Adventures of Superman #481 (August 1991)
Adventures of Superman #481 (August 1991)
Someone turned the people in Metropolis’ subway into skeletons, and Superman is like “say whaaaaaaaa…” The culprit is a mysterious purple person in a trench coat who can absorb energy and… oh, it’s the Parasite, OK? They don’t reveal his identity until the end of the issue, but come on, there aren’t a whole lot of purple, energy-sucking Superman enemies out there.
So, after sucking the life force out of every single person in six subway cars (plus some electricity from the rails), the amazingly still hungry Parasite escapes through the tunnels. Superman uses his super-senses to track him down, which just gives the Parasite an opportunity to continue feasting. This is like his luckiest day ever.
The fight continues until the Parasite knocks down a support column, causing damage to the tunnel (which was already in pretty bad shape due to the Eradicator-quakes last month). While Superman stands there like a dope, holding the column so the whole ceiling doesn’t come down, the Parasite gives him the slip. So, to be continued, I guess!
Character-Watch:
This is the Parasite’s first appearance in a Superman comic of this era: he already fought Superman during an issue of Starman (mentioned in Action #645), but he’d never been to Metropolis before, which probably explains why no one recognizes him despite the flimsy disguise. His secret origin is that he was a janitor at a S.T.A.R. Labs facility who tried to steal a vat full of chemicals, for some reason, but ended up accidentally taking a bath in them – which is Darkseid’s fault, somehow, because he just likes screwing with random people sometimes.
Besides turning people into skeletons, the Parasite also absorbs part of their memories and, in Superman’s case, powers. Apparently one of the people in the subway was Don Rickles or something, because the Parasite keeps cracking jokes during the fight with Superman, whom he calls “Lois” at one point (that should have been his nickname for Supes in all future appearances ever).
Plotline-Watch:
The bitter rivalry between Captain Maggie Sawyer and Inspector Bill Henderson continues as they awkwardly join forces to investigate the subway cars full of skeletons. Don Sparrow wants to know: “Did anyone else want the bickering between Henderson and Sawyer to end with a kiss? No? Just me then.” I think we all know who’d wear the pants in that relationship (it’s Mags).
Later, Maggie calls the Suicide Squad’s Amanda Waller (who was in the hospital at the time due to a storyline in that comic) and Waller tells her that the Parasite escaped from Belle Reve prison. Of course, the real revelation here is that Maggie Sawyer and “The Wall” are buddies. See, THAT’S a fanfic-worthy pairing.
At the end of the issue we see that the Parasite is staying at the Pete Shoemaker Memorial Shelter – named after Jimmy Olsen’s hobo pal who was murdered by Brainiac. In fact, the idea for the shelter was already mentioned nearly forty issues ago.
Speaking of Jimmy and people who can’t afford their rent, the still unemployed Jimbo had a job interview at Newstime Magazine (this time for a better position than the cafeteria), but first he missed the subway, then his bus crashed, and finally Ron Troupe beat him for the job. It’s official: the Curse of Jose Delgado has a new host.
Ron got that job by demonstrating his ability to write political speeches on the spot, since Newstime’s owner Colin Thornton is running for mayor against the eternal Frank Berkowitz. We already saw last issue that Berkowitz is in danger of losing his job due to Metropolis’ recent economic troubles… actually, uh, I see that I didn’t mention this back then, probably because politics subplots aren’t the most exciting.
Poor Sam Foswell can’t figure out why everyone hates him so much, including bar owner/DC Comics editor Kevin Dooley. Why, all Sam ever did is fire a bunch of beloved Daily Planet staffers as soon as he became editor! Don wonders if Foswell has “multiple all-purple outfits, or is he just washing the same one each night?”
And now, click “Keep reading” to, you know, keep reading more analysis and debate from Don Sparrow with the occasional intrusions from me!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
We start off with a pretty gorgeous Ordway cover with a pretty uniquely spooky colour scheme. Superman, and the trade dress really pop against the ghostly green background. We also see a tattered tabloid paper giving the reader little hints that Lex isn’t as dead as we believe–it might have been an interesting route to go, to have the sensationalist rag be bang on about the Lex sightings, and have the Daily Planet completely in the dark about it. [Max: What are you talking about, Don? Luthor alive?! We saw the body!]
The issue opens with an unorthodox splash–I can’t remember another story opening with a full page devoted to something as mundane as a missed train, but the hints of motion, and accurate details of these scenes, as well as the energetic pose from Jimmy–really make it seem exciting, which is a testament to the storytelling ability of Tom Grummett. It’s made all the more impressive to me, since the hometown I share with Tom doesn’t even HAVE a subway,so all these reference details are very impressive.
More good, spooky storytelling follows, as we really feel the peril of the subway passengers, while our unease grows, following the mysteriously trench-coated character. The hat and coat help make the reveal of the Parasite’s inhumanly purple face come off as frightening more than silly, which can happen with such a vibrantly coloured villain.
Jimmy Olsen’s bad luck continues, as the personality-free Ron Troupe continues to elbow Jimmy Olsen out of existence (though, narrowly avoiding being on a train full of dead people actually seems a bit lucky, job or no job). [Max: I’d argue that if Jimmy was in the train, he would have called Superman with his signal watched and ended up a hero and employed…] As a Jimmy fan, I might (definitely) have it in for Ron, but I don’t think I like mayoral politics being the reason he got the gig at Newstime. Collin Thornton may say he’s impressed by Ron’s “honest opinion” but it can’t hurt that Ron’s opinion happens to align itself against Thornton’s political enemy the incumbent Mayor Berkowitz. (Also: I’ve never heard the adage “knows more and more about less and less” that Ron contributes, used anywhere before these pages, or after–is that a real saying? Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian, but I’ve never heard it). Another bad sign for Ron Troupe is how quickly Collin Thornton takes to him considering HE’S A DEMON.
But what am I worried about? In spite of the events of this storyline, no one will ever truly our beloved, red-headed Jimmy Olsen! He has no reason to fear his job suddenly being done by a black guy in real life, right? [Max: You might wanna skip the Supergirl show, Don. I was probably gonna anyway.]
Other good stuff: I love how huge Superman’s crest is on these Grummett pages, and Superman’s horror at the death train is well done on page 12. Also, interesting use of Superman’s little-seen infra-red vision to track down the Parasite.
It’s nice to catch up with Lana Lang and Pete Ross, and as another sign of the more young-reader-friendly times, despite being romantically involved, they have separate apartments, even though their relationship was serious enough for Lana to move to Washington to be nearer to Pete. Again, the writer (Jerry Ordway) is clever enough to leave it open ended, depending how the viewer reads it. As an 11 year old, I gave no thought to whether or not Lana and Pete had an intimate relationship. But all these years later, I have a guess at what Pete might have meant by his “movie on cable” invitation (especially given his reaction on page 15 when it turns out Lana thinks they’re actually going to watch a movie) but the writing is done so deftly, that either reading can work. Which to me, is a lot better than the comics of today, which leave no doubt as to whether beloved kids superheroes are having sexual relationships. Also, get off my lawn, you whippersnappers. I also liked the continuity of hearing the end of Clark’s message on page 10, and then having it pay off when Pete plays it on page 15.
[Max: Never mind what they’re doing in bed, what I wanna know is: Are they watching a Toxic Avenger ripoff based on the Parasite’s life story?]
Moving on, the fight with Parasite is well choreographed, and the use of Parasite’s borrowed heat vision (though miscoloured on page 19) is a highlight, as the damage it does to the surroundings is particularly well observed. The MacGyver-fix to the cement column is well-done, too.
GODWATCH: This issue is chock-full of Holy shout-outs! Starting with a frightening, sarcastic recitation of a common childhood blessing said before a meal by the Parasite on page 4 [Max: seen above], which is enough to give me goosebumps. On the very next page Dooley thanks God that Lois and Clark have kept their jobs (do we think he’s purposely talking so loud in the presence of the “bone-head” who laid off so many members of the Planet, or is Dooley just oblivious?). Then finally on page 20, Superman literally prays that he has the strength to support the weight being held by the cement beam.
Stray observations:
That’s seriously Thornton’s campaign poster? (page 7) Is he just messing with us? You don’t even have to squint for his disembodied head to look like the devil.
Is that a framed copy of artwork from the cover of the first collected edition of Watchmen on Thornton’s wall,or just an avant-garde abstract piece? (Page 8)
There’s no safer grocery bag visual shorthand than baguettes and celery. (Page 14)
I can’t find any significance to Jimmy’s pen name, Jock O. Ruby. Anyone? (Page 22) [Max: Nope, I got nothin’.]
I kind of want the guy who bursts in with notes about speeches to become a recurring character. (Page 7, above) [Max: I’ll sign that petition.]