I've seen two pre-season games already this year, and August seems way too early for football. (One game was really delayed for inclement weather; something I rarely remember seeing before but have more the last two or three years.) Seems an appropriate time for a random issue from the quarter (dollar) bin, although I wonder how long it would take to put together a full run. Nobody's jumping up and down for these, but should they be...? Probably not? From 1992,
NFL SuperPro #9, "Time and Again" Written by Evan Skolnick, pencils by Jose Delbo, inks by Donald C. Hudson. Cover by John Romita, Ron Frenz, and Joe Sinnott!
This is fairly by-the-numbers superhero stuff: nothing groundbreaking, but not badly done, either. In his civilian identity of Phil Greenfield, SuperPro visits his sister and her family; and worries that his niece Melanie was down in the dumps. The local board of education had kicked her off the middle school football team, and she felt like it was pointless to fight it. Phil didn't have much of a pro career, but still had some clout as a well-known reporter, and approaches Melanie's couch, who had no problem with her and maybe should've pushed harder for her to stay. Then, because this is a superhero comic, the bad guy shows up: from an earlier issue, time-skipping assassin Instant Replay! That's clever. On the cover he looks like a Snake-Eyes clone with the Multiple Man's powers, but inside he's a bit of a wreck, blipping around in time.
Phil manages to suit up as SuperPro, just in time to get distracted by Melanie's arrival, and catch some hands. Head in the game! She manages to save him with a well-thrown football, but also easily recognizes her uncle. Pissed at Melanie being threatened, SuperPro turns on the jets against Instant Replay, remembering his weakness was being repeatedly electrocuted. (Um...wait...) IR is zapped out of reality again, and Melanie gets back on the team.
SuperPro being licensed by the NFL seems like a bug, not a feature. I'm not the writer for this, but it seems like there are a ton of stories that he would be perfect for; that the NFL wouldn't sign off on in a million years. Still, letting girls play football would've been pretty progressive for 1992, I think. This one's not as fun as "
The Drop-kick that lifts your...um...spirit!" but I just noticed a comment from artist Hilary Barta on that old post!
