{"id":18149,"date":"2018-03-27T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T08:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=18149"},"modified":"2018-03-26T16:51:30","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T16:51:30","slug":"superman-man-of-steel-volume-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2018\/03\/27\/superman-man-of-steel-volume-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Superman: Man of Steel volume 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy John Byrne<\/strong>, Jerry Ordway<\/strong>, Roger Stern<\/strong>, Paul Kupperberg<\/strong>, Erik Larsen<\/strong>, John Statema<\/strong>, Ron Frenz<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-6637-0<\/p>\n

Although largely out of favour these days as the myriad decades of Superman mythology are relentlessly assimilated into one overarching, all-inclusive multi-media DC franchise, the gritty, stripped-down post-Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong> Action Ace, as re-imagined by John Byrne and marvellously built upon by a stunning succession of gifted comics craftsmen, produced some genuine comics classics.<\/p>\n

Controversial at the start, Byrne’s reboot of the world’s first superhero was quickly acknowledged as a solid hit and the collaborative teams who complemented and followed him maintained the high quality, ensuring continued success.<\/p>\n

That vast, interlocking saga has been collected – far too slowly – over recent years in a more-or-less chronologically combined format as the fabulously economical trade paperback (and latterly digital) series Superman: The Man of Steel<\/strong>, with this splendid ninth volume revisiting Superman #19-22<\/strong>, Superman Annual<\/strong> #2, Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #441-444 and crossover continuation Doom Patrol<\/strong> #10. These collectively span June to October 1988 and re-present one of the most talked-about storylines of the entire run.<\/p>\n

The fabulous Fights ‘n’ Tights fun begins with Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #441 and an exploration of multidimensional madness in ‘The Tiny Terror of Tinseltown’<\/em>, courtesy of Byrne, Jerry Ordway & Dennis Janke, wherein 5th<\/sup> Dimensional sprite Mr. Mxyzptlk<\/em> heads for Hollywood to wreak more prankish madcap mayhem. His animation of cartoon favourites is however, overshadowed by a remarkable event in Antarctica as a young girl staggers into a research station, immune to the cold and claiming amnesia. She is clad in a brief but fetching variation of Superman’s uniform\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Having tricked the mischievous mite into leaving our plane, the Man of Tomorrow faces an insidious assault by alien energy-leech Psi-phon<\/em>, who gradually and systematically removes the hero’s abilities in ‘The Power that Failed!’<\/em> (Superman<\/strong> #19, by Byrne and inker John Beatty). The story continues in Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #442 (Byrne, Ordway & Andy Kubert) as ‘Power Play’<\/em> introduces the alien’s brutal partner Dreadnaught<\/em>, resulting in a cataclysmic clash in Metropolis that eventually involves the Justice League of America\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, that mystery girl has recovered a few memories and headed for Smallville, Kansas, zeroing in on the Kent family farm\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Doom Patrol<\/strong> #10 (July 1988) begins a crossover clash as Robotman Cliff Steele<\/em> painfully discovers his spare bodies and replacement parts have been stolen by mecha-monster Metallo<\/em>. The ensuing battle for ‘The Soul of the Machine’<\/em> (Paul Kupperberg, Erik Larsen & Gary Martin) devastates Kansas City, drawing the Metropolis Marvel into the conflict ‘In the Heartland!’<\/em> (Superman<\/strong> #20, by Byrne & inker Karl Kesel).<\/p>\n

As the united champions seemingly end the techno-tainted threat, back in Kansas a very confused Girl of Steel meets Ma<\/em> and Pa Kent<\/em> and Lana Lang<\/em>: people she has known all her life but has never met before. After some trenchant conversations the baffled stranger flies off to Metropolis\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #443, Clark Kent<\/em> and Jimmy Olsen<\/em> investigate a hostage-taking in war-torn Qurac<\/em>. Incredibly – and typically – their hunt for an American ‘Prisoner of Conscience’<\/em> (scripted by Ordway and illustrated by John Statema & Doug Hazelwood) leads them to a race of fantastic, paranoid and combative aliens hidden beneath the deserts sands since the time of the pharaohs\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Finally, the ongoing enigmas are addressed as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Supergirl Saga\u00e2\u20ac\u009d commences in Superman<\/strong> #21 with Byrne & Beatty’s ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’<\/em>. After the Action Ace encounters the flying girl her memories return and she reveals her astounding secret. Of course, it’s not that simple and the revelations only come after a traditional hero-on-hero fight\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

When Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong> overwrote and restarted DC Universal Continuity, a number of remaining paradoxes required some fairly deft and imaginative back-writing. Most pressing was how could the 30th<\/sup> century Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong> exist if the Superboy<\/strong> who inspired them never existed? The solution was an epic story arc in Legion of Super-Heroes <\/strong>#37-38 and Action Comics<\/strong> #591 (collected in Superman: Man of Steel<\/strong> volume 4) that posited a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pocket universe duplicate Earth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d created for nefarious purposes by the almighty Time Trapper, where all the events of Pre-Crisis Earth actually occurred.<\/p>\n

Now that world is revisited with humanity on the edge of extinction\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

As seen in ‘Parallel Lines Meet at Infinity\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6’<\/em> (Adventures of Superman<\/strong> #444, Byrne, Ordway, & Janke), when \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Superboy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d vanished during the Crisis, his world was left to the mercies of three of his Kryptonian arch-enemies.<\/p>\n

Before long General Zod<\/em>, Zaora<\/em> and Quex-Ul<\/em> reduced mankind to a desperate handful of survivors with super-genius Lex Luthor<\/em> acting as technological saviour. Learning of the outer universe, he created a Supergirl to fetch the true Superman and enact his final plans for the artificial world\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The shocking tale culminates in Superman<\/strong> #21 as the conflicted champion eventually defeats his ruthless, sadistic and far more powerful fellow Kryptonians, – but not before Earth is wiped clean of all life. With Byrne writing drawing and inking, ‘The Price’<\/em> sets the tone for the next phase of the Man of Tomorrow’s life as he is compelled to take drastic action that alters his moral stance forever-after and affects him for the rest of his life\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The adventure concludes with the contents of Superman Annual<\/strong> #2 as ‘The Cadmus Project’<\/em> (Roger Stern, Ron Frenz & Brett Breeding) reprises and adapts major elements of Jack Kirby’s breathtaking material from Jimmy Olsen<\/strong> #133-148, which introduced and supplemented his landmark Fourth World Trilogy.<\/p>\n

Here clones of the 1940s Newsboy Legion escape the top-secret genetics project and hide in Metropolis. Magnets for trouble, the kids stumble into gang crime and are rescued by the revenant of their original Guardian<\/em> – part-time costumed hero Jim Harper<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When the furore attracts Superman’s attention, the inevitable battle leads him into a fantastic hidden world, albeit one now under the malicious psychic sway of vile old enemy Sleez<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Supplementing the main event is all-Byrne Private Lives<\/strong><\/em> sidebar story ‘Loves Labor’s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6’<\/em>, starring Captain Maggie Sawyer<\/em> and Terrible Turpin<\/em> of Metropolis’s Special Crimes Unit. When a close call under fire leads to the aging veteran’s latest hospitalisation, Maggie’s solicitousness leads the old detective to jump to some extremely erroneous romantic conclusions\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Topped off with Byrne-limned pages from DC’s Who’s Who<\/strong>, giving the lowdown on the then new iterations of Bizarro<\/em>, Lex Luthor, Magpie<\/em> and Mr. Mxyzptlk, plus original covers by Byrne, Ordway, Frenz, Larsen and Brett Breeding, this titanic tome celebrates the back-to-basics approach which lured many readers to – and crucially back to – the Superman franchise at a time when interest in the character had slumped to perilous levels.<\/p>\n

Publicity might have brought big sales but it was the sheer quality of the stories and art which convinced them to stay\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Such cracking superhero tales are a high point in Superman’s eight decades of multi-media existence and these astoundingly readable collections are certainly the easiest way to enjoy a stand-out reinvention of the ultimate comic-book icon.
\n\u00c2\u00a9 1988, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Byrne, Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Paul Kupperberg, Erik Larsen, John Statema, Ron Frenz & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-6637-0 Although largely out of favour these days as the myriad decades of Superman mythology are relentlessly assimilated into one overarching, all-inclusive multi-media DC franchise, the gritty, stripped-down post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Action Ace, as … <\/p>\n

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