Re: Action Comics Weekly

We're at the end of September 1988 and the last issue (thank Rao) is at the end of January 1989. Action Comics returns to the monthly schedule in June. (with Annual #2 before that) I wonder when they decided to pull the plug.

The thing that gets me is that DC was no stranger to the 8 page format. Between the back ups in other books, the anthology like issues of World's Finest etc. the DC staff should have been very familiar with how continued 8 page strips work, what was needed to make them successful, etc. and been able to shepherd the strips here much better. Yes the weekly pace if different, it just means you needed to get more content in the can ahead of time to accommodate it, not that the material needed to be of a different nature. I loved the idea of a weekly anthology book and thought most of the choices for characters to feature were solid or good, but the execution left so much to be desired.

-M

Action Comics Weekly #626



Immediately after my comment last issue that we hadn't seen Mike Gold's name attached to this title for months now, he's back, officially answering the letter columns. I don't think he ever actually left, but I do think it's odd that his name dropped off, coinciding with a sense that there was no one person maintaining control over this title. Sure enough, while Gold may be directly controlling which features make it into the book, we do see different editors (note: not assistant editors) assigned to each feature, so essentially no one is at the helm, driving the ship, even if Mike Gold is the HR guy hiring the crew. That was an awkward analogy.

Still, there were some significant improvements in this issue worth discussing:


Green Lantern James Owsley (Christopher Priest) finally appears to be finding his way as he revisits two themes he hit in his first issue (alien cultures having different norms than us, and Hal finding/rescuing an alien vessel without sticking around to see the outcome) and actually goes somewhere with them this time. Now we have an alien that has taken on Hal's likeness, walking around killing people because it saw this on TV and assumes it is how our culture communicates. Whereas Peter David would have played this for absurdity, Owsley manages to keep it relatively serious and intense. I'm interested.

Shazam! wraps up neatly, while also offering a plug for a new Shazam! ongoing title that will continue from this feature. Of course, with the plot line resolved, the only aspect of this run that's likely to matter in the ongoing is the creation of Captain Nazi (who is still at large). Once again, the story was never a real winner, but Roy and Dann Thomas imbued Billy Batson with such a realistic and likable persona. I just may have to check out the ongoing eventually.

Secret Six took some significant leaps in this issue. First off, we learn that five of the original Secret Six really did die and, finally observing events from Mockingbird's viewpoint, it's confirmed that Mockingbird is not the one who did this and, in fact, is seeking retribution against those who did. It's also suggested subtly that this may not be the original Mockingbird. Perhaps a different member of the original Six survived and took over the identity.

What I found most interesting about this installment, though, was a minor one-panel event in which a bad guy falls off a plummeting helicopter into a pool that is conveniently below him. With all the shocking stuff this title has been doing lately to push the boundaries of a comic code approved title (we've had rampant sex and nudity in Blackhawk, as well as mainstream comicdom's first openly gay protagonist in Secret Six), are they STILL not allowed to kill bad guys?? It hadn't even occurred to me until now that, crashing and exploding vehicles aside, we'd never specifically seen someone die...in ANY of these features.

Deadman wraps up...kind of. Things didn't even wrap up all that satisfactorily as the villains are still out there and might eventually come back. Once more, gorgeous art by Keely Zones and Tony DeZuniga, but the plot itself was a significant disappointment. Don't spend weeks teasing me with the imminent threat of an army of zombies looking to conquer the city and then never actually have that lead to anything.

Black Canary: Fan polls show this feature's previous story arc clocking in at dead last for the fourth week in a row (no other feature besides Superman has ever even done that for two weeks in a row!), and I whole-heartedly concur. In fact, I am so sick ofSharon Wright's writing that this will be the first time ever that I am choosing to skip a feature and not read it. I just can't take the awfulness anymore.


And then there was Superman...

"...Into the Fire!"
writer: Roger Stern
pencils: Curt Swan
inks: Murphy Anderson
letters: Bill Oakley
colors: Tom Ziuko
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: B


Even though it remains true that this achingly slow story arc could be wrapped up in two seconds flat by Superman simply flying religious zealot Bob Galt over to his congregation, I have to admit that Stern is doing a better job moving the plot and action forward at this point, with Clark and Bob evading pursuing fighter jets in the desert in a clunky old jeep. Additionally, whereas Stern previously dragged out entire installments in order to have fun at Bob's expense, he manages to get in a pretty good jab without slowing things down this time around as Bob remarks, "We're getting close, Mr. Kent. Can't you feel the vibrations of love?"

No, Bob is nowhere near as amusing as Stern thinks he is, but it almost made me crack a smile.


Important details: none

plot synopsis: covered above

I'll be happy to let you know when I do. At this point, all we know is that the shadowy "Agency" responsible indicated that they had only five identified bodies from the airplane crash. They didn't specify which.

Seems likely to me, though, that it will end up being the one whose son and best friend have since been brought in to avenge him. I don't recall any of the original Six's names (and finding a team roster online is proving surprisingly difficult), but this is the only one whose identity would provide a dramatic pay-off at this point. The back stories and lives of the other five original members have gone completely unexplored whereas this one has gotten a surprising amount of attention.

I think it was Carlo di Rienzi.

Checking online (thanks for providing the names so that I could do so!) he was an illusionist. Mockingbird referred to the son's father as having been an escape artist.


Of course, we've also seen August Durant (the original Mockingbird, from what I'm now seeing) in a lot of flashbacks from The Agency as of late. I didn't realize he was one of the original Six until now. I'm not sure those flashbacks took place after the plane crash that killed the Six, though, so his repeatedly being mentioned may simply be a red herring.

Adventures of Superman #450



"Triple Threat"
writer/penciler: Jerry Ordway
inks: Dennis Janke
letters: Albert DeGuzman
colors: Glenn Whitmore
assistant editor: Renee Witterstaeter
editor: Mike Carlin

grade: A-

It's clear that, in Ordway and Carlin's minds, this was their first big issue. The Superman/Gangbuster arc resolves in expected but dramatically powerful fashion, closing the books on Byrne's final dangling plotline, while Superman blasts off for exile in space and a handful of other plot lines are begun and/or hinted at. It's a great way to celebrate the 450th issue of what used to be the core Superman title, as well as signal the beginning of a new era of coordination and shared vision across the Superman office.

It's also necessary to point out the lengths Mike Carlin goes to in this issue to hold out an olive branch for John Byrne. Byrne's departure was never even acknowledged until the last letters page, but here we first get this acknowledgement by Carlin on the first page of the story:



Incidentally, how interesting to have left Marv Wolfman out of an acknowledgment concerning Gangbuster.

But then Carlin continues on the letter column page, stating



I doubt Carlin speaks for everyone, as a lot of evidence brought up throughout the course of this thread suggests Byrne parted on bad terms with nearly everyone at DC, but to return to the issue raised by Brian Cronin over at CBR concerning whether what Stern and Ordway did was a continuation of, or a move away from, what Byrne had been working on, my point remains the same. Byrne laid the groundwork for Superman to seriously wig out after executing the Phantom Zone criminals in Superman #22, but Ordway and Byrne used that opportunity to redraw the lines of Superman's moral code -- to clearly articulate what his regular self stood for in contrast to his emerging dark side. This was not presented as a transformation in response to all that had occurred, but rather as if it had been Superman's way all along, only now threatened by what had occurred.

In short, Byrne had a plan to make Superman wig out. Ordway and Stern used it to portray Superman as a more heroic individual than Byrne had.


Important Details:

- Superman realizes he has been Gangbuster all along. The Guardian is the only other witness to this.

- Superman decides to exile himself from Earth until he can straighten all this out. Props to Ordway for figuring out that Superman can survive in deep space indefinitely with a simple breathing apparatus since Byrne once pointed out that he requires no food nor water.

- Lois breaks the bad news to Jose Delgado: she doesn't love him.

- Luthor forces Delgado to become his bodyguard against his will by remote controlling his body. Now really, what sense does it make to have a bodyguard who is serving you against his will? He's not going to make those death-defying leaps to protect you unless you make him do so. Is Luthor going to have to watch his bodyguard watch him 24 hours a day?

- The return of Professor Emil Hamilton! Definitely the best new character introduced in the Post-Crisis continuity!

- Kitty Faulkner (formerly Rampage) is now working for STARR Labs.

- Subtle hints that all is not right at STARR Labs under the direction of a "Doctor Durwood," and that Durwood may be affiliated with Morgan Edge. Is it possible this is the same corruption at STARR Labs that was discussed in the Starman feature in Action Comics #622?

- Morgan Edge is working for Darkseid. So, in what way is a media mogul attempting to turn the world against Superman and secretly working for Darkseid NOT a complete repeat of G. Glorious Godfrey from only a year earlier??

- As yet another kind nod to Byrne (who likely didn't deserve it), this issue concludes with a nice homage to his very first Post-Crisis Superman story, even if a dramatic inversion is present (and impressive):

Man of Steel #1


Adventures of Superman #450




Minor Details:

- This is the first Post-Crisis Superman cover to indicate which issue to read next ("Don't miss Superman #28 in 3 weeks"; Direct Stand version only). A clear indication of the increased alignment occurring between titles and the coming of the Triangle Era.

- What were the three threats in this storyline? With so many plotlines being hinted at by this point and only one revelation of imminent danger (Luthor taking control of Delgado), I'm not entirely positive what the title is implying.

- Lois still looks like a crack whore when Janke inks over Ordway

- Jimmy Olsen sitting in Perry White's office and answering his phone is both adorable and seemingly out of character for someone we've been invited to take more seriously in these stories.

- Cat Grant continues to forget to carry cash to pay her cab fare. A cute carryover from Byrne.

- Morgan Edge's secretary is named Miss Conway, Superman passes a truck marked "Kirby's Salvage," and Lana Lang returns from Siegel's Drugstore. Cute.

- Superman reflecting that "with great power comes great responsibility?" I think Ordway got his characters confused.

- Yet another tease to the reader when Pa Kent nearly falls off of a ladder and is saved at the last minute by Clark. Ordway's really having fun making fans sweat over Pa Kent's mortality in the Post Crisis.

- Wait. Clark and Lana share an open-mouthed kiss as he says goodbye to her? I thought all the mind-f*cking Clark was doing to Lana's fragile mind would finally go away with Byrne's departure. What the heck?


plot synopsis in one sentence:

Superman realizes he's been Gangbuster all this time and flees in shame and terror, Lois and Jose DelGado have a massive fight about his new allegiance to Lex Corp and she reveals she does not love him, Superman enlists the aid of both Emil Hamilton and Kitty Faulkner to get a breathing apparatus that will allow him to survive in space, we learn that the director of STARR Labs is obsessed with maintaining total secrecy about what is done there and may have an affiliation with Morgan Edge, Luthor takes physical control of Jose DelGado and forces him to be his bodyguard, Morgan Edge continues to move in on Cat Grant and is also revealed to have an affiliation with Apokolips, Superman visits the Kents, Matrix, and Lana in order to explain all that has transpired since Superman #22, as well as his plans to leave Earth indefinitely until he has sorted things out, and then he leaves for deep space.


Still not Triangle Era perfection yet, but this issue was a major step forward. Things are truly progressing now.

Didn't realize Morgan Edge had a Pre-Crisis counterpart. Anything else I should know about that backstory?