Adventures of Superman #437 (February 1988)
Adventures of Superman #437 (February 1988)
Another freaking Millennium crossover, though this one’s technically only half a crossover. That’s because this is kind of an experimental issue: the pages are split horizontally and each half tells a different story, though they’re connected. The stories are:
Lex Luthor convinces one of the New Guardians from Millennium (a group of random people selected to be the “next step in human evolution”) to have lunch with him. As they eat in a fancy restaurant, Luthor tells her the story of Superman fighting an armored villain called Combattor while carelessly causing lots of property damage. The moral of the story is: superheroes suck, and humanity is doomed.
Lois Lane is on a date with Jose Delgado, when that Combattor guy tries to kidnap her to get Superman’s attention. Superman isn’t around, so Jose changes into his Gangbuster identity (introduced in Adventures #434) and fights Combattor with some help from random bystanders. Gangbuster stops the villain, but gets his spine shattered in the process. The moral being: real heroes exist, and humanity is just swell.
By the end it’s clear that both stories are different versions of the same event, and that Luthor was obviously behind Combattor and didn’t count on anyone but Superman stopping him.
Plotline-Watch:
The Misadventures of Jose Delgado: This guy can’t catch a break. I never realized that Jose only showed up as Gangbuster for one issue before breaking his spine. He didn’t even get to make out with Lois. To make matters worse, the issue ends with Luthor taking an interest in the newly paralyzed Jose, which is never a good thing.
Who The Fuck Is Synapse: Combattor is none other than the end result of Luthor’s Project Synapse, a charitable initiative to turn gang members into supervillains. Superman previously had a dream about Combattor/Synapse way back in Adventures #427. Hey, maybe that’s why Supes doesn’t show up in this issue: he knew Combattor was a hard ass from his dream prophecy and said “Screw this, let someone else fight him.” Anyway, Combattor dies in this issue so that’s the end of that plot.
Death-Watch: Say, why does the image of a grief-stricken Lois Lane holding the battered body of the guy she’s dating among the rubble of a Metropolis street look so freaking familiar? That’s what they call foreshadowing, I guess.
See comments on Tumblr: https://superman86to99.tumblr.com/post/63963686492/adventures-of-superman-437-february-1988#disqus_thread
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!
This newsletter is free and always will be, but if you'd like to support us with $1 a month or more, you'll get access to extra articles about non-continuity '90s Superman stuff (shows, video games, Elseworlds, etc) and cool giveaways. Click here to become a paid supporter!