Action Comics #659 (November 1990)
Action Comics #659 (November 1990)
KRISIS OF THE KRIMSON KRYPTONITE, Part 3: Superman literally becomes a Man of Steel! And by literally I mean figuratively, because he just puts on an armor. It’s not like a wizard transforms him into an actual robot or something. Also, is anyone else suddenly reminded of New 52 Superman?
As seen in Starman #28, the face-shifting superhero called Starman is going around Metropolis looking like Superman because the real Superman lost his powers, and they don’t want everyone to start panicking (even though they probably should). Starman even fooled Lex Luthor into thinking Superman recovered his powers, but then Mr. Mxyzptlk’s face appears on a whirlwind of dust and tells Lex that he’s just been punked.
(Lex has a has a brain tumor and is talking to himself, isn’t he?)
Later, Starman manages to fly right into a trap that some mutinous prisoners on Stryker’s Island (led by Professor Killgrave) had prepared for Superman. The real Superman uses this opportunity to debut the brand new robot armor Professor Hamilton built for him – Robot Superman, Gangbuster and the Guardian invade the island, save Starman and stop the mutiny, but unfortunately Superman’s armor is completely destroyed in the process (along with Starman’s shirt).
That, coupled with the fact that Superman was unable to stop Professor Killgrave from escaping in a rocket (since, you know, he can’t fly and stuff), makes him feel pretty useless. IS THIS THE END OF SUPERMAN? Probably not, but let’s pretend it might be.
Plotline-Watch:
Not much to talk about here, except that while pretending to be Superman, Starman has an awkward encounter with Lois Lane, who tells him that her mom’s condition is still bad (since Superman #49). Starman just nods and pretends to know what she’s talking about.
“Odd, usually he calls me Sweet Cheeks.”
Also, for some reason I like seeing the Guardian and Gangbuster, Metropolis’ two helmet-wearing non-powered heroes whose names start with a G, team up. The only time we’d seen them together before was when they fought in Superman #27, but that was actually Mentally Unbalanced Superman pretending to be Gangbuster. Hey, if Superman never gets his powers back he could form a powerless superhero team with those two and, let’s say, Maggie Sawyer! “The Regular Four” or something.
Creator-Watch:
Bob McLeod is in top shape here. I especially like all the panels of Clark Kent feeling absolutely worthless while Starman and Professor Hamilton talk about trolling Luthor:
Poor Clark. Now he’s just an average, every day reporter built like a quarterback.