Action Comics #667 (July 1991)
Action Comics #667 (July 1991)
The ultimate showdown with (this particular incarnation of) the Eradicator! Don’t let the cover fool you: it’s Professor Hamilton who does most of the job here. In Adventures #480, Superman survived a trip to the sun (take that, Grant Morrison’s Superman) and landed in Alaska for a much deserved nap in the snow. This issue opens with the 10% alive Supes being found and revived by US Navy medics. Where were those guys during Doomsday?
The one who dumped Superman in the sun is the now corporeal Eradicator, a relic of Krypton’s past who comes back to bug us every few years. When the Eradicator barges into Superman’s Fortress of Solitude he finds Professor Emil Hamilton playing with some robots there – and, remembering that Hamilton once tried to examine him back when he was just a cute little space egg (Adventures #459), the Eradicator decides to return the favor. Superman shows up at the Fortress just in time to stop Hamilton from being dissected.
Since the Eradicator still wants to reshape the entire planet into another Krypton, killing millions (or, you know, everyone) in the process, it’s punching time. Unfortunately, Superman is having a hard time using his fists to solve this particular problem, since the Eradicator can turn intangible at will. That’s when Hamilton remembers they have a magic crystal that can absorb souls (formerly belonging to Mr. Z) right there in the Fortress and uses it to capture the Eradicator… and also himself, and Superman. The fight resumes inside the crystal, where the Eradicator dissipates into a cloud of fawlty programming and finally farts away forever and ever.* THE END!
* For now.
Plotline-Watch:
Odd that this is the second time Superman needs the help of an elderly man to defeat the Eradicator: last time it was Pa Kent and a bucket full of kryptonite bullets (Action #652).
Speaking of Pa, an Eradicator-caused storm turns the pleasure cruise that he, Ma Kent, Perry White and his wife were enjoying into The Poseidon Adventure. Perry takes charge and helps the panicked passengers keep their shit together. When the Eradicator dies and the unnatural disasters around the world end, we see Perry and Alice smile for the first time since their son died, so all in all, this cruise idea is working out pretty well.
The Misadventures of Jose Delgado: Last week, Jose managed to get himself kidnapped by a gang and, in the process, he lost track of the kid he was babysitting (Cat Grant’s son, Adam). Probably just to avoid being castrated by the very distraught Cat, Jose puts on his Gangbuster costume and goes looking for Adam… who turns out to be safe in the hands of our favorite hard drinking bar brawler/entrepreneur, Bibbo Bibbowski.
Jimmy Olsen is emerging as a contender to Jose’s title of unluckiest character in these pages: after getting fired from the Daily Planet, Jimmy manages to get some cool photos of Superman saving people from the Eradicator-caused earthquakes to sell to other papers – only to drop the film into a crevice during another Eradiquake. The issue ends with Jimmy asking for a job at a paper called the National Whisper, but they make it clear that they’re more interested in Photoshop artists than photographers…
Babe-Watch:
This is just a great little scene – while fighting the quakes Superman asks “Ms. Lane” to meet him at Professor Hamilton’s lab, and when she arrives, he’s just chilling there, sipping some coffee:
But why is this in Babe-Watch? I’ll let this section’s creator, my co-host Don Sparrow, explain: “No, I’m not referring to how great Curt Swan has Lois Looking in Hamilton’s lab, I’m referring to the ongoing use of the nickname "babe” between Lois and Superman (which grated on some fans of the time). We have two instances of it in this issue, page 27, and 37. Now you know!“
And now I’m handing over the mic to Don for some thoughtful art analysis and more, with the occasional impertinent comment from me…
Art-Watch (by Don Sparrow):
Let’s start with the cover, and I have to say, this is not a great one. I’ve never been a fan of cover text, and Professor Hamilton’s caption really adds a comedic air that plays against the coolness of a pretty unique visual. In this era, we rarely saw blocks of solid colour (without black outlines) so the amorphous shape of the Eradicator really jumped off the stand. (I keep going back and forth between Eradicator and Krypton Man. I guess Eradicator is just cooler. So long as you’re not a Kids in the Hall fan.) So it’s actually a really well drawn cover, but ruined by the Threepio like exclamation from Ham.
The rotating teams continue (I’m so dumb–I went to all the trouble of trying to determine which artist was working with which when I wrote my notes on the last issue, only to realize after I sent it that they have detailed credits in the letter column. Doye!)
Almost right away we’re treated to the best spread in the issue, the double page spread across pages 2 and 3 [Max: see above!], with an incredibly well rendered unconscious Superman being revived by the US Navy (I had wondered why the detail was mentioned last issue that Superman came to rest in Alaska–now I know!) drawn by Jim Mooney and Jerry Ordway. Great detail on their equipment, and I love how the white of the negative space is used as the snowy ground.
One little quibble I have with this issue is that there’s an awful lot of recapping montages, covering both the ecological disturbances, and also Superman’s outer space battle with Eradicator. Probably helpful to the average reader, and they’re drawn well, but it feels like a bit of a waste of pages.
I found the detail about Superman jumping out of the helicopter interesting–that even flying is an exertion, in his weakened state.
Page 7’s fight scene is choreographed well, as we see, blow by blow, how Lois defends herself from her mugger, even without the benefit of knowing Klurkor . Hey waitaminute–what happened to Lois’ stretch pants? She’s wearing the same blazer as last issue! Where did the beatnik stretch pants go? Asking for a friend. [Max: It’s only 1991 and we’re already seeing side-effects of Superboy Prime punching the walls of reality! Wow. Also, oh yeah, I forgot to mention Lois gets jumped by a looter during the Eradiquakes.]
Art Thibert draws the Eradicator battling Kryptonian Iron Man Professor Hamilton in the most Image Comics-y way possible. Though we’ve seen hints of a mouth on the Eradicator in previous issues, he’s never grinned with teeth as extensively as pages 17 and 18. I’m not sure how effective it is. The scariest character detail about The Eradicator (man, I should come up with a keyboard macro for that, I’m tired of typing it!) is his inhuman coldness. Seeing him smile like the mouth of Sauron in that last panel on 18, as he toys with Hamilton feels a little out of place. Like seeing Spock smile, if he were an evil machine.
[Max: I agree that there’s a disconnect between the dialogue and the art here, but still, a bad guy smiling while crackling with energy will never stop looking cool to me. And Hamilton in a Mignola-designed Kryptonian armor! This scene has everything.]
As usual, there are some well-drawn character moments. One of the things I love best about Curt Swan’s art is how natural Superman seems in his costume, how at ease Swan draws him, with subtle postures. The romantic smile in his half turn in the 4th panel of page 25 when Lois kisses him is pretty adorable, and on the next page, there’s something about Superman casually leaning on the computer panel that really makes Superman seem like a real guy. It’s these quiet moments that Swan was a true master of, and it’s these I feel are lacking from today’s comics. But I digress.
I also love the ideal of Superman flying suborbital to travel secretly, and, from a storytelling standpoint, it gives some room for more of Superman’s expository thought bubbles. So good.
Also great is the blobby energy buffeting when the Eradicator is trapped in Mr Z’s gemstone. It’s a really convincing look especially as he comes apart from Superman’s blows. A spooky detail is the look of the dispersed energy on page 34. It looks almost exactly like the energy pictured when we next see the Eradicator (though we don’t know it’s the Eradicator just yet). [Max: Shhhhhh! Spoilers!] Even his dialogue "Krypton must endure” foreshadows some cool stuff to come. [Max: Great point – “my life is the final chapter” could be seen a little advance of what’s to come, too…]
Other thoughts:
GODWATCH: Not much this issue. The Navy EMT’s briefly invoke “Lordy” and on page 35, Superman calls to God in thought when he has to revive Hamilton with vigourous chest massage (I didn’t think that was really a thing!)
Jon Bogdanove really does super-rescues well, and makes a strong case for a capeless Superman, with how cool he draws him without it. (page 20, 23)
A weakened Superman flying out of an aircraft (page 9) reminds me of that scene from Superman Returns where my best pal in the whole wide world Brandon Routh did a similar thing.
If you look closely at the second panel on page 4, you can see Dorothy and Toto being swept up in the twister.
The guy behind page 6’s Ship Captain (very Gavin McLeod-esque, I’m just realizing!) is probably thinking “We’ve never heard of you, Perry White. But great to know you don’t stand for any guff.”
Bibbo is all heart. (page 24) I feel a little sad hearing how he grew up in bars. (page 36)
We are firmly in the “Jimmy Olsen goes to concerts and buys t-shirts” era. We saw Van Halen in the past couple of issues, and today get a glimpse at ZZ Top on page 38. It’s all setting the stage for the way-too-meta Spin Doctors shirts to come…
I feel like the editor of the Whisper (38) has too distinctive of a look not to be a reference to someone or something, but I can’t crack it. Robin Colcord from Cheers? I don’t know. [Max: I’m getting a vague Jim Shooter of Marvel vibe, which would make the “No Mutant Zone” sign on his desk ironic.]
ABEWATCH: Superman repairing something broken by a Kryptonian villain recalls Superman II in a nice way. (page 47)
Just kidding