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I should have mentioned in yesterday's blog that this comic is kind of woefully outdated now.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."