Man of Steel Finale
John Byrne's unprecedented reboot of Superman concludes. Most of the story elements that had developed over the previous 40+ years have been stripped away, leaving a new world for the man of steel to discover.
The issue opens with a subversion. The splash page shows Superman holding what, from behind, appears to be the warsuit pre-Crisis Lex Luthor had worn since 1983 (and which he would not don again until 2004). Superman knows Lex has used the warsuit for some nefarious purpose but is frustrated that he can't pin the crime on Luthor himself. After their brief confrontation, he leaves Lex to his business, which is the creation of an artificial Superman clone. It's in this scene (wherein Lex converses with the scientist in Chinese) that Luthor first discovers Superman is an alien, knowledge which would eventually develop into the xenophobia and distinguish post-Crisis Lex Luthor from his predecessor. A fully clothed copy of Superman emerges from the machine, but alas the chalky-skinned experiment is a failure and Luthor orders it destroyed.
We cut to Lois Lane trying to comfort her sister, Lucy, who had apparently been recently blinded in a terrorist attack. After Lois leaves, Lucy tries to commit suicide by jumping off the balcony but is caught by somebody she presumes is Superman. But Clark Kent is at the Daily Planet, which suddenly gets a strange visitor poorly dressed in both Clark and Superman's clothes. Superman tries to take Bizarro out of the lobby but a fight ensues, and ends when Bizarro collides into Superman in mid-air, crumbling into dust. The Bizarro dust inexplicably cures Lucy's blindness.
Bizarro is a, well, bizarre choice of a villain to re-introduce here. The story makes somewhat more sense when informed by the first appearance of Bizarro in 1958, where the shunned creature befriends a blind girl much like Frankenstein's monster. It was another attempt to modernize some of Superman's sillier stories from the whimsical Otto Binder era, but it doesn't quite work. A version of Bizarro wouldn't appear again until 1994. It wouldn't be until the year 2000 that a new Bizarro would finally stick beyond a single story arc.
The final issue comes full circle. Superman flies back to Smallville, KS to visit Ma and Pa Kent. While there, he's confronted by an apparition of Jor El, who shows him a vision of his home planet, Krypton. Clark wakes up in a field, discovered by his high school sweetheart, Lana Lang. We get a painful flashback of the night Clark revealed his powers to Lana, and then left her behind. Clark decides to look for some answers where his parents buried the rocket he was found in, only to discover that it's since been stolen. Suddenly, the Jor El hologram appears again and pa arrives in his pick up and shatters the hologram with a shovel. Clark is overwhelmed by the information feed he's been given by the hologram and flies to the arctic for some solitude, sans fortress. There he processes the entire history of Krypton, all its languages, culture, and religious beliefs. While grateful for the memories shared by his biological parents, he concludes that his life began on earth, in America.
Man of Steel concludes, having accomplished its editorial purpose of setting up the pieces for the three ongoing series next month. This issue, however, was light on substance and aside from the more adult characterization of Lana Lang as the forgotten ex-girlfriend, doesn't really answer that many questions. Superman seems to learn all about his home planet, but of course very little of this is communicated to the reader. While we know this Superman had never traveled to the future with the Legion of Superheroes, it gives little insight into the missing years between Smallville and Metropolis.
Overall, Man of Steel is an interesting transition to the modern age. While the industry is growing up in this period, there are still traces here and there of old conventions that would be abandoned in a few years. For example, some scenes still begin and end in the middle of the page, a pacing that would be taboo to modern editors. So far the differences between pre and post-Crisis comics weren't as pronounced as they were going to become in a few years.
Man of Steel #5
We cut to Lois Lane trying to comfort her sister, Lucy, who had apparently been recently blinded in a terrorist attack. After Lois leaves, Lucy tries to commit suicide by jumping off the balcony but is caught by somebody she presumes is Superman. But Clark Kent is at the Daily Planet, which suddenly gets a strange visitor poorly dressed in both Clark and Superman's clothes. Superman tries to take Bizarro out of the lobby but a fight ensues, and ends when Bizarro collides into Superman in mid-air, crumbling into dust. The Bizarro dust inexplicably cures Lucy's blindness.
Bizarro is a, well, bizarre choice of a villain to re-introduce here. The story makes somewhat more sense when informed by the first appearance of Bizarro in 1958, where the shunned creature befriends a blind girl much like Frankenstein's monster. It was another attempt to modernize some of Superman's sillier stories from the whimsical Otto Binder era, but it doesn't quite work. A version of Bizarro wouldn't appear again until 1994. It wouldn't be until the year 2000 that a new Bizarro would finally stick beyond a single story arc.
Man of Steel #6
Man of Steel concludes, having accomplished its editorial purpose of setting up the pieces for the three ongoing series next month. This issue, however, was light on substance and aside from the more adult characterization of Lana Lang as the forgotten ex-girlfriend, doesn't really answer that many questions. Superman seems to learn all about his home planet, but of course very little of this is communicated to the reader. While we know this Superman had never traveled to the future with the Legion of Superheroes, it gives little insight into the missing years between Smallville and Metropolis.
Overall, Man of Steel is an interesting transition to the modern age. While the industry is growing up in this period, there are still traces here and there of old conventions that would be abandoned in a few years. For example, some scenes still begin and end in the middle of the page, a pacing that would be taboo to modern editors. So far the differences between pre and post-Crisis comics weren't as pronounced as they were going to become in a few years.
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