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Mild Mannered Reviews - Adventures of Superman

Adventures of Superman #51

Adventures of Superman - Chapter #51

Released Digitally: April 14, 2014

"Seed of Destruction" - Part 1 of 1

Writer: Jerry Ordway
Artist: Steve Rude
Colorist: Glen Whitmore
Cover Artist: Steve Rude

Reviewed by: Alisa Lea Gossage

Click to enlarge



In the future, the villainess Doctor Skuba plans to take over the Earth. But to do so, he must first send an arsenal of destruction back to the past... to destroy Superman!

In the present, a chunk of the asteroid Kurtzberg-17 has broken out of Earth's orbit and is headed straight towards Metropolis. S.T.A.R Labs immediately calls Superman.

Superman flies into space and lands on the portion of rock heading towards Metropolis. On it, he finds a destroyed S.T.A.R satellite. To Superman's amazement, some unknown power begins assembling the debris into a robot. The robot, called G-7, attacks Superman.

Why is it that every robot Superman meets wants to kill him?

The two battle it out, and it looks like Superman is done for! Oh no! What will our hero do!?

OMAC will save Superman! OMAC stands for One Man Army Corps. He is one of Earth's future superheroes, and he has come from that future to save Superman. Together Superman and OMAC are able to beat the G-7 and destroy the asteroid that was heading for Metropolis.

OMAC is relieved that Superman and Metropolis are saved, but part of G-7 that wasn't destroyed is a ticking-time bomb. OMAC grabs it and takes off taking the bomb back to the future and returning it to its owner - Doctor Skuba.

Meanwhile, in the future, Doctor Skuba awaits the world's expected transformation due to Superman's death. But OMAC barges into Skuba's lair informing the villain that his plans were for naught. OMAC and Brother Eye foiled Skuba's plans, and Superman still lives.

As OMAC destroys Skuba's lair, Brother Eye reminds the hero that there will always be despots and villains in the world. OMAC replies that wherever there are tyrants there will be heroes to stop them. OMAC is inspired by the heroes of the past, and he intends to, "... pursue justice for the oppressed..."

In the present, Superman thinks about OMAC and wonders about how some things never change.

4Story - 4: The Good: It's fitting that the last issue of Adventures of Superman would be a tribute to the late Jack Kirby. The Adventures of Superman series is a homage to a bygone era of Superman. This Superman not only has the red trunks, but he has the maturity and moral values of the Kirby era. This is an old school comic. Villains were villains and superheroes were superheroes. There was very little of the 'grey' area stuff that we see in comics today.

Also, there is no question about Superman's intelligence and moral character. He's not just some brawling brute; He's there to help mankind, and mankind accepts that help gladly. Because of this, future heroes are inspired to do good also.

OMAC is a Kirby creation. He is a sort of futuristic Captain America. Inspired by heroes from the past, OMAC, along with his mechanical side-kick Brother Eye, fight for freedom and justice. It was fun to see that character again.

Humor. Ordway gives his Superman a sense of humor. This is sadly lacking in the New 52 Superman. I guess I'll have to get my Superman humor from Smallville and JLB 2.0. Please DC, don't take those away too.

Ordway put together a great story that reminds us of the past and gives us hope for the future. Maybe some one up in DC will one day understand who Superman is supposed to be, and what he really means to us all.

The Bad: There is a lot of exposition in this issue, and I have to confess, this is the one thing I don't like about this era of comics. Instead of letting the artwork tell the tale, we have too much internal dialog from Superman and OMAC. We have way too much external exposition from the G-7. Exposition after exposition and then still more exposition.

It's so sad that this is the last issue of AOS!

4Art - 4: Steve Rude's art is awesome. His tribute to Kirby's 1970's style takes old school Superman fans back to simpler times in Superman lore. It's fun to see and brilliantly done.

4Cover Art - 4: Nice. Very nice. It's a great Kirby era cover. It's bold, and I like it.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2014

Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2014

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