Adventures of Superman #502 (July 1993)
Adventures of Superman #502 (July 1993)
REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN! As you might have gathered from the cover, this issue is about Superboy (who thinks he’s Superman) meeting Supergirl (who actually WAS Superman for a while). Right off the bat, Superboy proves he truly is a child of the ‘90s by doing a “NOT!” joke while lifting a car that was about to fall off a bridge.
Supergirl makes her entrance by recklessly lifting the entire platform Superboy and the car are currently on, then mildly scolding him for being so showy. S-Girl dropped by to invite S-Boy to have dinner with her and her boyfriend (Lex "Totally Not His Own Dad" Luthor Jr.) for reasons that are surely not shady and manipulative. Superboy enthusiastically accepts the invitation, because, well, she has boobs and all.
During dinner, Lex tells Superboy he wants him to ditch WGBS (the TV station currently sponsoring him) and join the happy LexCorp family. Superboy is initially reluctant, but Supergirl convinces him to accept the offer by basically just wearing a dinner dress and being in his general vicinity. Before the Kid can tell WGBS president/Frank Sinatra lookalike Vinnie Edge that he’s leaving, however, Vinnie changes Superboy's mind by introducing him to his new manager, Rex Leech… and, more importantly, Rex's daughter Roxy.
It’s only Superboy’s second issue and we’ve already established his version of kryptonite: young blondes.
Anyway, on the next day, Superboy is putting on a show for WGBS’ cameras when he’s attacked by some Z-list villain called Stinger (who, unbeknownst to the Kid, was hired by Vinnie and Rex as a way to get ratings). Supergirl shows up to help Superboy, still thinking he’ll come work for Lex, but Stinger is like “Nope, not doing this, I only signed up to fight one Super-derivate.”
Stinger makes his exit by dropping an entire bridge on Superboy and Supergirl, instantly killing them. Or at least that’s what I assume happened, because this is where the issue ends. TO BE CONTINUED, I THINK?
Character-Watch:
Sleazy Rex previously appeared (for a few panels) during Superman's funeral, but this is the first appearance of Roxy Leech, whose role will grow beyond “eye candy” in the coming years. Rex, on the other hand, will always be used mostly for his sexiness. As for Stinger, to my surprise he actually has a handful of other appearances! Good thing I checked before adding the “guys who never showed up again” tag to this post.
Plotline-Watch:
The last page of the issue shows some sort of spaceship about to reach our planet, with a narration proclaiming that “And then it’s WAR!” What in the WORLD could that be about?
The most important event in this comic happens when Bibbo gets a collar tag made for Krypton, the little dog he saved from drowning last issue, and it comes out as “Krypto” because they charge extra for anything over 6 letters. After no doubt asking himself “What would Superman do?”, Bibbo just punches the engraver guy and names the mutt Krypto.
Those kids who nearly drove off the bridge later admit on TV that they did it intentionally to meet Superboy, because "Lois Lane does it all time, right?" Lois would NEVER do that! (Except back in Superman: The Man of Steel #2.)
Don Sparrow asks: "I wonder if Stinger is supposed to be a mish-mash of ‘90s design ideas, or is supposed to be specifically evocative or say, Deadpoolor Spawn or the handful of characters his costume resembles." To me it's really obvious that he's pretty much just Spider-Man but evil. And with the ability to throw explosives. And without the climbing powers. And not funny. But other than that, he's exactly Spider-Man.
Note that Rex is wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Foreshadowing???
Superboy’s reporter pal Tana Moon is feeling conflicted that she went along with Vinnie Edge’s supervillain plan and now like 50 people probably died on that bridge. Yeah, I’d feel slightly bad, too.
It’s kinda shocking how… un-Supergirl-esque Supergirl’s behavior is in this issue. Don agrees: "Recently someone on the comments page noted that in Superman's absence, much of his supporting cast have become jerks. Another such example is Supergirl flat out dissing Tana Moon when she asks for a soundbite at a legitimate news event. Supergirl remarking about Tana's lack of fame is pretty lousy, as is her ad-libbed promotion of WLEX, Lex's media conglomerate. I don't picture her doing something likethat when Superman was alive. Can you imagine if, today, someone in a highly trusted, elevated office like Superhero or World Leader favoured one TV station publicly? That would be a very big deal." Sure would, Don.
Supergirl also shamelessly uses Superboy's teenage hormones to get him to come to dinner, and later to agree to join LexCorp. However, rather than being a side effect of Superman's absence, I think this has more to do with the fact that S-Girl has been hanging out with Lex for a while now, and he's rubbing off on her. If everyone had to listen to a guy like that every day, I think we'd all get meaner and more unpleasant.
More from Don (Sparrow that is) and more art from this issue after the jump!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We start with a great cover, with a very cool X-shape layout which leads the eye around in a pleasing way. Their intense expression also gives the image some added drama, letting the reader know this isn't a fun or necessarily flirtatious first meeting--it's serious business. Page 2's full spread of Supergirl elevating Superboy on a platform is a great piece of art, with a very convincing sense of motion. Extra kudos to colourist Glenn Whitmore for the gradient on Supergirl's motion lines, which really adds to the illusion of movement.
Superboy's distracted first glimpse of Supergirl is more excellent cartooning, and another example of why Kesel is probably the funniest writer the books have at this time.
I like that we catch up with Bibbo's miracle puppy, and we're given a perfectly plausible explanation for why he'd name him Krypto (Bibbo socking the engraver has an appropriately "that's all I can stands I can't stands no more" Popeye feel). [Max: Heh, you're right, those panels are like a little E.C. Segar strip.] This whole subplot is one of my favourite in the era, and while I don't always like deviations from Silver Age definitions of characters (always preferred Supergirl to be Superman's cousin, rather than a protoplasmic shapeshifter for instance) I always felt like Karl Kesel had a nice way of bringing cool, modern tweaks to familiar Silver Age concepts.
Supergirl looks very beautiful in page 7's reveal, and it's always interesting to see her in different outfits than her uniform. [Her body dimensions look a little iffy to me in this panel, but then again, she IS a shapeshifter.]
Page 12's half-page splash of Superboy hauling the train engine is a great image, and an interesting nod to the whole "more powerful than a locomotive" narrative.
The fight between The Stinger and the Metropolis Kid is, as usual, well choreographed, with lots of convincing motion. The bottom of page 15 looks particularly painful, as does the Kid's super-punch at bottom of page 19.
And then as if the bridge collapsing weren't ominous enough, we get a great view of an alien spacecraft entering our solar system. I'm sure they're friendly though…
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
The car that goes over the edge at the beginning of the issue looks a little like the Redbird, seen over in Grummett's other book that year (!), Robin.
I love the exchange between Lex Jr and Superboy, where Superboy jokes that Lex himself is a clone. And, while I know that Geoff Johns' later revelation about Superboy's parentage was a retcon, and there's no reason that we should hunt for clues in these pages, I'll be darned if that exchange doesn't also fit that narrative. Ditto Lex later knowing a little more than expected about Cadmus in general.
I would have thought Lex would allow Superboy to drink the wine, in an effort to seduce him to the Dark Side, but then remembered that Lex Jr. is trying to keep up his good guy street cred here.
Shoutout to SMOS inker Dennis Janke in the name of the wine, natch, and also another mention of Bessolo Boulevard earlier in the issue, a nod to TV Superman George Reeves' birth name. [Max: You know, I've seen them use "Bessolo Boulevard" for decades and I never knew that's where it came from.]
Again, I find Supergirl really gross in this issue. Is it just me, or does Lex have her pouring on the flirty charm in order to get Superboy to represent his network, while at dinner?
A little of the OLD Lex comes through when he jokingly hints that an employer has the right to kill his employees. Just ask Sasha Green.
I wish we lived in a world where a teenaged girl's pop culture touchstones for a hunky guy were still Luke Perry, Jon Bon Jovi and Tim Drake.
I know it's early days, but Tana Moon is no Lois Lane. Lois always had the same level of devotion to Truth and Justice as did Superman. So far, with Tana, not so much.
The old drunks at Bibbo's bar touch on an interesting debate Superman fans have had over the years--if Superman had a party affiliation, what would it be? Certainly arguments could be made for either side, at least back in far less divided days like 1993.
Overall this issue leaves me a little sad for the Kid. Unlike the original Superman, who had his parents, or Lois, or even Jimmy looking out for him, The Metropolis Kid has essentially no one with only his best interests in mind. As Vinnie Edge points out, Tana Moon has been using Superboy for her own career, just like the rest of them. And it's a bummer, though fortunately it seems like Tana is reaping some regret by the story's end.