Adventures of Superman #484 (November 1991)
Adventures of Superman #484 (November 1991)
“Blackout” Part 1! In which Professor Hamilton accidentally “blacks out” Superman’s memory, and also the entire city of Metropolis. I know Hamilton is kind of a butter-fingers, but how the hell does he mess up so badly? The answer is: with a little help from Mr. Z, a short immortal gentleman who hates Superman for breaking his soul-stealing crystal and foiling his Nazi atomic plan during World War II. Having found out through a news article that Hamilton is Superman’s friend, Z pays Ham a visit and hypnotizes him through his building’s intercom.
As it happens, Hamilton was just building a weird helmet which, through a connection to a S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, would have allowed Superman to look at his Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica without having to fly there,like one of those home security systems. The next day, Superman arrives to try on the helmet – unaware that Z secretly fiddled with it and can now use it to look into Superman’s memory and control him. Which is a pretty impressive achievement for a senior citizen who has given no indication of knowing his way around technology before.
While snooping around in Superman’s brain, Mr. Z sees a memory of the time Superman and Hamilton used his (repaired) soul crystal to defeat the Eradicator and realizes they didn’t just throw the pieces in the trash like he'd apparently assumed. Z commands Superman to fly him to the Fortress of Solitude immediately to retrieve the crystal. Hamilton (no longer hypnotized) tries to help Superman break fee by using the helmet’s satellite connection,but unfortunately, his crappy lab lacks the power to do that. So, Hamilton taps into Metropolis’ power grid – accidentally overloading the whole system and plunging the entire city into darkness.
At least his plan to save Superman worked, right? Nope! The opposite of that! Superman’s helmet explodes from the power jolt while he's flying over Antarctica with Z, and they both end up lying unconscious in the snow.
That’s a pretty freaking big TO BE CONTINUED right there.
Plotline-Watch:
“Blackout” is an unusual storyline, in part because it was plotted by Dennis Janke, long-time inker in the Superman books(first for Jerry Ordway and currently for Jon Bogdanove in Superman: The Man of Steel). One of the cool things about ‘90s Superman comics was that everyone got a say in the stories – later on, we’ll see major storyline suggested by the books’ colorist.
Also, Don Sparrow points out: “With the EPA, and power grids, blackouts, and straight up actual ghosts (from Z’s mystical gem) all mentioned, this issue has a vaguely Ghostbusters feel to it. I half expect Walter Peck to come knocking on Hamilton’s door soon…” Oh, and it’s about to get weirder.
The memories Z watches through Superman’s helmet monitor include the time he lifted a truck as a kid (Man of Steel #1), the time he got his ass kicked by Metallo (Superman #1), and\xe2\x80\xa6 his first encounter with Mr. Mxyzptlk,for some reason (Superman #11). Does Superman dislike Mxy so much that meeting him is among his most traumatic memories? Ouch.
The opening page shows a full Daily Star newspaper cover (being read by Mr. Z) which references several running plots, and I think I see a pattern there: S.T.A.R. Labs’ explosion (Action #670), the Atomic Skull’s visit to the Daily Star printing press (Superman: The Man of Steel #5), the mayoral race between Newstime’s Colin Thornton and the incumbent Stan Berkowitz, and the upcoming Metropolis arrival of Lex Luthor II, who is a wide-eyed young man with stars in his eyes. MORGANSPIRACY!
Speaking of the mayoral race, a whole page is devoted to intrepid Newstime reporter Ron Troupe fact-checking his own boss’ political claims. Some reporters leap tall buildings in a single bound; Ron Troupe fact-checks like a MF'er. Don says: “I echo Max’s earlier comments about the mayoral race not really 'heating up’ these pages. I think it’s mostly because we know so little about Mayor Berkowitz. Yes, we like him,vaguely, because he stood up to Luthor once Superman came to town. But do we know enough to cheer for him over Thornton?Especially since we don’t know(yet) Thornton’s [SPOILERS] lineage? Then again, the enemy (Berkowitz) of the friend (Thornton) of my enemy is my friend.And the enemy I refer to is,of course, boring old Ron Troupe.”
For more from Ron Troupe #1 anti-fan Don Sparrow (and a pretty sweet Superman/Lois scene I couldn’t fit here), click “Keep reading”!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
We open with another spectacular, Frankenstein-esque cover from the great Jerry Ordway, which again has a very cool mood, aided by some unorthodox monochromatic colouring. I think it would really stand out on a shelf and make a buyer take notice, even without the rings on the trade dress indicating we’re kicking off Blackout. [Max: Funny you should say that, because before I started buying comics as a kid, I remember seeing this cover on the newsstands every day when I walked from school and being really intrigued, but I resisted the temptation. A few months later I finally gave in, but this issue was gone and it took me years to find it.] Professor Hamilton also looks so realistic on the cover, you really can’t help but think of him as a real person, which helps sell the more sci-fi elements of the cover. I’ve also noticed Professor Hamilton’s hair is getting gradually longer the more he appears, and I think it gets pretty long by the last we see of him in years to come. (I was nursing a theory that the artists were trying to base him visually off of Tom Grummett himself, but then realized that, while Tom did have long hair in these days, the beard I know him for came later) This is about medium length at the moment.
We open with a pretty realistic looking Daily Star page (aside from the wacky, early 90s computer font for the Star’s trade dress). A nice reminder that not-often seen characters like Captain Sawyer paramour (and Star reporter) Toby Raynes are still out there, and I got a chuckle out of the nom de plume Dom Arigato. I wonder if he’s a Styx fan?
The credits splash page with Lois and Clark looking at a charred pot roast seen from inside the oven is a cute one, and a unique angle choice. As a fan of the Lois and Clark romance (the best in comics, if you ask me) I always like seeing these more domestic scenes. Plus seeing Superman sans glasses, but in plain clothes is always interesting. Lois looks cute (and well-realized) struggling for the smoke alarm on page 6. (As a guy only a hair taller than Michael J Fox, the smoke alarm is a nemesis of mine, so I can relate)
On the writing side, this is the kind of cute needling that I like seeing between these professional rivals turned life partners–the barbs are funny, but not as snappy or hurtful as they can sometimes appear in Man of Steel.
One thing I keep meaning to single out about Tom Grummett’s work is how convincingly he portrays different locations. Every time we see Professor Hamilton’s studio apartment lab (page 2-3, 8) or the Newstime offices (page 7), the layout and surroundings are the same as we last saw them. It really makes Metropolis seem like an authentic and familiar place, and it’s great attention to detail.
The visual playback of Superman’s memories are a fascinating visual, and feel like something out of a Cronenberg film. The changing expressions of the fascist Mr. Z on page 12 are especially well done, as is the static effect at the top of page 17.
The metaphor of brick walls works really well story-wise, and of course is a nice callback to the 1950s Reeves series that I think is intentional here. The energy blast that fries Superman’s helmet (and the Metropolis power grid) crackles nicely–great choices for the colouring of the sound effects on page 21, and I always like the use of stark white space to represent the cold barrenness of the South pole (see the plot recap above).
While perhaps not as eventful as the Blackout chapters to come, this issue has a LOT going on, and sets the table well for the story to come.
Stray Observations:
Superman’s open disappointment about the headset on page 8 is a candidate for superdickery, but storywise, Superman’s comment explains Emil’s peevishness, and why Superman suspects nothing’s awry.
Minor quibble: Couldn’t Superman hear Mr. Z’s heartbeat? Or better yet, just give the place a quick x-ray sweep before he enters? Or is that a privacy thing that he won’t do to friends? I just don’t fully get how Z can sneak up on Superman, unless he doesn’t actually have a heartbeat, which is possible, given how many morgues he’s hopped away from. [Max: Or, he thought Ham had Mildred Krantz in lingerie in there somewhere.]
This is not the first time we’ve seen Hamilton wig out about possibly going back to jail but at least Lois is there to give him the Cher treatment.
GODWATCH! (Been a while!) We have Lois invoking the Divine not once, but twice on back to back pages (21, 22). Hamilton, an apparent man of science, cries out something distinctly earthy when the chips are down, however. [Max: That should be Ham's catchphrase.]
