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Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics

Superman #3

Cover date: March 1987

Writer: John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin

"Legends from the Dark Side"

(Reviewer's note: if you'd like a better understanding of the back story to the events in this issue, please read the review of Legends # 1 to #4 before reading this review.)

Lois Lane interviews the mysterious G. Gordon Godfrey at the Metropolis Grande Hotel. They discuss his one man campaign against super-heroes and Lois finds him incredibly persuasive. Godfrey reveals that he proposes to see all super-heroes destroyed - wiped from the face of the earth!

Clark Kent runs through the streets of Metropolis shouting at people to stay clear of him. He is pursued by two parallel bolts of energy, that unnaturally move around obstacles in their determined effort to strike him. Clark is frustrated at not being able to change into Superman, due to the Presidential order banning super-hero activity. He drops into the sewers, runs into two workmen and goes sprawling into the filth. The beams strike him and... Clark looks up to see Darkseid and the Phantom Stranger!

Darkseid accuses the Stranger of meddling - Darkseid sent his Omega beams to bring Superman to Apokolips, not a mere mortal. Wondering what's going on, Clark announces he is a Daily Planet reporter and demands to know what's happening. Darkseid seizes him by the throat (he's so fast, Clark doesn't see him move!) and warns him that here on Apokolips, Darkseid's word is absolute and inescapable law. The Stranger interrupts, suggesting that as the man (Clark) plays no part in Darkseid's tasking of earth, he should send him home. Unconvinced of the Stranger's insistence that he is on Apokolips merely as an observer, Darkseid tests his intentions by hurling Clark out of a window and to his (apparent) doom.

Clark lands in a heap of garbage, understanding that the Stranger didn't act as he knows Clark Kent is Superman. Wondering if Darkseid's 'tasking' involves G. Gordon Godfrey, Clark is suddenly swamped by the denizens of Apokolips, the Hunger Dogs, who tear at his clothes and possessions. He vanishes from sight, buried under the horde, and bursts free as Superman - scattering the Hunger Dogs away. Flying away from the scene, Superman muses over the creation and existence of New Genesis and Apokolips and the New Gods that inhabit each planet. Using his telescopic vision to search for New Genesis, he can see only an asteroid belt and fears that the planet has been destroyed. The appearance of a squad of Para-Demons, Darkseid's killer sentries, makes Superman decide to go to ground. He covers himself in rags to hide the bright colours of his costume and moves on, encountering the beginnings of a riot.

Darkseid's shock troops are preparing to execute a woman for preaching against the Lord of Apokolips. The crowd protests and Superman decides he can't simply stand by and watch the woman die. He rips aside a fence and demands the woman be freed. As the shock troops are distracted and blow a hyper-sonic whistle to summon back-up, the woman escapes. The ground shakes as the huge armoured form of a 'Pacifier' lands and attacks the Man of Steel. The two fight, Superman ripping open the Pacifier's armour to reveal a hideous creature inside. The crowd recoils away from the fight, recognising the creature as a 'Glommer', a psychic parasite. The Glommer wraps itself around Superman, taking control of his motor reflexes and causing him to fly towards one of Apokolip's fire pits. Unsure if even he can survive in the furnace, Superman is powerless to resist and vanishes from sight into the blistering flames.

On a balcony overlooking the harsh Apokoliptian landscape, Darkseid throws back his head and laughs...

Story - 5: From start to finish I thoroughly enjoyed this issue. It fits in very well with the events of the Legends mini-series and also stands alone too. From Lois' cocky and confidant appearance at the opening, to the unusual sight of Clark fleeing away from a threat on foot and then the squalor and menace of Apokolips, this issue is fun!

This was my first good look at Jack Kirby's New Gods and I found the characters and settings fascinating. I enjoyed the mysterious menace of the omega beams, unrelentingly tracking Clark through the city and was struck by the fact that the huge, granite-faced Darkseid (how cool is that name, by the way?) could move more quickly than Clark could follow! This is something that seems to have been forgotten or ignored in the books today, although I guess you can excuse that by considering that Clark now has much more experience under his belt in dealing with super-powered menaces (take Doomsday, for instance) as well as having received combat training from Mongul Junior, as Clark decisively beat Darkseid in the recent (ish) 'Superman vs Darkseid' one shot. Still, I miss Darkseid being this scary.

I think this issue has one of the best Clark Kent to Superman transformations ever, when Clark is swamped by the Hunger Dogs and bursts free in full costume, his street clothes having been torn away. A great moment - I can almost hear the John Williams theme! Being picky for a moment - just what material is Clark's cape made out of? I dunno, it's tucked away behind his shirt and/or into his trousers all the while and yet never seems to be creased and wrinkled. Where can I get some shirts to wear for work like that!? No more ironing! *dreamy sigh*.

According to a footnote, New Genesis has been 'Alderaaned' in the 'Hunger Dogs' graphic novel by Jack Kirby, but I haven't had the pleasure of reading that, so I don't know if a small moon was involved (all together now - "that's no moon-that's a battle station" *grin*).

On a side note, I thought it interesting that the aura that Clark's body generates prevents dirt from clinging to his flesh for very long as well as protecting his skin-tight costume. Some nice and subtly delivered details about the revamped Superman's powers.

The battle with the Pacifier was exciting and the Glommer was an interesting and icky creature. The issue's cliffhanger is great. Okay, so we know the big blue's gonna survive (his title's not been re-launched to last only 4 issues!) but it's dramatic all the same and I wanted to pick up the next part of this story to find out how he survives and what would happen next to our hero on this horrible planet. Great stuff, a solid, fun read well deserving of a maximum 5 out of 5.

(My favourite sound effect this issue was RRRRRRAAKRASHH! as a wall collapsed on Superman during his fight with the Pacifier!)

Art - 5: Byrne at his best here, with Austin's inks looking superb. The grime and filth of Apokolips is captured perfectly through the detail in the panels (see my comments about how no-one else draws rubble and fragments of stuff like John Byrne, in the review of Action Comics #585) and the mucky palette used to color them (kudos to Tom Ziuko here). I love the detail work on Lois and Clark's coats in the opening pages (take another look if you've got a copy) and the way the Omega Beams kind of... slice through the edges of the panels they appear in. A great little touch. Darkseid looks fabulous - powerful, imposing and regal at the same time. Superman's reveal from under the pile of Hunger Dogs is brilliant. Our boy looks every inch the bold, strong, square-jawed hero in this issue. In short he looks, well... super! Byrne captures King Kirby's designs very well with the Para-Demons, Shock Troops and Pacifier all looking true to type. I love the shadows and reflections on the pacifier's armour as it menaces our hero with atomic flame on the first panel of page 18 and the last panel of page 19 is a great shot of Supes hoisting a huge pile of rubble over his head. The composition and lack of dialogue or sound effects in that panel make it really effective for me. It's exactly the kind of picture that as a kid, would have me scurrying off to find my drawing pad and colour pencils to have a go at copying it. Work like that still fires my imagination today. John, Terry and Tom - take a bow. Top-notch work.

And the Glommer? Yeewww! Horrid lookin' thing!

Cover Art - 5: This cover grabs my attention even today. Okay, so there's not much in the way of a background, but the image of Darkseid holding up a helpless-looking Superman as if he were a toy is very striking. And just how smug does Darkseid look? A great cover.

Folks, for me you can't get your Superman much better than this and I hope the three (hard to get from me) fives out of five reflects this. An excellent issue.