Amen to that!  

I started a new job (in real life!) a couple months back, and after some rigorous training am back behind a desk where I belong!  Should avail me more time for posting, both here and there.

Perhaps "Green Lantern in the Post-Crisis Era" should be added to the reviews by shaxper list...?  

*crosses fingers*  

Oh how I wish! I would love to hear shaxper's reviews on the Englehart and Jones eras, since Wildfire2099 is covering the Kyle Rayner era.

That would be the one.

You should totally check it out: Jones GL and GL: Mosaic are pretty sweet.

Superman #26



"It's Just a Shot Away!"
writer: Roger Stern
pencils: Kerry Gammill
inks: Brett Breeding
letters: John Costanza
colors: Petra Scotese
asst. editor: Renee Witterstaetter
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: B

This issue could have been a simple tie-in to Invasion, but instead Stern and Carlin manage to maintain that sense of numerous plot points up in the air at the same time that's been working so well over in Adventures of Superman. In addition to the Invasion, we've got Brainiac controlling Luthor, the whole Gangbuster problem (more obvious than ever that it's really Superman living a double -- or is it a triple? -- life), the return of The Guardian and Project Cadmus, and the introduction of new villain Baron Sunday.

I know the Post-Crisis Superman is particularly susceptible to magic, but I can't say Baron Sunday impressed me in any way. So far as we can tell, he can create fetish dolls and kill people through them, as well as do some magic without them including a "mystic sphere." However, Sunday's motives remain unclear. It seems implied he heads some kind of criminal syndicate. I assume this will be revisited later.

No further mention of Amanda McCoy here. I guess that's Ordway's baby now. Come to think of it, Intergang doesn't get mentioned either.

Not a particularly memorable issue beyond the fun of watching Superman take down a horde of Thanagarians with slightly excessive cruelty, but not a bad story either, and I really like the multiple plot lines developing concurrently.


Important Details:

-1st appearance of Baron Sunday. Can create fetish dolls to kill people, as well as create a mystic sphere. Possibly possesses other magic, as well. Implied to be the head of a criminal syndicate.



Minor Details:

-How did Superman determine that it was the "voodoo killer" who had remotely attacked him?

-I had been going on the assumption that, with the failure of Superman IV in the theaters, the failure of John Byrne's run to attract and maintain new readership, and the rise in popularity of Batman after DKR and Year One, that Superman's pop culture appeal was in serious decline by this point, but this issue features two ads that suggest otherwise. The first is a Superman hotline, where for $2 for the first minute and 45 cents for each minute after, you can hear an all new Superman story each day. The second is an ad for collectible superhero coins, and the most prominent ones all feature Superman and Superman-related characters. Batman has the same amount of coins shown, but they are in secondary focus. So either I'm off the mark here or these ads were.




(the coins are hard to see in the image above. From top to bottom, left to right, they are: Supergirl, "50th Birthday of Superman", Lex Luthor, Penguin, Robin, Superman, Batman, Joker, Batmobile, Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, "Cartoon Celebrities", and I have no idea on the last one.



plot synopsis in one sentence:

Superman learns about a "voodoo killer" causing people to die with fetish dolls, he decides to begin looking into it as Clark Kent, Baron Sunday (the killer) learns that Superman is looking into his killings and decides to kill him, Perry, Clark, and Lois are informed by Sarge Steel that the government does not want Superman getting involved with the Invasion (which has now conquered Australia), throwing Clark into an out of character rage, Brainiac informs Luthor that he has nothing to do with the Invasion and wants it stopped so that he can rule by himself, the Thanagarians lead an attack on Metropolis, Superman decides to get involved even against the government's wishes, he kicks butt but Baron Sunday decides to strike at the same time, seriously hurting Superman remotely with a fetish doll, the Guardian and Captain Atom meet while investigating whether or not Superman has been killed (assuming the Thanagarians were the ones who hurt him), and "Gangbuster" tracks down Baron Sunday and kicks his butt, demonstrating all sorts of Superman-like powers as well as a succeptability to Jimmy Olsen's signal watch.