I can't save this one for "The End" of the year? Aw, shoot.

Out in the garage I still have a small bin of orphan Build-a-Figure/Collect-n-Connect pieces, including several of Imperiex. Who we don't really see this time, except as a big ball of energy, at an increasingly crowded event in the DC Universe--even more crowded than this crossover event! From 2001, Action Comics #782, "Trial by Fire" Written by Joe Kelly, pencils by Kano, inks by Marlo Alquiza. (I didn't scan it, but there's a big "The End" on the cover!)

This was not-quite the big finish to the "Our Worlds At War" storyline, which is sadly probably best remembered for ending just before 9-11. So, there was some imagery of Luthor's wrecked twin towers that was just badly timed; and a lot of mourning for a bunch of characters who were killed over the course of OWaW: Aquaman, Hippolyta, Sam Lane, General Rock (if he was real) and the Kents...I think Steel and Guy Gardner both got it, too; but only some Superman regular antagonists like Massacre and Maxima stayed dead. (Justice for Maxima!) But, in this chapter, having flown through the sun to juice his powers up, Superman was headed at Imperiex like a bullet. Imperiex was already done, though, having been taken over by Brainiac-13. Back on earth, with General Zod seemingly there in an observer status, Lex Luthor was preparing to use his daughter Lena, to fire his LexCorp towers at Brainiac-13, but the computerized villain steals Lena away first, leaving Lex without a trigger for his weapon. Superman arrives, seemingly with nothing but death and destruction on his mind...

A bunch of events occur, only some of which maybe are seen in other comics: Wonder Woman helps Darkseid use Tempest (Aqualad!) and the Amazons to focus energy through Steel's "Entropy Aegis" armor, while Lex plugs Jimmy Olsen into his tower weapon. But, Imperiex appears to Superman, wanting him to destroy Warworld and Brainiac-13, so he would be released to return. Instead, Superman pushes Warworld back into position, while the Martian Manhunter co-ordinates the new plan with everyone: throwing Warworld, Brainiac-13, and Imperiex back to the big bang. Superman escapes back to the present with Lena, while Imperiex realizes the imperfection he always hated in the universe was actually himself.

With Lena seemingly de-aged back to a baby, Superman returns her to President Luthor, saying this was a second chance for him. (Which he'd doubtless blow, I have no idea what happened to that kid...) Darkseid returns home, since even Apokolips had suffered greatly giving cheap heat in battle against Imperiex. 

 I think they were trying to get across that Superman, being Superman, would have a better answer to Super-war than Super-murder; but I'm pretty sure if you get blowed up at the Big Bang you're still Super-Dead. Also, why don't we see the traditional giant hand you're not supposed to see, or Damage from Zero Hour there? The Big Bang is crowded in the DC Universe...We saw the wrap-up issue World's Finest: Our Worlds at War #1 like ten years back; but looking him up, about the only other thing Imperiex ever appeared in was the last season of the Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon. With a simplified design; that outfit was busy.

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If DC Direct was still in-house, I feel like this absolutely would've got a figure already.

Mildly surprised McFarlane hasn't hit that one, actually. But, I was a little sick the other day, so I had time to finally read this one: from 2024, Superman: Lost, reprinting 2023's Superman: Lost #1-10, written by Christopher Priest, art by Carlo Pagulayan, Lee Weeks, Dan Jurgens, Will Conrad, Jose Luis, and more. 

While Lois investigates a Congressional scandal, Superman joins the Justice League for what seems like an ordinary mission. Later, back home, Superman seems incredibly out of it, and also doesn't seem to be breathing regularly. Bruce Wayne shows up, with bad news for Lois, but he seems just as surprised to see Superman there; Lois tears into him, "what did you do?" But this wasn't on Batman: the Chinese government had been trying to salvage the drive from a crashed spaceship, but caused an implosion that could've destroyed the earth: Superman sacrifices himself to stop it, and is thrown something like 14 thousand or so light-years into space. Still in shock, Superman tells them, it had taken him twenty years to get back...!

On earth, the series alternates between Clark's pronounced PTSD, and Lois's probably ill-advised attempt to bring him out of it by going to Lex Luthor. Lex's 'help' involves giving Lois cancer: he figures, she would tell Superman, Superman would attack him, and Lex would kill him, but at least he wouldn't be all weird and mopey anymore, right? Lex did not take into account the idea that Lois might not tell him, instead passing her nausea off as a pregnancy! We also see Superman's space travel, which covered vast distances but didn't really get anywhere: with no points of reference, he's mostly stuck on a distant world--that doesn't seem to have a name, so Supes calls it 'Kansas'--inhabited by a culture Priest describes as libertarian at one point. It's sort of a democracy, but also cliquish: the general consensus seems to be, if people are dumb enough to vote to be idiots, it's not anyone else's responsibility to save them. In the same vein, so what if the sun's going to explode? That might not happen tomorrow, or in my lifetime, why do anything? Oh, and Superman couldn't get full power in the sun there, blocked by a nebula; the whole thing seems virtually designed to frustrate him. Even the arrival of a Green Lantern doesn't help much, as the ring wearer, Hope, had no idea what that was...in more ways than one. 

This kind of series was usually 12 issues, right? I almost feel like it could've used the extra two, even if there's some What If Elseworlds-like sidebars towards the end that don't add a ton. Likewise, Superman goes to therapy, which he probably needed after this, but he also borrows Supergirl's therapist and her appointment! (Clark is also, somewhat rightly, hard on himself for not understanding what Kara had been going through or supporting her enough.) The therapist later asks, how much does Superman hate Lex, which Supes tries to brush off; but there are several short fantasies of Superman murdering Lex in various ways: those might actually be Lex's annihilation fantasies. After all, if Superman killed him, he would be proven right, which is really all Lex ever wanted. 

Lois also has a conversation with Wonder Woman, that seems full of jealousy and resentment, that I had thought Lois had got out of her system long ago. Similarly, every time Bruce shows up it's with bad news, and Lois is taking none of his crap. 

 I got this at a buy two/get one free at EntertainMart: they haven't come through for me as often as the dearly departed Hastings, but here and there. Recommended!

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80-Page Thursdays: DC's Spring Breakout! #1

The day I picked this up was a busy one! I had to replace the battery in my car, which took a bit of doing: walk to the O'Reilly's, walk back with the battery, bike back to the hardware store for a ratchet set...I was lucky enough to get done before it started raining, and the rest of the day kind of looked like how everyone thinks it does here all the time: namely, Seattle gray and rainy. But I had to rush, to make it to a sale the next town over! Anyway, I'm nattering on, since this won't fit in the scanner, and it's also appropriate for here that the cover says "Eight Sensational Stories to Spring you Forward" and we look at it the week we fall back! From 2024, DC's Spring Breakout! #1, with stories by Joey Esposito, Thomas Krajewski, Mike W. Barr, and more; and art by Nico Bascuñán, Scott Kolins, Marco Santucci, and more.

Oddly, only maybe two stories seem really spring break-related: the Teen Titans "Relay for your Life," where Robin tries, and mostly fails, at turning a beach day into team-building exercises; and the Metal Men in "The Day the Robot Danced." Has Scott Kolins done other Metal Men stories? Good fit there. Doc Magnus's latest robot has disappeared, Gold has called in sick but really just wanted a day off, and the Doc might've been distracted when sending Iron and Lead to enter a surf contest. A helpful surfer helps Tin get the hang of it, and he also figures out the new robot's problem: namely, it was built to be too serious, which means Doc Magnus took a perfectly good robot and gave it anxiety.

In "Field Trip" Harley Quinn swings back by Belle Reve prison, to bust King Shark out for some birthday fun: I want to say Harley's currently written as well-intentioned but seemingly with the superpower to make bad decisions. The trip involves an alien monster, space, and Metropolis, because that's how she rolls. "Cold Feet" is a character piece with Batman and Mr. Freeze: Bruce Wayne is a wallflower at his own party, until Mr. Freeze shows up. Stalling, Batman explains, without any direct references to himself, that he didn't like to dance, as he had lost his partner, namely, his mom. But he still ended up at balls or cotillions or whatever, and at one a striking ballerina asks him to dance, which both brings him out of himself a little, but also teaches him how to lead...like, to lead Freeze directly into a trap. But, shades of the Gotham TV show here: the ballerina had been Nora, who had been Freeze's fiance at the time--and was at the party! He met young Bruce! That almost feels like Freeze should be putting two-and-two together in the paddy wagon.

Mike W. Barr's "Soul Survivor" maybe doesn't have anything to do with spring break, but didn't Barr create Katana? Yeah, he can do whatever. Superman and Jimmy are catching "Opening Day" for the Metropolis Meteors, and "Shape-Shift in the Park" has an unusual face-off--multiple face-offs!--with Clayface crashing a Shakespeare in the Park thing, and the Martian Manhunter being forced to play opposite him. The Lex Luthor story might be the oddest, as Lex finds himself buried alive, but getting himself out is how he proves to himself that he was better than those who were just "given" powers. But was he President again? Or maybe this was set when he was...? A choice, that also doesn't really sing 'spring break,' but this wasn't bad. I did get another 80-pager, but am mildly disappointed since I had been looking for DC's I Know What You Did Last Crisis, although that one maybe doesn't have the jokes the cover makes you think it might. Read more!

A week or two ago, I picked up a batch of McFarlane DC figures, which I don't always since I don't usually love the scale, but he was doing a Metron and I didn't have the DC Universe Classics version. It would've been more expensive, but I wonder if I shouldn't have held out for the DCUC: McFarlane's Metron doesn't sit as well, the chair feels a smidge small, and is open/unfinished on the back side. Now granted, McFarlane probably figures who's going to open that thing, and who would even display the back side; but it still feels like you're getting about half of the Mobius Chair. (There is a chase version in black, for reasons.) Also, for those of you keeping track, this is like the third bald McFarlane figure I've bought largely for their chair, after Black Adam and Lex Luthor, although they were both seriously marked down--wait, is Metron bald under his little hood-cap-whatever? Also, I forget why Lex was in, as Vixen put it in a year-end post, "Darkseid-Superman cosplay", but he's got at least part of that going in today's book, which was sitting in the blog pile for some time because I had five issues and no goddamn idea what order to read them in, if any. From 2016, Justice League: Darkseid War: Lex Luthor #1, "The Omega Judgment" Written by Francis Manapul, art by Bong Dazo.

I'm really not up on New 52-era Justice League, but I think this was from a stretch where Lex was, at least in practice, a member of the League: I could be wrong on the reasoning, but I think his argument was, earth was his home and he could defend it just as well if not better than any stupid Kryptonian, especially since he wouldn't be encumbered by stuff like "morality" or "laws," so nyah. I don't know if they fully committed to the bit, and made Lex an official, card-carrying member; or if they left it open so when the inevitable backslide came they could say he was never "really" a Justice Leaguer. This issue, with Darkseid allegedly dead, Lex had the Omega power; and was being instructed by a woman named Ardora, who may have been one of the "Lowlies." She wanted Lex to use the power against those still enforcing Darkseid's rule, but also makes it clear she would stand beside Lex, but not beneath him. Lex then wonders if others would follow him, what did he need her for, and tries to use the power to murder her. Not being in control of it yet, he blows up most of a rock face, leaving him hanging off a cliff.

There are several flashbacks this issue, that try but maybe don't quite explain why Lex is the way he is: his dad leaves him to get himself out of a dry well after he falls in, telling him only the weak ask for help, "the strong find a way to succeed." Later, Lex tries to browbeat Perry White into killing a story, and is furious at Perry's defiance. (Luthor also says he had asthma as a child, which I'm not sure has been mentioned before or since?) Later still, Lex lets himself fall, rather than let Superman save him: I'm not sure how Lex made it out of that one, unless Superman still saved him regardless. Ardora tries to get Lex to simply ask for help, but ultimately has to go a step further, and jump off the cliff and fall with Lex, which ultimately gets him to accept help and opens him up to the Omega power, saving them both. Ardora tells him, gods need not be alone, and introduces Lex to his army...of Parademons! (They look impressive, but remember, as usual, conservation of ninjutsu rules apply: one Parademon is a terrifying, implacable ogre. An army of them are creampuffs.)

I grabbed four other Darkseid War books from the dollar bins, but didn't get the Darkseid War Special, which is probably the conclusion--no, looks like it ran in the regular book from #46 or so to #50. Shoot, I think I have some JL #50's, but not that JL #50? Oh, comics. Read more!

I don't know if he's as good a sculptor as Alicia Masters, but he's faster.

I mentioned I was looking for a new copy of this one some time back, and the dollar bins did provide: from 1992, Superman Special #1, "The Sandman" Story and art by Walt Simonson.

Like we mentioned before, this special was a bit of a speed-run of the Kryptonite Nevermore storyline that ran (intermittently) from 1971's Superman #233 to #242. This version doesn't have I-Ching, but instead post-Crisis had Superman making a memorial statue for the alternate-dimension Phantom Zone criminals Zaora, Zod, and Quex-Ul: Superman had executed them in Superman #22, and still carried that guilt with him. He swears "...that I will forever be the champion of life and never its destroyer." That's pretty much as it should be, although the direct-sales version's UPC box notes "Doomsday is Coming!"

This falls into a relatively thin wedge of continuity now, although it was several years: after Superman's self-imposed exile in space, and after Jimmy Olsen had met the new Newsboy Legion, but before Clark and Lois were a couple...that might be a thinner wedge than I'd thought, since they were dating by Superman #45. If you have time to re-read that run of issues you could probably narrow it down further: Lex is wearing a black glove, so this was after he lost his hand to Kryptonite poisoning but before he 'died' of it. Anyway, exiting a storeroom at the Daily Planet and pretending to be absent-minded, Clark bumps into Lois, who was hot on the heels of a story, investigating the mysterious Cosmography Industries. Which, as luck would have it, was just in the middle of an experiment, that would go awry with a massive explosion. Superman takes off to help, closely followed by the Newsboy Legion (and their flying Whiz Wagon!) who pick up Jimmy, with Lois barging in as well. After getting caught in another massive explosion, that drives him into a pile of rock; while Superman is rescuing trapped scientists, he is interrupted by Lex Luthor arriving via helicopter, who tries to order Supes off of his property. When Supes gives him some sassback, Lex decides to show him what they had been working on there: synthesizing Kryptonite! And, he had a good-sized chunk of the original right handy...what the--?!

The Kryptonite does nothing to Superman, and he even goes so far as to nonchalently eat it. While Lois and the others don't arrive in time to see that, and Lex tells them he had just given Superman "a little snack as a gesture of thanks," Lex is seething as Superman flies away, but then notices him dip, just for a second, as he flew away. Superman shrugs off his momentary weakness, but Lex suspects there might be something there. Later that night, at the rock where Superman had been embedded, a duplicate of Superman forms out of sand, and attacks some guards at Cosmography (which should just be a smoking hole in the ground at that point...) while Clark discovers hey, his super-breath was gone. The sandman later attacks him at his home, seemingly knowing he was Clark Kent, but couldn't fly yet, and smashes itself lunging at Superman and falling out a window. Thinking the creature was pulverized, Superman leaves to investigate further; but the creature re-integrates from a pile of sand, now with heat-vision! (Long-time comics readers would've probably seen Marvel's Sandman do that many times; so it feels weird that Supes thinks it was gone!)

Luthor, after a brief interlude with an Aboriginal tracker he had brought in, sets his armored Team Luthor on the Superman double, who is eventually caught in a box for a chat: the creature wanted Superman, and Lex was more than happy to help it out. The next day, a bank robbery with heavily armed and trained goons draws out Superman, whose flight powers give out midway there! The sandman attacks Superman from an armored car; while Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion arrive: the Newsboys clobber the bank robbers in short order, while Jimmy realizes the sandman was stealing Superman's powers, and tries to run it down with the Whiz Wagon. No sale there, and Jimmy gets grabbed, but Superman then escapes in the Whiz Wagon, drawing the sandman away from Jimmy. Superman does have a plan, and luckily the sandman hadn't taken his super-speed yet, so it couldn't catch him before he got back to the Fortress of Solitude. The sandman recognizes it, as it thinks once he takes everything from Superman, it will no longer be in pain. The pain hit it every time it stole a power, and as it starts beating Supes in the Fortress, it spills how Lex had explained those powers, and it was leaving invulnerability for last, so it could enjoy beating on Supes.

With the sandman now a full-color dupe of Superman, it thinks it had beaten him unconscious; but Superman surprises it, seemingly giving it something else in a burst of pain. It sees, and then smashes, the statues of Zaora, Zod, and Quex-Ul; but is then stricken with remorse: Superman didn't kill. Panicked, it cries over the body of Superman, repeating his earlier oath.

Later, back at Lexcorp, Lex is feeling pretty smug, up until the moment he finds Superman in his office. Superman explains, while he couldn't prove anything, he didn't need to: the sandman had been feeling the pain of becoming Superman, but when it had everything, it sacrificed itself to save Superman. Which, inadvertently, saved Lex (and the world) from a Superman with no guilt or conscience; although Lex doesn't see it that way. 

This was a 50-page story, but the last couple of pages feel a bit rushed, like they were running out of room. Which in the special is taken up by pin-up pages, from some big names, like Frank Miller and Todd McFarlane! I feel like this issue might be overshadowed by the Death of Superman; but it's still great.

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I took Tuesday off this week, since my internet was going to be out, and then it was out part of the next day as well. So, I'm typing this during my downtime and don't have the internet next to me, and I wonder how many typos we'll end up with! From 1999, Action Comics #755, "Necropolis" Plot by Stuart Immonen, dialogue by Mark Millar, pencils by Shawn Martinbrough, inks by Jose Marzan Jr.

Superman rescues a little girl from a collapsing building, which I had thought was going to be from whatever happened in the previous issue, but it was a slumlord's side project. Still, the slumlord cuts back, with a comment about Superman's recent attempt to take over the world. Supes knows he's going to have to rebuild people's trust in him; but he's still mildly steamed here, since somebody who's obviously a super-dick is scoring points off him. 

"Mildly steamed" is probably, at best, Lex Luthor's default state; and there's a brief interlude with him yelling at some DEO agents that serve him an injunction. How they got all the way in to see Lex, is a fair question; but Lex's ego might've blind-sided him here: he thought the government would be a bit more supportive of his synthetic Kryptonite projects, after Superman's attempted world domination. The DEO maybe didn't see it that way, arguing that the project might have weakened Superman and made him vulnerable for Dominus to take over. Lex yells at the agents as they leave, claiming deep insights...that I'm not sure Lex would usually have. I just don't see Lex as that interested in people; he wouldn't care if that guy was still a bedwetter.

Meanwhile, the newly pregnant Lucy Lane was visiting with Lois and Clark; but not privy to Clark's secret identity: the captions characterize her as a screwup that does everything wrong, and everyone wanted her to be more like Lois...I don't know about that, either; I can't see a lot of authority figures like her parents or teachers wanting that, Lois could be a bit of a pain in the ass. Lucy was going to check out her boyfriend Ron Troupe's new job, post-Daily Planet, and Lois and Clark go with. They're headed for a not-great neighborhood, though: the cab driver advises them against it. The cabbie also has a bit of an anti-Superman tirade, triggered by a tailgating Porsche. This in turn triggers a bit of a dream sequence for Supes, imagining the world if he had taken over: great for nature, bad for people. Humanity would've resisted, gotten slapped down, and whoever survived the downfall of civilization never trusted him again.

Clark wakes up downtown, as they arrive at the new Fairmont House, which turns out to be a shelter run by Ron. He's glad to have a job where he's helping people again, and Lucy is proud of him. She stays to help out, while Lois and Clark take a walk: Lois can tell the cabbie's words hurt. Clark wonders if Superman maybe does more harm than good, interferes with humanity too much; but is interrupted by the little girl he saved earlier. He and Lois take the girl and her mother to Fairmont House, to help them out until they were back on their feet.

Mark Millar has written some very good Superman stories--mostly for the animated tie-in Superman Adventures--and a lot of try-too-hard-to-be-edgy crap designed to be turned into a movie or whatever. I didn't love this one, but this is far from the depths he would sink to, so there you go. 

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I was thinking about DC's Elseworlds annuals when I pulled this one out of the box, but it was another Legends of the Dead Earth one. From 1996, Superman: the Man of Steel Annual #6, "The Never-Ending Battle" Written by Kurt Busiek, layouts by Paul Ryan, finishes by Joe Rubinstein.

On a far-off planet, under a red sun, young fisherman Kaleb is possibly the only survivor of an alien invasion, rescued by other aliens: a human-looking science team, that seem interested in him as well. He gets injured, along with a pretty science officer, but after they manage to escape Kaleb is healed remarkably quickly, under a bank of lights. The officer, Lang, was still injured, though: Kaleb had healed because he could be a potential Superman. Which hints at why his people were wiped out, by the Empire. (Not that one!) Kaleb gets the usual super powers, but the Empire ships aren't pushovers: they seem to know what his weaknesses would be. The commanding officer uses that as a teachable moment: Kaleb wasn't immortal, and victory wasn't assured, but he won't abandon them...mainly because of Lang.

The new Superman and Lang are a couple fairly quickly, as much as they can be during wartime; and are sent undercover to the center of the Empire, Metropole. Kaleb enters the annual games to become part of the Imperial Guard (not that one, either!) but is outed as Superman, then trapped by energy-draining cables and beat down. All according to plan, as that gets him to the emperor: Lex Luthor. The 60th, having transplanted himself to a new clone body over and over. This Lex was a bit on in years, and seems to think Kaleb was the original Superman reborn or resurrected again: he won't be fooled by the "death" of Superman again. But, Lex had assumed Superman would be working alone; and wasn't prepared for Lang and the others to help out. When the fight reaches a stalemate and more imperial reinforcements on the way, Kaleb hurts Lex the only way he can: destroying the new clone body he had just about cooked to perfection!

Superman and Lang had also stolen the "Krypton protocols" from Lex, and find another planet, of peaceful farmers living harmlessly under a red sun. Should they be recruited to destroy the Empire? Or destroyed themselves before they go bad? Kaleb knows it would be nice to have help, but couldn't ask or force anyone into it, and convinces them to leave the farmers alone. But he does visit that planet, before the final battle against Lex's empire, so Lang could safely have their baby, under a red sun.

We've only seen one of the other Superman LotDE annuals here, Action Comics Annual #8, featuring Bizarro. There's an Adventures one that I'm pretty sure is an alien getting possessed like the Eradicator, and a "League of Supermen!" in the Superman Annual. I feel like I've read that one: a bunch of humans are given one power each, but I think one of them turns on the others...But, I don't think I had read this issue before now, so glad I grabbed it! Read more!

"The End" Week: Suicide Squad #15!

The Suicide Squad premiered in America 08/05/21, then the Peacemaker show premiered 01/13/22, and this hit the racks 05/03/22: really seems like there should've been more of a boost in sales, but I maintain it's not really a Squad without Firestorm villains, like a martini with no olives...or gin. From 2022, Suicide Squad #15, "Defunded, part 2" Written by Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum, pencils by Jesús Merino and Eduardo Pansica, inks by Jesús Merino and Júlio Ferreira.

Although some other plotlines seem to be coasting to a stop, this one is mostly the Squad vs. Lex Luthor; as with Amanda Waller out of the picture, the team has to maintain their funding somehow. (Without reading the earlier issues, it looks like they were freelance under Rick Flag.) They make multiple attempts to kidnap Lex, to then ransom him for...actually, they haven't planned that far ahead. Lex is also more than a match for them, easily capturing almost all of them, but all according to plan.

The Squad at the time was Flag, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Ambush Bug, Mirror Master, and...some others? Including a bunch of Superboy-Bizarros, Match. Matches. Bunch of 'em. Lex ends the issue, and the series, almost looking directly into the camera, "Task Force Lex? We'll see." The whole thing feels like a bit of a laugh for him: he might've underestimated them, but probably still could've turned it around. Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: DC Special Series #5!

Or, as the cover puts it, Superman Spectacular! From 1977, "The Second Coming of Superman!" Written by Cary Bates, with an assist from Marin Pasko, based on an idea by John Lamartine; pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Vince Colletta.

The cover says it's an 80-pager, but the title page puts the lie to that immediately, describing it as "an all-new, 63-page epic starring the amazing Man of Steel!" Which might've been the longest single-issue Superman story to date, but it goes in a more unusual direction than the cover--featuring Brainiac and Luthor congratulating each other over Superman's body--would lead you to believe. It's Superman Day in Metropolis, and the usual supporting cast--Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Steve Lombard and Morgan Edge--are part of the parade, having made bets on what Clark's lame excuse for no-showing would be. But, there's a strange visitor to the city: an alien girl, with unusual eyes, and a somewhat familiar-looking S-shaped necklace, which glows as the big man approaches. While Superman races through the sun on his return flight to earth, an earthquake strikes, knocking the head off a massive Superman statue, which nearly crushes some onlookers. Supes arrives in the nick, launching the head of the statue into the ocean--where it lands near Lori Lemaris's Atlantis, which donated it to the surface!

As Lois and everyone chat with Superman--and badmouth Clark a bit--the strange girl feels they aren't showing the proper deference, and uses some invisible power to force them to kneel. We then see, in flashback to the previous day, the Atlanteans sending the Superman statue, as a small UFO passes by, with a pilot with unusual eyes, who is giddy that "the sacred scriptures" were coming to pass. He lands at an island in the Pacific, Quorxa, an alien city protected by a "vibratory shroud" making it invisible. Although, they had a recent visitor, that they were keeping under lock and key...They also had some unusual weather problems, which I wonder if they weren't caused by the vibratory shroud, since "thunder-bomb storms" don't sound normal. Also somewhat abnormal: the giant grotesque Superman effigy "Sonzrr" that protects the city. When the alien pilot delivers his news, he feels they had been worshipping a fraud; but the girl is a true believer: Sonzrr was an idol, in their savior's likeness. Not a true believer: Quorxa's visitor, none other than Lex Luthor! With a teleporting device microscopically implanted in his head, Lex helps himself to their "grkom," or "bible," then heads out to find a translator...

The Quorxans had been on earth over a hundred million years ago, and so was Superman--on a time-travelling visit, anyway. He investigates a mysterious "water-volcano", that was launching millions of tons of material into space, then generates a colossal monster, while draining his power! The psuedo-science explanation involves ectoplasm and prana, so it's more suspect than usual; but Superman had to let himself by swallowed by the monster created from his own imagination so he could re-absorb his own life-essence. Sure. Two Quorxans had witnessed the whole thing, which inexplicably left their people immortal, which led over the centuries, "fascination became infatuation! Puzzlement became blind faith!" Brainiac translates the grkom for a bemused Luthor, who has discovered the ore expelled by the water-volcano was what changed the Quorxans, but could be of a different use for them.

Disguised as a human, the alien girl follows Clark around, wondering why the savior would change clothes and hang around the humans, but they had a version of "the Lord works in mysterious ways" too, and she was open enough to accept humans as his children as much as the Quorxans were. On the other hand, when Steve Lombard tries to splash Clark from his new sports car; that sacrilege will not stand, and she launches him nearly into space! Superman has to make a difficult rescue, which involves saving a popped hot air balloon on the way; but Steve is left sunburned like a lobster. The alien girl realizes she might've gone too far; but then gets a message from home: a Quorxan had died, and others were sick. They need Sonzrr, so Ryla introduces herself, which involves a giant glowing 'S.' Superman has to duck out at super-speed, grab her, and heat-vision the 'S,' before she outs him as Clark. She isn't sure why her god doesn't recognize her, and Superman is quick to tell her, he wasn't a god. But, being Superman, he was still willing to help, so Ryla uses her tech to send them tunnelling at incredible speed through the earth! (Which had caused the earthquake earlier when she arrived!)

The weakened and desperate Quorxans beg 'Sonzrr' to save them, holding up their little glowing crucifix-like 'S's, while Superman tries to figure out what they were on about, but is interrupted by the return of the water-volcano. Concentrating against ectoplasmic drain, Superman thinks he can wrap it up easily enough, but catches a little chin-music first: a Lex Luthor power-glove punch, followed by Brainiac's force field protecting the water-volcano. Oh, and they had set up a jammer, so the ectoplasmic drain was in full effect! The Quorxans watch with a mixture of dread, rapture, and confusion; as the volcano spits chunks of that ore on their island, rejuvenating them. But Superman has a battle on three fronts, since if the water-volcano continued, it could hollow out earth completely...!

After bouncing some rocks off Brainiac into Luthor, the power-drain on Superman becomes critical, and he loses even flight. As Brainiac holds him up by the cape, Luthor blasts Superman with his power glove, launching him to the shores of Quorxa. They then turn off the water-volcano, a good 15 seconds before it would've damaged the planet beyond repair: their science had figured that one out beforehand. But Luthor is then surprised by a mysterious, glowing device; that seems to have absorbed a lot of power...The Quorxans lament the death of their god, as they receive a final, bad sign: their glowing 'S's, have all gone black. Meanwhile, the Luthor/Brainiac team has hit one of their trademark rough patches, as Brainiac has Lex in a headlock, and was going to use the energy siphoned from Superman, to power his shrinking ray: he would now have the power to shrink entire worlds for study. (What Brainiac was trying to discover or learn from shrunken worlds is unclear, although he apparently gets a kick out of it as well.)

The Quorxans had returned to their city, leaving only Ryla mourning over the fallen Superman. But he wasn't quite done yet: he had realized their 'S's had been draining his power already, and had to reabsorb it, which is why they had gone black. He also had been able to hear Brainiac boasting to Lex, and was able to rally enough to beat the shrinking ray into space and retake his power from that, then lay down a mighty thumping on them. Witnessed only by Ryla, who writes a new book of the Quorxans' scripture...

The Quorxans were never seen again after this one, but they weren't even the only invisible city on pre-Crisis earth, were they? Gorilla City, Paradise Island, Nanda Parbat...there's probably a half-dozen more. Also, I didn't immediately recognize it from the cover, but I'd read this one before, in the Best of DC #59 digest, which has a cover playing up Sonzrr and the god angle. That one also features "Let My People Grow!" So I had read this one years ago, which might explain why I'm fine with it, even if I find the Christ-imagery in the later Superman movies incredibly heavy-handed.

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I picked up a McFarlane Super Powers Superman and Supermobile the other day, so apparently I was a little nostalgic for Superman stuff. Despite being from 2007, this one almost fits that bill: Action Comics Annual #10, written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, with art by Art Adams, Eric Wight, Joe Kubert, Rags Morales, Gary Frank, and more.

This felt a little like a recap, possibly intending to set up future stories: in "The Many Deaths of Superman" Lex Luthor cheerfully revisits the multiple ways the Man of Steel could die; after which he could get back to solving all the problems facing humanity. After. "Who Is Clark Kent's Big Brother?" really should have some credits for Robert Bernstein and George Papp's Superboy #89, as this is a pretty straight retelling of Mon-El's origin.

"Mystery Under the Blue Sun" is short, as a Thanagarian patrol tries to find why three of their patrol-ships have disappeared in this sector. Hint: it ain't the "thought-gluttons" from Rann! "The Criminals of Krypton" is maybe a bit of a retcon for Non, the silent brute of General Zod and Ursa's trio; but he wasn't always such. Non had been a brilliant scientist, who had worked with Jor-El and knew Krypton was doomed. Unfortunately, the ruling Science Council considered that heresy, and while eventually Zod and Ursa would come to believe him, someone on the Council had Non kidnapped and chunks of his brain removed. Zod tries to convince Jor-El to join them in open revolt, but he didn't think there was time for that, and Zod and company were a little too quick to murder for his tastes, anyway. The trio manages to kill some of the Council, before being captured: Jor-El argues they shouldn't die, and instead should be banished to the Phantom Zone. Zod, of course, swears vengeance, on Jor-El and his son.

Finally, in "The Deadliest Forms of Kryptonite," Lex runs down the assorted, relatively new, flavors of Kryptonite: most had been phased out post-Crisis, but were creeping back. Unsure which to use, Lex crams a bunch into the chest of an unwilling-looking Metallo, the first maybe not-willing member of Lex's new Revenge Squad...This felt a little like the pendulum swinging back, from Lex having some redeeming qualities, back to being a total dick. Read more!

See, they had to go "Crisis" with a 'K' or it's a whole thing...

...also, it's "krimson" Kryptonite, because red Kryptonite would be hokey, right? Title hijinks aside, this is still a pretty good one: from 1990, Superman #50, part four of "Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite," "The Human Factor" Written by Jerry Ordway, art by Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Kerry Gammill, Dennis Janke, Curt Swan, John Byrne, and Jerry Ordway.

After getting his ass thrown out of the Lexcorp building, a glum and powerless Clark Kent recaps the recent storyline: Lex Luthor had used a mysterious red rock, to take away his powers and give him a solid thrashing. Swiped with the help of the Will Payton Starman, the rock was now being studied by Professor Hamilton, who found it wasn't anything like Kryptonite; but that wasn't helping yet. Forced to ride the subway, Clark's there when a giant mutated rat attacks his car, and still tries to help a downed man, putting himself in harm's way: he's luckily saved by Guardian. Later, on the streets, he sees a mugging thwarted by Gangbuster: Metropolis's other heroes were trying to rally to cover for the MIA Superman.

Back at his apartment, Clark gets a call from his mom, who left a surprise for him in his suitcase: a wedding ring. Y'know, just in case he might need it or something. After some drama at the Planet, Clark makes a somewhat awkward proposal to Lois at lunch, but she has to think about it. No time now, since she's got a call (on the restaurant's cordless phone!) from Lex Luthor! He offers to help Lois's ailing mom, if she will become his official biographer. Lois says no way, but Clark grabs the phone, to demand a meeting. He tells Lois this wasn't news, but to help Superman. Clark meets Lex, who threatens charges against him and Starman for stealing the rock, but Clark just wants the story, off the record. Dying of Kryptonite poisoning, Lex was desperate to bring down Superman...but, by "rule" couldn't tell him how he did it. Still, if he told Clark, that wouldn't be telling Superman, right? And he had to rub both of their noses in it: the red rock was a gift from "the imp from the Fifth Dimension...Mister Mxyzptlk!" Cue one of the best page turn/cutaways ever in comics, as a purple-and-green Mxy is very obviously hassling the Fantastic Four! Circa FF #11, and I always forget the Impossible Man appeared that early.

Changing back to his DC look, Mxyzptlk storms back to give Lex an earful, as Clark starts to put it together, since his powers were returning. Lex and Mxy are arguing about it when Superman shows up: Mxy had irons on the fire in other dimensions, and thought he could bug Supes by "remote control" with the rock. Now mad at Lex, Mxy tells Superman he'll leave for the usual 90 days, if Supes will punch out Lex. Superman refuses, but since he wants to get back to "that other, fun, world" (careful!) Mxy "helps" him by cloning a giant blobby monster from Lex's skin cells, so when Supes punches it, he was free to go. Back on "fun world" Mxy changes his color scheme and is ready to play, but the FF has copped to the fact they can ignore him and he'll go away.

After a bit more subplot work, Clark catches up with Lois at the hospital, where her mom is improving, and she has her answer: yes! They share a romantic kiss, in hospital parking, which I've cut off there...Keep in mind, there was still a few issues before she would be let in on his secret identity; but I think Clark felt he had to win Lois over, not Superman. 

I would've been buying Superman comics casually at that point, post-Byrne (and I wasn't all-in with him, either) but I would've bought the crossover issue, Starman #28! Along with the "You will not believe the last page!" cover blurb, Swan and Byrne on the cover would also have been a draw; but this was pre-Twitter, pre-comics internet, so the FF cameos were a complete surprise! That was neat, although some readers have since twisted themselves in knots trying to get all that to fit into continuity: it's just a laugh, alright? The only thing I could think of that might have come close--it's not as good, but would've fit in 1990--would've been if Mxyzptlk had to hustle back to the 24th century...

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