Superman: The Man of Steel #27 (November 1993)
Superman: The Man of Steel #27 (November 1993)
Lex Luthor Jr. throws a party in honor of Superman’s resurrection in his fancy blimp, but some Underworlders rudely barge in uninvited. Also, they try to kill everyone, which is even ruder. These buttfaced sewer mutants are upset at one of the blimp’s VIP guests, Project Cadmus Director Paul Westfield, for flooding their home and drowning a bunch of them a while back. The Underworlders go to some mysterious S&M enthusiast called Bloodthirst to ask for a way to kill Westfield, and when he suggests blowing up the blimp, one of them is like “But innocent people will die!” Bloodthirst then demonstrates his blood thirst by killing that guy in front of the others, who decide to go on with the plan.
Meanwhile, Lois Lane investigates the strange fact that unprofitable buildings owned by LexCorp are crumbling or going up in flames, supposedly due to Doomsday’s fault – apparently, he punched Metropolis so hard, shit is still falling down months later. Surely good ol’ Lex Jr. has nothing to do this! Lois attends the blimp party intending to talk to Lex Jr. about the exploding buildings issue. He’s very eager to talk to her too because, hot damn, look at her.
(Not sure if Jimmy is drooling because of Lois or because he’s just Jimmy.)
That’s when the Underworlders (who snuck in using cloaking devices to hide their ugliness) start hassling Westfield, and soon all hell breaks loose in that classic Jon Bogdanove style. Superman makes his fashionably late entry to the party right in time to save Lex Jr. as he falls to his death. He also gets rid of the Underworlders pretty easily (despite the giant ‘90s weapons Bloodthirst gave them) and takes the blimp down safely.
The next day, Lois has her formal interview with Lex Jr. and he tries to get fresh with her, which cements her impression that he’s just like his “dad”. Come on, that’s unfair! Then Lex sees her making out with some mild-mannered dweeb with glasses and a ponytail and decides everyone must “burn” so, uh, maybe she had a point.
Character-Watch:
First actual appearance of Bloodthirst, who was first mentioned (as “Blood Thirst”) almost exactly one year ago on Man of Steel #18. Right now, all we know about him is that he likes to go around sowing chaos in cities around the world, and now it’s Metropolis’ turn. He won’t stick around for long, but considering that we’ve got two major storylines called “The Battle of Metropolis” and “The Fall of Metropolis” coming up in 1994, I’d say he was pretty successful. (Also, just realized that Lex’s “they’ll all burn!” moment is probably foreshadowing that too.)
This is also the debut of a surprisingly much more durable character: Franklin Stern, aka “Frankenstern”, the Daily Planet’s publisher and an old buddy of Perry White. Looking forward to the issue with their youthful KKK-punching adventures.
Plotline-Watch:
This is actually the beginning of the end for poor Lex Jr. So far Lois and Clark have more or less been unaware of his shitty side, but now that she’s got his scent, he’s screwed. Ironic that after causing so many murders and supervillain terrorist attacks, in the end it’s insurance fraud what will eventually cause Lex’s downfall.
On top of that, Lex is losing his shapeshifting alternate dimension girlfriend, Supergirl. He’s mad at her for going to fight the Cyborg in Engine City and then disappearing for a few days (because she was posing as Clark Kent), and then she gets mad at him for ignoring her to go gawk at Lois. You can do so much better, girl! Hell, even a caped horse would be preferable to this guy.
Another significant event in this issue: Lois gets a haircut! And it’s Cyndi, the same hairdresser she visited almost four years ago in Superman #45, which pleases my continuity obsessed-ass.
After being the star of this comic for the past several months, Steel barely appears for a few panels, in which his psychic pal tells him “see you in Washington”. Apparently she’s been reading the solicitations for his solo comic. Speaking of solo comics, note Superboy staring longingly at a headshot of his friend Tana, who just moved to Hawaii…
Pa Kent is almost as heartbroken about the fact that he can’t eat Ma’s famous rhubarb pie (since he’s on a diet after his heart attack).
Finally, this is also the fateful issue in which Clark Kent decides to become roommates with Jimmy Olsen, since his parents gave up his apartment while he was dead. Is… Jimmy tugging on Clark’s ponytail? (Whit looks devastated that Clark didn’t room with him instead.)
Patreon-Watch:
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And speaking of Don, stick around for his section after the jump!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
We open with a great cover, echoes of my favourite Bogdanove image, his pin-up in Action #600. There's just something about Superman rescuing kids from a fire that really works. [Max: Same! It's why I love the panel below, too.]
Inside the issue, I was struck right away with what I viewed to be the start of Bogdanove's looser, late style. Bogdanove's art was always a little looser and more cartoony than the rest of the super books, but after what I viewed as top level effort during the "Death" and "Return" storylines, Man of Steel settles into a pretty sketchy, almost carefree style that really sets it apart from the more realistic art of the other books. As much as I think this could have to do with Bogdanove (I noticed a similar looseness toward the end of his Power Pack run) I actually think the layouts look more or less the same as the previous issues, making me think it might be the inking that is getting a little loose, relative to previous issues, with thicker, flatter ink lines than during the "Return" storyline, or certain issues when Janke was inking Ordway. (I say all of this with the caveat that everyone involved is about a million times better than me as an artist, these are just my observations--I wish I could be as good as Bogdanove, or Janke's sloppiest work on my best day!)
That's not to say that there isn't still some amazing imagery in this issue. The full page splash, on page 5, of Superman soaring back to Metropolis with Lois in his arms is great--I love the lighting effects coming up from the bright city, as well as the motion created by the swirling cape. Nice, nice stuff.
The next page is a cute and intimate look for Lois in her terry cloth robe which was a highlight for me.
Page 12's half-page spread of the cityscape, with zeppelin is very well done, and Supergirl's transformation on page 13 looks great. The way she is drawn here also highlights the ongoing creepiness of her relationship with Lex II, as she looks very young,which she definitely is, especially mentally at this point.
Bog always excels at the more cheesecakey panels and the first look at Lois' Teri Hatcher inspired haircut (and evening gown) doesn't disappoint (though I could have done with losing Jimmy literally drooling!). The full page splash of Superman lifting the gondola is another great image.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
Lots of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman stuff in this issue, as Max pointed out. They make reference to Lois getting her hair cut, and also hastily mention that Ma Kent is losing weight, and will cut her hair, perhaps in an effort to align the show closer to the look of Martha Kent as played by K Callan. [Max: Wow, I actually hadn't noticed the L&C haircuts similarity but it makes total sense.]
We're fully in the Tarzan-hair era (don't call it a mullet) and Clark's hair is never longer than when he's being drawn by Bogdanove. The ponytail is tough to take, but adding a medallion, as Clark has on page 7, is a bridge to douchiness too far, for me. [Max: Maybe he got it from Jeb?]
Page 10 has a kid in a Sunsoft t-shirt, a reference to the video game maker responsible for the 1992 (hard as hell!) Superman game, and 1994's The Death and Return of Superman.
I like that even someone as rarely seen as Lois' hairstylist is still consistent, as Cyndi last appeared in Superman #45.
I find it interesting how long it took for Lois to get wise on Lex II--the original Luthor was so evil, I always found it a little unbelievable that he could keep up the act long enough to fool anyone, masquerading as his own son. [Max: I think the Jesus look helped make him appear more saintly.]