keith's desparation to believe that his mother didn't die or abandon him but has been a prisoner of the "monsters" for years, Doomsday crushing a bird for no reason, and Superman being alerted by a very low-budget version of the Bat-signal. In hindsight it's hard to judge how the biuld-up to Superman's death is handled, but here at least Doomsday really is presented as an effective, mysterious threat.