Action Comics #689 (July 1993)
Action Comics #689 (July 1993)
REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN! Featuring the return of a major thought-dead character from these pages: Pa Kent, who was in a hospital bed like a week ago but is now up on his feet again, fueled purely by the hatred he feels for those charlatans impersonating his boy.
Oh, and there’s also something in this issue about another yet Superman, this one in a black suit, watching TV in the Fortress of Solitude. Ugh, more copycats? There’s already a “black Superman,” dude.
The issue picks up from the end of Adventures #502, with Superboy and Supergirl emerging from the debris of that bridge some rando dropped on them. As the two start fishing cars from the river, we cut to the Fortress of Solitude, where the Last Son of Krypton’s regeneration matrix (that big glowing egg he gets his powers from) appears to be undergoing technical difficulties. The matrix’s shell opens, and out of it comes a giant chicken. Wait, no: it’s a very confused Superman lookalike wearing a Kryptonian gimp suit.
Thankfully, the Last Son had satellite TV installed on the Fortress last issue, so our mysterious superguy catches up on the news there. After hearing about the four Supermen running around Metropolis, the new guy dramatically declares that “the name of Superman will NOT be turned into a franchise” and announces he must get to the city as fast as possible. Next up, we see the Last Son reaching out to the Steel to tell him to stop wearing "his" symbol, and casually disintegrating a gang member Steel was fighting. Naturally, the Steel doesn't appreciate that (that was HIS baddie) (also, a human being), and hitting ensues.
(That's his head, Steel.)
The resulting chaos gives Lois Lane the perfect excuse to get out of having lunch with Jimmy Olsen at a nearby diner. Lois scolds the brawlers and manages to calm down the Last Son… for about two seconds, before one of Superboy’s lawyers shows up with a cease and desist order for both of them (the Kid’s new manager trademarked the S-shield). Steel takes the furious Last Son into orbit before he can fry the lawyer, and the issue ends with both of them crashing back down in some part of America. Somewhere near the coast, maybe? Anyway, CONTINUED!
Mullet-Watch:
Inexplicably absent.
Plotline-Watch:
While we’re in space, we see that the big spaceship teased the other day is getting closer to Earth, and inside it is… holy shit! Thanos!
After the rescue operation, Superboy breaks the news to Supergirl that he won’t be joining Team Luthor after all, and she takes it better than expected. Her darling Lex Jr., not so much. (I like her complaint: “I hate it when he gets this way!" Yeah, who is he, Lex Luthor?!)
Unsurprisingly, the Kents are not fans of Superboy (we already knew Ma doesn’t like the brat), but they’re also not feeling so hot on their "daughter” Supergirl, either. They don’t like that she’s out there flirting with young clones, which is apparently worse than that time she went crazy and almost killed Lana.
There's a cameo of the Awesome Kryptonian Battle Armor from World of Krypton in the Fortress of Solitude. Don Sparrow says: "I love the detail of the Kryptonian survival suit framing the resurrection matrix as we're first shown the fortress. Just a nice visual reminder that this thing is sitting around, while also adding visual interest." It sure would be cool if we saw more of that guy soon, huh?
The Superman Cultist on the left below kinda looks like future villain Savior, feeding my long-held belief that he was one of these nutjobs (and his unexplained powers come from Darkseid).
What probably doesn’t come across very well in this write-up is how clever Roger Stern’s script is. The robots' dialogue is carefully crafted to make it sound like the "new" Superman is just the Last Son waking up from a nap, and soon after he says he has to get to Metropolis to take care of the impostors, we see the Last Son in Metropolis confronting Steel. This is probably the most important issue of this storyline so far, and it’s cool that they kept it subtle instead of hyping it up.
There's one thing that doesn't add up, though. Don again: "I'm trying not to spoil too much here, but the only way the deception we see doesn't quite line up is in the hair. Most panels take care to hide the back of the regeneration matrix occupant's (yikes, what a terrible nickname) hair, but there are a few where we see his hair is short, like that of the Last Son. In weeks to come, that hair is apparently gonna grow!" Maybe he has a conveniently out-of-view ponytail in every panel?
More from Don Sparrow in his section under the jump! Click "keep reading" to… keep reading.
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
A very, very big issue kicks off with a totally inconspicuous cover, with a shadowy figure using the viewscreens, monitoring the actions of three of the four Supermen. This is such a brilliant cover, because the implication to the reader, is that the only Superman missing from this cover image, The Last Son of Krypton, is the one monitoring the viewscreens. He's got the Kryptonian garb and everything. That same, sly theme runs throughout the issue, where we're given every indication that the figure in the fortress, which all the robots answer to is indeed the same person they've been answering to since Action #687. (Quick cover note: the signatures on this cover says Gammill & Guice, after Hannigan, meaning Ed Hannigan. Usually covers that say "after" mean they're an homage or tribute to a previous cover by that artist. In this case, as far as I can find, it's not. Eventually I tracked down an explanation--Ed Hannigan laid the cover out, and then it was penciled and inked--after--by Kerry Gammill and Jackson Guice.)
Inside the issue, we begin with a great look at a worried Tana Moon, reporting on last week's disaster involving the Metropolis Kid version of Superman. It's interesting that even back then, Tana would describe the destruction as something out of a disaster movie. That same description would accompany plenty of real life tragedies that occurred after this issue was published. This first splash page of Tana is followed by another stunning splash, this one over two pages, showing Metropolis' Hobsneck bridge in smouldering ruin.
As the story progresses, we're shown the fortress, and a figure emerging from the energy matrix we last saw in the aforementioned Action #687. The fortress' robot staff refer to this figure as the master, just like they've been referring to the Last Son of Krypton. Also like the Last Son, they mention his eyes might be sensitive to light, so we really have no reason to believe it's anyone but the Last Son who was taking a beauty nap in the egg that the fortress robots refer to as the "regeneration matrix". As this figure monitors recent events, we hear one of the super robots refer to "previous orders" which again makes us think this individual was the one who gave these orders. Then, a few pages later,this figure doesn't feel the need to hear anything about the Last Son, which is another reason for the reader to believe this is the Last Son (when a perfectly plausible alternate theory would be that the figure listening to the monitors could just be overwhelmed or disgusted by the news he's seeing). All this stuff, along with their identical facial structure, just seals the deal.
Back to the action at hand, The Metropolis Kid and Supergirl seem to wrap up the bridge disaster, and Supergirl resumes project vamping in order to bend the Clone to Lex Luthor's will. Lex's reaction to the Metropolis Kid signing a deal with a rival network reveals some of his underlying character, as he's pretty much openly abusive to Supergirl in this scene. The fact that she just sluffs it off is disturbing. And I'm not the only prude upset by Supergirl's manipulation of the Metropolis Kid, as we get a great little scene of Jonathan Kent raging impotently at what he sees on his TV screen (which, as I write this, is an interesting parallel to the reaction of the viewer in the fortress!) going so far as to say Supergirl "making cow eyes and this young twerp!" His words, not mine.
On page 13, we see the Last Son (apparently back from the fortress) vaporize a gangbanger, and man, does it look painful!
There are some nice, quiet moments on page 15, as Jimmy talks with Lois--Guice always excels at drawing women, and his Lois is very beautiful here. As the Man of Steel and the Last Son tussle in the air, the panel of the Last Son "adding his speed" gives a good, out of control feeling to the reader.
As we get another glimpse of that ship we saw a while back, I'm struck by what a great, Jurgens-y design it is. They don't quite reveal who is at the helm, and from these pages, it almost looks like they might be teasing that it's Darkseid, given his stance, head shape, and references to him being a ruler. [Max: It's been established that that's Thanos, Don.]
The issue ends pretty abruptly as the two crash down to earth, and it's fortunate that as a reader at the time these came out,you only had to wait a week to see what happens next. Doing these reviews has made me appreciate Jackson Guice's art all the more, though he has an odd habit of making craters perfectly circular. But maybe I only notice it since Tom Grummett is the undisputed king of drawing rubble!
As I mentioned at the outset of my little section here, to me this was a huge issue. I realize that according to the price guides of the day (and perhaps even now) Man of Steel #25 is considered the official "comeback" issue. But careful readers will realize the importance of this issue, in weeks to come.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
He's back! He's really back! I knew Doomsday couldn't keep a great hero like him down! Of course I am referring to Optimus Prime in vehicle form,who we last saw getting destroyed by Doomsday in Man of Steel #18.
Weird little shoutout for Heroes Con on page 16 (I don't remember seeing a plug for any other comic-cons in these pages), along with a mention of "Larson Boulevard", which I'm betting is named after early Jimmy actor Jack Larson.
GODWATCH: Quite a bit here, with all the weird Superman cultists duking it out. But Steel also references some messianic theology when The Last Son gets a little big for his britches, then also lets out a "dear Lord" when Lois shows them the error of their public battle.
While all the evidence listed above would lead us to believe that the man in black (better name?) is the Last Son, there's a noticeable hint in the dialogue--he uses contractions! The Last Son typically doesn't, speaking like Data from TNG most of the time.
Quitea Jack Kirby looking cultist at the bottom of page 15! [Max: And is that Oliver Hardy to his left?]
