Action Comics #690 (August 1993)
Action Comics #690 (August 1993)
REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN! The secret origin of the Eradi– I mean, the Last Son of Krypton! OK, so he’s actually the Eradicator. You all knew that. But how did an ancient Kryptonian device end up posing as a cross between Superman, a Terminator, and a grandma with poor eyesight? We find out when the Last Son’s energy form finally makes its way back to the Fortress of Solitude after his body was destroyed by the Cyborg Superman along with Coast City (Superman #80). As the Fortress’ robots try to restore the Eradicator's body, his mind goes into a convenient flashback dream…
The last time we saw the Eradicator was during the climax of "Return of the Krypton Man", when he had a dramatic showdown with Superman (and Professor Hamilton) in the Fortress and his body disintegrated. Man, that happens to him a lot. Anyway, it turns out his mind was absorbed by the Fortress' walls – after all, the Fortress started out as basically a big extension of the original Eradicator gizmo. After Superman died, the Fortress robots put the Eradicator back together as an energy being (the “ghost” from Action #687). Since he had no body of his own, and Superman’s corpse was just laying there unused, the Eradicator flew to Metropolis to try to possess it – but then Superman’s “essence asserted itself,” presumably as a consequence of Superman and Pa Kent’s little after-life journey in Adventures #500.
(Side note: Superman looks pretty… electric in that second panel.)
Unable to possess Superman, the Eradicator did the next best thing: he made himself a replica of Superman's body, except for the eyes, which are more like Clark Kent's (all crappy). He also grabbed Superman’s actual body to use the solar energy processed within it as a power source – that’s what the “regeneration matrix” in the Fortress was about. At this point, he looked like Superman and was channeling Superman’s powers, so he figured he might as well BE Superman and started thinking of himself as such.
Problem is, the regeneration matrix broke a few issues ago and its occupant escaped the Fortress in a Kryptonian battle mech, leaving the badly damaged Eradicator without a power source to leech off of. As for the “occupant”… he’s still sloooowly walking to Metropolis in the mech. Man, it’s taking him so long to get there, he’s gonna have long hair or something when he arrives.
Plotline-Watch:
Most of the issue is taken up by the Cyborg's machinations as he tricks the Justice League into going on a wild goose chase in space (wild goose space chase) so they don't interfere with his plans. He does this by using computer magic to fake footage of the Last Son fighting the national guard in Coast City (hence this issue's cover), before supposedly blowing up the whole place and running off with some aliens. Damn, it was 1993 and Roger Stern was already warning us about the dangers of fake news.
Naturally, Guy Gardner refuses to believe his favorite Superman candidate is evil, but he still agrees to go on the mission to clear his pal's name… or kill him if it turns out it's true. By the way, this was during the era when the Justice League membership was seemingly decided by taking DC character names from a hat, hence this random-ass line up:
Oh yeah, the Cyborg also faked footage of himself and Superboy talking to the League. I like the mental image of the sinister Cyborg Superman standing there talking like a radical ‘90s teen while his lackey Mongul tries not to laugh. Also, Don Sparrow says: "Given all the hand-kissing of previous issues, there's something off-putting about the Cyborg making a digital Superboy call him ‘one bad stud’ to impress Mongul." Yes, that happened.
Meanwhile, the real Superboy is being held captive in Engine City (the big engine the Cyborg built over Coast City's crater). The Kid isn't feeling very confident in his powers after the beat down he just got in Adventures #503, but that changes when Mongul (who's tired of being a lackey) shows him footage of the Cyborg saying he'll blow up Metropolis next. That's where he keeps all his stuff! And so, Superboy tries harder to free himself and… still doesn't do it. In this issue, anyway.
The Cyborg isn't terribly concerned about Supergirl, apparently.
Don again: "I love that Stern throws us a bone for why Superman isn't contacting the outside world in his war-suit -- he can't, because it was battle damaged in Action #667, which, as we pointed out at the time, is a huge piece of THIS storyline, we just didn't know it yet. Man, I love comics."
Back in Metropolis, the Superman cultists have split in two bands: Cyborg Superman loyalists (who paint their faces like cyborgs) and Last Son fanatics (who wear giant shades). A big fight between both groups breaks out in front of Superman's tomb, but Inspector Maggie Sawyer single-handedly ends it by yelling at the loons to stop, go home, and do something productive with their lives.
Damn, even I want to do that now. I'm out, click "keep reading" for more commentary from Don Sparrow!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow)
We start with a stellar cover from Kerry Gammill, a spiritual homage to May 1963's Superman #161. [Max: I didn't know that!] Gammill seems born to draw the Last Son Superman, as his Superman has always seemed very rigid and Clint Eastwood-y, which can sometimes be out of step for the kinder gentler Kal-El. For this guy, though, it's absolutely perfect. As the story opens, we get views of two combating Superman related cults, and it's a bummer. All these weirdoes outfitting themselves in either blublocker goggles or crude cybernetic make-up jobs, and, invariably, robes (I suppose it's a visual cue that, yup, these are cultists, not your average level headed people of faith).
We then catch up with Superboy, and I like the visual of him being woken from a nightmare, reliving the pain the Cyborg put him through since we last saw the Metropolis Kid. At the best of times Jackson Guice's characters look a little older than they do in the other super-books, but this is most glaring with a youthful character like the Kid, who looks a head taller, and much lankier than when handled by other artists.
Mongul looks great, though, as the forehead wrinkles and raised beetle brow really makes this otherworldly character look real. This whole first scene at "Engine City" is really well coloured, and the heavy use of shadows gives it a real sense of scale, and once again, grounds this fantastical environment with realism.
From Engine City we go to Antarctica and the abrupt reveal that the regeneration matrix from Action #687 never contained this visored Last Son, but rather that he was treating it as his own Kryptonian power buffet, refueling as he needed. This also begins the shift away from the Last Son resembling Superman (despite the cover). From the point on, he has a distinctly non-Kal-El-like appearance.
There's a lot of exposition and plot filled in during this issue, so to some extent the art takes a back seat to storytelling, by necessity, but there are a few highlights. Guice continues to excel at drawing women, and his Maggie Sawyer is a lot more feminine than some artists have depicted her, and he seems to really have thought out Lois' outfit in their exchange on page 10.
The double page spread of the combined might of JLA and JLI on pages 12 and 13 is pretty formidable, even if it's a weird line-up. I'm a big Captain Marvel fan, so it's always nice to see him in these pages. It's also an interesting time capsule showing the de-aged Alan Scott (was he going by Sentinel at this time, or was that later?) with his Starheart costume, as well as Power Girl's short-lived "Atlantean" look. I'm always seeing celebs it seems, but I thought Jade looked a lot like Princess Diana here (no, the other one), and Maxima reminded me of Julia Roberts.
Back at the fortress we finally get a recap of just who the Last Son of Krypton is, and it's a relief to be able to call him the Eradicator in these reviews now! [Max: I may have slipped and called him that once or twice or several times…]
Finally, at the end of the story, we get the BIG reveal--that the figure in black watching the viewscreens from weeks past wasn't a recuperating Last Son--it was the real steel deal himself, who they cleverly keep under wraps until the nice round number of Man of Steel #25 next week. With so many reveals, particularly the big one about Roger Stern's brilliant misdirection from past issues, this is a pretty huge issue, and a big piece of the puzzle.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
I choose to think things are getting so bad in Metropolis to show just how lousy stuff would get in the absence of the real Superman, but sometimes it's hard to read. I know they aren't real people, but thinking of people like Lois or Ma and Pa Kent seeing whack jobs fighting each other at the grave of their recently departed loved one--it's rough. [Max: I saw it mostly as an excuse to show the newly promoted Inspector Sawyer being badass, though it doesn't look like something she couldn't have done as Captain.]
"Mongoloid" as insult definitely hasn't aged particularly well. I suppose a character with yellow pigmentation named Mongul isn't great in general in 2019.
Lois sure doesn't get much help from Maggie with her insider information on "Superman"'s gaffe with describing having powers as a kid. But then, I guess she's kind of a strictly Metropolis gal, so her concern isn't necessarily for the big picture.
Also weird to think that the Last Son of Krypton we've been observing all these months is, in part, apparently cement (or reconstituted cement atoms, or whatever). I knew he'd taken energy from Kal-El's body, but it's neat that they came up with an explanation--even a goofy one--for why he has mass at all,and for why he appears identical to Superman in appearance.
The fact that the Cyborg can create fake videos is a pretty disturbing power to have. In our present era of fake news, we've seen how difficult it is to disabuse people of what they THINK they've seen and heard, I can only imagine how it would be for the average citizen of the DC Universe. "Cyborg Superman is a bad guy? No he isn't, I saw it on TV."
I am a little perplexed as to why both Maxima and J'onn J'onnz couldn't psychically detect duplicity from the Cyborg, but maybe it's a distance thing--they can only feel thoughts and emotions if the person is nearby? [Max: Yeah, I've never heard of psychics reading people's minds via video chat. Gotta stay realistic, man!]
I kinda dig that Guy Gardner, of all people,was right about the Last Son Superman not being behind the attack.
I wonder if Guy's line "he's mine, Marvel" is a play on the familiar "make mine Marvel" catchphrase. A stretch maybe? [Max: Roger Stern being the comic book encyclopedia that he is, I doubt the line didn't at least give him a little chuckle.]
Kinda weird what a backseat Wonder Woman takes in these pages. It's hard to tell who's really leading this group of heroes.
I like that the Eradicator didn't just flip a switch and become a totally good guy upon Superman's demise. Sure, placing him in the resurrection matrix was a big help, but surely Kal-El would have recovered quicker if the Eradicator weren't treating the stored energy in Superman's body as his own personal Gatorade stash.
It's a tad convenient, but I don't mind how quickly the Cyborg Superman is getting crazier and more arrogant. His self-assuredness that he has succeeded in killing the Eradicator, his casual dismissal of Mongul's concerns (about letting Superboy survive, or the threat of Supergirl), or his tendency to truly believe he's Superman all indicate this guy is really bonkers, and give hints of what his downfall will be.
In retrospect, all the clues are there--and a big one was the robots from the fortress calling the visored Superman "master". They'd always called Superman Kal-El, to my memory, but since it was the Eradicator's energy and programming that built the Fortress, those robots' main allegiance would be to him, even more than Superman. We should have known!