Adventures of Superman #447 (December 1988)
Adventures of Superman #447 (December 1988)
Superman saves an aircraft carrier from some Quraci explosive mines, but that only takes up like 2% of this issue: the rest is mostly about the mystery of the new Gangbuster. Also, Bibbo. Bibbo is back, guys.
After Superman stops the Quraci terrorism attempt, he laments that he can’t do anything about it because the last time he went to Qurac things got a little out of hand. Superman doesn’t want to cause another intentional incident – Gangbuster, on the other hand, doesn’t give a crap about that. Gangbuster somehow breaks into Qurac’s office in the United Nations building (which is in Metropolis, for some reason) to confirm that they were behind the attempt. This is still a pretty illegal thing to do, though, so the authorities question the last guy who wore the Gangbuster helmet: Jose Delgado, who is supposed to be crippled for life but as of last issue can walk again (thanks, secretly, to some LexCorp technology).
While Jose is being questioned by Inspector Henderson, Gangbuster strikes again. So if Jose isn’t Gangbuster, then who the hell is it? Whoever it is, he’s super strong, can jump really high and has a remarkably square chin (it’s Aquaman, right?). Anyway, the issue ends with Superman finally taking notice of this reckless new Gangbuster and declaring: “He won’t catch me napping again!”
Character-Watch:
As I mentioned, Bibbo returns here (he’s the guy on my avatar). We hadn’t seen Bibbo since his first appearance in Adventures #428, when Superman goes into the Ace O’ Clubs bar seeking information about a guy and Bibbo agrees to give it to him, but only after establishing that Superman can take a punch to the guts. In this issue Gangbuster goes into the same bar with the same purpose, and this time Bibbo breaks a bottle of beer in his head and then spouts his immortal catchphrase: “Yer tough!” We’ll be seeing more of Bibbo from now on, obviously.
Plotline-Watch:
TV exec/Darkseid cronie Morgan Edge is up to no good. Last issue he stole some LexCorp weapons, and now he sends a guy to try to kill Lex Luthor using one of Lex’s own guns. This is all leading up to the formation of Intergang, the crime syndicate that will bug Superman for the next few years.
Speaking of Edge, last issue he commented that he’d like to hire Cat Grant to host an entertainment show for his TV station. In this issue Cat and Edge are already bathing together and drinking wine. She should know better than to get hooked up with yet another Hollywood creep named Morgan, but I guess being rejected by Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen does weird things to one’s self-esteem.
Lex Luthor is also up to no good, believe it or not. He has somehow acquired the comatose (since Adventures #445) body of Brainiac and charitably decided to have his doctors operate on him to remove the brain tumor that’s been killing him.
Six-Fifty: Lois Lane and Jose take a cab. How much does it cost? $6.50.
Creator-Watch:
Oddly enough, this issue has a couple of references to Dan Jurgens (joke headlines in newspapers and signs in the street), even though he won’t join the Superman books for many months. I guess Jerry Ordway and Jurgens were already pals before they became co-workers. This kinda looks like Jurgens, too, to the left of long-time Superman editor Mike Carlin here, reading about the miraculous weight loss of a Marvel villain:
Plug-Watch:
Oh, yeah, I mentioned this Tumblr in my new column at Cracked.com! Be warned that there are HUGE spoilers there about this specific storyline, though.
See comments on Tumblr: https://superman86to99.tumblr.com/post/72698614792/adventures-of-superman-447-december-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!