Adventures of Superman #488 (March 1992)
Adventures of Superman #488 (March 1992)
PANIC IN THE SKY, Part 3 – Warworld wants to invade Earth, so Earth's heroes invade Warworld! Maaaaan, this freaking issue. Superman #65 the previous week ended with Brainiac's skull-shaped spaceship capturing Aquaman and then going to bug Superman. Fortunately, Superman just happened to be accompanied by like every DC superhero ever (circa 1992), so they all fly off and kick the skullship's metallic ass.
(Those that can fly, I mean. Batman has to wait inside.)
Not only do they defeat the spaceship, but they also take it over and fly it right back to the place where it came from: Brainiac's significantly larger ship, Warworld. The heroes land in Warworld's gladiator arena and Brainiac sends his mind-controlled lackeys to fight them there (to the delight of Warworld's ugly-ass, violence-loving population). The only problem is that Team Brainiac is so focused on killing Superman that they completely ignore the dozen other superheroes – even Maxima does this, and she's not being mind-controlled. She just really hates Superman for not having sex with her that time she offered.
Rather than helping Superman, the other heroes scatter inside Warworld (but to be fair, he told them to do that using a Kryptonian codeword they prepared beforehand). Brainiac's control over Matrix/Supergirl and Draaga (Superman's old sparring partner in this very arena) eventually weakens and they become themselves again, at which point Maxima is like "Uh, those muffins I put in the oven must be ready by now…" and escapes. Draaga still hates Superman, but they agree to put off their fight to the death until they've kicked Brainiac's butt out of this solar system. Superman's words, not mine:
NEXT ISSUE: Butts are kicked! Just not precisely Brainiac's.
Plotline-Watch:
Superman and company were able to pilot Brainiac's skullship thanks to Dubbilex, whose natural telepathic powers are enhanced by the fancy flying chair he borrowed from Metron of the New Gods last week. Chairs seem to suit bald people with mind powers.
Per Gangbuster's idea (also last week), some of the less impressive heroes stay back on Earth in case something happens. Then something does happen: Brainiac teleports Warworld's gladiators to Metropolis, with the mission to break shit. Luckily, the heroes have Batman to chaperone them through the fight. Don Sparrow says: "The POV shot of Batman’s earthbound battle crew jumping into action on page 12 would make a great poster, even with the lesser known heroes in there. I’d almost forgotten completely about Crimson Fox. Blue Beetle in particular makes me wish Grummett had more to do with the character on a regular basis."
Speaking of Bats, I like the acknowledgment earlier in the issue that at one point he was in the Justice League International with Guy Gardner and Captain Marvel (and hated every minuted of it). At the same time, Superman being around these guys is foreshadowing for the future of the League. Don says: "The banter between Guy and Captain Marvel is pretty priceless throughout, and makes me wish Marvel was a part of the Jurgens League alongside Guy and Superman (not that I’m complaining – what a different super-teamster did with Captain Marvel remains one of the best runs in comics history, if you ask me). The ‘what’s wrong with Leave it to Beaver’ line in particular was a real chuckle."
Nerd points to everyone who recognized the belt Superman is wearing in the arena: Yep, it's the same Emil Hamilton-invented force field technology Superman took on his space exile, now mass-produced by LexCorp to help the heroes breathe in space. I bet the late Luthor masterminded this entire series of events 64 issues ago just to finally steal Emil's inventions. It wouldn't be his longest-running plan…
More from Don and more badass Tom Grummett art below the cut!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
We begin, as always with the cover, and it’s another stunner, from the rarely seen pairing of the two most giant faces on my personal Mount Rushmore of artists, Tom Grummett (pencils) and Jerry Ordway (inks). A lot to love here. First of all, fitting all these characters into one scene is a real feat, and they pull it off naturally, and with realistic diminishing perspective front to back. I love that the “villains” are fighting in the round, turning away from the camera to give a believable reason for all the heroes to be behind. The figures really pop with the halo effect around them, and the cool palette of Brainiac’s skull ship makes a nice background, again adding depth. Lots of little details too, from the super-allies oxygen supplies all being apparent on their waists, to a glimpse of Superman’s burly chest hair, to a nice inversion of the ubiquitous comics code logo. With Grummett’s dynamic action, and Ordway’s unmatched skill at delineating texture, it sure makes me wish there weren’t so few visual collaborations between these two.
Inside, the action picks up right where we left off last issue, with a full frontal assault from Brainiac on LexCorp tower. As though that weren’t splash enough, the second page expands even bigger to a two page splash of our heroes, and it’s awesome, again showing that great perspective with Superman front and centre, as he should be, certainly in his own book, but, I think this series would suggest, in the DCU as well. The coordinated action is well plotted in the pages that follow, as the heroes take Brainiac’s ship down to street level, and Dubbilex is indeed rocking that Mobius Chair.
The Green Lanterns’ abilities are well-drawn, and while the image of Captain Marvel stopping Guy’s nutcracker is a great visual, I kind of want to see what trashing Brainiac’s command center would look like with that particular tool.
As the story progresses, we get a nice tall panel with a great shot of Warworld on page 10. Grummett draws some detail and depth to the death-star like structure, and it looks fantastic.
PANEL OF THE WEEK: The honours this time around go to the ¾ page spread on the top of page 18, where Superman takes on virtually all comers in the Warworld battle arena. We really feel Superman’s strain as he fights not only the physical might of Draaga and Supergirl, but tries to figure out mentally just what is going on with his former ally Matrix.
This issue wraps up with an uneasy alliance between the three (I don’t think Draaga’s ever looked better than that second to last panel on page 22) but also the reveal that this was Brainiac’s plan all along. Man, I love this storyline.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
GODWATCH: Right there on page 1, Superman (we assume it’s him speaking) invokes the almighty in reaction to the skull ship attack.
“I can’t say that I miss the banter of my former colleagues” Time and place, Batman, time and place.
Maybe it’s because it’s the first on the list, but I feel like Captain Marvel’s wisdom, provided by Solomon gets a lot more mention than his other powers. I can’t remember the last time the Speed of Mercury got a shout-out, for instance.
“The name’s Agent Liberty, and I never really gain much of a following. I’m more popular than Alpha Centurion ever gets, sure, but I…”
On a serious note, though, I love that Jerry Ordway lets Captain Marvel be the moralistic square that we know and love, even if it means a gung-ho type like Gardner ridicules him. The Marvel family can be tough to write, particularly perhaps in a shared universe, but the biggest mistake (And one we’ve seen a lot over the years) is to make them hip and “badass”. It just never works.
LexCorp Tower must have the fastest elevators ever for Batman and company to be able to have already made it down and cleared the streets by the time Superman’s team knocks Brainiac’s ship to the pavement! But I apprecaite the detail, because if I have to read one more complaint about Superman not clearing the streets of Metropolis during a battle with an alien, my head will explode.
So many great, unexpected team-ups in these issues, but I love the Kirby creations Mr Miracle and Dubbilex palling around perhaps the most in this issue. [Max: I think Aquaman/Nightwing is a first, too, and I'm sure Deathstroke/Metal Men is.]
Continuity hounds: Is Aquaman still married to Mera during this issue? His tender interaction with Wonder Woman recalls the flirtation they shared in the Morrison and Waid runs on JLA in the mid-2000s. [Max: Another question: Is it terrible that the "thirsty" reply makes me laugh every time?]
Maxima has amazing hair. She gives Starfire a run for her money.
I like the foreshadowing to the “Beetle gets a tummy” beats that Jurgens will use in his upcoming JLA run as Beetle fruitlessly flirts with Crimson Fox. [Max: You know, it always bugged me that Beetle seemed so fit and collected in this storyline when he was a real mess immediately afterward in Jurgens' JLA, but you're right. Good catch.]
GODWATCH 2: on the last page, Superman thanks God directly for Supergirl being freed from Brainiac’s thrall…
A million continuity points to Jerry Ordway for remembering, in a funny way, that Guy Gardner was supposed to have suffered brain damage in the past (and not just when he became a nice guy in the Giffen Justice League). Is that still canon, or did that “brain damage” simply become Guy’s personality?
