Superman #59 (September 1991)
Superman #59 (September 1991)
Superman and Lois Lane go sit up on a mountain and talk for six hours. It is one of the best Superman issues ever.
The Linear Men, the mysterious protectors of the time continuum, are feeling slightly bad about that time they did the opposite of their job by sending Superman ping-ponging through different eras of history for six months. One of them thinks Superman should be compensated in some way for what happened, but the rest of the group thinks a better course of action would be forgetting about their mistake and never mentioning it again, ever. The rebellious Linear Person pretends to go along with the others, but then pulls a Wayne’s World at the last second:
(You are now reading this entire post in Garth’s voice.)
Meanwhile, Lois Lane and Clark Kent are struggling to find time to be together on account of Clark’s second job saving everyone in the planet at all times. After having dates interrupted by a submarine accident and a crazy hobo with a giant robot gun, things start getting tense between the two. So, Superman decides to take Lois to the top of Mt. Fuji, where the only distractions are the wind and the possibility of freezing to death, so they can talk about their relationship, why he decided to be Superman (“Because no one else can”) and other stuff. What stuff? We don’t know, because they don’t show us that part. It’s probably icky, anyway.
While they’re there, they feel like time stands still – mainly because it actually does. The Linear Man from the beginning (actually a Linear Woman, called Liri Lee) stopped time for Lois and Clark as a way to return some of the minutes Superman lost during his century-bounding jaunt. The Linear Men still owe him five months, 29 days and 18 hours by my count, but hey, it’s a start.
Once the couple returns from their temporal retreat, Lois writes a heartfelt column for the Daily Planet thanking Superman for saving the world every day at the cost of spending less time with his loved ones, whoever they are (but he totally isn’t Lois’ fiancee, that’s some other guy with the same face).
Character-Watch:
First appearance of Liri Lee, the first Linear Person who has a name other than “Linear Person.” From the weight this issue gives to her introduction (we only see her face at the very end) and the fact that her initials are LL, I always figured she’d turn out to be important to Superman’s life in some way, but as far as I know we never found out much about her. My personal theory was that she’s a distant descendant of Superman and Lois, so by helping them patch up their relationship she was actually making her existence possible. You may treat this as canon if you wish.
Plotline-Watch:
The point of this issue is giving a strong foundation to the Lois/Clark relationship, and I think it does a great job. Let’s remember that they started dating because he quit his job after being possessed by a Kryptonian death-machine and she realized she missed him at work – oh, and there’s the thing about him lying to her about what species he was for years. So, giving them a moment like this to connect is a great idea. I actually don’t mind that we don’t see most of the conversation because, well, it’s private (also, six hours long).
The amazing secret origin of that crazy hobo with a giant robot gun I mentioned earlier is that he found the storage place where the cops put away all of Bloodsport’s weapons when they arrested him back Superman #4. I want to read an R-rated graphic novel about this guy.
The hobo mentions “guys like him” have been disappearing and getting turned into “freaks” lately. That’s a reference to the Cerberus plot from Superman: The Man of Steel, but for a second I thought he was talking about Dabney Donovan kidnapping homeless people and altering their DNA to turn them into giant green Jimmy Olsens.
Speaking of Jimbo, good news: he found a job! Bad news: it’s selling hot dogs in the park. Worse news: upon seeing Lois, Clark and Clark’s parents approaching his cart, Jimmy runs off so they don’t see him and some kids in baseball clothes steal all his hot dogs. Don Sparrow says: “Those baseball kids sprinting away with their stolen hot dogs has a real Norman Rockwell feel, but who’s coaching these kids? Why do they think it’s OK to steal armfuls of food?” Hey, maybe Luthor coached a Pee Wee League and this is the first time they’ve smiled since his death.
At the end of the comic we get several Daily Planet pages, including: Lois’ full column, an anti-Superman editorial by Sam Foswell, articles about the hobo and submarine situations, more Luthor sightings, and best of all, a Big Belly Burger ad:
Don says: “I’d give almost anything to taste a Big Belly Burger, and I love hearing it mentioned on new episodes of The Flash.” Same here, although paying the price of a cab ride in Metropolis circa 1990 for one burger seems a little steep to me. Incidentally, Don also points out that the number on the submarine Superman rescues is “650,” so that meme is alive and well.
Another thing Don mentioned is that… oh, I’ll just let him talk now. Click “Keep Reading”!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
We start, as always, with the cover, and this cover, like the issue bearing it, is an all-time classic. When I think of Dan Jurgens, a few defining images pop into my head, and this cover is certainly one of them. I’m usually not a fan of cover text, though this one works as well with the “Finally…” tag as it does without. I also love how Jurgens–and indeed the whole Super-team of this era–can manage to portray Lois as lovely, and desirable without having her in revealing clothing, or with unrealistic dimensions. Keep in mind, this is how women are depicted in the top selling comic of 1991. So the subtlety and restraint this cover shows, with Lois as a real woman looking cute as can be in her tennis shoes really resonates with me.
The great-looking Lois is also found inside the issue, as Lois and Clark are all dolled up for a fancy dinner out, at what I can only assume, judging from the company at other tables, is the Listen Inn.
The texture and fit of Lois’ dress is appealing without being exploitative while still being a noticeable change from the plainer, more professional look she usually has. This signals to us that this evening was to be an important one, in a nice way.
Jurgens’ pacing is also on good display here, as we see a few of his defining layouts,like on page 3, where we have panels sitting overtop one large image, or page19, where we have the tall skinny panels that he does so well.
The underwater stuff all looks great, and how dark Superman’s cape and uniform get after he’s been underwater (on page 8) is a nice touch from the colorist.
The glow effect from Bloodsport’s weapon looks pretty cool on page 12, and also makes me wonder if Superman is getting progressively stronger from his time under the yellow sun. Certainly Bloodsport’s weaponry gave him a harder time in the past, even without the Kryptonite bullets. [Max: Hey, look! It’s the origin of the super-flare superpower!]
One more art detail I enjoyed was in the mountain sequence, how Superman and Lois’ hair blows around in unflattering ways–as an artist, it’s tempting to always have everything looking perfect, so to see their hair whipping around unpredictably(as it would on a mountaintop) is a great touch.
Storywise, this is also such an important issue, and really cements why Lois and Clark are such a strong couple. They deal head-on with the frustrations of being in love with the world’s protector, and also the limitations of unlimited power. It’s 9months (in real time) since they got engaged, and some of the warm fuzziness of their relationship has worn off, and given way to a deeper, more real world commitment. When I first read this story as an 11 year old, I remember being frustrated that we didn’t get to hear their(6 hour!) conversation on the mountain, where they hashed out a lot of this stuff. It felt a little like a cop-out to leave such important things unspoken, to the reader at least. But now I kind of like it. Like Liri Lee, we are left in some mystery of their intimate conversation, which we can read only through their body language, as the tension between them thaws.
The last part of the issue is a clever conceit that Superman comics return to pretty often–the newspaper article, in this case, a personal editorial by Lois Lane thanking Superman publicly for who he has chosen to be. Unlike the early 2000s issues of Action Comics when virtually each issue was bookended with a schmaltzy quote (that NO real life newspaper editor would allow, like the example below), these pages read like more or less a real newspaper, so it’s a very effective ending.
Stray observations:
Is that Rich Little playing violin on page 2?
One of the submarine crew on page 7 had enough of the undersea life, and immediately after getting free, enrolled in law school to become an assistant district attorney in New York City.
Clark looks weird in shorts.
I get that Superman is compassionate to all, but I think he goes a little easy on the homeless guy with the ray gun, especially since he just killed a cop! (page 12)
Elroy is LOVING the spat between Lois and Clark (page 14).
Love seeing that same weird tapestry in Lois Lane’s apartment from back in the Byrne days (page 18)
