Action Comics #670 (October 1991)
Action Comics #670 (October 1991)
S.T.A.R. Labs goes boom, and now Superman has to clean up the mess! Fortunately, he has help from a whole bunch of guest stars (though some of them apparently went home after posing for the cover). All of this courtesy of the Armageddon 2001 crossover, in which a hero-turned-villain called Monarch tries to turn the S.T.A.R. facility into a bomb to blow up Metropolis. An assortment of DC Comics superheroes gang together to stop Monarch. Metropolis is saved! S.T.A.R., not so much.
Meanwhile, a regular Joe called Joe Martin happens to be visiting S.T.A.R. to be diagnosed as a metagene-holder – someone who could turn into a superpowered freak should he ever go through a big traumatic moment. Like, for instance, being inside a scientific building when it explodes. The combination of the S.T.A.R. explosion, being attacked by Monarch’s machines and almost getting his lifeforce sucked by the Parasite (who’s been imprisoned in S.T.A.R. since Superman: The Man of Steel #4) slowly starts turning the very confused Joe into a super-strong radioactive being. However, he doesn’t let a little thing like that stop him from going to a film festival to see his favorite old movie serial: “The Atomic Skull.”
By the time Joe gets to the festival, he’s killed a bike mugger, crushed a taxi and scared away all the other patrons. Superman follows the trail of destruction into the dark cinema and finds Joe, who now thinks HE’S the Atomic Skull… which, OK, yeah, is pretty understandable, because look at the guy’s new face:
That’s uncanny. What if Joe attended a Woody Allen retrospective? Would he mutate into a short Jewish guy? It’s probably a good thing for Superman that he wasn’t into pornos. CONTINUED!
Character-Watch:
“First” appearance of Lex Luthor II, mysterious, handsome and good-natured Australian heir to the Luthor fortune! I put “first” in quotes because we sorta saw him (with an obscured face) in Action Annual #3. Obviously. Anyway, in this issue he “meets” his mother, LexCorp physician Gretchen Kelley – again, “meets” is between quotes because they must have seen each other before, while she was giving birth to him. Obviously.
As for Atomic Joe, he appeared for the first time last week in Adventures #483: he’s one of the two people who interrupt Professor Hamilton in his lab. The look of the film serial Atomic Skull is based on the original version of the character, from the ‘70s Superman comics (hence the disco collar). That version was actually a scientist who became the Atomic Skull through a convoluted series of events while working at S.T.A.R. Labs, whereas this one just went there for medical check-ups – I guess S.T.A.R. is like the free clinic for metahumans. Sorry, was.
Plotline-Watch:
This issue doesn’t reveal the identity of Monarch (you had to buy Armageddon 2001 #2 to find out), but I’ll tell you anyway. The famous superhero who turns evil is… Hawk! No, not Hawkman. Hawk. You know, Hawk! From Hawk & Dove! Needless to say, the DC Universe was never the same again.
The S.T.A.R. wreckage rescue workers in this issue are: Batman, Martian Manhunter, the Guardian, Booster Gold, Power Girl, Guy Gardner, Dr. Fate (the version with boobs) and Deadman, who temporarily possesses Professor Hamilton to talk to Superman. Flash, Waverider and Gangbuster only appear on the cover (actually, Gangbuster is probably buried under the rubble, crippled for life).
Speaking of Booster, the Parasite has by now usurped his role as Superman’s de factor co-star in these comics. Seriously, he’s been in like four issues over the past two months and he always gets a weird amount of protagonism: I skipped the part at the beginning of this issue where Hamilton tells Superman the Parasite ain’t ever breaking out again, as he curses at them from inside a tube.
The Daily Planet strike continues! Superman stops by Lois Lane’s place (for some afternoon smooching?) and is surprised to find that she has recreated the Planet city room in her apartment. Good thing he put on his Clark Kent clothes before knocking on the door. Or any clothes. Note that even Allie the intern was invited to the reunion, but not Whit.
On the same subject, there’s a scene with Perry White literally slamming his fist on the table because he’s mad at the Daily Planet owners and Sam Foswell for exploiting the proletariat. There’s also a return appearance for Ling, the Asian investor that young Perry convinced to buy the Planet way back in World of Metropolis #1, who is slowly turning into a panda.
WTF-Watch:
I couldn’t help noticing there’s a suspicious number of bald people in this issue: the Parasite has a shiny, purple head; one of the Planet owners has a Lex Luthor haircut; Deadman and Martian Manhunter are also bald; Atomic Joe loses his hair due to the radioactivity…
Hey, how did that last one get there?!