By Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, David Michelinie, Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Scott Eaton, Ron Frenz, Tom Grummett, Ron Lim, Paul Ryan, Dennis Janke, José Marzán Jr, Denis Rodier & Josef Rubinstein (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-406-0
The Man of Steel has proven to be all things to most fans during his 75-year existence so, with the character currently undertaking his latest radical shake-up, what better time to spotlight one of the strangest and most controversial refits of Superman ever conceived? Although largely out of favour these days as all the myriad decades of accrued mythology are inexorably re-assimilated into an overarching all-inclusive multi-media film-favoured continuity, the stripped-down, gritty post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Man of Tomorrow as re-imagined by John Byrne, and marvellously built upon by a succession of immensely talented comics craftsmen, resulted in some stunning highs and lows.
The fan in me loathed this “stunt†at the time, but the seemingly desperate attempt to keep reader attention high at all costs now reads rather well and offers genuine moments of sheer Fight’s ‘n’ Tights magic – especially in the stunning combat sequences….
Almost as soon as the Byrne restart had stripped away much of the mythology and iconography which had grown up around the Strange Visitor from Another World over fifty glorious years, successive creative teams spent a great deal of time and ingenuity putting much of it back, albeit in terms more accessible to a cynical and well-informed audience far more sophisticated than their grandparents ever were.
Thus as a notional tip of the hat to the legendary imaginary story ‘The Amazing Story of Superman–Red and Superman–Blue’! from Superman volume 1, #162, July 1963 this strange transformation occurred…
Collecting Superman volume 2, #119, 122-123, Adventures of Superman #542, 545, Action Comics #729, 732 and Superman: Man of Steel # 64 and 67 (from January and April 1997) this hyper-charged thriller reads best if taken in conjunction with a working knowledge of the characters, but newcomers can soon get up to speed by paying attention to the carefully administered snatches of expository dialogue and the handy “Previously†prose page…
When an inter-cosmic Sun Eater devoured our life-giving star, Earth was plunged into a sudden and catastrophic Big Freeze. The ultimate sacrifice by a hero-turned-villain ended the “Final Night†by reigniting Sol, but not before Superman, unceasingly battling to the limits of his strength, utterly exhausted his body’s solar-charged power and became no more than merely mortal…
Now as ‘Sunburned!’ (Superman #119 by Dan Jurgens, Ron Frenz & Joe Rubenstein) opens, the all-too human Clark Kent at last admits that his abilities are not returning, even as a squad of time-displaced teenagers from a millennium away also struggle to find their proper place…
Man of Tomorrow and Legion of Super-Heroes stumble over each other whilst breaking into Lex Luthor‘s citadel of science and, with the cautious consequence-drenched assistance of the Wickedest Man in the World, borrow a spaceship to take Superman to the Sun and – hopefully – a massive solar booster shot.
The attempt fails and the Metropolis Marvel, forced to fight crime as a powerless mortal, is compelled to take even more drastic measures in Adventures of Superman #542. ‘Power Trip!’ (Karl Kesel, Paul Ryan & José Marzán Jr.) has him turn his secret problem over to the scientists of clandestine Genetic Research Project Cadmus. Unfortunately their facility is in trouble too as spoiled, fun-loving, bratty metahuman genius Misa has infiltrated the factory of wonders with her incredible gadgets, looking to make a little mean-spirited mischief…
After the Project barely survives her devastating pranks, all Security supremo Guardian can do is offer Superman transport to the Antarctic Fortress of Solitude where the former Man of Steel has stored many super-scientific devices from shattered Krypton…
Action Comics #729 follows that voyage to its disastrous conclusion as a massive electrical disturbance brings Superman crashing into the polar vastness far short of his goal. ‘Generator X!’ by David Michelinie, Tom Grummett & Denis Rodier, sees him rescued by research scientists who expected help with their own dilemma – a real job for Superman…
Whilst probing the Earth’s mantle they had unleashed a semi-sentient energy force which was periodically ravaging their base, and even though powerless, Kal-El valiantly led the battle to get rid of it. Tragically the only thing that could hold the ephemeral entity was Superman’s depleted Kryptonian body…
After eventually expelling the energy-beast into space, Superman arrived at his Fortress and rendezvoused with friend and technical advisor Professor Emil Hamilton, but even alien science was unable to fix his power-problems. Moreover, odd electrical anomalies kept occurring. Appliances short-circuited and even the trans-dimensional barrier around the Bottle City of Kandor flickered in un-Superman’s presence…
Suddenly the despondent defender was urgently summoned by New Gods Mister Miracle and Big Barda with a crisis of cosmic proportions that only Superman could handle…
‘Into the Fire!’ (by Louise Simonson, Ron Lim & Dennis Janke from Superman: Man of Steel #64) saw Kal-El help to investigate an uncanny mystery which had smashed the antithetical worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis together and stolen the memories of Metron, God of Knowledge. The incredible solution involved a deadly trip into the heart of our sun which inexplicably restored Superman’s full powers.
Those odd electrical events kept happening though…
The second section of this collection features tales from a few months later – most of the intervening events having been separately collected in Superman vs. The Revenge Squad! – as the annoying sparks and short circuits around the Man of Steel slowly intensify…
Superman #122 revealed ‘The Kandor Connection’ (Jurgens, Frenz & Rubenstein) wherein hyper-powered rebel Ceritak agonises and acts out against his imprisonment. This version of Kandor was an enclave of thousands of alien captives, enslaved by a marauding tyrant named Tolos and penned in a pocket-dimension. Although Superman had liberated Kandor from the intergalactic body-snatcher, he was unable to restore the inhabitants and, after establishing the container in his Fortress, left them alone to forge their own multi-species society in enforced isolation…
Now however as Ceritak’s petulant rages become a menace to everybody, in the outer universe Superman and Lois have come to the Fortress to assess the Man of Steel’s latest symptoms. During a fight against thugs in Metropolis, Superman became intangible and a bystander was wounded by a bullet that passed through, rather than bounced off him…
When it happens again in the Fortress, Superman phases through the impenetrable dimensional walls of Kandor, and Ceritak – seizing a chance in billion – latches on to his energy wake as the hero struggles back to Earth…
Oblivious to the fact, Lois and Clark return to America only to discover something is terribly wrong: Superman is turning into an explosive, out of control generator of deadly lightning…
The calamity continues in ‘Power Crisis!’ (Adventures of Superman #545 by Kesel, Scot Eaton & Marzán Jr.) with the horrified hero blinking in and about of existence, emitting shattering blasts of radiation, materialising all over Earth and agonisingly bombarded by new senses, perceptions and sensations.
Barely able to move without causing disasters, Clark is helpless when delusional maniac Atomic Skull kidnaps Lois. The embattled hero then suffers another terrifying transfiguration – into a blazing being of blue white energy.
Battling the nuclear madman in this state, Superman loses and is apparently dispersed into nothingness…
He recondenses in Antarctica in Action Comics #732, gaining enough control to teleport back to Metropolis in time to team-up with his former adversary and prevent a radioactive catastrophe in ‘The Saving Skull’ (Michelinie, Grummett & Rodier).
Meanwhile the blockbusting Ceritak slowly makes his way towards the city and an inevitable showdown…
The clash came in Superman: Man of Steel #67 and ‘Say Goodbye to That Costume…’ (Simonson, Jon Bogdanove & Janke) as the ferocious fight pits Ceritak – dubbed Scorn by the uncomprehending journalists on the scene – against a blazing energy avatar that used to be Superman.
The monster’s immense strength and speed are easily the equal of the bizarre battery of new abilities exhibited by the mutated Man of Power – electrical blasts, intangibility, magnetic bursts and much more. The pointless, futile fight ultimately leaves Scorn crushed and the Metropolis Marvel on the edge of a final, fatal dispersal…
In Superman #123, with her husband on the verge of extinction, Lois rallies friends and foes alike for a last-ditch attempt to save the valiant voltaic hero. In a desperate race against time and with only Clark’s indomitable willpower holding him together, Hamilton and S.T.A.R. Labs’ chief Kitty Faulkner – suspiciously assisted by Lex Luthor – build a suit to contain and channel those volatile forces.
This allows a ‘Superman… Reborn!’ Jurgens, Frenz & Rubenstein) to begin a new phase in his “Never-ending Struggle†and begin a year of astounding adventures the likes of which fans had never seen.
Clever drama, spectacular action and rollercoaster pace, coupled with the usual high standard of character interplay, all underscore this much-maligned but hugely enjoyable diversion in the amazing life of Superman and this saga is truly deserving of a second look and honest reappraisal.
A British Titan Books edition is also readily available from on-line sellers.
© 1997, 1998 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.