Superman #64 (February 1992)
Superman #64 (February 1992)
Lex Luthor has trapped Superman's friends in a virtual world riddled with fog and crappy graphics, and now Superman must– uh, wait, no, that's the other Superman 64. This one is a classic Christmas tale about Superman's yearly tradition to sit down at the Metropolis Post Office every December 23rd and read all the letters people send him, which he freaking hates. Why does Superman dislike reading his fan mail? Well, first of all, because there's a crapload of it.
Second, because it's all so depressing. Besides all the people proposing shady business opportunities (yes, even Superman gets spam), there are also others asking for things Superman just can't help with, like a woman who can't find an organ donor. When the most upbeat letter you read is from an Auschwitz survivor who wants to reunite with her sick sister before she dies, you know your evening is ruined (Superman flies the old lady to Germany during a sandwich break). Superman then picks up a drawing by a little kid thinking it's gonna cheer him up, but it turns into this huge bummer:
Daaaaamn. Superman goes to visit the boy who wrote the letter but it's too late, his dad just died, so the kid is in no mood to deal with a flying man in colorful pajamas – especially since he thinks Superman let his dad die. At the mother's insistence, Superman talks to the kid and makes him see that removing brain tumors just isn't within his powers (he only does chest surgery). He later convinces the mother to donate her husband's heart to the woman from before who was looking for a heart transplant, so the day wasn't a total waste.
When Superman and Lois are wrapping up, she mentions that the Daily Planet throws a Christmas party for disadvantaged kids every year, but they can't afford toys this time on account of the recent strike. Superman's like "Oh heck no, I've seen enough depressing stuff today" and just calls up Batman and asks to borrow his credit card.
With all the Batman-bought presents and Professor Hamilton in a Santa suit arriving on a flying sled (seriously), the party is a rousing success and Superman decides he won't exterminate the human race this Christmas – they just bought themselves another year. That last bit isn't said but it's implied.
Plotline-Watch:
This issue continues the tradition of the Christmas stories by Dan Jurgens that also touch important issues: "Homeless for the Holidays" was about homelessness (duh), Adventures #474 was about drunk driving, and this one is about, well, everything. This also started a tradition within the tradition: next year, we'll see a sequel to this story that doesn't feature Superman in it (you can do the math and figure out why) but it's such a cool twist on this issue that it's almost like they planned it a year in advance. You'll see what I mean when I get to that point, in five years probably.
Another tradition: Superman making Batman feel bad at Christmas. This issue has that little moment with Bats thinking "surely he's going to wish me a Merry Christmas!" only for Supes to ask for money, which I feel is like a spiritual successor to the scene in World's Finest when Superman gave Batman a Zorro VHS (Zorro being the movie Bruce Wayne watched before his parents were killed, if you've never read a comic in your life).
The issue ends with Superman getting home and finding his good deeds of the day rewarded with the knowledge that his best friend from childhood is marrying his other best friend from childhood and they didn't even call him – by which I mean that he receives the wedding invitation Lana Lang and Pete Ross sent out two weeks ago in Action #673.
On that subject, Don Sparrow observes: "Verrry interesting sense of loss that Clark feels when he learns his old flame Lana Lang is truly moving on. The colouring effect of his vision of Pete and Lana got a bit muddled on my copy, but it looks like Pete’s a tad grabby in Clark’s fantasy." That's why they called him "Hands" Ross in Smallville High.
Creator-Watch:
This is the second fill-in issue in a row, probably because the main artists were gearing up for the badass-ness of "Panic in the Sky", and also the second that uses a future Action Comics artist – this issue is drawn by Jackson Guice, who will soon become the main art dude in that series, and last week's Man of Steel #8 was by Kieron Dwyer, who will replace Guice in 1995. Yet another example of editor Mike Carlin having a great memory.
For way more on the art, read Don Sparrow's section after the cut! Now!
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
We begin with a nice, moody cover, which gives us a good indication of the emotional story to come. It’s a second bait-and-switch week, as we’re give a cover by the regular team, and then interiors by a fill-in, guest artist. One almost wonders if this were an audition for Jackson “Butch” Guice, as he very quickly joins the Super-team in earnest. In the first place, I love Christmas stories, and it’s a feather in the cap of the editorial team that they could pull off a date-sensitive issue like this, even if it is a fill-in.
Very early on in the story, we notice some hallmarks of Guice’s Superman career, namely the thin, gangly-limbed Superman, and the enormous s-shield on the front and on the cape.
Superman’s growing s-shield has been well covered by other Superman fans for years, but I don’t remember it getting much larger than on Guice’s Superman. Not a knock against it–I personally favour a big s-shield as well, but Guice’s is as large as I think it gets in this era.
Guice inks his own work in this issue, and it’s effective for a solemn, quiet issue, with lots of cast shadows and silhouettes (second last panel of page 5, for example is a great use of shadow for mood, and I love the sparkle of Superman’s darkened right eye).
The backgrounds and environments are all very well observed, as well, and these small details really help establish the personal nature of the story. Mrs. Schommer’s exterior and living room really seem like a little-old-lady property. Guice’s art is an intriguing mix of photorealism and dynamism, and it’s interesting seeing his first pages in the Super-titles as he find his way. Page 7 is a good example, where we have a great, handsome drawing of Superman on panel 3 (maybe the best Superman face of the issue), with shoulders that appear to be 4 feet wide!
It’s interesting seeing these early drawings of a character that Guice will eventually master (though I think his best work won’t come until his pairing with Bryan Hitch on Captain America). Guice’s Lois Lane is also very consistent, making me wonder if he modeled it after photos of a specific person. She looks particularly fetching on page 16,but that could be in part because I like a gal who knows her way around a Big Belly Burger. [Max: Yeah, I read somewhere that Guice does use models for his art. And I agree, that Lois is belly, belly well drawn.]
The most clunky scene, art-wise is the heavy conversation Superman has with letter-writer Terry Baldwin. While he’s supposed to look ten years old, he looks a lot older than that in his appearance on page 11. But kids are notoriously hard to draw, when each line you add seems to age them years.
The all-black suit Superman wears to make Santa real for the children of Metropolis is well drawn, and would be a neat look to me, but recalls maybe my least favourite chapter in Superman art history, when a cash-strapped Curt Swan condescended to illustrate a Penthouse publication of Larry Niven’s (in my opinion, overrated, humourless and inaccurate) essay “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex” (VERY childhood-ruining NSFW link with more info here) [Max: Or here! Though, to me, the black suit is more evocative of one Superman will be wearing around these pages in about a year…]
But, after the heaviness of an issue about holocaust survivors and organ donation, the joy of the full page spread on page 20 is welcome, and I love seeing Emil get to ham it up as Santa. Having been a YMCA Santa for a few years in college, I know what an awesome gig it can be.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
Very spry landing on page 2
BINGGGG BONGG! I miss sound effects.
The “SUPERman/SuperMAN” exchange with Terry on page 12 recalls a similar line from Roger Stern’s run on Action Comics Weekly, but it’s an important, deceptively deep distinction, that I often come back to.
I don’t remember an episode of Star Trek when Bones traveled to early 90s Metropolis, but there’s Dr McCoy, big as life on page 15! [Max: He looks like he was in a teleporter accident with Commander Sulu.]
The hat is a neat fashion touch, but I’m not sure I buy Lois wearing cutoffs in December, even with her long coat.
“What are your holiday plans, Bruce?” “Brooding, of course. The forecast is calling for rain, so it should be perfect for looking out my study window.”
Jokes aside, I love that Bruce comes through on stuff like this.
It’s a small detail, but I like seeing kids playing and doing cartwheels on page 19.
GODWATCH: In what is my favourite line of the issue, Lois’ growing love for the powerful and gentle Superman reads almost like a prayer of gratitude, and it’s just lovely. Jurgens really knew how to write this romance.
