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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 9:13:00 GMT -5
 Final Secret of the Super-Sons. Script: Denny O'Neil. Art: Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano. The story starts with the sons defeating Sivana. The scene shifts to show Superman & Batman watching the scene unfold on a computer screen. The Super-Sons are computer simulations that Superman & Batman have run to see what their sons would be like! Superman leaves the program running as he goes to empty radioactive ore into the disintegration pit of his fortress. While he is doing that Batman Jr discovers that he, Superman Jr & Sivana are trapped in a computer program. When the sons attempt to break out of the computer the circuits overload & the molecules of the ore are reshaped into the sons by the computer! As they leave the fortress they come upon an Artic expedition where one of the men (who has cracked up in the desolation of the Artic) is shooting at the other men in the group. The sons break up the fight & Superman Jr flies the wounded man to Metropolis Central Hospital. He doesn't know why he passed other cities to bring the man here. Lois Lane shows up at the hospital looking for a story but leaves crying when Superman Jr tells her he is Superman's son. Later in Gotham Batman gets assistance from both of the sons at a crime scene & is left speechless when they confess to being the Super-Sons. Meanwhile Superman investigates earthquake activity near his fortress & discovers what has happened when he checks his computer. He flies to Metropolis & brings Batman & the sons back to the fortress. He tells them the sons are giving off a radiation that is causing the earthquakes. The only solution is for the sons to return to the disintegration pit or their presence will eventually destroy earth. When the sons ask their dads why they want them to die, Batman points out they aren't really alive. When the sons challenge Batman he asks them who their mothers are. They don't know since Superman & Batman never programmed the mothers names into the simulation. The sons realize the dads are telling the truth & "sacrifice" themselves by jumping back into the pit. Superman & Batman try to rationalize that they had to do this but in the last panel the art shows how heart broken they were by their decisions. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 9:21:47 GMT -5
  The good: Even though the science behind the sons coming to life was silly I liked the explanation that they were a computer simulation. That was interesting & different. I also liked how Batman used the fact that the mother's ID was never revealed to show them they weren't "real". The bad: the story was too short. It should have been a two parter. Especially since this was the last Super-Sons story. Plus how did Superman ever explain to Lois his "son"? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 9:37:59 GMT -5
So ends my reviews on the 12 Super-Sons stories in World's Finest. Even though overall the stories were terrible I still hold a certain fondness for them. Call it a guilty pleasure or just good memories from my childhood. But probably I just liked the concept/idea.
Most of these stories came out before DC had established Power Girl & the Huntress on Earth 2 in All-Star Comics. So they were unique.
Obviously DC thinks the concept holds some merit since they are reviving the name. In the fall DC will be starting a title called The Super-Sons starring Jon Kent (Superboy) & Damian Wayne (Robin).
Hope you guys enjoyed these reviews.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 9:48:15 GMT -5
md62 - You did a great job doing these reviews and I'm impressed that you laid it out from all the stories and I now have a complete set of those stories. It wasn't an easy thing to do but you did it with a good understanding and I just wanted to let you know that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 11:12:07 GMT -5
md62 - You did a great job doing these reviews and I'm impressed that you laid it out from all the stories and I now have a complete set of those stories. It wasn't an easy thing to do but you did it with a good understanding and I just wanted to let you know that. Thank you for the kind words. |
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Post by MDG on Sept 12, 2016 11:52:30 GMT -5
So, the last story enables DC to acknowledge the stories but write them out of continuity.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 11:55:05 GMT -5
So, the last story enables DC to acknowledge the stories but write them out of continuity. Yes. Brilliant solution but yet at the same time a huge letdown. |
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Post by Chris on Sept 12, 2016 15:06:35 GMT -5
Just as a side note, the revelation that the Super-Sons were part of a computer simulation happened before World's Finest 263. There was a panel in Superman Family 192 (cover date Nov/Dec 1978) that explained the sons.  I didn't read that comic when it came out, however. I believe I first heard of the Super-Sons in an Answer Man feature in the old "Daily Planet" column DC used to run in the back of their books. Not only was this probably the first time I heard of them, but I immediately learned that were not, in fact, the sons of Superman and Batman.  This is the full page, with date at the top.  Then about a year later World's Finest 263 was released, and that was my proper introduction to the sons. Don't ask me how I remember these things. |
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Post by Chris on Sept 12, 2016 15:09:53 GMT -5
I forgot to mention.... I don't know who came up with the idea that the Super-Sons were a computer program. The story in Superman Family 192 was written by Gerry Conway, but the book was edited by E. Nelson Bridwell. My guess would be that ENB suggested the idea. Or at the very least, asked Conway to come up with something to fit the Super-Sons into continuity.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 16:13:11 GMT -5
I forgot to mention.... I don't know who came up with the idea that the Super-Sons were a computer program. The story in Superman Family 192 was written by Gerry Conway, but the book was edited by E. Nelson Bridwell. My guess would be that ENB suggested the idea. Or at the very least, asked Conway to come up with something to fit the Super-Sons into continuity. Thanks for the info. I forgot about the Superman Family story & I really miss The Answer Man! |
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 12, 2016 21:02:22 GMT -5
There is one more. "The Death of Superman Jr." was one of the last things Bob Haney wrote before he died. It was supposed to appear in the DC Elseworlds 80 Page Annual in 1999, but the comic got pulped for various reasons. It did eventually appear in the DC Elseworlds 100 Page Spectacular in 2012.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2016 9:23:44 GMT -5
There is one more. "The Death of Superman Jr." was one of the last things Bob Haney wrote before he died. It was supposed to appear in the DC Elseworlds 80 Page Annual in 1999, but the comic got pulped for various reasons. It did eventually appear in the DC Elseworlds 100 Page Spectacular in 2012. Yes I knew that. I don't have that story. Anyone can add their review of that story if they would like to here. |
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Post by dupersuper on Sept 13, 2016 10:55:42 GMT -5
Did they ever say what the point of tis simulation was supposed to be? The one in which their mothers identities didn't matter?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2016 13:28:38 GMT -5
Did they ever say what the point of tis simulation was supposed to be? The one in which their mothers identities didn't matter? Not that I am aware of...
But super heroes are NOT like us. Maybe that's what you do if you are a super hero with your leisure time instead of watching sports?
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