Superman #17 (May 1988)
Superman #17 (May 1988)
Superman versus Silver Banshee, round two. Round one, I’ll remind you, ended when she kinda killed him and then Martian Manhunter pretended to be Superman’s ghost.
This time, Superman bumps into Silver Banshee (again raiding an occult bookstore) while he’s dressed as Clark Kent, and he can’t change into his red shorts because Jimmy Olsen is hanging around. Banshee tries to kill Clark with her death-wail, but since she needs to know the real identity of the person she attacks it doesn’t work. And so, as part of a ruse to defeat her, Superman flies away and comes back dressed like Batman and pretends to be him. You know, because Batman just happened to be passing through Metropolis and saw this she-demon and figured he’d fight her with his bat-gadgets and, uh, super-strength and stuff.
Banshee eventually realizes the deceit, but then a tall Irish (or Scottish, one of those) guy appears and he’s like “Dammit, Siobhan, I’m taking you home.” He’s Silver Banshee’s brother Bevan, who makes some references to an ancient family curse, before Banshee disappears again. What the hell was that all about? We won’t find out for another six issues.
Character-Watch:
Maggie Sawyer and Terrible Turpin are on the Banshee case again and get a few cool scenes. Clark also meets Jimmy’s old hobo friend Pete Shoemaker (first seen last issue), who tells Clark he reads his column.
Then we finally see the face of Jimmy’s mysterious white-haired mom, Sarah Olsen, and she’s… pretty hot. Byrne even gives Superman a bit of a “Yowza!” face when he sees her. She had Jimmy when she was 18, she explains. Despite the clear attraction between her and Superman (which delights Jimmy), she’s quick to point out that she won’t date another man until she knows whether her disappeared husband is alive or not.
Plotline-Watch:
There’s a page where Lois Lane is seen dressing up as a prostitute to the shock of her sister Lucy, for some story that Perry hasn’t approved. I honestly can’t remember what the hell this is about. Perhaps I’ve blocked it from my memory.
Superman Loves Wonder Woman: At the end of the issue Clark gets a phone call from Wonder Woman’s publicist (the same woman he tried to call in Superman #7). The conversation is seen in Wonder Woman #16: Wondy wants to meet Supes, so they end up setting a date. We’ll see the resulting hot action in Action #600.
WTF-Watch:
Where did Superman get that Batman costume and grappling hook so fast? Did he have them ready in his apartment for this type of situation? I prefer to think Batman was fighting the Penguin in Gotham when a red blur flew past and he suddenly found himself butt naked.
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