Spilled Blood
In some of the most violent and disturbing Superman comics to date, a new villain upgrades some newer rogues, but an old foe returns darker and deadlier than ever. A supporting character dies this month, and this death is probably more devastating than Superman's.
While stopping some gang violence, Superman bumps into John Henry Irons, who no longer has his armor and is moving to Washington, D.C. Cat Grant has a heartfelt moment with her son, Adam, who blames himself for Jose Delgado leaving them. And a mysterious new villain named Bloodthirst experiments on a man who will be the next Bloodsport.
Lois' exposé on LexCorp construction is published and Luthor II fires the manager who leaked the story and hires a team of super-powered hit men to silence him. Superman stops the assassins, but during the fight he's bothered by the sound of a girl crying for her mother. We see the girl with a creepy man who just wants to play with toys. Meanwhile, Lois is investigating several kidnappings in the city.
This issue has a rare guest artist, Chuck Wojtkiewicz, filling in for regular penciler Jon Bogdonave.
The Toyman, now darker and more sinister, has been kidnapping certain children in Metropolis whose parents, he thinks, don't deserve them. Cat Grant takes her son, Adam, to a Halloween party dressed as Superboy, where he's lured away by a man in a dinosaur suit and then goes missing. The Toyman takes Adam back to his lair, but rebellious boy isn't scared like the other children. Adam tries to free the other kids and the Toyman severely punishes his disobedience by killing him. Shortly after reporting her son missing, Cat Grant is called to identify the body.
After (literally) treasure hunting at the bottom of the ocean, Superman wakes Lois up early on a Sunday morning to take her out to dinner in Paris. When Lois and Clark return to Metropolis the next day, they find out the news that Adam was murdered while they were out of town.
In the final pre-Crisis story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Superman's sillier villains like the Toyman, the Prankster, and Bizarro suddenly went from comical to homicidal. But there was actually an in-story reason for that turn to darkness: the big bad at the story's end, Mr. Myxyzptlk, had decided to stop being funny and to start being evil, which caused a ripple effect among the Man of Steel's rogues gallery. In post-Crisis continuity, there wasn't any particular reason for the villains to be meaner and deadlier than their pre-Crisis counterparts, they just were. Fans of the older comics were naturally critical of this aspect of post-Crisis continuity (which was particularly violent in the 90's), and writers have since tried to create compelling in-story reasons for this darker universe, most recently blaming it on Dr. Manhattan in Doomsday Clock. A character who kills a child is instantly beyond redemption, and this act pushed the Toyman more into Batman-villain territory.
Spilled Blood: First Cut
A new Bloodsport makes his violent debut and it's hard to believe this issue was approved by the Comics Code Authority. In an alley, Bloodsport stops a gang from raping a woman, but he murders their intended black victim for not knowing her place, and the white gang for trying to rape a black woman. This sort of senseless, gratuitous violence is what the 90's was notorious for, but it's especially shocking to see it in Superman comics. One can't help but think that things have gotten a lot darker ever since he died. Bloodsport and Toyman were some of the first villains Superman encountered in the first year of post-Crisis comics, so it seems like a deliberate editorial decision to revamp them in the first year of Superman's resurrection.
A distraught Cat Grant wanders the streets of Metropolis, passing a toy store that reminds her of her son, and a bar that reminds of her of herself. Lois checks in on Cat at her apartment, and sees an unopened bottle of vodka but also, more alarmingly, a gun in an open drawer. Cat tells Lois how she quit drinking on her own for Adam and couldn't bring herself to start again now, Lois offers to stay as long as she needs and they both hug.
The S.C.U. and Superman are called to respond to Bloodsport, who's been targeting black people. He may be a different man behind the mask, but the new Bloodsport still has the power to teleport advanced weapons from a secret location. Before Superman can stop him, Bloodsport fires two tracking missiles targeting Superman's black and white friends, Ron Troupe and Jimmy Olsen, just to see which one of them Superman will try to save.
Spilled Blood: Second Cut
Superman just happens to follow the missile that was chasing Ron Troupe and Jimmy Olsen luckily has more experience in this sort of situation. Superman can't get to the second missile in time, but the villain Hi-Tech (last seen in Action Comics #682) comes out of nowhere and stops it. Hi-Tech has also been recently upgraded by Bloodthirs, and although her mission wasn't to kill Jimmy Olsen, she absorbs the missile and also its program. Although Hi-Tech tries to work with him, Bloodsport is furious when he learns Bloodthirst also gave her his teleporter. The two start to tear apart the city, but Bloodsport accidentally drops a bomb with a deadman's safety. Hi-Tech whispers to Superman to forget them and save his friend. Superman flies away with Ron Troupe and the two villains are apparently destroyed in the explosion. But later that evening, a cybernetic female emerges from the crater determined to complete her mission and kill Jimmy Olsen.
On the news, the S.C.U. has to answer difficult questions about the heavy loss of minority lives. At GBS, Cat Grant has had enough of Vinnie Edge's shameless sexual harassment, and she walks out slamming the door behind her.
Superman: The Man of Steel #28
Lois' exposé on LexCorp construction is published and Luthor II fires the manager who leaked the story and hires a team of super-powered hit men to silence him. Superman stops the assassins, but during the fight he's bothered by the sound of a girl crying for her mother. We see the girl with a creepy man who just wants to play with toys. Meanwhile, Lois is investigating several kidnappings in the city.
This issue has a rare guest artist, Chuck Wojtkiewicz, filling in for regular penciler Jon Bogdonave.
Superman #84
After (literally) treasure hunting at the bottom of the ocean, Superman wakes Lois up early on a Sunday morning to take her out to dinner in Paris. When Lois and Clark return to Metropolis the next day, they find out the news that Adam was murdered while they were out of town.
In the final pre-Crisis story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Superman's sillier villains like the Toyman, the Prankster, and Bizarro suddenly went from comical to homicidal. But there was actually an in-story reason for that turn to darkness: the big bad at the story's end, Mr. Myxyzptlk, had decided to stop being funny and to start being evil, which caused a ripple effect among the Man of Steel's rogues gallery. In post-Crisis continuity, there wasn't any particular reason for the villains to be meaner and deadlier than their pre-Crisis counterparts, they just were. Fans of the older comics were naturally critical of this aspect of post-Crisis continuity (which was particularly violent in the 90's), and writers have since tried to create compelling in-story reasons for this darker universe, most recently blaming it on Dr. Manhattan in Doomsday Clock. A character who kills a child is instantly beyond redemption, and this act pushed the Toyman more into Batman-villain territory.
Adventures of Superman #507
A new Bloodsport makes his violent debut and it's hard to believe this issue was approved by the Comics Code Authority. In an alley, Bloodsport stops a gang from raping a woman, but he murders their intended black victim for not knowing her place, and the white gang for trying to rape a black woman. This sort of senseless, gratuitous violence is what the 90's was notorious for, but it's especially shocking to see it in Superman comics. One can't help but think that things have gotten a lot darker ever since he died. Bloodsport and Toyman were some of the first villains Superman encountered in the first year of post-Crisis comics, so it seems like a deliberate editorial decision to revamp them in the first year of Superman's resurrection.
A distraught Cat Grant wanders the streets of Metropolis, passing a toy store that reminds her of her son, and a bar that reminds of her of herself. Lois checks in on Cat at her apartment, and sees an unopened bottle of vodka but also, more alarmingly, a gun in an open drawer. Cat tells Lois how she quit drinking on her own for Adam and couldn't bring herself to start again now, Lois offers to stay as long as she needs and they both hug.
The S.C.U. and Superman are called to respond to Bloodsport, who's been targeting black people. He may be a different man behind the mask, but the new Bloodsport still has the power to teleport advanced weapons from a secret location. Before Superman can stop him, Bloodsport fires two tracking missiles targeting Superman's black and white friends, Ron Troupe and Jimmy Olsen, just to see which one of them Superman will try to save.
Action Comics #694
Superman just happens to follow the missile that was chasing Ron Troupe and Jimmy Olsen luckily has more experience in this sort of situation. Superman can't get to the second missile in time, but the villain Hi-Tech (last seen in Action Comics #682) comes out of nowhere and stops it. Hi-Tech has also been recently upgraded by Bloodthirs, and although her mission wasn't to kill Jimmy Olsen, she absorbs the missile and also its program. Although Hi-Tech tries to work with him, Bloodsport is furious when he learns Bloodthirst also gave her his teleporter. The two start to tear apart the city, but Bloodsport accidentally drops a bomb with a deadman's safety. Hi-Tech whispers to Superman to forget them and save his friend. Superman flies away with Ron Troupe and the two villains are apparently destroyed in the explosion. But later that evening, a cybernetic female emerges from the crater determined to complete her mission and kill Jimmy Olsen.
On the news, the S.C.U. has to answer difficult questions about the heavy loss of minority lives. At GBS, Cat Grant has had enough of Vinnie Edge's shameless sexual harassment, and she walks out slamming the door behind her.
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