Superman #3 (March 1987)
Superman #3 (March 1987)
Superman is transported to the planet Apokolips, a.k.a. the anus of the universe. However, Apokolips’ ruler Darkseid (you know, this guy) is completely baffled by the fact that instead of the mighty Superman his teleporting-rays brought some random jackass called Clark Kent, so he tosses Clark to the Armaghetto (like a ghetto, but even shittier looking), which is inhabited by a race of aggressive bums and beggars.
Superman lays low among the bums in the Armaghetto for a while, until he sees Darkseid’s soldiers about to throw a beautiful bum-lady into a pit of fire for spreading subversive propaganda. After fighting a large robot with a psychic lizard inside, Superman ends up falling into the pit of fire himself. The last thing we see is Darkseid laughing his ass off at this sight.
Side note: The art in this issue is fantastic. That’s probably because there’s dirt and rubble everywhere, and John Byrne can draw the shit out of dirt and rubble. Seriously, that’s some top notch rubble there.
Plotline-Watch:
This story was a tie-in with the Legends crossover series that DC was publishing at the time, in which Darkseid systematically undermines the self-esteem of Earth’s heroes in preparation for an invasion, but you didn’t need to read that comic to understand what’s going on here. This was also the first crossover between the three Superman titles (which mostly had their own storlylines), so we’ll see what happens next tomorrow when I tackle the new Adventures issue.
WTF-Watch:
It’s kind of hilarious that Darkseid, a cosmic deity, was thoroughly fooled by Clark Kent’s ridiculous disguise. “But he has glasses! I ordered a man without glasses! Away with you!” I can’t remember if it’s later revealed that Darkseid was just pretending to be dumb for the benefit of The Phantom Stranger (oh yeah, he’s also there), but it’s pretty silly anyway.
See comments on Tumblr: https://superman86to99.tumblr.com/post/58091727883/superman-3-march-1987-superman-is-transported#disqus_thread
Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!
This newsletter is free and always will be, but if you'd like to support us with $1 a month or more, you'll get access to extra articles about non-continuity '90s Superman stuff (shows, video games, Elseworlds, etc) and cool giveaways. Click here to become a paid supporter!