ACTION COMICS #588 & #589

“ALL WARS MUST END” | “GREEN ON GREEN”
Words & Pictures: John Byrne | Embellisher: Dick Giordano
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Michele Wolfman (issue 588) & Tom Ziuko (issue 589)
Editors: Andrew Helfer & Michael Carlin

The Plot: (Issue 588): Superman responds to a summons from Midway City, where he meets up with Hawkman and Hawkwoman, then accompanies them into space to help stop an invasion fleet from the couple’s home planet of Thanagar. Eventually Hawkman and Hawkwoman trigger an override which forces the fleet into hyperspace in random directions, dispersing it across millions of light years — but Superman is sucked into hyperspace as well.

(Issue 589): Arisia of the Green Lantern Corps finds Superman adrift in space and brings him back to the Lanterns’ citadel in space. Superman assists the Lanterns in investigating a large spaceborne creature which turns out to be the remnant of the graveyard the Man of Steel flew out of Earth’s atmosphere weeks earlier. Working together, Superman and the Green Lanterns defeat the malevolent force.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: We first encounter Hawkman and Hawkwoman, in the bloody aftermath of some great battle in Midway City, and they have two beings — a Thanagarian named Ved and a shapeshifter named Byth — in custody. Clearly all of this, plus the arrival of the Thanagarian fleet, is continued from some other comic, but there are no footnotes indicating where the prior stories took place.

Hawkwoman notes that it was pursuit of Byth which brought Hawkman and her to Earth some time back, and that Byth impersonated Superman during that encounter. Again, no footnotes, so I’m not sure if this was a pre- or post-CRISIS tale. Though I do know that, at least when he guest-starred in NEW TEEN TITANS, pre-CRISIS Hawkman was a human named Carter Hall, rather than an alien named Katar Hol.

SUPERMAN #5 & #6

“THE MUMMY STRIKES” | “THE LAST FIVE HUNDRED”
Writer/Penciler: John Byrne | Inker: Karl Kesel
Colorist: Tom Ziuko | Letterer: John Costanza | Editors: Andrew Helfer & Michael Carlin

The Plot: (Issue 5) Clark Kent arrives at the Daily Planet to learn that Perry White has lost contact with Lois Lane in South America. Clark leaves, changes into Superman, and flies to the archaeological site where Lois is on assignment. There, he learns that the research team has uncovered evidence of a civilization which predated mankind. As they explore the subterranean site, a giant mummy comes to life and attacks. Clark separates himself from the group and fights back, eventually shutting the mummy down, then feigns injury as Lois and the archeologists find him.

(Issue 6) Clark awakens to find that Lois and all the archeologists have been possessed by representatives of an ancient race which lived on Earth prior to humanity. These beings now plan to resume their rule of the planet, and the “mummy” is actually robot built to house their five hundred minds. Clark changes to Superman and the robot attacks. He fights against it and the ancient minds possessing Lois and the others return to the robot to aid its battle.

Superman eventually realizes the covetous creatures will fight over his body if he feigns defeat, and when they do so, the robot explodes. In the aftermath, Superman flies Lois home, assuring her that he already returned Clark to Metropolis.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #427 & #428

“MIND GAMES” | “PERSONAL BEST”
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artist: Jerry Ordway
Lettered by: John Costanza | Colored by: Tom Ziuko| Edited by: Andy Helfer & Mike Carlin

The Plot: (Issue 427) Superman invades the nation of Qurac and confronts its president regarding the recent attacks in Metropolis, which he believes were sponsored by the Quraci government. Meanwhile, a being called Prana probes Superman’s mind for clues as to who he is and why he uses his powers for the benefit of humanity.

(Issue 428) Superman single-handedly dismantles Qurac’s military, to the approval of the entire world at large. Meanwhile, Perry White’s teenage son, Jerry, is kidnapped by agents of mobster Jay Falk, who order Perry to scrap a series of exposés he’s been running on the criminal, and to issue a retraction. While Perry struggles over whether he can abandon his integrity and lie about Falk in the pages of the Daily Planet, Superman combs Metropolis, locates Jerry, and brings him back to Perry.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: In issue 427, Clark Kent is on assignment in Qurac, though the nature of the story he’s chasing is unrevealed. It can be assumed, however, that he’s there for the same reason as his alter ego — to look into the connection between Qurac and the Freedom League who attacked Metropolis in issues 424 and 425.

Prana and his wife, Zahara, are both inhuman beings and members of a mysterious organization called the Circle, who dialogue hints are aliens and/or precursors to humanity on Earth. As issue 427 concludes, Prana dies of overexertion from his forays into Superman’s mind, and the agents of the Circle who have been hiding out in Qurac (and who, we’re told, provided the weapons used in the Freedom League attacks) decide to move to Metropolis to keep an eye on the Man of Steel.

WONDER WOMAN #3 & #4

“DEADLY ARRIVAL!” | “A LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO FIGHT!”
Pencils/Plotter: George Pérez | Scripter: Len Wein | Inker: Bruce D. Patterson
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Tatjana Wood | Editor: Karen Berger

The Plot: (Issue 3) Hermes and Diana arrive in Boston, where they drop Steve Trevor at Hanscom Air Force Base Hospital, then head for Harvard. There, Hermes leaves Diana on her own. At the hospital, the base’s commanding officer, General Hillary, is prohibited from seeing Steve until the matter of General Kohler’s death is sorted out. At Harvard, Diana meets Professor Julia Kapatelis, who, upon touching Harmonia’s amulet, forms a rapport with Diana.

Later, Steve escapes an assassination attempt by General Tolliver, the man holding him prisoner, and flees the hospital. Meanwhile, a strange statuette is delivered to Julia’s home and is opened by her daughter, Vanessa. That night, Steve makes contact with Etta Candy while Julia brings Diana home with her. Around midnight, the statuette comes to life, transforming into a creature called Decay, the daughter of the Medusa, and robbing Vanessa of her youth.

(Issue 4) The Kapatelis house collapses as Decay attacks, then escapes. Diana gives chase. Meanwhile, Etta finds files on something called the Ares Project at the Air Force Base. Elsewhere, Diana uses her magical lasso to defeat Decay, making the TV news in the process. She is quickly named Wonder Woman by reported Carole Bennett of the Boston Globe-Leader newspaper. When Steve, hiding out in an isolated cabin, sees Diana on television, he leaves with Etta to go find her.

As Vanessa recovers from Decay’s magic, Diana speaks with Julia, who vows to aid her in her mission against Ares. Later, as Julia and Diana attempt to learn about Harmonia’s charm inside Julia’s winter home, Steve shows up — but before he and Diana can speak, they respond to a nearby shout to find Steve’s best friend, Colonel Michaelis, standing over Etta’s body.

BATMAN BY MIKE W. BARR & ALAN DAVIS: DETECTIVE COMICS # 572, 573, 574

"THE DOOMSDAY BOOK"
Writer: Mike W. Barr | Pencilers: Alan Davis, Terry Beatty, Carmine Infantino
Inkers: Paul Neary, Dick Giordano, Al Vey | Colorists: Adrienne Roy, Carl Gafford
Letterers: John Workman, Todd Klein, Romeo Francisco | Editor: Denny O'Neil

"THE MAD HATTER FLIPS HIS LIDS" | "...MY BEGINNING...AND MY PROBABLE END"
Writer: Mike W. Barr | Penciler: Alan Davis | Inker: Paul Neary
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Denny O'Neil

Art by Mike Kaluta

DETECTIVE COMICS #572 is a "jam" issue, celebrating the title's fiftieth anniversary, and starring three of the book's regular featured characters of decades past: Batman (of course), the Elongated Man, and Slam Bradley, who I had never heard of before. Upon looking him up, I've learned that he starred in DETECTIVE #1, and has appeared sporadically in the DC Universe since.

Beyond the above group, the story also stars Sherlock Holmes, who, it seems, is a real person in the DC world. Watson's chronicles of Holmes' cases are treated here as works of non-fiction, and everyone views Holmes as a well-known historical figure. It's a conceit I enjoyed, and it fits just fine into a shared universe like this one. However, Barr goes overboard with the idea here, revealing in the story's finale that Holmes is still alive and fairly spry at well over a hundred years of age, due essentially to nothing more than clean living.