Adventures of Superman #428 (May 1987)
Adventures of Superman #428 (May 1987)
The gangbanger son of the Daily Planet’s editor Perry White, cleverly named Jerry White, gets kidnapped by a mobster who threatens to kill him if Perry doesn’t write an article saying the mobster is innocent. Perry actually considers not writing the article, proving he’s a remarkable journalist and a shitty dad.
Thankfully, Superman was eavesdropping on Perry’s phone conversation and starts interviewing hoodlums to find out Jerry’s whereabouts – and by interviewing I mean threatening to drop them from great distances. Finally Superman rescues Jerry and brings him back home, but Jerry realizes his dad wasn’t gonna write the article and tells him he sucks.
Character-Watch:
This is it. A momentous occasion happens in this issue. This is the first appearance of Bibbo Fucking Bibbowski (a.k.a. the guy on my avatar), who in my opinion is the heart and soul of this era of Superman comics. In this issue, Bibbo is just a random tough guy hanging out in a seedy bar, the Ace O'Clubs, and tries to get into a fight with Superman. Later, Superman impersonates Bibbo to get information about Perry’s son. Remarkably, artist Jerry Ordway says he had already mapped out Bibbo’s future evolution from these humble origins. I kinda believe him.
Other first-timers: Perry’s wife and son, Alice and Jerry. We don’t know this yet, but Perry isn’t Jerry’s real father. I won’t say who the real dad is, but let’s just say Jerry shouldn’t get too attached to his long hair. And then there’s Jerry’s concerned teacher Jose Delgado, who appears in only one page but will get a lot more protagonism once he dresses up in a costume and starts fighting no-gooders with nunchakus.
WTF-Watch:
Dear God, more scenes of Clark flirting with Cat Grant at the office. It’s like watching my dad try to rap.
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