Superman: The Man of Steel #39 (December 1994)

"Dead Again!," Part 5! After ruling out the Eradicator, Superman thinks he's figured out the only person who could possibly have put a fake corpse in his tomb to convince everyone he's an impostor: Lex Luthor! Well, him or Brainiac, and Lex is closer (at the S.T.A.R. Labs facility where they've kept him since he turned into a Cryptkeeper-looking invalid), so Superman decides he'll check on him first.

Meanwhile, over the past issues we've seen Superman's friends, fiancé, and even his parents have their doubts about his identity, but there's one person who will never doubt him: Superman's Little Pal, Keith the Unlucky Orphan. (Actually, we haven't seen Superman's Large Pal, Jimmy Olsen doubt him either, but Jimmy's opinion doesn't count.) Keith even gets into a fight with another kid who says the real Superman is dead and dares Keith to prove he isn't. While this happens, a frail figure watches Keith and is glad that he's "doin' good."

(I don't know if "getting punched under the rain" counts as "doin' good," but okay.)

At S.T.A.R., everyone's on edge because the guy they hired to build a safer cell for Conduit after he broke out and killed a bunch of guards hasn't delivered yet. Some guards spot someone sneaking around the lab, assume it must be Conduit, and shoot him to hell -- but it's not Conduit, it's Keith! Good thing Superman happened to be coming by to check on Lex, or this issue would turn out even sadder than it already does.

Keith says he wanted to sneak into the lab to prove that the Superman corpse they're studying there is a fake. Awww. I don't think he has the scientific expertise to make that happen, but it's a nice thought. At least his little stunt attracts the press and gives some good publicity to Superman (who kinda needs it after the asshole he's been lately) and Keith himself, making it more likely that he'll be adopted. Keith, however, doesn't wanna be adopted, since he still thinks his mom will come back for him after all these years. Dream on, little buddy.

Anyway, the folks at S.T.A.R. agree to let Superman see Lex if he finishes those tests he's been putting off over the past couple of issues (because he's afraid they might prove he's not the real Superman). Superman lets Professor Hamilton run the damn tests, and Hambone lets him know as politely as possible that he's firmly in #TeamCorpse.

Back to Keith (this is a "Keith issue," if you hadn't noticed), he's still being followed by that frail figure who watches him from afar. Keith sees the figure collapse and goes over to help her -- only to find out that it's his mom. She's been alive all along, which means Keith the Unlucky Orphan was never really an orphan... but might be soon, because she's looking pretty bad. Keith's mom is taken to a hospital, where she explains that she left him because she's got AIDS and she wanted him to be adopted by some nice, non-immunodeficient family.

As it happens, Alice White, who's been palling around with Keith since she started volunteering at the orphanage, wants to adopt him and tries to convince her husband Perry to do it. This is a big ask, since 1) they're super old and 2) they already had a kid and kinda botched that one (Lex Luthor's genes probably didn't help)...

...but Perry eventually says yes. The Whites tell Keith about their decision as they're driving him to the hospital, and at first he's enthusiastic (they'll let him keep his cat Tiger, unlike his former foster parents... maybe they thought it was an actual tiger?), but he suddenly turns sullen, says he can't abandon his mom, and runs out of the car to go see her. Turns out Keith's mom is close to dying, but during her last moments, she gives Alice her blessings and signs some papers to turn her into Keith's legal guardian.

Meanwhile, Superman's been doing Superman stuff (more on that in Don Sparrow's section below), so he's too late to console Keith when his mom dies, but he's glad to see the Whites are there for the kid like the Kents always were for him. Sniff.

Back to the plot of this storyline: the lab results are in, and Hamilton tells Superman that he found a discrepancy... in his readings. As in, he's not the real Superman. Hamilton also lets him ("who... whoever you are") finally see Luthor, which makes it clear that Lex is in no position to pull off any evil schemes. Hell, he can't even perform basic bodily functions on his own.

Superman rushes out and, as he yells "I'M SUPERMAN!" from S.T.A.R.'s rooftop, he thinks to himself that if Luthor isn't manipulating him, then there's only one possibility left: Brainiac!

NEXT: THE NEW GODS! OH, AND BRAINIAC!

Character-Watch:

And so Keith the Unlucky Orphan, who was never really an orphan, is now officially Keith White. As we've mentioned before, Keith will continue appearing but won't really have a running storyline anymore, and eventually he just sorta falls off the face of the Earth(s). According to the DC wiki, he was last seen in a short story from Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 (reprinted in the Superman's Pal's Jimmy Olsen's Boss, Perry White special in 2022) where Perry tells Wildcat of the Justice Society that Keith, now grown up, is leaving Metropolis.

(Wildcat: "Yeah, well, my kid's a talking cat, for some reason.)

But the DC wiki is wrong, because Keith also shows up in last year's Action #1075, in a story (drawn by Jon Bogdanove and Norm Rapmund!) where Perry wins Metropolis' mayoral election and Keith is there with Alice for the celebration. It doesn't look like this version of Keith appears in other comics, so maybe Bog slipped him in?

(Is it me or is Alice is looking very Louise Simonson-esque?)

Plotline-Watch:

• This concludes the looooong storyline about Keith's mom, first mentioned just over two years ago in Man of Steel #16, when Keith mistook an Underworld mutant for her. They did have kinda similar hair, as it turns out. This is what led Keith into the Underworld sewers during the "Doomsday!" storyline, which means there are millions and millions of casual comic book readers out there who knew Keith was looking for his mom but never read the end of the storyline. Hope they DuckDuckGo it one day and come across this post.

• I like how Superman says "Lex Luthor tried to clone me once that we know of" to prevent Mike Carlin's office from being flooded with letters saying that, actually, there were two Bizarros. Yep, but only the second one was firmly linked to Lex -- at the time, Superman saw the first one as kind of an inexplicable thing that happened to him one day. (Should have called him Inexplicablo.)

• The last time we saw Lex in Action #701, he was completely paralyzed but able to think (about murdering Superman, to be more specific), but now we're told that he has no brain activity. He was also very thin but not, like, practically a skeleton. What are they feeding him at S.T.A.R.? Are they feeding him at S.T.A.R.? Did they forget? To be fair, they have a lot going on there these days.

• Speaking of which, there's a funny scene where Conduit, from his temporary cell, spooks a guard at S.T.A.R. by just saying "I'm free!," causing the guard to shoot his big '90s laser gun at nothing. The guy they hired to make a new cell, Carl Draper, says he hasn't finished it because he ran into "a setback," which I'm guessing means he blew most of the budget fighting Superman as Deathtrap. (Is it me or is he looking very David Copperfield-esque?)

Shout Outs-Watch:

Definitely not impostor shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris "Ace" Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Blosser, and Bryan! Join them (and get extra articles) via Patreon or our newsletter's "pay what you want" mode! NOTE: If you subscribe, please check your junk mail for the activation email! I will continue saying this until Jas, Tonio, and l34fd get activated, dang it.

And now, as promised: the great Don Sparrow's also great section!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We begin as always with the cover, and this is a really good one.  I half expect Batman to show up as this is a very Batman-coded cover, with the rim lighting reminding me of perhaps my favourite Batman cover of all time, by the late, great Norm Breyfogle, Detective #587.  I had a t-shirt of this same image that I wore to all four Michael Gough/Pat Hingle Batman movies. 

Inside the coming the double page spread of a bulky Superman is another strong one, his face and hair seeming to be affected by the gravitational forces of his speed.

This issue is a return to form in term’s of Superman’s character, with him acting less rashly as the last issue, and doing more Superman stuff.  I’ve often talked about how there are certain images of Superman that are more iconic than others, and this issue features lots of both.  The first iconic moment we see a few times is Superman rescuing a child, and I never tire of it.  The fact that it’s the hardest luck character this side of José Delgado, Keith Parks, that he rescues only puts the icing on the cake.  I love that he embraces him in his concern, hugs being something Keith probably doesn’t get enough of.  The flashbulb moment of Jimmy capturing Keith safe in Superman’s arms is another great image.

The appearance of Keith’s ailing mother (who unless I missed something, is known only as “Mama”) is haunting throughout, none more so than the image of her being lit by a streetlight on page 11. She looks so gaunt, it’s a wonder Keith can recognize her so quickly as he rescues her from drowning in an underpass.    

The other iconic image from this issue is Superman lifting something heavy, in this case a back-hoe, creating panicked fear from the gang members reminiscent of Action Comics #1.

Bogdanove more than any other artist seems to lend himself to the broad-shouldered squinty-eyed Superman of the golden age, so it’s fitting that he’d be the one to render this homage.  Completing the John Bunyan-size adventure is Superman tugging the freighter with giant chains which is, as he notes himself in the comic, “awesome”. [Max: It is.]

I’m not sure if it’s Bogdanove’s affection for retro styling, or if it’s an intentional reference, but Perry and Alice’s old Cord Sportsman-looking car is giving me Daddy Warbucks vibes.  The panel of poor Keith unable to part himself from his dying mother is a wonderfully hatched, quiet emotional moment, showing that big and small, Bog can draw it all.

Finally we get our most Batman-like image of the issue as Superman departs S.T.A.R. Labs in hunt of his latest surefire hunch as to who’s behind the Superman corpse.  

SPEEDING BULLETS:

• I sure hope you’re not offended by the term vegetable, which we now recognize as both a dehumanizing and ableist way to refer to the comatose or otherwise incapacitated, because you’re going to hear it A LOT in this issue.  It is thought or said by Superman, Deathtrap/Master Jailer, Professor Hamilton, and then Superman again, which feels like a whole bunch for a B-plot in a 22 page issue.

• Need a reminder this story was created in 1994?  Look no further than Superman, Jimmy, Deathtrap and Professor Hamilton ALL having at least shoulder length hair!

• But how does Superman weld the hull of the oil tanker without igniting the fuel?  When he did that trick in Superman III, he used his heat vision in conjunction with his arctic breath, blowing the contents safely into the container away from the metal. 

• I can’t help but comment, as I write this in March 2026, how morally clear this issue from 1994 is.  Without it reading like a PSA, we have several characters dispelling bunk rumours about HIV/AIDS, Superman both rescuing and advocating for refugees, and both Perry’s family and Superman championing adoption.  And it all just feels right for a Superman comic, never seeming preachy. Such was the American way, back then.

• It’s also quite a thoughtful take on all these issues, especially for its day.  The White family acknowledge that a boy with Keith’s tragic history wouldn’t just be instantly whole or healed on adoption day, mentioning a lad like him would likely have special needs, requiring bereavement counseling at minimum.  It also matters that Keith’s mother approved of the adoption and was a nice moment.  It’s no secret to readers of this blog that I have a soft spot for Keith, so I’m glad he’s hit the lowest point of his life, and that from this point on, things get better for the little guy.

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