Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Last night was Supergirl/Flash, today we've got Superman/Impulse!


Impulse probably asked the pope about bears and the woods, too; in 1996's Adventures of Superman #533, "Scavenger Hunt" Written by Karl Kesel, pencils by Stuart Immonen, inks by Jose Marzan, Jr.

You wouldn't guess right away, but this issue's bad guy is right there in the title: the Scavenger, fresh from giving Superboy the hassle. (Hmm, I'm more familiar with the first Scavenger, an Aquaman villain that ended up in Warlord, but I remember this guy.) He's sent Superman on a scavenger's hunt across the globe, to stop his bombs. Deciding he needs a little back-up, Superman makes a call to Wally West, but gets Max Mercury...who sends Impulse, instead.

Although he tends to run off before thinking, Impulse does a good job and helps Supes with thirteen more bombs, until they hit San Diego. Supes gets suspicious and decides to maybe just let this one count down to zero. Then changes his mind when the vacationing Kents say hello; and Superman yells at Impulse to get everyone out of there in the eight seconds remaining. As he often did, Impulse's thought balloon spells it out:

The bomb was a decoy, and Superman realizes someone wanted to keep him out of Metropolis; where Scavenger's plan failed to take into account another of Metropolis's heroes: Alpha Centurion! (Last seen on this blog a good six years back!) When Supes and Impulse show up, the outmatched Scavenger disappears; although it seems he may have taken the "coins of power" he was after...or maybe not. Impulse, being a rare hero not awestruck by Superman, tells Supes to cut himself some slack: "Smart guy like you's just gotta trust his--impulses!"

There is a nice scene of Superman and Centurion chatting in Latin, but a lot of this issue is given over to subplots, particularly one involving Lori Lemaris, who has apparently gone all Little Mermaid and has legs now. She also lets slip to Lois--perhaps not accidentally--that Clark had proposed to her; then falls off a roof--again, perhaps not accidentally--and kisses Superman when he saves her. She apologizes, saying at least no one saw, which of course Lois did...

My conversational Latin is pretty bad--hell, my conversational English ain't doin' great--but thanks to the internet, "ab uno disce omnes," from one, learn all. "Eheu fugaces labuntur anni," Alas, the fleeting years slip by. Superman seems to disagree--"e contrario"--and concede Impulse may have a point. Man, this should qualify me for an educational grant or something...

1 comment:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

Hey you probably should. And google translate is the da bomb dot com man. I've used that a good bit to translate spanish. Just 'cause....

Did they ever use this new Scavenger guy again? I sure don't remember him at all, only the Aquaman one.
Looks like a fun issue though, but that's due to Karl Kesel being able to actually write humorous books without overdoing it, like his Superboy and Daredevil runs showed us all.