The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1730: The Adventures of Superman #619, October 2003

A nicely semi-domestic issue about Lois and Clark today. I like to see a bit of the old competitive dynamic with these two, and in today's set-up issue they're tasked with finding out something about "The Candidate," a charismatic figure who claims to be running against Lex Luthor as President of the United States.

I have to say, reading a run of Superman comics featuring a career villain as President is something I wasn't sure I'd have the stomach for these days. The SuperVillain-in-Chief in the real world is just so appalling that I thought it might be too close to home. But here's the thing: Luthor is preferable. At least he's smart. Like, really smart. At least, in some miniscule way, Luthor thinks that what he's doing is for the benefit of all humankind. They're just too dumb to realize that. But with 45, there's so little evidence of intelligence, which is far more frightening. Though I suppose what's more frightening is someone who would see that lack of smarts and still vote for the man.

Oh, and there's also an alien assassin called "Assassin Lad" who makes planetfall at the end of the issue. Not sure who he's there for, but I'm excited to find out.

Note: I realized that, in reading this run, there's a few issues missing numerically. Those were guest issues not written by Casey. I tend to follow writers.

"That boy's a go-getter, isn't he...?"

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1729: The Adventures of Superman #618, September 2003

I should have mentioned in yesterday's blog that this comic is kind of woefully outdated now. We might, might, have been able to get away with the idea of encyclopedia's in the world of 2002, but here in 2019, they're a dinosaur whose bones now litter the shelves of thrift shops and faux Ikea living rooms. The stack of books left at the end is proof positive of why they're a format of information dissemination that, barring extreme global catastrophe, will very likely never return.

Just like the Mxy Twins after the end of today's story, which makes me very sad. It's rare that a superhero gets successfully revamped, and even more so with a supervillain. Mxyzptlk has gone from clownish to mean and back again over the years, but he's basically remained the same character since his introduction. (For the record, the best Mxy story by far is World's Funnest, a long-form, realities-wide battle between Mxy and Batmite.) So to see him revamped this way, even without saying it in so many words (their previous identity is only alluded to), is just very cool. I think the twins could have been a nice foil for Superman for a while.

There is a really amazing moment in this comic where Joe Casey uses the imps' ability to perceive the world as somewhat fictional to fill in one of his own plot holes. Though, knowing Casey and his intelligent writing, I wonder if he left the hole there specifically to have this kind of fun with Mxy. A previous antagonist is visited by a mysterious figure after being apprehended who gives him a power upgrade. Though the mysterious figure bears little resemblance to either Classic Mxyzptlk or the Mxy Twins, with a simple "He is now," the figure is explained. This was a retcon of something that was very likely left inexplicable in order to facilitate this very retcon itself. Or something.

""Who was that mysterious stranger...?"

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1728: The Adventures of Superman #617, August 2003

I'm sad to say that today's and tomorrow's comics are the only appearances of the Mxy Twins, who appear to be a pair of 5th dimensional imps who are actually Superman's old foe Mr. Myxzptlk. And, really, all they're doing is trying to sell a copy of the Encyclopedia Universal, which seems to be a much less convenient version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Along the way, of course, they cause the sorts of mischief that 5th dimensional imps often do. With the embrace of the weird in DC's Doom Patrol television series, I'd love to see an imp or two show up in the Arrowverse. Imagine the Legends of Tomorrow trying to stop Batmite from changing the shape of North America into the Bat Symbol. The mind boggles.

The usual amazing writing aside, Charlie Adlard's fill-ins on these issues are brilliant as usual. He's an artist I absolutely love (though I'm not a big Walking Dead fan). His work on Wildstorm's The Establishment is just excellent, and he does not disappoint here taking a turn on the Man of Steel.

"We're here on the final stop on our whirlwind tour to sell the Encyclopedia Universal."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1727: The Adventures of Superman #612, March 2003

I'm actually glad I didn't re-read this issue before the others. It explains the Hollow Men far too much, and I preferred reading them a little more mysteriously.

Today's comic gives us yet another window into questioning the role of Superman, and of the superhero. Clark is faced, sort of, with a reflection of himself that he might not recognize, but that long-term fans will. It's the Superman who debuted in the pages of Action Comics in 1938, the crusader for social justice and equality. Though we see very little of this character (unlike the cover), his actions are unmistakable as those taken by the Siegel and Shuster version of the character in his earliest adventures. Unfortunately, the violent acrobatics and less-complicated morality of this older version of the Man of Steel doesn't sit well in 21st century America, and he is seen as a threat, rather than a hero. Superman, the current one, of course figures out what's going on, but perhaps misses out on a chance for some self-reflection. This comic is much more about the readers considering who and and what Superman should be, rather than he himself doing it.

That's what the next few issues are for (or rather, the last few that I read last week.) Timey-Wimey.

"You policeman are playing too rough! These folks are just concerned about the environment!".

(Just as a note - all of the older version of Superman's lines end with an exclamation point. It's a little thing, but really adds a nice nuance to the story.)

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1726: The Adventures of Superman #616, July 2003

Something I've found really interesting about this story is some of the self-reflection that Superman undertakes as he's facing the Hollow Men. In an earlier part of the story, he is caught in their energies, which start to siphon off not only his physical colour, but also "all hope. The very emotion that has fueled his entire life." For Superman, there is something strangely alluring to this idea, that the very thing that makes him who he is can be taken away. Clark becomes fascinated by the idea, and curious as to how well his conviction, his super-conviction, perhaps, could stand up to this draining. He even puts himself at their mercy, banking on the idea that his hope is stronger than their homogenizing.

I often hear people coming down on Superman because he's just so powerful. How can anything defeat him when he is pretty much a secular Saviour figure, unbeatable and immortal? My answer never changes. It's not about what he can do, but what he chooses to do. Or not to do. It's about getting inside the head of this powerful creature who is also very simple a good person, and about his struggles with what he should do to follow his creed, and what he shouldn't, in order to keep from becoming, in a very real sense, an incarnated god. In today's issue, he sees the power of the Hollow Men as a way of testing his convictions. Perhaps this is the greatest part of the Superman story. Not how hard he can hit, or how fast he can fly, but how strong his convictions are. And, even more interestingly, Clark's own questioning of those convictions.

Told you this was a great run of Superman comics.

"Even in death, he never felt such emptiness...He can't go on like this...not with so many lingering questions..."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1725: The Adventures of Superman #615, June 2003

I ended yesterday's entry with a line from the comic that claimed that the Heroville experiment had grown its own superheroes. I'm not entirely sure that's how we would describe Heroville. The definition of a superhero has been a point of contention for those who define such things for decades now. Is it the costume? Is it the mission? Is it the powers, or the mask? One way that I personally define a superhero is that it's someone who, ultimately, will choose others over themself. This works for non-super heroes as well. Virtually all of the superhero comics I read feature a character like that, one who is willing to but themself in danger in order to keep others from having to. If this is the case, are the shut-away citizens of Heroville actually superheroes? Rather, they're simply powered people. It is the choice of what to do with those powers that makes them heroes. Or villains, I suppose. Indeed, the only citizen of the town that we see take on this role is Kid Scout, after having been rescued from the Hollow Men by Superman. He volunteers for a mission into the outside world, having only known Heroville his whole life. In response to protests from the adults, he says "I can find anyone...anywhere...it's what my Mom and Dad trained me for...I'm a superhero." Kid Scout makes the choice to take on the role. So perhaps we can look at Heroville as a town full of potential superheroes - it is simply the choice, and the moment, that shift them from potential to actual.

This comic actually had a wonderful description of what one needs to be a superhero:

"How to be a Superhero: First of all, you need a secret hideout. You need various crimefighting gadgets that reflect your superhero motif. You must be pure of heart...fair in decision...you must never stray from your sense of justice...Finally, you need to be brave. You will need that bravery...to survive."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1725: The Adventures of Superman #614, May 2003

Of course, having just said that much of this run is standalone stories, here we are a the beginning of a three-part tale about fictions coming to life. There's more than a little of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol shining through the seams of this virtually-seamless story, most especially his inaugural "Crawling from the Wreckage" story, and Casey himself has noted Morrison as an influence. That influence is on full, wonderful display here.

The story actually picks up from another tale from issue #612, which I somehow skipped, and which I'll fill in after I'm done this story. The basic set-up is the discovery of a tesseract filled with super-powered people living a 1950s lifestyle. Given yesterday's appearance by a Jack Kirby character, the comparison of Heroville to Supertown, from Kirby's Forever People must be made, though Heroville is definitely, if one can say this of a town full of superheroes, a little more down to Earth. There's also the comparison to be made with Alan Moore's Top Ten, though Heroville, for all its powers, is much less chaotic than Neopolis.

The other set-up for this story, stemming from issue #612, is a rash of superhero casualties, heroes discovered unresponsive and, literally, drained of all of their colour. Heroville seems a prime target...

"We grew our own superheroes here."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1724: The Adventures of Superman #613, April 2003

Not sure how I managed it, but I grabbed this comic to read this morning and somehow skipped over the five issues prior. Which is not a big deal, as this is a standalone story that, really, could have happened anywhere in the run. Much of the end of the Casey/Aucoin run on this title is standalone, and I really think that's why it works so well. Casey and Aucoin are rarely held up amongst the great Superman writers, but I think this particular run is some of the best Superman I've read.

Though today's comic is much less a Superman comic and much more a Lois Lane one. (I really ought to pick up Greg Rucka's Lois Lane series.) While the Man of Steel is away doing Superman-y things, Lois investigates a store that is profiting from Superman merchandise without his consent. The proprietor, Funky Flashman, is an old Jack Kirby character that was modeled on Stan Lee's public face of Marvel in the 1970s. It's not a flattering portrait.

Lois ends up triumphing, of course. There really is an excellent case to be made that she's the most interesting non-superhero character in the whole DCU. As with Superman, when Lois is written well, she's stellar. And this story is right up there.

"No...wear the uniform. For old times' sake."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1595 - 1597: The Adventures of Superman #603 - 605, June - August, 2002

Occasionally I'll make a point of reading the letters pages in some of the older comics I look at. They are a feature of comics that make a comeback every few years, though it's definitely more emails that snail mails that make up the content these days. A good letters page engages with all kinds of debates around a title, and doesn't shy away from printing critical letters. One subject that comes up in these Superman comics is the dissolution of the "triangle numbers" system. This sub-numbering system allowed readers of Superman comics in the 90s to figure out what order issues from different series should be read in, as the Man of Steel had four (or was it five?) ongoing series at the time. I'll admit, and I've said it before, that the triangle numbering was what kept me away from Superman for a long time. It felt to me like a scam to make people buy 4 monthly titles in order to get a complete story, and that's not cool. But, from the sounds of some of the letters, the discontinuation was not a popular decision.

Another thing that comes up in the letters is commentary on the "cartoon-y" art that apparently was proliferating in the titles at this time. I can see it, with artists like Mike Wieringo and Ed McGuiness on the titles. For some, this kind of stylized art detracts from the sense of realism (whatever that might mean in a superhero universe) they crave in a story. So I'm looking forward to the responses to Carlos Meglia's art on this three-part story. I love it, but I get the suspicion I'm in the minority when it comes to Superman fans. I'll keep an eye out and let you know.

The story itself is excellent, featuring an incursion from the Crime Syndicate and a strangely-powerful infant. As I was reading these comics over the last few days, and going back over some of my earlier academic writing on superheroes, I realized that the Crime Syndicate, and their Earth as portrayed in this era, are a wonderful example of the physics of fictional universes that I had hoped to be writing my doctorate on. It is established in the Morrison/Quitely Earth 2, for which these comics are a follow-up, that it is virtually impossible for anyone from the Crime Syndicate's Earth to succeed in their plans on Superman's Earth. Something about the make-up of the universes fundamentally influences not only the outcome of the respective characters' plans, but also the kinds of stories that can exist in this shared universe. There is a moral physics at work in these fictional universes, one that, I think, would tell us a lot about ourselves and our relationships with fiction if someone (oh, I don't know how, you know, perhaps someone who did 4.5 years of a doctorate before being told that this kind of research was "irrelevant and forgettable") (I'm not bitter, you're bitter) had the time and inclination to think about it.

I keep telling myself I should just write my book. I really, really should.

"Don't bother calling me in an emergency. I'll know before you do."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1513: Adventures of Superman #600, March 2002

Sorry I've been behind. Getting some stuff ready for the Fan Expo and Fairy Tales festival. I'll try to keep on top of things from here on.

A big one today! Though the series is titled Adventures of Superman, this is actually the original Superman series that debuted in 1939. The title was changed when John Byrne rebooted Superman in the 80s and started up a new eponymous title. It, too, must be coming up on a 1000th issue, though Action got there a little quicker by way of a weekly series for a while.

The last few issues have been parts of larger events, hence my reluctance to write about them. We make our way through "Our Worlds At War," the epilogue of which does deserve a moment's attention. The comic, #596, arrived in stores the day after September 11th, 2001. Chillingly, the second page features a panel of Lex Corps twin towers in ruins, victims of an alien attack. The similarity to the tragedy in New York was chilling. The comic was made returnable, and for a little while there was a ghoulish speculator interest in the issue. These days I think it pulls in about the same as any other issue from this run. Following that was a crossover issue with the "Joker: Last Laugh" event. It was good, but somewhat anticlimactic without the denouement of the main series.

After today's issue, the story becomes much more self contained, as far as I can recall. One of the things that does remain throughout the Super-titles is the problem of Lex Luthor as President. That's the subject of today's story, as it's revealed to Superman that Lex has been missing for three weeks. Superman finds him, sort of, and some very interesting things are revealed about the Man of Steel's nemesis. There's also a lovely retelling of his origin in full-page pin-ups, a fitting tribute to this iconic tale.

Superman's adventures always continue. He'll be around long after any of us are gone. He'll be telling the same kinds of stories, inspiring the same kinds of people, growing more and more legendary as the years, centuries, pass. Ironically, we're going to take a break from them for now. I've recently added some interesting things to the collection, so I'm going to poke about at those, and then we'll come back for another chunk, and I think the superior chunk, of Joe Casey's Superman.

"Once upon a time, a strange visitor came to Earth..."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1507: Adventures of Superman #594, September 2001

I've never been a fan of Doomsday, or his role in the death of Big Blue. Big as the story might have been, and earnest as its writers might have been (watch Louise Simonson talk about it in Secret Origins - she was broken up by this), I've always found this story to be a bit too contrived for my tastes. Granted, it was the early 90s, and comics were very different back then, but to me Superman shouldn't die in a punch-up. That's beneath him. As is this creature.

That said, it's full of beautiful art, and of excellent commentary on the extraordinary measures countries will go to while they're at war, regardless of the cost once peace has been "won."

But it's also the middle of a crossover that I have no interest in following. I think tomorrow's comic is the last part that impinges upon Adventures, so hopefully the alien bad guys will be defeated, and Superman will come out on top.

"Once freed...it was...primal...brutal...now I understand how it  could've done...what it did...to you..."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1506: Adventures of Superman #593, August 2001

I forgot to mention yesterday that we didn't actually skip an issue, jumping from #590 to #592. There was a four part crossover called "Infestation," penned by Marv Wolfman, that I didn't track down as I was grabbing up all of Casey's Superman. I may go back to it, though, as I've recently read some of Wolfman's old Action Comics, and they're really good. And thinking back to Crisis, his work with Superman in that title is also pretty great.

Regardless, we're jumping into another crossover, though I won't be reading too much of this one. "Our Worlds At War" may have seemed an appropriate storyline in the early 2000s (remember, this is pre-9/11), but these days I wonder why we have to have so many stories about interstellar war. I think it reveals a really deep-seated fear that anyone, or anything, that we eventually encounter out in space will be so much like ourselves that we'll inevitably go to war with them. Isn't that depressing?

The crossover delves much more deeply into the issue faced a couple of days ago by the Man of Steel, that of President Luthor. It must irk Superman so much to have to be on the side of his greatest rival, but it also speaks to the idea of the common threat uniting all of humanity. My great fear is that it's only in the face of a world-ending event that we can actually come together as a single people, finally. Though, given the state of climate change, perhaps even such an event isn't enough to bring us together.

Humans really do suck sometimes.

"I vill reduce your alien flesh to protoplasmic slime!"

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1505: Adventures of Superman #592, July 2001

It was quite a shock when Mike Wieringo died in 2007. My main exposure to his work had been his extremely (ha! pun!) brief time illustrating Alan Moore's Youngblood. That title's link to Supreme made it stand out for me, though his art certainly grabbed my attention as well. On his Wikipedia page, Wieringo notes that his philosophy behind his art is to keep things fun. And his art certainly does this.

One of the ways of discerning a great comic from a merely good comic, or a great artist from a good one, is to look at backgrounds. While the focus of the story is always the characters, the actions they're undertaking, those characters and actions are not, for the most part, the only things happening in the shared world. Unless, I suppose, it's one of those Flash stories where he's moving really fast and no one else appears to be doing anything.

When we look at the backgrounds in this comic, be they Metropolis after the EMP or Jimmy Olsen's apartment, there is something going on. There is acknowledgement from the creative team that the main character is not the only character in the world, even if they are the focal character in a panel. I truly appreciate this. There's a lot of talk about realism in superhero comics, mostly these days from Zack Snyder, but I don't think realism has to have anything to do with grittiness, necessarily. Sometimes it has to do with acknowledging that a world is a constantly moving place with many moving parts. It's seeing those parts, the background bits that readers, were they characters, are really more likely to be involved in. If the superhero (and I dispute this) is really wish-fulfillment, the background action is the reality upon which the wish is founded.

One other thing. I'm not going to put a sentence in today, since the one I want to use really needs the panel with it. I know it's perhaps unintentional, but doesn't it look like Clark's about to wake up Strange Visitor by grabbing her ass? And from her reaction in the next panel, I'm not sure I'm wrong!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1504: Adventures of Superman #590, May 2001

Did I mention that this is the era of Superman in which Lex Luthor was President of the United States. Having a villain in that role is far less amusing or intriguing now than it might have been at the time. Though Lex is definitely a smarter president than the current Villain in Chief.

The question of what Superman will do when his drives and ideals mesh with Luthor's, as President, is a very interesting one. A part of the American, or perhaps the nationalist, psyche that I've never been able to wrap my head around is respect for an office that transfers to those who hold the office and may not be all that respectable. One of the questions raised by Luthor's ascendancy to the Presidency is whether or not one should be listening to someone who holds high office even if they don't agree with the holder. For those of us in the general populace, it's not really a pertinent question. I disagree with many things that our leaders do, but in my personal and public lives, I'm not beholden to these leaders, really. But someone like Superman, who's sworn to obey the laws of the land, and knows he has the ability to completely ignore them, has to make this choice. Does he listen to Luthor, and obey Luthor, given their history together?

The action of today's comic takes place alongside the conversation that Superman and Luthor have about this very topic. Superman does in the end do what Luthor asks him, but very much on his own terms. It's an interesting moment where we see two diametrically-opposed characters come to an agreement about a particular situation. As Squirrel Girl teaches us, there's always moments of commonality. We just have to be open to finding them.

(Of course, I write this as the UCP is set to take control of Albertan politics, and I don't think I've seen a campaign with quite so many racists and homophobes plainly on the ticket. *sigh*)

"I don't care which office you hold...I will never be your errand boy. Remember that."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1501: Adventures of Superman #589, April 2001

Back to M. Casey, and his primary collaborator on this run, Duncan Rouleau, for part two of the "Return to Krypton." This is a cool story, one that's been told time and again, though not always with an actual return to Krypton. Superman must always deal with his status as a survivor. Lois notes it in yesterday's issue, that Kal suffers survivor's guilt, though I find it odd that she's somehow surprised by this. Of course he does. Thank goodness for Supergirl (who, though, may not have actually been Kryptonian at this point in DCU history).

What we get in this storyline is a look at the history of Krypton, especially the feud between the House of El and the House of Zod. I find this particular story, when it is touched upon, very interesting, in that the feud is all the excuse Zod ever needs to take on Superman. Rather than, you know, acknowledging the fact that they're two of the last Kryptonians in existence.

There was one scene, however, that totally eclipsed everything else in the issue. Clark takes exception to the "Smallville" nickname:

"This is Mother Bird to Jeweled Harvest on secured channel beta."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1499: The Adventures of Superman #588, March 2001

The run of Adventures of Superman that we're about to embark upon was published during the time that I had my comic store, which mostly accounts for my having the comics. But a few years later I discovered Joe Casey's writing, highly, highly underrated in the comics community, and I decided to see what he had to say about the Man of Steel. I loved G0dland, so I figured Mr. Casey and company would be doing interesting things with Superman. I was not disappointed.

It's a relatively long run, so I might break it up a bit, and today's issue, the first with Casey pulling solo writing chores, seems to be finishing up the previous storyline by J.M. DeMatteis, another of my favourite comic writers. I always pay attention when we see another writer finishing off the previous writer's story. It usually means that the previous writer left suddenly, either of their own volition, or not. The best example I have in the collection is Ralph Macchio taking over for Roger Stern after the latter's departure. That was not an amicable split, and the resulting comics were a huge insult to Stern's masterful run. I don't see that happening here, though I am curious as to why DeMatteis left before the story finished.

Of course, the other side of that is that I now have to track down the issue that DeMatteis wrote. But we'll leave that for another time. Today, we're happy to get Superman out of Hell (I think), and back to Metropolis.

"Make way for the little old lady, woudlja?!"