Back on Earth
After Superman's Legends detour, the books pick up where they left off.
Superman has his first encounter with a new post-Crisis villain, Bloodsport, who can teleport weapons from a secret location, including a kryptonite gun. Superman meets detective Maggie Sawyer and the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit for the first time. It's revealed that Bloodsport is secretly being aided by Lex Luthor, the only person on earth in possession of any kryptonite so far. Bloodsport would appear some more in the 90's, a time when it seemed every new character had to have "blood" or "death" in their name.
Superman invades Qurac to try to get some answers about the mysterious terrorists from the first two issues. The cover and concept are a throw-back to World War II comics where Superman was depicted lifting tanks and battling America's real-world enemies. Superman acknowledges this in a meta comment about how he would have been forced to fight Hitler had he been around then. Superman confronting the Quraci president Marlo is reminiscent of Look magazine's legendary 2-page 1940 story, "How Superman Would End the War." The story takes an unexpected turn when another alien hiding in the sewers of Qurac tries to connect telepathically with the Man of Steel. Superman has a series of nightmares, meeting his Kryptonian parents and then fighting Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Metallo, and a never seen again villain, Synapse. Lastly, he dreams Lana Lang, Cat Grant, and Lois Lane have all learned his secret identity. This alien is drawn to Superman by his purity and goodness, and baffled by his reluctance to use his superior powers to rule over mankind. The alien's exhausting attempts to connect to Superman's mind eventually kill him, but the storyline will continue later with his surviving wife, Zaraha
Superman and the Demon team up to stop a mystical, expanding city from destroying Gotham City. The Demon sends Superman back in time where his older self and Superman then fight Morgaine Le Fey and, ultimately, prevent this story from ever happening.
This story's self-erasure is characteristic of the run of Action Comics so far. Aside from the Legends cross-over last month, none of these issues has really contributed anything to the development of post-Crisis Superman. There's a missed opportunity as Superman somehow already seems to know every character, so we don't even get to see their first meetings. We do get Superman's first experience with time travel, which is disposable and forgettable as the story itself. It is noteworthy that the Demon's inability to send himself back to another time period where his self exists is still playing by Superman's pre-Crisis rules of time travel.
As a replacement to the DC Comics Presents team-up book, Action Comics thus far pales in comparison (We missed out on a DC Comics Presents #100 for this?). Next month's team up will actually be a cross-over with the new post-Crisis Hawkman series, so we'll see if the book improves.
Superman #4
Adventures of Superman #427
Superman invades Qurac to try to get some answers about the mysterious terrorists from the first two issues. The cover and concept are a throw-back to World War II comics where Superman was depicted lifting tanks and battling America's real-world enemies. Superman acknowledges this in a meta comment about how he would have been forced to fight Hitler had he been around then. Superman confronting the Quraci president Marlo is reminiscent of Look magazine's legendary 2-page 1940 story, "How Superman Would End the War." The story takes an unexpected turn when another alien hiding in the sewers of Qurac tries to connect telepathically with the Man of Steel. Superman has a series of nightmares, meeting his Kryptonian parents and then fighting Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Metallo, and a never seen again villain, Synapse. Lastly, he dreams Lana Lang, Cat Grant, and Lois Lane have all learned his secret identity. This alien is drawn to Superman by his purity and goodness, and baffled by his reluctance to use his superior powers to rule over mankind. The alien's exhausting attempts to connect to Superman's mind eventually kill him, but the storyline will continue later with his surviving wife, Zaraha Action Comics #587
Superman and the Demon team up to stop a mystical, expanding city from destroying Gotham City. The Demon sends Superman back in time where his older self and Superman then fight Morgaine Le Fey and, ultimately, prevent this story from ever happening.This story's self-erasure is characteristic of the run of Action Comics so far. Aside from the Legends cross-over last month, none of these issues has really contributed anything to the development of post-Crisis Superman. There's a missed opportunity as Superman somehow already seems to know every character, so we don't even get to see their first meetings. We do get Superman's first experience with time travel, which is disposable and forgettable as the story itself. It is noteworthy that the Demon's inability to send himself back to another time period where his self exists is still playing by Superman's pre-Crisis rules of time travel.
As a replacement to the DC Comics Presents team-up book, Action Comics thus far pales in comparison (We missed out on a DC Comics Presents #100 for this?). Next month's team up will actually be a cross-over with the new post-Crisis Hawkman series, so we'll see if the book improves.
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