Lex Luthor and the Joker!
Ok, so Luthor and the Joker are both in the books this month, but unfortunately they don't team up.
In case you couldn't tell from the cover, post-Crisis Superman has his first confrontation with the Joker, who comes to Metropolis with an inexplicable budget. His first attack on the city is with a Superman robot that releases poisonous gas, and also happens to be concealing a thermonuclear bomb. While Superman saves the city, the Joker kidnaps Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White. He sends Superman on a wild goose chase searching the city for three lead-lined coffins where his friends are supposedly trapped. But Superman is able to scan the city quickly simply because the coffins stand out to his x-ray vision so well, and finds where the Joker is really holding them hostage. This isn't the best Joker story by any means, there's barely a mention of Batman and no explanation for how the clown prince of crime has Bruce Wayne-level weaponry. The cartoony Joker wouldn't really find his post-Crisis self until a year later when he would kill Jason Todd, the second Robin.
In between the main story, Clark Kent receives a mysterious package at the office: his mother's scrapbook that was stolen back in issue #2. Back in Smallville, Lana Lang is zapped by a a tiny flying machine. But the highlight of the issue is a Lex Luthor story that takes up the last 7 pages. 900 miles outside of Metropolis, the richest man in the world stops at a diner and offers a married waitress a million dollars for one month of companionship. He goes to his car and says she has 10 minutes to think about it, while she agonizes over the decision. Driving off without her, Lex gloats how his mind-game will torment her the rest of her life.
Lois and Jimmy watch a building on fire in Suicide Slum and Lois rushes in to help some children trapped inside. A mysterious masked figure jumps into the building and saves the children, while the Man of Steel arrives on the scene to rescue Lois Lane. "It's a good thing I'd just finished up with the Joker!" says Superman. It's an admirable attempt to connect the books, although it doesn't really succeed since Lois and Jimmy were just there with Superman when he apprehended the villain. Anyway, the rest of the issue continues the story of Perry White's son, Jerry, who is being lured into a gang, and his guidance counselor, Jose Delgado, who we've already met. Behind the scenes, Lex Luthor is recruiting gang members under the guise of a reform program, but he's secretly training them to be his own private army.
Post-Crisis Superman works best as the saga of Lex Luthor vs. Superman. The most common complaint I hear about Superman as a character is that people mistakenly think his stories must be boring because he's too powerful. But the reality is that despite all his powers, Luthor makes Superman seem powerless. Lex remains one step ahead, and the Man of Steel struggles to keep up.
Part 1 of the most controversial Superman story ever, probably. Big Barda of the New Gods, for reasons not explained, makes a wrong turn and ends up in Suicide Slum. Her purse, containing her mega-rod, is stolen by a common thief who she chases into the sewer. Her mega-rod is found by Sleez, a mind-controlling exile from Apokolips who just so happens to have been hiding out in the very same sewer. Meanwhile, Clark Kent is investigating how some elderly residents of Suicide Slum are living well beyond 100 years, due to traces of radiation which Superman detects with his vision. Superman tracks the radiation to the sewer where he finds Barda fighting Sleez, and he stops her just as she was about to kill him. Barda starts to fight Superman, thinking he's just one of Sleez's mind tricks, and Sleez captures them both in a trap door.
This issue is mainly a story about Big Bard, a lesser-known New God. Superman doesn't even appear until halfway through. The abrupt beginning feels like a continuation from another series, although no such book exists that I could find. Barda's husband, Mr. Miracle, will guest star in the next issue, a story so sleezy you won't believe it.
Superman #9
In between the main story, Clark Kent receives a mysterious package at the office: his mother's scrapbook that was stolen back in issue #2. Back in Smallville, Lana Lang is zapped by a a tiny flying machine. But the highlight of the issue is a Lex Luthor story that takes up the last 7 pages. 900 miles outside of Metropolis, the richest man in the world stops at a diner and offers a married waitress a million dollars for one month of companionship. He goes to his car and says she has 10 minutes to think about it, while she agonizes over the decision. Driving off without her, Lex gloats how his mind-game will torment her the rest of her life.
Adventures of Superman #432
Post-Crisis Superman works best as the saga of Lex Luthor vs. Superman. The most common complaint I hear about Superman as a character is that people mistakenly think his stories must be boring because he's too powerful. But the reality is that despite all his powers, Luthor makes Superman seem powerless. Lex remains one step ahead, and the Man of Steel struggles to keep up.
Action Comics #59
This issue is mainly a story about Big Bard, a lesser-known New God. Superman doesn't even appear until halfway through. The abrupt beginning feels like a continuation from another series, although no such book exists that I could find. Barda's husband, Mr. Miracle, will guest star in the next issue, a story so sleezy you won't believe it.
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