Superman #31 (May 1989)
Superman #31 (May 1989)
Superman doesn’t appear at all in this issue, but they made up for it by featuring an extra large one in the cover. Very nice of them.
Also in the cover is the handsome Mr. Mxyzptlk, making his third visit to our dimension (after Superman #11 and Adventures #441). Since Superman is dicking around in space at the moment, Mxyzptlk decides to pester the second most powerful man in Metropolis: Lex Luthor. This time, the rules of his game are that Mxyzptlk will go back to his own dimension if Lex fools him into shaving his own head bald (wonder where he got that idea). Lex agrees to those rules, but since he’s a very serious businessman and not some clown in blue pajamas, he insists that Mxyzptlk sign a contract that Lex’s lawyers drafted up with the rules of the game, plus a clause stating that Lex won’t try to attack Mxy.
And then, as soon as Mxyzptlk signs the contract, Luthor escapes through a trapdoor and his lawyers turn into explosive killer robots who try to blow Mxy to pieces. This doesn’t work, since the little guy is immortal, but Mxyzptlk is so appalled and disgusted by Luthor’s lack of honesty that he goes back to his dimension by his own accord… which was Luthor’s plan all along, of course.
Bonus Story!
Part three of Lex Luthor’s “Hostile Takeover!” (the title is in reference to Luthor’s business tactics, not the fact that he’s suddenly the star of this comic). As seen in Adventures #453, Luthor has made everyone think that he’s about to buy out S.T.A.R. Labs, which makes that company’s executives go into a panic because half their scientists refuse to work for that bald scientist-abuser. When word gets around that Luthor is mainly interested in a psionics facility in Colorado, S.T.A.R. quickly sells off that lab to another corporation. Once again the chapter ends with Luthor celebrating because everything is secretly going according to his plan.
Beard-Watch:
I’m pretty sure Luthor can’t grow one.
Character-Watch:
The fact that Luthor taught Mr. Mxyzptlk about the concept of lying is actually gonna have massive consequences later on, no joke. In fact, you could say that this little moment is responsible for Superman’s wedding in 1996.
Since this is a Luthor-centric issue I wanna stop for a second on Luthor’s main cronies, doctors Sydney Happersen and Gretchen Kelley, who are shown taking care of Brainiac’s still-comatose body. The thing about these two is that they actually seem like pretty okay people: Dr. Kelley is a no-bullshit lady who seems completely unafraid of Luthor, and Dr. Happersen is a nice, meek dude who appears to have a Groucho mask permanently affixed to his face. However, they both have a hidden depth to them (to be revealed in upcoming years) and they’ll both play a huge part in Luthor’s plans until the big climax in 1994.
There’s also a third Luthor crony in this issue called Dr. Vekko who sounds extremely familiar to me, but I can’t place him. Anyone know who he is?
Plotline-Watch:
Speaking of Brainiac, the reason Luthor wants that psionics lab in Colorado is to explore Brainy’s mind powers and learn the secrets of the cosmos. So that’s what “psionics” means, I guess: place where scientists analyze alien telepaths. This is later going to trigger the “Brainiac Trilogy” storyline (which I’m looking forward to re-reading, because it kicked ass).
This issue features the official debut of Team Luthor (or the “Lex-Men,” last referenced in Adventures #446), a group of flying security guards wearing armors based on the one Luthor wore in the old comics. Unfortunately, when Mxyzptlk sees them he thinks they’re Transformers and cripples the whole bunch by turning the armors into vehicles.
WTF-Watch:
I’m just gonna leave you with this:
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