Superman #65 (March 1992)
"Head Man"
Script: Dan Jurgens
Pencils: Dan Jurgens (layouts); Brett Breeding (finishes)
Inks: Brett Breeding
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: John Costanza
Grade: C+
Well here we go. Last issue established the level of damage being done to Metropolis, ending with the tease that this was only a beginning. Now, with Warworld on the way, Jurgens does his best to establish just how bad the threat is:
Heck, Warworld apparently has a reputation. Metron knows it, the New Gods know it; even Darkseid knows it:
Which then begs the question: what the hell was the point of first attacking Metropolis with Brainiac's "head ship"? Why give Superman or anyone warning when Earth could have been taken entirely by surprise?
Come to think of it, what is Brainiac's goal anyway? Shouldn't that be sort of integral to this plot? WHY does he want to destroy Earth? And, as I've been asking since
Action #674, can his goal really be to destroy Superman when he tried to
recruit Superman for this mission in that issue? In fact, if it's revenge he's after, shouldn't his primary target be Brainiac 5 (see my review of
L.E.G.I.O.N. '90 Annual #1)? A villain without a motive is definitely a bit of a problem when telling a big story like this.
And, to be clear, this IS a big story. In fact, as soon as Superman has his allies assembled, John Costanza makes a point to bold the words "Crisis" and "Invasion" in his speech.
There seems to be a clear intent to make this every bit as big as DC's biggest events to date. Of course, DC has stopped doing events (outside of the annuals) for the time being, so Panic in the Sky is restricted entirely to the Superman titles, even though a lot of effort is made here to acknowledge the current continuities of Aquaman, the Justice League titles, and The New Titans.
In an effort to lend some characterization to this event-centered issue, Jurgens makes the choice to suddenly give Clark an inferiority complex. It comes out of nowhere and disappears just as inexplicably, but for a couple of pages, Superman is a downright sad-sack:
And Brainiac is quick to (rightly) call him out for sitting back and watching while Orion and Lightray went to fight Brainiac on their own:
Where the hell did this come from? And, if you're going to go there, make it into a meaningful internal conflict, complete with a substantial resolution. Instead, Superman simply snaps out of it as soon as he realizes it's up to him to stop Brainiac.
Seems like this issue was one big splash panel filled with heroes and a whole lot of filler surrounding it. Brainiac has no motive yet, Superman's internal conflict is abrupt, out of character, and suddenly gone without ever being meaningfully resolved, and even his recruitment process makes no sense. Let's be clear -- he made an open invitation for heroes to come join him:
But, before doing so, he extended personal invites to exactly three people. Wonder Woman makes sense. She is a great leader, follower, decision-maker, and fighter. I'm assuming she'd need a space suit, but otherwise she should be well-suited to a space battle for the destiny of mankind.
But Superman's
very first choice, which he builds up quite a bit:
...is Deathstroke the Terminator??
Ummm, why? this had to be total fanservice, right? I mean even Superman later admits he doesn't know a damn thing about him:
and quickly discovers that he was completely wrong about Slade being a good leader.
Clark's third choice makes even less sense to me, though:
Yes, folks. If you're going to have an all-out SPACE battle, you're going to need the guy who talks to fish. It just makes sense! Sure, I respect Superman thinking about personality temperment more than powers, but powers REALLY DO matter here.
Sure enough, both of Superman's poor choices become evident at almost the exact same time, though I'm not sure either he or Jurgens note the irony the way I do:
Of course, upon further reflection, Superman never actually picked Aquaman. He went to Paradise Island to recruit Wonder Woman, and Aquaman just sort of showed up:
"So, Diana, I need you to...Oh, hi Arthur! Right, so, like I was saying, I...uh...you're BOTH natural leaders--and I can't think of anybody I'd rather have at my side!"
And, speaking of heroes who don't belong, how did Agent Liberty get on the cover? He only appears in that one splash panel while Wonder Woman plays a larger role and didn't make the cover at all. I'm glad he wasn't more prominantly featured in the story, as I'm getting really tired of Jurgens promoting this guy here. At least when the focus shifts to a character like Gangbuster or Professor Hamilton, we understand that these are characters who are a fundamental part of Superman's world. Agent Liberty, on the other hand, is clearly a pet project for Jurgens that is only here to garner interest. He managed to get a special released just last month, but apparently he can't do better than that on his own, so he's back fishing for attention here.
All in all, this issue doesn't quite keep up with the two exceptional stories that came before it, but there is still plenty of room for Panic in the Sky to finish strong.
Minor Details:1. I may not be happy that we're stuck with the interplanetary tyrant characterization for Brainiac that
L.E.G.I.O.N. '90 Annual #1 gave him, but Jurgens does a nice job with the character here anyway:
I want the cold, calculating super-genius, but if we're going to make him an archtypical villain, Jurgens at least gives him a little theatrical panache.
2. What is this?
I'm guessing Jurgens can't say "Oh my God" in a Comics Code-approved book, but...like, is this an accepted thing people do instead of writing the word "God," is it some Kryptonian thing, or is everyone else just as confused as I am?
3. I can't decide whether I love Jurgens trying to go all Gil Kane in this panel or find it utterly awkward:
At the very least, it looks more like Superboy than Superman.
4. Am I the only one who thought this was a thoroughly unimpressive way for Superman to get a hold of Lex Luthor II?
I mean, yes, it's cool that the Superman Office is anticipating yet another futuristic technological leap that will become a reality by our time, but couldn't Superman dramatically appear outside of Luthor's window like the old days? Calling the front desk and politely asking to be transferred is a little too humble even for the Big Blue Boyscout.
5. What's the point of trying to maintain a secret identity when countless onlookers can easily see Superman appearing outside of Lois Lane's balcony on a regular basis, coming inside, and not leaving for the rest of the night? Metropolis is supposed to be the largest city in the world; people are watching.
You couldn't get away with this in Cleveland.
For that matter, if Lois is repeatedly kidnapped because folks associate her with Superman and assume he will come to her rescue, how has no one noticed these regular visits either:
At least Superman eventually leaves that apartment each time he visits!
6. Okay, I can accept trying to give Warworld a bigger reputation in the Post-Crisis by having all the intersteller heroes and villains know about and fear it already, but how the hell did word of Warworld get all the way down to Atlantis?
