Action Comics #704 (November 1994)

"DEAD AGAIN!," Part 4! Superman vs. the Eradicator! With the Outsiders mostly just sorta standing around, commentating on the fight but staying out of it. That's why they're called the Outsiders.

We start with Superman rather uncharacteristically shouting "I'M SUPERMAN!" at some Vegas cops because they said "Who goes there?" Of course, it isn't uncharacteristic at all if he isn't Superman but some impostor and the real Superman is still dead, as Professor Hamilton suggested in the previous part of this storyline.

(Sure, buddy, suuuuuuuuurrre...)

Speaking of impostors, Superman is in Vegas to look for one of the Super-pretenders from the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline, the Eradicator, who was last seen hanging out with the Outsiders around here. Granted, this isn't the exact same Eradicator who died in that saga (long story), but he's close enough that Superman thinks he might have something to do with his latest death-related predicament. The cops tell him there are two groups of Outsiders these days, as seen in the latest issues of their series, so they point him in the direction of the one with the Eradicator in it, and Superman leaves without even saying thanks. Again: not very Superman-like...

So, Superman tracks down the Eradicator and his Outsiders to their new hideout: an abandoned government facility at Area 51, which the Eradicator knew about due to his old job as a xenobiologist at S.T.A.R. Labs. Superman and the Eradicator immediately start beating the crap out of each other while the Outsiders debate whether they should help their teammate or not, with the consensus being "meh."

The Eradicator causes a huge explosion and thinks that took care of Superman, because he's never read a Superman comic before -- but no, that just pissed him off even more. Superman is so angry, in fact, that he even tortures the Eradicator by knocking off his protective eyewear and shooting heat vision right at his eyes ("I-It... tickles!" the Eradicator says, which must have sounded very funny in his Clint Eastwood-esque growl).

With the Eradicator defeated, Superman finally gets to the point and asks him about the body that was found in his tomb. The Eradicator is like "THAT'S what this is about?!" and points out that putting fake corpses in abandoned tombs to mess with people's minds isn't exactly his style -- he's more the "shoot lasers at your face" type. Superman realizes the Eradicator is right and stands down... and it's only then that the Outsiders decide to join the fight.

But Superman's had enough punching for the day and just leaves, as the Outsiders celebrate that they "drove off Superman!" Meanwhile, as he flies back to Metropolis, Superman laments having let his emotions get the best of him -- it was silly of him to convince himself the Eradicator was behind his problems without any evidence. In unrelated news, now he knows for sure who's behind his problems: someone who's a master manipulator... and fond of cruelty... and currently in a vegetative state... LEX LUTHOR!

CONTINUED!

Plotline-Watch:

• There's a scene in Smallville where we see that Pa Kent is having doubts about Clark being Clark, and of course Ma shuts him down -- but we're given the impression that it's more because she's worried about him having another heart attack than because she's totally sure that Clark is in fact Clark.

• Even Lois Lane isn't sure about Clark, to the point that she's having trouble sleeping and forgets to use the spell-check program at work, causing a crisis in the Daily Planet proofreading department ("There's only one 'R' in 'entrails,'" Ron Troupe tells her). At least her cat Elroy seems in a good mood, probably because he thinks Clark is dead again and he always hated that guy.

• Wait, so the last issue of Outsiders took place in Vegas? Why were Maggie Sawyer and the rest of the Metropolis SCU there? US geography isn't my expertise, but if Metropolis is supposed to be around New York, isn't Vegas a little out of the way? Maybe she was investigating the space lasers from the SCU miniseries and mistook the Luxor Sky Beam for one? Let's go with that.

• The last things the Eradicator says in this issue are "Another few seconds and I would have had [Superman]" (sure, buddy, suuuuuuuuurrre...) and "Nonetheless...*" with the asterisk telling us that the sentence will continue in Outsiders #13. This Outsiders series was never published in South America (despite an Argentinian publisher once promising it), so I've wondered about that sentence for about 30 years. We'll find out on the next Super-Titles Round Up.

Shout Outs-Watch:

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You know who's completely in-character? Don Sparrow, and we're all winners for it, because here's Don's section:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We open with the cover and it’s a good one, as Jackson Guice is probably the artist I most associate with the anti-hero era of the Eradicator.  It’s also a nice preview of what’s to come in this issue: Superman absolutely losing it, and looking insane while he does. Also the Outsiders are here.

As promised, once the issue begins, we’re treated to Superman looking like an absolute lunatic on the first splash page.  Guice and Rodier are a longterm team on the super-books, but their styles don’t always mesh perfectly—Guice is a detail guy, lots of thin lines, while Rodier’s style is more European influenced with lots of thick brushlines.  So at times it works better than others.  Page two’s look at Superman looks particularly rushed, especially around the rib cage.  Guice has a habit of extreme low angles, which don’t always work either, and we see a number of those on page 3, as well as a Superman s-shield so off-model it probably shouldn’t have seen print.

But, I’d still take a badly hand-drawn Superman shield over artists just dropping the logo in as a digital file as is often seen as I write this. But I digress.

Page 4’s Superman in flight seems like a counterpoint to my complaint about the styles not meshing, as it’s a great, and detailed panel, especially the shine of his hair. 

Guice has always excelled at drawing Lois, and there’s a long section with mainly thought bubbles on pages 5-7 that are a real showcase of how to make virtually silent panels interesting.

As Superman tears into the Eradicator looking for answers, I’m struck by wondering who the Eradicator is meant to resemble.  With the craggy face and gray hair, I had thought he was meant to put us in mind of Clint Eastwood, but from the side he has more of an R. Lee Ermey energy.  Who’s your casting choice for this version? [Max: I'm sticking with Eastwood, and it's kinda nuts to think he was already shortcut for "craggy old guy" 30 years ago...]

The panel of Superman aflame and fighting the Eradicator is a show-stopper, though the colouring looks a little rushed. 

SPEEDING BULLETS:

• A nice callback to the Superman films, and Lois-as-lousy-speller gag (as well as the luridness of the story as a dark laugh) with Ron calling Lois out on her typo on “entrails”.

• You probably didn’t know that in addition to the cash prize, Pulitzer winners also get to claim a tacky coffee mug. [Max: I thought that WAS the prize.]

• I do like the continuity of Lois’ cat Elroy only being happy when Clark isn’t in the picture.

• It’s kind of the Eradicator to address each Outsider by name as, apart from Looker, (and an unrecognizable Halo) they’d mostly be unknowns to my memory—if not for Max’s awesome Outsider recap posts, that is. [Max: I'll be honest, I've read a years' worth of that series by now and I still forget what they're called.]

• A little bit of cheesecake in the Area 51 bunker?

• Thank goodness they had Sebastian Faust spouting Britishisms like “bloody coppers” otherwise they would have had to have him drinking tea and eating crumpets to tell us he’s from England, which might compete with the action. He also later says “strewth” which I’d always thought of as an Aussie saying, but it’s apparently used in both countries.

• The Outsiders’ hesitance to help one of the Outsiders speaks volumes about the book at that time, and what an unnatural fit the David Conner Eradicator was for the team.  If they’re sitting around going “who is this guy?” then you can be sure readers were, too. 

• Overall, kind of a dumb story, with Superman acting fairly wildly out of character for most of the goings-on.  I wonder if readers at the time, knowing Michelinie’s involvement with Spider-Man, worried that this really wasn’t Superman, in a Clone Saga-like twist?

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