Superman: The Man of Steel #14 (August 1992)
Superman: The Man of Steel #14 (August 1992)
SUPERMAN AND ROBIN VERSUS BATMAN! As in, a man who turns into a bat! As in, a vampire! Yeah, the real Batman doesn't actually show up in this comic, and to be honest, Superman isn't around a whole lot either – most of the story is about Robin's team-up with Jimmy Olsen, who has apparently been watching too much Buffy.
(He forgot to list "pouches.")
As seen over the past several weeks, everyone in Metropolis who visits a certain doctor comes out looking pale and sporting mysterious bite marks on their necks. It takes the doctor floating up to Lucy Lane's window and literally morphing into Bela Lugosi for Jimmy to realize that maybe he's a vampire. After thwarting Lucy's kidnapping with his camera flash, Jimmy goes out looking for the vampire and runs into Robin, who's been tracking down Dr. Acula since he struck in Gotham City. Jimmy greets the Boy Wonder by breaking a bottle on his head, but fortunately the impact is absorbed by the massive amounts of hairspray on Robin's hair.
The vampire completely kicks Jimmy and Robin's butts, since he's made himself immune to stuff like holy water and garlic by wearing fake technological skin. At this point, Superman finally arrives and flies the vampire to a place with sunlight, which melts his body away… but then we hear his voice saying "PSYCHE! It was just a trick! I'm still alive!" So, I guess, TO BE CONTINUED.
Plotline-Watch:
I'm pretty sure every DC comic published in the early ‘90s was legally obligated to have a crossover issue with the new Robin (Tim Drake), but the Superman books actually had two: this one and next week's conclusion to this story.
So, where was Superman for most of the issue? He was flying back from his Washington adventure and getting interrupted by a different emergency every few feet. One of them involves some guys dumping chemicals into a river… so Superman dumps them in there too. He's lucky they didn't come out looking like the Joker.
After being denied Lucy Lane's neck, the vampire goes around the city visiting other people whose blood he's sampled, like Mildred Krantz and poor, suicidal Sam Foswell. He eventually settles on Jimmy's rocker friend Babe, because she's a vegetarian and her blood is cleaner. Yeah, I'm sure that's the only reason why the old horndog picked her. Don Sparrow says: "Superman: The Man of Steel remains the go-to comic when it comes to skin exposure, both with Babe Tanaka’s sheer outfit, but also our villain, Dr. Ruthven’s Dracula-by-way-of-Zardoz get-up."
Before rescuing Jimmy and Robin, Clark Kent runs into his neighbor Andrea, whose husband seriously forced her to go out and buy bacon at 5 AM. Andrea is looking pretty rough, but she explains she just "fell down the stairs." She fell so hard, apparently, that her hair color changed to gray from blonde, as it was the last time we saw her in… some 1989 George Perez issue I can't find right now. Anyway, Don points out that this "hints at one of the most meaningful, and difficult to read stories of the era. More on that in future issues."
More Don Sparrow observations (Donservations?) after the jump!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We begin one of my favourite two-parters of the era with a pretty cool cover, with Superman and guest star Robin facing off against what appears to be a rogue Batman. The fear in Superman’s face is a good preview that the danger they face really is something that can cow Superman: magic. Plus, I just remember being so excited reading this as a 12 year old, because next to Superman, my favourite character of the time was the Tim Drake Robin, who was probably never more popular than around this time, thanks in large part to a pretty fantastic costume update from Neal Adams.
Inside the story, we’re immediately greeted by our guest star, in dueling splash pages, left to right, with both he and Superman leaping to action, albeit in different cities.
In this panel on page 1, Robin looks for all the world like the toy version of himself that came from the Batman Returns toy series–right down to the blocky, afro-like hair, and pronounced lips. Why it’s almost as though that Robin was intended to be black.
Next we get a few of the signature images of this issue, namely Jon Bogdanove going hog-wild, trying to fill the pages with as many different classical vampires as he can. First a vampire is dispatched by another vampire on page 3–when I read this asa kid, I assumed the ‘fluid’ on the kill shot was Holy water, looking at it now, I’m almost sure it was supposed to be blood, which then got 'censored’ by a colour shift.
On the following pages, we get a great version of the classic Lugosi Dracula, as wellas a quick glimpse of the Max Shreck version (no, not that Max Shreck, the otherone). It’s also pretty scary to see Lucy Lane so withdrawn in vampire thrall. She’s really been through the wringer lately.
PANEL OF THE WEEK: I’m not picking this only because it’ll irritate Max, but that image of Jimmy the Vampire Slayer on page 10 is pretty awesome. [Max: I actually agree! In fact, I already used the panel! My Jimmy hate is balanced out by my Buffy fandom, I guess.]
Jimmy’s tussle with Robin is well drawn, and it makes sense that Jimmy might think that the boy wonder in the shadows is his vampire quarry–especially in Metropolis, well away from Gotham. Jimmy and Robin actually make a pretty natural pairing,that makes this issue feel like a throwback to the World’s Finest days, when Jimmy was less a supporting character and more of a full-on sidekick for Superman.
When Superman does arrive, it’s exciting to see him not hold back, as the vampire is a magical creature–I can’t remember the last time I saw him hit another villain hard enough to cave in his face the way he does on page 19.
Later, on page 21, Superman’s determination is pretty stirring, especially in that top panel, as he struggles with Ruthven. It does remain a little confusing why Superman was so convinced he’d destroyed Ruthven–I suppose he just disappeared into smoke,which Superman assumed was him melting into nothingness.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
Who’s the Grateful Dead fan working in the photo lab at the Daily Planet? Keep on truckin’. [Max: He kinda looks like a hippie version of Keith the Office Racist. Maybe it's his stoner cousin?]
Hey, Tobin’s Spirit Guide! Great, subtle Ghostbusters reference!
I’d like to see the conversation when Jimmy explains to Ella Lane why he’s hanging garlic around Lucy’s apartment. Are they even dating anymore?
Superman battling a polluting company is pretty funny, if a little out of place, on page 9. I wonder what Dow and DuPont would think of “Dow Pont” having a policy of dumping green slime into the river, right from a truck on the side of a road. The whole scene is a bit confusing. If the company is “behind” the action, as the polluter says they are, then why are they being arrested?
Pretty sad look at Foswell on page 10 (though the first hundred times I read it, I thought it was Perry White). Didn’t know he’d had a family. Another testament to the writing of this era of comics–they give everyone backstories and pathos.
GODWATCH: Jimmy reminding himself to say his prayers as the vampire attacks, plus the whole rest of the issue is loaded with crosses. I’m a tad confused, though, if holy water and crosses will actually damage Ruthven, or if it was his mechanical mask/coverings that kept these folkloric weaponry from working.
The mine shaft collapse, along with the polluting in Maryland seems a bit pointed. That’s also a pretty hulking Superman holding up the roof.
Clark mentions his novel The Golden Throne on page 17, but it’s the only mention of it I can remember. I guess this one didn’t get the same treatment as Under a Yellow Sun, the Janus Contract, or Clark’s other novels. [Max: Hey, even Stephen King has the occasional turd.]