Action Comics #687 (June 1993)
Action Comics #687 (June 1993)
REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN BEGINS! Introducing the Last Son of Krypton, aka "Visor Superman" – or re-introducing, to be more precise, since we've already seen him before. When he was Superman, I mean. Obviously.
Anyway, the issue starts with a huge electrical storm in Antarctica – there's some shit brewing inside Superman's Fortress of Solitude (which should be extra lonely since he died). Supes' floating robot servants are zipping around a big ball of light, from which emerges a very confused, very naked energy being.
Our amnesiac streaker asks the robots to turn on the news, and as he watches the coverage of Superman's death, he realizes what's going on: he's Superman, and his robots have spirited him back as some sort of glowy ghost! He despairs for a second, but then he realizes he could just go to Metropolis, find his corpse, possess himself, and go back to life… so he does exactly that (spooking an old lady who nabbed flowers from his tomb in the process).
However, such a dramatic experience has clearly changed Superman. He can now shoot energy blasts. His vision is impaired (probably from looking at energy blasts all day), so he needs a rad visor to see. He seems colder and more connected to his Kryptonian heritage (which apparently saved his ass, so it's understandable). Also, seeing what has happened to Metropolis since his death (crime went up like 1%) makes him decide to become more violent and tougher on evil-doers. So is born his new superheroic identity: The Last Son of Krypton!
(He's also way clumsier, like a bull in a china shop… or a blind man with energy blasts, I guess.)
After having his robot servants sew him a cool new cape, the Last Son makes his debut by murdering a laundromat rapist and throwing a mugger off a roof (as seen in the teasers at the end of Adventures #500). As this necromanced Superman makes his mark on Metropolis, Lois Lane understandably wants a word with the guy, given that they were engaged before he died and all.
The Last Son acts cold towards Lois, but as she presses him, he seems to soften. He says he knows who she is, and that she was important to Clark Kent… but Clark's dead, lady. Get over it already.
So, Superman's back, I guess! Whelp, this storyline was way shorter than I thought.
Plotline-Watch:
As also teased in Adventures #500, Superman's example has inspired habitual drunkard Bibbo Bibbowski to put on an "S" logo t-shirt, some red boxers over his pants, and some star-spangled sneakers (Superman wore sneakers, right?) and go out to help people in any way he can. At the very least, he's putting all that unlicensed merch he bought from that guy at the funeral to good use.
It's not immediately clear, but this issue actually marks the return of a long-running, fan favorite character first introduced during the George Perez era: Marty, the unlucky Antarctic researcher who had his base destroyed by a giant bug and then got possessed by a certain Kryptonian artifact! Also his co-worker Steve, but who cares about him. Screw Steve.
One of the things that feeds the Last Son's delus– er, perception of reality is that nutty Superman Cult that resurfaced after his death. They're telling people he'll rise as a messiah and strike down crime, so he's like, "yes, of course, that's what's happening".
Don Sparrow notes: "The Last Son rescuing the plane (which seems to change sizes, looking huge as Superman carries it in the sky, then tiny when he's standing next to it) is a great callback to Man of Steel #1, with Superman and Lois' first meetcute,making this sad occasion all the more painful – if it's reminding US of that happy meeting, think how familiar it must feel to poor Lois." He's right!
There's also an amusing scene featuring Supergirl and her loverboy Lex Luthor Jr., but that's covered in Don's section after the jump…
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We begin with a die-cut cover, with Guice's unique S-shield, which, when opens, reveals our Clint Eastwood Superman, with a distracting colouring error, which makes the Last Son's already too-long neck look all the more prominent. Still, a nice portrait of this cold character, with unique cloud and colouring effects. [Max: Don is talking about this variant cover… or is this the original and the one above the variant? Has my whole life been a lie?]
Within the story, we get our first look at the Last Son of Krypton, who, after a "battle" has been reduced to Kirby dot-laden energy in a humanoid shape. Without getting too spoilery, I love the care that is taken here, both to establish that this really might be Superman's energy after his battle with Doomsday, and also how it lines up perfectly (in particular, visually) with what is eventually revealed to be the truth about this character. Even the detail of the character looking at recent events--and importantly not waiting for the fortress robots' report--before he concludes what has happened goes so far in convincing us that this is really Superman. It's neat seeing famous panels by Jurgens re-drawn by Guice and Rodier on page 4.
Page 7 and 8 has some great sleight of hand as the last time we see the energy being is when he touches "the body". After this, the character we see now has the famous s-curl,and seems in every way (aside from the all-black costume) to be the body in the coffin returned to life, having merged with the spirit/energy character we've been following. Cleverly, though, and it's only a detail I noticed the second time around, we never see the inside of the coffin in all these scenes in the tomb, as the Last Son's figure obscures it from view. For that matter, we don't see much of him, or if he's holding anything, beside the cape. Ahem.
The interval with Bibbo is great stuff, and even with his beer gut, he cuts a pretty inspiring figure on that last panel of page 10. Along with Steel, he seems to "get" what Superman should be about better than some of the contenders to the title. [Max: Nice Everlast product placement, too.]
PANEL OF THE WEEK: I keep forgetting about this feature, but this issue's champ is the bottom of page 12, where the Superman cultists reflect in the Last Son's visor in a super cool way, spurring him to action. Awesome.
More good artwork as the Last Son dons the Superman shield and stops a laundromat attacker, particularly that POV panel where Superman shoves the mugger through a brick wall.
The super-feats montage, as seen through TV reports brings to mind the first Superman movie, particularly since the Last Son foils both a boat getaway (no word on whether they tried using a crowbar on him) and also a robbery-by-window-entry, with far more violent results than in the movie.
The scene of Supergirl ignoring security to enter Luthor's office is a comical one--leg-tackling a superheroine would have to be one of their weirdest days at the office ever. The light shading on Supergirl's legs make them seem very realistic. After seeing Supergirl's shorts for the first time a few weeks back, they become something of a regular thing from this point on, as exemplified on page 18.
[Max: Incidentally, perhaps it was something about the Spanish translation, but when I read this issue as a kid, I thought that when the guy said "it was a good job" he obviously meant he got to look under Supergirl's skirt.]
Some great artwork at the end, as the Last Son never looks more like Clark than on that last page as he talks about "Clark Kent's double life".
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
When reading this issue, I absolutely 100% thought that this was the real Superman. It appears very much as though this is the body come to life, though there are a few giveaways, like the Last Son's stilted language, and that he refers to his "own" body as "the" body. Some great, doubly meaningful dialogue when he's reveling in his powers in the fortress, saying both that Kryptonian technology "has given me new life" and, in a separate thought, that "this glorious regeneration matrix has insured (a typo which should be ‘ensured’) that the heart of Krypton's last son keeps beating." Good stuff here. [Max: Nonsense. It's Superman. Fake news.]
That Miami beach sign in Antarctica is pretty funny.
GODWATCH: More moving Bibbo stuff, as he prays a message through God to Superman, asking permission/explaining his turn as a vigilante. Hard not to get a lump in your throat when he says "we tried an' we tried. I guess God needed ya more." Then later, after a difficult encounter with the Last Son, Lois mutters "Dear God in Heaven" at the double realization that this really might be the real Superman, and if he is, he's not the same person he used to be.
I kind of wish there was more of a payoff with Lex's security guards after they failed to stop Supergirl. Firing or otherwise humiliating them would have been a nice way to remind us what a harsh man Lex can be.
When exactly did the Last Son see hell? [Max: Maybe he was talking about network news?] Still, a cool line, and very in keeping with these comics threatening to have Superman "go Image" by being cold and calculating.
