War of the Gods
It's been a couple years since DC last had a true line-wide crossover (1988's Invasion). While Armageddon 2001 happened a few months ago, the tie-ins were only in this year's annuals, not in the regular ongoing series. While events in the next two years of the Superman books will have ramifications throughout the entire universe, we won't see another real crossover event until Zero Hour in 1994.
War of the Gods was conceived as an event for Wonder Woman's 50th anniversary and would mark the end of George Perez's run on that title, and almost the end of that series itself. Of course, if you only knew War of the Gods from tie-ins like this, you wouldn't know any of what happened in the main series.
Ma and Pa Kent continue their cruise in the island nation of Tattamalia, which it turns out is also where the terrorists of Cerberus came from. As Superman fights Cerberus in Metropolis, the god Phobos overhears the terrorists invoke the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. Phobos finds Mr. Z's crystal in the Fortress of Solitude and uses it to make Quetzalcoatl appear. Cerberus attacks Tattamalia and Quetzalcoatl destroys the terrorists. Believing the serpent god responsible for the destruction on the island, Superman tries to fight Quetzalcoatl but the god explains the situation and, acknowledging he no longer belongs in this world, he leaves. Superman helps the Kents and the Whites out of the rubble and later Clark Kent greets his parents at the pier when their ship returns.
On a date, Clark Kent has to leave Lois embarrassed at a restaurant by herself while Superman flies off to save a sunken submarine. Later Superman leaves Lois to entertain Clark's parents in Metropolis while Jimmy Olsen tries to avoid being seen by them in his new job at a hotdog stand. Superman stops a homeless man who goes on a rampage after finding the location where Bloodsport's weapons were being stored by the police.
Superman tells Lois to dress warm and takes her to Mount Fuji where they can finally spend some time alone together. They spend hours talking to each other and completely lose track of time, but when they return to Metropolis almost no time has passed. It turns out another of the Linear Men (Liri Lee making her first appearance) has broken the rules and decided to give Superman a gift by stopping time to make up for the time he lost in Time and Time Again. Appreciating Superman's gift of his time, Lois repays him the only way she knows how and writes a story thanking the Man of Steel. The last few pages of the issue read like her story in the Daily Planet and run seamlessly into the letters column.
Intergang is being watched by a woman in the shadows while they scheme to make a strike at the Daily Planet even worse. Superman reads the morning paper and flies to Lois' apartment to thank her in person. She gets a phone call and the couple learns about the strike, which means they'll both be phoning in their stories to the wire service rather than going in to the office. Before he leaves, Lois reminds Clark that tonight is the night their parents are meeting for the first time.
Cat Grant covers the strike for GBS while Jimmy Olsen is there trying to write a story for whoever will buy it. Recognizing the two as Superman's friends, the Parasite kidnaps Cat and Jimmy to lure Superman so he can steal his powers again. Superman borrows Professor Hamilton's force field to help protect him from losing more power and from his own powers being used against him. After Superman defeats the Parasite, Rose Forrest (aka Thorn) is drawn the crime scene and contemplates getting involved.
Superman is still recovering from his fight with the Parasite, but he can't miss the first meeting of the Lanes and the Kents. The dinner starts out fine but deteriorates the more Sam Lane insists on discussing his deplorable politics. Alerted to a fire bombing at the Daily Planet, Lois and Clark excuse themselves and fly together to the scene. Superman finds traces that the vigilante Thorn has been there already and finds her on a nearby rooftop. She tells him that Intergang has been trying to make the strike situation worse by framing the union for the bombing. At a rail yard they find Mannheim's girlfriend and her sister, Tiny Bubbles, a gigantic female bodybuilder previously seen as a punchline in Action Comics #653. Superman and Thorn defeat the pair, Rose flees the scene, and Superman vows to put an end to Intergang once and for all. On the last page, Clark says goodbye to his parents at the airport as they go back to Smallville for now.
This is Thorn's post-Crisis reintroduction, but she's depicted as a foe Superman had previously encountered in his early years. Little backstory is given, but readers will assume she's the same split-personality anti-hero that she was since the 70's. We'll see this version of her a few more times in the near future, but her character would later be dramatically rebooted with an even darker origin in 2004.
Superman: The Man of Steel #3
Ma and Pa Kent continue their cruise in the island nation of Tattamalia, which it turns out is also where the terrorists of Cerberus came from. As Superman fights Cerberus in Metropolis, the god Phobos overhears the terrorists invoke the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. Phobos finds Mr. Z's crystal in the Fortress of Solitude and uses it to make Quetzalcoatl appear. Cerberus attacks Tattamalia and Quetzalcoatl destroys the terrorists. Believing the serpent god responsible for the destruction on the island, Superman tries to fight Quetzalcoatl but the god explains the situation and, acknowledging he no longer belongs in this world, he leaves. Superman helps the Kents and the Whites out of the rubble and later Clark Kent greets his parents at the pier when their ship returns.
Superman #59
Superman tells Lois to dress warm and takes her to Mount Fuji where they can finally spend some time alone together. They spend hours talking to each other and completely lose track of time, but when they return to Metropolis almost no time has passed. It turns out another of the Linear Men (Liri Lee making her first appearance) has broken the rules and decided to give Superman a gift by stopping time to make up for the time he lost in Time and Time Again. Appreciating Superman's gift of his time, Lois repays him the only way she knows how and writes a story thanking the Man of Steel. The last few pages of the issue read like her story in the Daily Planet and run seamlessly into the letters column.
Adventures of Superman #482
Cat Grant covers the strike for GBS while Jimmy Olsen is there trying to write a story for whoever will buy it. Recognizing the two as Superman's friends, the Parasite kidnaps Cat and Jimmy to lure Superman so he can steal his powers again. Superman borrows Professor Hamilton's force field to help protect him from losing more power and from his own powers being used against him. After Superman defeats the Parasite, Rose Forrest (aka Thorn) is drawn the crime scene and contemplates getting involved.
Action Comics #669
This is Thorn's post-Crisis reintroduction, but she's depicted as a foe Superman had previously encountered in his early years. Little backstory is given, but readers will assume she's the same split-personality anti-hero that she was since the 70's. We'll see this version of her a few more times in the near future, but her character would later be dramatically rebooted with an even darker origin in 2004.
Comments
Post a Comment