Adventures of Superman #426 (March 1987)

Legends crossover, part 2! This is a crazy issue. Superman is fished out of that pit of fire he fell into at the end of Superman #3, and he turns out to be completely fine… except for the fact that he lost his memory. He doesn’t even remember that he’s invulnerable to fire.

The story of the fire-proof amnesiac guy in blue pajamas spreads among Apokolips’ lower classes and reaches Amazing Grace, the beautiful bum-lady Superman saved last issue. She proclaims Superman as the “Savior” who will help the Hunger Dogs rise up against Darkseid. Superman doesn’t look so sure about that, but when Darkseid sends some Parademons to punish the assembled crowd, he kicks their butts and convinces everyone he’s really the Savior, including himself.

Things escalate quickly and Superman, now sporting a beard and a Roman warrior costume, inspires a social revolution against the tyrant Darkseid, leading literally millions of Hunger Dogs in battle. They even start selling crude little action figures of him.

And then, when Superman’s followers are all gathered together in one place… Superman betrays them and they get freaking slaughtered. Darkseid’s Parademons just swoop down and kill everyone while Superman watches. Turns out Amazing Grace works for Darkseid, and somehow convinced Superman that he’s Darkseid’s son (despite Superman not looking anything like a massive space Hitler made of rock and condensed hate). And that’s how the issue ends: with Superman as an accessory to mass murder. TO BE CONTINUED!

WTF-Watch:

The above paragraph is not the most shocking part of this issue. Superman and Amazing Grace get increasingly amorous throughout the issue, and then, in a scene that introduced 10-year-olds across the world to strange new feelings, she gets naked and steps into the bathtub with the already-pajamaless Superman. Cue funky music.

For years, I kept expecting Grace to come back with a little half-Kryptonian, half-Apokaliptic Boy of Steel. Sadly this never happened.

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with the cover, and it’s a good one from the master himself, Jerry Ordway.  But I wonder if it was drawn well ahead of the actual comic, as Superman’s freedom fighter outfit is indeed different from his normal uniform, but isn’t the more Roman looking Savior suit either.  In interviews Ordway has mentioned that Wolfman was pretty routinely late with his scripts, making the art chores a little rushed (which might also explain why Ordway inked himself on this issue, a rare treat) so perhaps that might explain the difference in costumes, as the cover art is generally completed for solicitation purposes well before the interiors.

Speaking of interiors, we pick up the action moments after Superman #3, with Superman being fished out of the firepits of Apokolips he was seen drifting into at the mercy of a lemming-like Glommer.  The overly-talky story chugs along, with lots of views of daily life in Apokolips.  I love the Kirby-esque high-tech panels the divide each account of Superman’s miraculous survival spreading through the hunger dog community.  Shortly after we get our first look at the woman Superman saved last issue, and she has a name: Amazing Grace.  Visually, she is already depicted quite differently from her brief appearance last issue (which is very different from how she’ll look next issue, and subsequent appearances), her long hair looking more like a shaggy mullet here, as well as her features looking a little more beaky than our glimpse at her last issue.

The fight choreography of Savior and the Parademons is well-paced, and the full page splash of the now-Savior garbed Superman taking the fight to Darkseid’s armies is a great one.  I really love the little details Ordway puts into these hunger dogs, like headbands, gloves and hats. An ice cold Savior surveying the flames of the slaughter of the rebels is an eerie, and well-drawn image. 

Finally, it’s always weird to see Darkseid smile.  

SPEEDING BULLETS:

• I remain confused about Orion’s power level.  In some depictions he seems to be merely of above average strength but otherwise human (uses contraptions for flying, for instance) but here we have a scavenger commenting that Orion is the only being to have survived the firepits before Superman, which would put him in a rare class of durability.

• Interesting that the hunger dogs mistrust Amazing Grace, calling her a witch and a liar, perhaps a hint that she’s not what she seems to be.  Then again, she was being executed last issue for preaching against Darkseid, so who knows what this crowd really thinks.

• We also get a glimpse of the influencing mind power she seems to share with her brother, both on the scavenger, and also, I suspect, on Superman himself, as he keeps complaining about his head feeling muddled, and a difficulty concentrating.  

• The subject of Superman’s sex life is something bizarrely and hotly debated among super-fans, with some depictions having him as a virgin until marriage (as in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman or this less canonical SNL sketch with Margot Kidder) or more recently on Superman & Lois, a virgin until getting engaged to Lois Lane.  While others, like Smallville, or the films of David Goyer and Zack Snyder have presumed that Superman has a more typical sexual history.  I tend to favour the former examples in my head-canon, but, as Max pointed out in his section, this issue makes it difficult to argue that.  But who knows, maybe it’s a platonic hot tub scene.  You know, just a couple of topless buddies getting a soak? Or maybe he’ll just pull a Superman III, with a Don Draper-like “I don’t know you lady” since he wasn’t himself at the time. Since we’re all super-fans here, weigh in on your preference for this element of the super-mythology.

I’ve been having a lot of fun doing my take on these guest stars in the retro reviews, so this review’s entry is Amazing Grace.  I skipped the weird, nun-like habit she wears at the end of this issue, opting instead for the look she wears next issue, as well as her metallic look from the upcoming Action #600 (which is my favourite look, as it feels the most Kirby-like, especially with the giant hair). Which look is your favourite?

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