Superman #67 (May 1992)
Superman #67 (May 1992)
Superman vs. a cloud of black stuff that turns people into skeletons, OR Superman vs. his worst nightmare: a thing he can't punch! The cloud descends into Metropolis out of the blue and starts killing people, rudely ruining Clark Kent and Lois Lane's movie date. Superman is like "Hey, get out of my town, jackass," but can't prevent the death cloud from eating some construction workers and blowing up a bus (full of orphans, I assume). The cloud then sets its sights on Superman, which looks pretty unpleasant:
Superman survives by escaping into the sewers, where he runs into some nasty alien dudes – turns out they're some of the Warworld warriors that Brainiac sent to Earth during "Panic in the Sky," who are now stuck in our planet since their boss got defeated. The Warworlders are also scared shitless of the cloud and tell Superman where it came from: it's called the Swarm, and it's a mechanism Warworld uses to "clean" the planets they conquer by eating up all organic matter and destroying all buildings. Which begs question of why, in Don Sparrow's words, "Brainiac didn’t START with the Swarm, thenmove on Earth with the weapons of Warworld"? Probably because they just like fighting. I mean, they are called "Warworlders."
Anyway, the Warworlders explain that Brainiac sent the Swarm to Earth right before getting defeated, just to be a dick. While Superman tries to save as many people as possible from getting skeleton'd, good Samaritan Lex Luthor II studies the signal that calls the Swarm to Earth and eventually manages to replicate it in one of his satellites, sending the death cloud into space. Hooray for Metropolis' true hero, LLII! (Superman doesn't seem so cheerful, for some reason.)
Lex even goes on TV to explain how he saved the day and to let everyone know how awesome and not evil he is. A member of Team Luthor then brings him the original device that called the Swarm to Earth and asks if they should throw it out, but Lex goes "Haha, of course not! I might need it later for some evilness."
Plotline-Watch:
So, yeah, that was the metallic sphere that we saw Brainiac ejecting from Warworld at the end of "Panic." As you can see, it definitely didn't have Doomsday inside of it, like people speculated back in the day. I can't remember if Lex will do anything with the Swarm now that he can control it, but I'm guessing nope.
The most important part of this issue: we learn that Clark's first childhood movie was To Kill a Mockingbird, and that he was a weird kid who liked Atticus Finch better than El Zorro. Finch's sense of justice and morality clearly made a great impression on young Clark – good thing he didn't start with the pseudo-prequel, or Superman would use a lot more n-words today. I'm serious when I say this scene is important, by the way. You'll see what I mean later on.
As seen in Action #676, Supergirl is now with (and also "with") Luthor, but she can't come to help against the Swarm because she's currently unconscious as Dr. Happersen performs some tests on her. Lex is very particular about the artificial beings from other dimensions that he sleeps with, I guess.
Some Warworlders get killed by the Swarm, but others live on to pester Superman in the future. And they'll get reinforcements. Early in the issue, a couple of drunks loitering in the sewers are spooked by the Warworlders and one says to the other: "You think maybe it's them weird muthas?" I believe he's talking about the failed Cadmus experiments that live in the sewers – those guys will hook up with the Warworlders soon, united in their ugliness.
Lana & Pete: The New Adventures of Congressman continues. Pete Ross is visited by the shady Sons of Liberty (the guys bankrolling Agent Liberty), who unsuccessfully try to sweet talk him into voting against a gun control law. Meanwhile, Lana Lang gets a fancy new job… but we see at the end of the issue that the guy who hired her is Judge Kramer from the Sons. Hmmmm.
Don Sparrow says: "It’s interesting that the reach of the Sons of Liberty goes all the way to employment agencies, where we get a glimpse of what must be the REAL source of political power: Ziggy, watching his machinations from the 1984-like viewscreen/ordinary-looking calendar on page 14. Ziggy’s depravity seems to know no bounds, as he forces his agent to use a mug that reminds her that she is indeed Overworked and Underpaid."
Blast you, Ziggy! Read more insights and commentary from Don below the cut:
Art-Watch (by donsparrow):
Brainiac’s backup plan is here! And no one will remember this in 9 issues or so! One of the most troubling issues of this era begins with a pretty eye-bragging cover, Metropolis in ruins, as a distraught Superman fights the shadow demons from the movie Ghost.
Inside the issue we see the totally black swarm laying waste to an entire planet. In the devastation, which is scary and well-drawn, we see the problem I have with this issue–this threat is way, way too deadly–unbeatably so. [Max: Agreed, but on the other hand: Dan Jurgens drawing cosmic stuff! Any excuse to show that is good for me.]
Back in Metropolis, a couple of sewer-dwelling rummies run across a contingent of Warworlders, who, despite their goofy look, are quite intimidating on a full splash page 4. [Max: Hey, where's Klawster? Did he spend the whole issue standing behind that fat guy?]
More signs of the times: Lois and Clark take in a Cameron Crowe movie (back when those were really good) and there’s a lot to like here. In the first place,the jackets, and Lois’ wind-blown hair do a nice job of indicating cooler Spring weather (an ominous calendar tells us it’s April later in the issue), and their exchange about the first films they ever saw is almost more interesting to me than the main plotline. We get some insight into Lois’ less-than-perfect relationship with her gung-ho father, and an important distinction between law and order man Clark Kent and vigilante Bruce Wayne. Rather than see swash-bucking, cave dwelling outlaw Zorro, a young Clark chose to see Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird, as Atticus Finch, a man who chooses to “believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system”, which explains a lot about Clark. This conversation will become quite important to Lois and Clark in months to come, and it’s nice to see these smaller, tender moments. As I re-read these issues, it really is the romance between these two people that ages the best.
PANEL OF THE WEEK: Back to the artwork, we get a great panel of Superman leaping into action to combat the bee-swarm like black cloud over Metropolis at the top of page 8, and the great background, along with the energetic swooping pose make it our panel of the week.
Another great shot is Superman speeding to attempt (and fail) to save the high steel worker in the middle panel of page 9 (that drawing was later used in house subscription ads, so it’s extra familiar to me).
The inverted panels on page 11 as the Swarm envelops Superman are effectively weird, and seem painful. It’s also interesting to see Superman’s determination turn to outright grit on page 17, as Supes looks pretty intense.
Try as he might, Superman is unable to really make a dent, or any sort of progress with the Swarm, and for that reason, it’s a troubling issue. The panels documenting Superman’s attempts at both stopping the Swarm, and lessening its damage, with Lex’s voice over are very well done, and serve to cement Lex Jr. in people’s minds as a savior of the city. We share Superman’s lack of satisfaction at the story’s conclusion,when the threat is taken care of, but Superman had almost nothing to do with the solution. It’s equally troubling that the means for saving the city was mechanical, and therefore, in my mind, fallible–what happens when the satellite runs out of fuel, or goes near another inhabited planet? To my knowledge, the Swarm never returned, which is one more plotline dangling tantalizingly, waiting for DC Comics to let me unravel…
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
I’m grateful for the updates on Pete and Lana, and it’s interesting to see the pieces come together, as we see Pete meeting with Haldeman–I mean Harriman, who we’ve up to now only seen dealing with Agent Liberty. I like the real world observation that red state Kansas would likely not favor a gun control bill, but can see why Pete would stick to his gu–principles–when wanting to adhere to the wishes of his deceased predecessor.
Oh no! Lana is working for the scientist guy from Terminator 2!
I feel like the Super-team has been making an effort to increase Lana Lang’s sex appeal over the last few issues. Aside from documenting what I assume to be her lost virginity, in this issue she celebrates a job interview by stripping her clothes on page 14 (and likely changing into the business suit she’s seen wearing on page 22). [Max: I don't know why those panels were necessary, but my young self appreciated them very much.]
The microphone guy has a point.
