Superman: The Man of Steel #3 (September 1991)
Superman: The Man of Steel #3 (September 1991)
Superman versus a giant, winged snake god! A talking flying, winged snake god! A whole bunch of gods from different denominations are showing up on Earth and fighting each other as part of some crossover or another. Phobos, the Greek god of terror (and a Wonder Woman baddie), is in Metropolis and sees Superman capturing some Central American freedom fighters who call out to Quetzalcoatl – the Mayan god of wind, rain and presumably massive reptiles (because he looks like one). So, Phobos decides it would be fun to summon Quetzalcoatl and tell him Superman is messing with his believers.
Meanwhile, the Superman comics’ entire elderly cast (Ma and Pa Kent plus Perry and Alice White) happen to be vacationing on the tropical island of Tattamalia when it’s attacked by an army of helicopters from the terrorist organization Cerberus. The citizens there call out for Quetzalcoatl, who actually shows up and destroys Cerberus’ choppers, but also slams a Catholic church and generally makes a big mess of things. Superman flies there with every intention of duking it out, but Quetzy turns out to be pretty reasonable once he calms down.
In the end, Quetzalcoatl sacrifices himself to create a huge rain that drowns out a forest fire threatening Tattamalia. That’s pretty cool, Quetzalcoatl. I mean, you sort of contributed to that fire yourself, but still.
Character-Watch:
Quetzalcoatl is apparently the only Mayan god that DC Comics writers can name, because despite his “death” in this issue he went on to show up in other ‘90s comics like Superboy, Supergirl, Fate and, of course, Aztek. To be fair, it’s kind of a pain in the ass to learn how to spell those Mayan names, so one was probably enough.
Plotline-Watch:
This is the only Superman tie-in to the other big crossover event of 1991, War of the Gods (Armageddon 2001 got the annuals and Gods got the regular issues). The premise is, well, pretty much what it says on the name: all the gods doing war, with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel stuck in the middle. The good ones win.
In a neat but probably unnecessary connection with recent Superman issues, Phobos summons Quetzy by going to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and borrowing Mr. Z’s soul-stealing crystal, most recently used by Professor Hamilton to defeat the Eradicator. Yeah, they’re milking that plot device for all it’s worth.
The connection between LexCorp, Tattamalia and Cerberus is explained here: the Tattamalians wanted LexCorp’s business out of their island, so they basically hired Cerberus to terrorize the company until they went away (which worked, as seen last issue). Unfortunately, Tattamalia can’t pay Cerberus’ fees anymore, hence the helicopter army and stuff. And speaking of Cerberus, I was wrong about the wonderful tag-team of Rorc and Sgt. Belcher (also from last issue) never showing up again: they do appear here… as comatose prisoners. I’ll take it.
This issue ends the plot about Perry White’s marital troubles following the revelation that his (now dead) son was actually Lex Luthor’s. When Quetzalcoatl attacks that Tattamalian church, Alice White ends up buried in the rubble. Superman eventually digs her up, and the shock of thinking his wife died makes Perry realize it’s silly to get hung up on little things like “she had an affair with the worst guy ever and never told me about it.”
This also concludes the Kent/White cruise ship adventure. At the end of the issue Clark picks up his parents from their vacation, and in a Frasier-esque turn, Ma Kent got him a terrible gift in Tattamalia: a little statue of a certain flying snake god. Hey, maybe Quetzy survived by moving his soul into an ugly living room decoration in Clark Kent’s apartment?
Click “Keep Reading” to let Don Sparrow tell you about the most important part of this issue: Lois’ jeans! And more!
Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):
One thing that Jon Bogdanove really doesn’t get enough credit for is his backgrounds. Whether it’s cityscapes, or sewers, or even shantytown market squares, there’s some real accuracy and grit, and it really helps sell the more “out there” stuff happening in this issue. And there’s a lot of “out there” stuff happening, because of the crossover that was foisted on this issue. Art-wise, Bogdanove does what he can. A snake with wings and My Little Pony hair is tough to make look cool, but the detail the art team puts into detail like the scales and eyes set it apart from how goofy this story could get.
[Max: Does that make Superman a brony for having an action figure of this guy?]
There is a LOT going on this issue. Besides the weird guy from War of the Gods stirring the pot (using that darn Mr. Z crystal AGAIN!) we have Central American dictators, corporate espionage and also freedom fighter terrorists, Cerberus popping up again, all on top of the Whites and the Kents taking shore leave in a war zone (which seems unlikely, especially after the near-sinking they experienced thanks to the Eradicator a few issues back).
I’ve said before that I love that Man of Steel is the most ethnically diverse of the Superman comics, so I like that we’re seeing a little more about Central American culture. That said, I find it a bit difficult to believe that such a large contingent (even in a made up country like Tattamalia) would actively believe in, and pray to folkloric icons like Quetzacoatl. It sort of seems like depicting modern Norwegians as actively worshiping Thor. So the culture stuff seems very reverently researched, but perhaps weirdly applied, to me at least. Plus the complicated politics of the area are pretty simplified, and when interviewing the Tattamalian bombers on page 10 and 11, Lois comes dangerously close to justifying their ’“we have been left no choice” but to blow things up’ defense, which didn’t sit well with me. (Sidenote: the Tattamalian Bombers from Chili’s are as good as advertised!)
Back to the art: Lois is looking good throughout the issue; I dig the riding boots on page 10, and her retro blouse look on page 14. Page 14 also has a pretty great looking Superman flying at full speed, which DC liked enough to use in future subscription ads.
Bogdanove also does a great job with the Whites, Perry white in particular. Not sure if he modeled it after anyone in particular, but his face is very consistent, and shows his age in a pleasing way. Also, does Alice White look a little like Louise Simonson herself in these pages? [Max: She does look a lot like Simonson today… which is weird, because this was drawn 24 years ago. Call the Linear Men!]
GODWATCH: The whole darn issue is a Godwatch, by virtue of the name of the crossover, but there’s some interesting stuff here. Besides the aforementioned Aztec religious stuff, Page 18 has some good detail on the roof being damaged by Quetzacoatl (which is as fun to have to keep typing as Tattamalia, or Mxyzptlk for that matter) who talks trash about Yahweh, followed by Superman doing his best Peter Venkman and taking on the giant reptile.
[Max: This is the part where Alice gets buried under the rubble. It just occurred to me that it’s kind of fitting that the Whites’ marital problems started in a church (the desecrated one where their son worked as a drug dealer and got sucked into hell) and also ended in one.]
Stray observations:
Judging from the number of buzzards surrounding the boat and where it sits in the path of the cruiseliner, I’m pretty sure the person in that boat on the first panel of page 1 is dead.
Do my eyes deceive me, or do we have a return appearance from the interrupting speech guy from Adventures #481?
Gee, I hope that tapestry that Pa Kent uses to douse the flames wasn’t too important… (page 15)
Apparently Mom Jeans make Clark very amorous! Watch the hands, Clark! Your mother is present! (page 22)
