Superman #60 (October 1991)
Superman #60 (October 1991)
THE END OF INTERGANG! Superman finally gets off his ass and takes care of that pesky criminal organization operating from his city – or, more accurately, Clark does all that, since (per a bet with Lois Lane in Superman: The Man of Steel #4) he has to break a story without using his superpowers. Turns out that, all these years, all Superman had to do to get rid of Intergang was steal the briefcase of Intergang's careless second in command, Gillespie, and publish its contents in a newspaper.
Thanks to Clark's thievery, Intergang hideouts are raided by the cops all over Metropolis and hundreds of goons are arrested. However, Superman saved the best part for himself: now that he’s shown his fiancee who's the better reporter and can finally use his powers again, he personally goes after Intergang boss Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim. It's at this point that we find out the secret origin of Mannheim's legendary ugliness – he's not human, but an alien from Apokolips! Which I probably spoiled for you at some point, but please act surprised anyway.
Mannheim gets covered by some sort of rocky armor (here's an animated dramatization) and goes head to head with Superman. The resulting battle is so epic that we can't even see the whole last part (it happens underwater), presumably because DC can't print a comic depicting Superman breaking the Geneva Conventions multiple times per second. We do see him giving Mannheim this giant (full-page) wedgie:
Superman defeats Mannheim, slaps some power dampeners on him, and sends him to Stryker Island. And so, Intergang is done and there was no more crime in Metropolis ever again! (Until next issue.)
Character-Watch:
Superman wasn't alone during the last fight with Intergang: he got some help from a mysterious guy with a jetpack and retractible forearm-blades called Agent Liberty, whom Don Sparrow describes as "Captain America's more libertarian cousin." During the final fight, Gillespie calls Apokolips for reinforcements and a Boom Tube appears, but Agent Liberty manages to close it by making his jetpack explode in front of it. Because magnets and stuff.
Plotline-Watch:
For the most part, yeah, this actually is Intergang's end. This being comics, they'll eventually come back from the death, but that's a loooong time away. Still, it's a rare thing in this medium to see such a long-running storyline neatly tied up like this. We even get a cameo for Intergang's original boss-man, Morgan Edge, in jail since Action #645. He's still got that anxiety problem, I see:
Don points out that Superman probably feels pretty dumb that he let Gillespie go months ago because he thought the guy was an innocent amusement park manager (Adventures #475). There's no mention of Superman recognizing Gillespie, but the mugging scene happens right outside the same park, the sarcastically named Happyland, so he'd have to be a pretty bad reporter not to figure it out.
Speaking of bad reporters, since the Daily Planet is on strike, Clark offers his new Intergang expose to Colin Thornton of Newstime Magazine. Thornton still hates Clark's guts for that time he worked as Newstime's editor and acted like a giant jerk until he got fired (to be fair, Clark was possessed at the time), but Thornton puts his feelings aside when he sees how big the story is. He even ends up sucking up to Clark.
The revelation that Mannheim has powers was subtly hinted at in Action Annual #3: during one of the future scenes, we see Ugly getting arrested and Superman says he's "tougher than he looks." That's the same issue where we saw a pre-debut Agent Liberty in a superhero crowd scene. This must mean the "Superman becomes President" scene can't be far behind.
Over the past few months we've seen Jimmy Olsen's new places of work (after he got fired from the Planet) burst into flames and get robbed by a junior baseball team. In this issue Bibbo pulls up his bike in a gas station and sees Jimmy is working the pumps. Guess what happens next. Go on, guess.
I won't even tell you how it exploded, because the real reason is "Jimmy worked there" anyway.
Don's got a lot more to say about this issue, so click "Keep Reading" RIGHT NOW!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
The Superman title seems to be THE place for huge issues in this era, and number sixty is a biggie. We start with a great, great cover by Jurgens and Breeding, with some fantastic colouring by Brett Breeding. It’s always cool to seethe traditional red and blue in different light, and so the murky green background gives Superman’s uniform a really eye-catching look.
The art chores are a bit different this issue, as Dan Jurgens has Eduardo Barreto pinch hitting as inker, and it’s a pleasing result: his style is a little brushier and grittier than Breeding’s slick inks, so it fits this “no-powers” story well. A good example of this comes on the second page, where Barreto’s hatching casts some unique shadows on the top of the shelf where a rather Matt Murdock looking Clark Kent is lurking.
We’re very quickly introduced to Agent Liberty, who always had a unique visual to me, and a great, silver-age looking design. The one thing I never understood, though, was how his mostly white uniform would always have so much shadow on it. In these scenes it makes sense, but Jurgens would draw him consistently this way, white, with black ‘shine’. It always made me wonder what it would look like in real life. Silver?
Jurgens and Barreto do a lot of little things well in this issue. Bibbo’s motorcycle is accurately drawn throughout (and gives Bibbo areal Eric Von Zipper look). One thing I love about90s comics is that you could indicate that someone is a criminal simply by drawing a typical 80s-and-90s punk look. Torn sleeves? Wanted murderer. Headband? Arsonist.
Even small details, like Clark Kent’s phone/alarm clock are well observed (and his chest hair is back, missing from Action Comics #668–yes, this is my life now, making note of which issue Superman has a hairy chest) and he can certainly draw women beautifully, as Cat Grant looks pretty fetching on her early morning news report.
As Superman rounds up the last of the usual suspects (thereby invalidating the futures we’ve seen in the Armageddon annuals) it’s a pretty rarely seen intensity shown in his face letting us know Superman isn’t messing around.
Ugly Mannheim’s Apokoliptan armour once again foreshadows Doomsday, especially looking at his spine on page 16.
The underwater fight scene is reminiscent of the sewer fight in Superman II, where we hear the blows (and seethe heat vision, in this case) but only get to see the dramatic victory (drawn gorgeously on a full page (literal) splash on page 21). Also calling back to the Reeve Superman films is the warden, on the last page, who looks exactly like the warden from the end of Superman I, Roy Stevens. All in all, a huge, satisfying issue, which showcases Superman’s duality so well–Clark Kent can take down Intergang in away that Superman never could, while Superman rounds up the suspects on a level beyond a beat reporter.
Stray observations:
I get that he doesn’t want to lose the bet with Lois, but it’s a bit callous that Clark’s reaction to Gillespie firing a handgun at someone who just saved him is “I’m outta here!” (page 4) Did he know Agent Liberty would have a holographic Captain America shield?
Page 10 gives us another Optimus Prime cameo. If this is all some sort of underground sting operation on the part of Optimus, he waited too long.
Maybe I spoke too soon about that whole 'libertarian’ thing, regarding Agent Liberty. I’m pretty sure “if Kent is square, he’ll understand” is on the NSA’s government seal.
I kind of want a short exchange between the two black hawk helicopter pilots that goes something like “Aren’t you glad we wore these masks? I definitely feel more covert. I shouldn’t have balked when you insisted we stop at the dollar store.”
“The Coke! He got the Coke!”(see the panels with Superman’s “intense face” above). Yes, he did, it’s floating in the tide right on the cover.
Besides the impracticality of two inch razor blades on Agent Liberty’s forearms, where exactly do they come from? Or are they hard-light holograms too? Also, how many Para-Demons has Liberty dealt with that he has such borderline racist feelings toward them?
Mannheim might be a murdering cosa nostra with ties to an inter-planetary terrorist, but credit where credit is due: the man knows how to pull off an ascot.
Not sure why Clark felt the need to apologize for interrupting when he went to Thornton’s office, especially since he called ahead.
