Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992)
Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992)
DOOMSDAY HAS ARRIVED. And he hates little birds.
Yes, that's how Blorch is made. I'm never having Ukranian food again.
Wait, uh, did I say "Doomsday"? I meant "a mysterious alien in some sort of green straitjacket". For the past four weeks, we've seen this guy literally punch his way out of an underground prison – now he's finally out, and he spends the entire issue walking around and breaking shit for no reason. Superman, however, is too busy dealing with another storyline to even notice yet: some ugly freaks living under Metropolis have cut the city's power as part of their ill-defined plan to take over the surface world.
Once Lois Lane is inevitably captured by this assortment of stranded alien invaders, failed genetic experiments, and hobos, she's very disappointed to see that her homeless friend Charlie is among this last group (as seen last issue). Charlie, however, is secretly a hippie and betrays the other Underworlders to foil their plan – if only they'd noticed his"peace sign" shirt. Anyway, Superman eventually shows up and swiftly punches the whole invading army into submission. Rather than turning them over to the authorities, though, Superman leaves them under the custody of Charlie's friendly hobo friends and the non-evil ugly freaks, because you gotta respect underground jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Dooms– er, "green straitjacket alien" is still causing random property damage. The issue ends with the Justice League of America's sexy secretary, a circus dwarf called Oberon, learning about the alien's rampage and saying "Now, this sounds like a job for the Justice League!"
SPOILERS: It isn't. It really isn't.
Character-Watch:
Comic book Doomsday may not shoot lasers, release electromagnetic pulses, or have a little Lex Luthor inside him like the movie version, but there's one thing he does better: laugh creepily every single time he kills something.
Plotline-Watch:
My apologies to Hobo Charlie for assuming he'd turned evil when I talked about him last issue. I should have known better.
However, in the end it wasn't Charlie who alerted Superman of the Underworld invasion: it was Keith the Unlucky Orphan, who was down there because he still believed the Underworlders kidnapped his mom (which would mean she didn't abandon him). He knows better now, though.
We get another brief mention of "Blood-Thirst," an unseen underworld inhabitant who is said to be even worse than the invaders. Charlie wonders if he should have told Superman about that guy now, but nah – they can always ask for his help later. It's not like Supes is gonna suddenly drop dead or something.
And on that note, I'm turning over the microphone to our resident art expert, Don Sparrow! Click "Keep reading" to see his section:
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
This is it! The story where a hero beloved by millions of fans around the world finally meets his end at the hands of Doomsday. Of course, I am referring to Optimus Prime, who is murdered in the closing pages of this story. After appearing in so many Superman stories over the years, it’s only fitting that greatest Autobot of them all be dispatched in a Superman comic. Prime, we hardly knew ye.
In all seriousness, as discussed, such a momentous storyline begins pretty inauspiciously, with the wrap-up of a story that not many people care about (well, maybe it’s just that I don’t care about it), the revolt of the Underworlders. Still, plenty of great art and big moments abound. [Max: I care about the Underworlders! I care!]
We start as usual with the cover, our first full look at Doomsday. I remember this storyline being announced, (I think I heard about it on Entertainment Tonight, of all things) and it was this green jump-suited version of Doomsday that they showed (leading to some surprise for me in the weeks that followed, once Doomsday’s true form was revealed). Bogdanove and Janke even cleverly hide his bone claws, as they’re embedded in the crumbling trade dress of the cover.
The ominous and mysterious tone continues inside the issue, as we see animals fleeing the nameless danger (there’s basically no way to use the phrase ‘phantom menace’ anymore) that punches and digs his way out of the ground. Reading this the first time, I thought for sure Doomsday could fly, based on his upward trajectory on page 2. [Max: It helps that his pose parallels Superman's flying posture in the next page.]
While the Doomsday progression really steals the issue, and holds my interest a lot more than the main story, there remains some great stuff elsewhere (which I’ll focus on first, then I’ll get to the Doomsday pages, which really read like their own comic anyway).
I love how this team draws Keith, whose sweetness and pluckiness is well established through great facial expressions and body gesture (the interplay between he and the hardware store owner–still another Max Fleischer reference in the pages of Man of Steel–is a good example of this). Superman’s embrace with Keith is also a great visual–there’s just something about Superman interacting with kids that works for the character like no other comic hero.
With his ingenuity in this issue, I’m struck that Keith is another Jimmy Olsen doppelganger in these stories (along with Ron Troupe, who takes both his job and his girl, as previously discussed), as Superman’s had more meaningful interaction with his Keith than he has with his “pal” Jimmy in some time. Not complaining–I love Keith, but this is the kind of caper that Jimmy once would have gotten himself into.
Clark’s choice of outfit reminds us we’re firmly in the baggy early 90s, as does the nod to “computer messages”. The “borer” on page 12 is a great bit of larger-than-life, Kirby-esque design (and probably deserves a cooler name than that). Lois’ kick to Superman’s rear end is cute, even if it looks like that toe is really digging in uncomfortably.
But it is the Doomsday pages that really stand out in this issue. We’re given such a clear picture of his mindless and cruel nature in the glimpses we get of him. Doomsday crushing the life out of the little songbird is pretty heavy (especially seeing so much of the gore), and Doomsday walking through a tree (rather than going around it) is a pretty frightening way to show his stupidity, as well as his single-mindedness.
It should be noted how amazingly well-drawn the texture of the bark is in that first panel. Lastly, the image of him walking in flame is a scary one.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
Reading this again, Doomsday vocalizes a lot more than I remember him doing, so early into the storyline. On every page he’s in, he makes angry, curious or laughing sounds. I remember him vocalizing, but thought it came in one of the later issues, in Action Comics.
Lois looks great, as usual.
Keith breaks my heart, again. That sequence of double depression–they don’t have his mom, and in any case, she didn’t love him–is just so, so sad. Don’t worry, Keith, you’ll have a family again, someday.
Nobody draws Superman fighting giant robots quite like Bogdanove.
Rambeau’s pin-headed friend bums me out. Also, I can’t read his weapon as anything but an electric toothbrush. [Max: Zippy, say it ain't so!]
Superman making Clawster eat the grenade is pretty satisfying, though there was really no way for Superman to know it wouldn’t kill him.
I’m thankful for Chuck Johnston alerting people about Doomsday’s rampage, but I find the inclusion of his expletive an out-of-place choice.
A pretty good rendering of Oberon on that last page, too.