Action Comics #674 (February 1992)
Action Comics #674 (February 1992)
PANIC IN THE SKY, Prologue – Supergirl kicks Draaga's butt! In space! Over the past years, several Superman plotlines have ended with characters flying off into space, never to be seen again… until this issue, where they all bump into each other. The last time we saw Supergirl/Matrix, she was going through some confusing times: she'd started looking like Superman, only with a grey costume, and turned batshit insane. When we see her again, she's in an outer space bar, fighting a would-be space rapist who ruined her poncho. Sorry: space poncho.
Later, a space waitress who witnessed the fight tells the story to Draaga – you know, the alien warrior guy Superman refused to kill that time he became a gladiator in Warworld, an entire planet made of weapons. Today, Draaga wears Superman's old shirt to symbolize his shame. Continuing the parade of returning stars, Draaga is contacted by someone who offers him a way to recover his honor: it's Lady Maxima, last seen getting pissed at Superman because he rejected her sexual advances. (I'm not counting her recent appearance in the alternate future where Superman doesn't reject her sexual advances.)
So, Maxima takes Draaga to Matrix/Grey Superman for a fight: Matrix tries to explain she's not actually Superman, but Draaga ain't listening.
Matrix reverts back to her Supergirl form after getting knocked out by Draaga, and he's like "Holy shit, she's not Superman! Why didn't she tell me?" Draaga is still trying to figure out what's going on when freaking Warworld appears out of nowhere and abducts him and Supergirl. Warworld's mysterious new master (the original one, Mongul, quit the job years ago) takes over Supergirl's mind and has her beat the crap out of Draaga, who's having a very confusing day. How did the guy control Supergirl? Because he's double-freaking Brainiac.
So, to recap, Brainiac has: 1) acquired his own personal Death Star, basically, 2) recruited Maxima, and 3) brainwashed Supergirl and convinced her she hates Superman (again). As you've probably guessed, TO BE CONTINUED!
Plotline-Watch:
"Recruited" might not be the right word for Maxima, since what Brainiac actually did was conquer her planet, Almerac, and turn her into his lackey. Don Sparrow notes: "Maxima’s obvious discomfort at being a part of this crew is shown well with some subtle body language. It’s also a nice telegraph of things to come for that character."
The orange guy above is, of course, Blurpy the Warworld cellkeeper, who helped Superman out back in the day. Blurpy also confuses Matrix for Superman and takes her to the grave of their mutual friend, the Cleric, which is where the fight with Draaga takes place. Draaga doesn't seem to remember he's already been in this asteroid, though: he got stranded there with his space cabbie two years ago and threw a hissy fit when he saw the S-shield engraved in the Cleric's tombstone.
Speaking of which, Draaga's cabbie K'raamdyn also makes an appearance, and finally gets the money Draaga owed him since that time Superman almost killed him on the moon. Don says:"I’m pretty sure this is the last we see of K'raamdyn, and it’s a shame – I’d love to see what an alien version of A'liss and the rest of the gang look like. Bang-zoom, literally to the moon!" Actually, he makes a small cameo during "Funeral for a Friend." But, for the time being, this is Draaga's emotional goodbye to his old friend:
Another alien who makes a cameo in this issue: Superman. Supes is cleaning up the last Intergang hideouts (plus some Intergoons who didn't get the memo that their organization is over) and fails to notice a bug-faced hitman stalking him. That would be Hellgrammite, who was hired to kill Lex Luthor II last month but decided to scope the territory for a few issues. The man is very thorough.
"Life With Bibbo" continues: Jimmy Olsen is still living at the Ace O'Clubs bar because he's homeless and unemployed, but at least those photos he took of that cool robot who invaded the prison finally come back from the lab, and he's acting like he's gonna get a Pulitzer for them. And then the photos… spontaneously combust? Get snatched by a passing falcon? Are used as toilet paper by Bibbo? Nope, in a shocking plot twist, nothing happens. Jimmy's Delgado curse may finally be over! (Damn it.)
Noted Jimmy Olsen fan Don Sparrow has written down way more thoughts about this issue FOR YOU, so click on to see them…
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
One of my favourite storylines ever kicks off with a most worthy cover. This week’s cover is a real doozy, and one of the best Supergirl images I’ve ever seen. The rare(ish) combination of Dan Jurgens and Bob McLeod team up for a great zero-gravity, flowing-hair look at Supergirl after just having kayoed lovable (?) loser Draaga in an asteroid belt. Jurgens' Supergirl is at once powerful but also regal and lady-like, and it’s a terrific image. Not only that, but it’s a bit of a head-scratcher as the reader really doesn’t know who this is (considering we last saw Matrix in desaturated Superman mode), but man, I remember I couldn’t buy this issue fast enough.
The art inside the issue is a treat from the start as well, as we’re given a pretty fascinating little space-tavern with all manner of alien creatures, all drawn distinctively by Bob McLeod and Denis Rodier. I particularly like the details of the different clothing and gear on all these different species. There’s also something very cool about Superman (even a Superman lookalike like Matrix) wearing a Clint Eastwood style poncho while defending the virtue of a lady (I wonder if the alien woman’s name ‘Pahleen’ is a joking reference to Eastwood’s most savagely devoted critic, Pauline Kael?).
As the story progresses, we get more of McLeod’s specialty, rim-lit, shadowy characters, and they’re all drawn with great care–I know I go on and on about my faves like Ordway and Grummett, but McLeod really offers a lot visually too. His handling of Draaga in particular makes a fairly weird facial design seem realistic and organic. The gag of the Gleason-esque K'ramdyyn literally having a fistful of dollars “crammed in” his mouth works on at least a few levels. I also love page 6’s transition from one tavern to another, going from the Kletus space bar to Bibbo’s Ace of Clubs, worlds away.
Superman’s intensity as he mops up leftover pockets of Intergang is really well done, as are the effects when he’s blasted and blown up. It’s a real credit to the editorial of this era that they devote page space to loose ends like Intergang, which lesser staffs might just abandon.
Speaking of old plotlines, it’s nice to see the Cellkeeper character again. I guess he must have some method of transport to jump from the planet to the Cleric’s graveyard asteroid. I’m wondering if Matrix’s link to Superman’s memories is distance based, as the last time we Matrix, he/she seemed to remember things only Superman experienced, but now knows nothing of Superman’s adventures in exile. [Max: She does tell Blurpy she remembers him, though. I think the mind link with Superman is broken now, but she still remembers some of the things she saw when their minds were connected.]
The battle on the asteroid between Matrix and Draaga is well-choreographed, as we get a good sense of the environs they’re fighting in. The panel of Matrix’s bubble helmet shattering is a particularly strong one.
The fight really hits a fever pitch back on WarWorld, and Supergirl’s bloodlust is convincing on page 20. However, even possessed by an alien intelligence, the joy in her face is pretty winning as she celebrates her victory on page 21.
The visual of Supergirl in hypnotic thrall is pretty scary on that last page, but I like the old-school glow effect. Nowadays it would be done with an outer glow filter in photoshop, but I miss the old hand-drawn shine ray effect of this era, that you’d also see when Green Lantern flew, or around Wonder Woman’s lasso.
And the reveal of Supergirl’s 'lord and master’ is a genuine surprise, as Brainiac officially hits his rightful big league threat level. It’s deeply disconcerting having a Supergirl in such a close relationship with a villain, even if this Supergirl isn’t from Krypton. Oh well, I needn’t worry–if she can get out of this mess, I’m sure Brainiac is the last villain she’ll ever connect with. [Max: Certainly the last bald one.]
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
It would have been so easy to have a little caption on the bottom of page 7 that reads “got any twos?” to bridge the gap to the scene jump on page 8. [Max: That reminds me: I wonder if Roger Stern took the time to explain how Superman found the lead-covered hideout to make up for the time the same thing wasn't explained in Man of Steel #8.]
I remain a bit confused as to why no one manages to see a giant caterpillar man skulking around–especially the airborne Superman. [Max: Maybe they just thought he was a law-abiding giant caterpillar man and didn't want to seem rude.]
I love it when characters do weirdly cartoony moves, like Jimmy literally jumping for joy at his photo prints. I can almost feel Max seething, though. [Max: OOOOOOLSEEEEEEEEN!!!]
GODWATCH–In the transition between page 11 and 12, we learn Jimmy was praying for his fortunes to change (plus it’s another great transition back to space, with Cellkeeper’s pose matching Jimmy’s). Apparently the Lord helps those who help themselves, Jimmy.
Weird delivery system on Maxima’s ship, which is helpfully described–at length- by the Cellkeeper.
I bet artists of this era got a little charge when they saw that Maxima appeared in the script. They seem to delight in drawing her. It’s only one panel, but her sultry way of sitting in her ship really stands out on page 14.
Speaking of Maxima, shouldn’t she have been able to detect Matrix’s mind when he/she disappeared from sight? Or maybe Maxima just didn’t think to try that right then.
I’m not entirely sure why Matrix reverts to her Supergirl form while battling Draaga on the asteroid. Maybe in times of trauma Matrix resets to the first form it took, a la T-1000 when it died in Terminator 2?
I apologize if you haven’t seen Terminator 2.
It seems like the hands on Brainiac are coloured extra-lightly (and more yellowish) than usual before the big reveal, and I wonder if that’s so we’ll think it might be Mongul running the show again?
Brainiac caressing Maxima is pretty creepy on page 21 (see Plotline-Watch above), and makes me shudder what he considers “mercy”. It’s also the only time I can think of Brainiac being even a vaguely sexual being up to this point (unless he caresses the cheeks of all his captors, which he might, for all we know). Even though he’s an organic psychic and not an evil android in this era, he never really lost the cold, calculating robotic feeling to his character (though at least this time he keeps his clothes on).