Adventures of Superman #493 (August 1993)
Adventures of Superman #493 (August 1993)
THE BLAZE/SATANUS WAR: PART 1! This issue is basically Gremlins 2 but with demons instead of Gremlins, and Jimmy Olsen instead of some annoying kid (although [insert disparaging Jimmy joke here]). Last week, Superman's most satanic enemy, Blaze the she-devil, duped Clark Kent's former boss, Sam Foswell, into selling his soul to her. Since Sam has just gone to work at Newstime Magazine (for Clark's other former boss, Colin Thornton), Blaze uses the Newstime building as her nexus to invade Metropolis through Sam, who remains comically unaware that demons are jumping out of every reflecting surface he walks past.
The Newstime building becomes infested with demons thanks to Sam, who isn't making a very good impression on his first day on the job. Jimmy and Lois Lane go into the building looking for a scoop and obviously become trapped inside, so now they have to Die Hard their way through the various floors to survive. Superman helps fight the demons, too, but (for the second time this month) his weakness against magic gets him his ass kicked. But then (also for the second time this month) Supes gets some satanic help:
Superman is saved by Lord Satanus, Blaze's brother, who says Foswell must die for the invasion to stop, but Superman replies… look, the panel is right up there. Just read it by yourself, you lazy bum. Anyway, TO BE CONTINUED!
Character-Watch:
First appearance (in this continuity) of Lord Satanus… OR IS IT? Remember that when we met Blaze years ago, she'd been posing as a Metropolis disco owner. Could Satanus have a human avatar, too? My guess is that he's actually Clark's co-worker Whit, which would explain so much.
Plotline-Watch:
My favorite part of this issue: Jimmy gets punched by a gorilla. Jimmy's old gig as "Turtle Boy" in a pizza ad is paying off since his character has unexpectedly become a sensation with the kids (it was the ‘90s, after all). The pizzeria's other mascot, a guy dressed as Titano the gorilla in a chef apron, gets jealous and knocks Jimmy out – causing him to see a vision of a dead friend, who warns him that Blaze is back in town. So not only do we get a return appearance by a long gone character, but I'm taking this to mean that Jimmy was dead for a fraction of a second. Best issue ever.
Clark once again runs into his neighbor Andrea, who is once again sporting a brand new black eye – the first time she "fell down the stairs" and now she "got mugged". Superman will deal with the true source of her troubles (a mystical curse, probably?) in a future issue.
BOOTY-WATCH: As usual, Don Sparrow catches all the mind-blowing details I never noticed in these issues. Don wonders: "Did… did a demon just call Lois bootiful? Beating Beyonce to related phrases by a decade?"
He did! The Illuminati's paws are everywhere. More from Don after the jump:
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
One of the spookiest storylines in a long while begins with a silver-age-y symbolic cover, where Superman battling a giant demon gives us a hint of the story within, without actually occurring in the story.
As the story opens, we’re given a pretty lush retelling of Foswell’s attempted suicide from last week’s issue of Superman (kudos to colourist Glenn Whitmore for the cool tones in these nighttime scenes, particularly the contrast between the skintones of Foswell and Superman and that of the angelic-looking Blaze, whose bright appearance pops right off the page).
The scenes with Jimmy at Titano’s pizza are pretty funny, and I like how Tom draws Jimmy’s body type as decidedly un-superheroic–drawing ordinary people is a real specialty of his. The glowing effect of Jerry White’s astral projection is also very well done and eerie, as is the transition panel from Jimmy going from consciousness to inky black unconsciousness.
From this point, this issue gets truly terrifying, as genuine demons start going nuts all over the issue, tearing people limb from limb. Grummett and Hazlewood do a good job of making the demons unique enough that they don’t all look identical, but not so distracting that the eye doesn’t follow Foswell down the hall. These scenes are a little too scary for my tastes, though Superman jumping into action to catch a Newstime staffer on page 16 is a great visual, as is Superman crashing through the wall to rescue Foswell (adorable slip-up as Superman almost says his name, but covers by calling him ‘fella’).
[Max: I think what made the demons non-scary for me, and what reminded me of Gremlins, is that they're pretty funny (like most Jerry Ordway-written baddies). Sure, they DID kill those guards at the security desk, but then they put on their hats and made a joke, so it's "OK".]
PANEL OF THE WEEK: Honours this week go to the middle of page 20, just because it’s so weird. It’s not very often that Lois brandishes a firearm, despite her military lineage, so Lois going Dirty Harry on the amourous demon in pursuit is just odd enough to earn this week’s title.
The visual effects of the hell-dimension coming to our own are also really well done, particularly the blast of hellfire in that last panel on page 21, and the kirby-dots surrounding Lord Satanus’ (a name I really dislike even typing, btw) pitchfork throughout. Finally, those are some very cleanly scrubbed skulls Blaze is sitting on!
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
After all my vociferous defending of Foswell’s tenure at the Daily Planet, it was nice to see that not all staffers remembered him negatively. Even Perry White, who turfed Sam, was charitable in his assessment.
Who is this lady in purple? Between dissing Foswell, and telling Ron Troupe the ways of the world, she sure tells it like it is. I’d like her to be a recurringly rude character. [Max: She shall feel the wrath of Whit for her insolence.]
GODWATCH: As with last week, the whole issue deals with the otherworldly, but in particular, Jimmy cries out to the “Good Lord” on page 18, Foswell invokes God on page 19, and most prominently, Superman calls out to “all that’s holy” on page 21.
Given the Ghostbuster demon-dog look of Blaze’s monsters and name-checking the “Gatekeeper”, and her cool disaffection for the craziness around her, Thornton’s secretary Maddy gives me a real Janine Melnitz vibe. [Max: You mean Clark's secretary that Thornton kept to himself when he fired Clark as Newstime editor!]
Blaze and Lord Satanus are brother and sister?! What a weird family! I’m sure their whole lineage must be evil, and certainly without any champions of good in their family tree!