MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #36

"A STRETCH IN TIME..."
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Artist: Ernie Chan
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: In the prehistoric river, Skull, Ann, Jeff, Doctor Corey, and the Thing escape from the angry brotosaurs, but find themselves pulled toward a waterfall. Skull saves Ann and Jeff, while the Thing saves Corey. The group continues on their quest to raid the crashed military transport for parts. once they have the equipment they need, they head back to the Thing's experimental craft and repair it. The group takes off, but they are pursued by the Jaguar Priest, riding a pterodactyl, with several more pterodons following. The Thing guides his craft through the time warp, back to present day Cape Canaveral, but the Jaguar Priest and his pterodons follow.

Mister Fantastic greets the group on the Cape's airfield and joins them in their fight against the Jaguar Priest's dinosaurs. The Priest's pterodactyl grabs Ann, but the Thing commandeers another dino and follows. While Mister Fantastic and Skull fight the pterodons on the ground, the Thing rescues Ann. The Jaguar Priest is taken away by the police, and Mister Fantastic suggests sending the pterodons to the Savage Land. Skull prepares to turn himself in to the police as well, to stand trial for the death of his brother.

Continuity Notes: There are three footnotes in this story; one to the last issue when Skull notices the Jaguar Priest, and one to SKULL THE SLAYER #1 when Corey mentions that Skull is still wanted for his brother's death. The third is a lengthy affair in which Marv Wolfman tries to explain how Mister Fantastic appears in this story with his powers intact (albeit weakening), when he had apparently lost them in contemporaneous FANTASTIC FOUR installments.

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #35

"ENTER: SKULL THE SLAYER AND EXIT: THE THING!"
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Guest Artist: Ernie Chan
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: The Thing is summoned by the Air Force to Cape Canaveral, Florida in order to pilot an experimental plane into the Bermuda Triangle in search of a missing jet carrying a cobalt bomb. As he flies the craft, the Thing is attacked by a pterodactyl and pulled into a temporal warp. He crashes on an island in time to come to the aid of Skull, Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey, who are about to be executed by the Jaguar Priest.

The Thing, Skull, and company fight off the Jaguar Priest's minons and then escape into the jungle. They fight off a pterodactyl and then head to the Thing's crashed ship, but find it cannot be repaired. At Jeff's suggestion, the group heads out to find the Army plane that brought Skull and company to the island, in hopes of using some its parts to fix the jet. But on the way, they're attacked by a tyrannosaurus rex. The group escapes by jumping into a river -- but when they emerge from the water, they find themselves surrounded by a herd of brontosauruses.

Continuity Notes: The "missing plane carrying a cobalt bomb" thing was apparently a multi-title plotline! The Thing recalls that the Air Force thought it had been found in Chicago in POWER MAN #45, but that was a false alarm. Later when he crashes on the prehistoric island, the Thing compares it with an "other Earth" he visited in FANTASTIC FOUR #161. One panel later, a quick recap of Skull's situation references SKULL THE SLAYER #8. Leter in the issue, a footnote appears to SKULL #1 when Corey and Jeff discuss Skull's status as a wanted man.

Speaking of SKULL #8, it seems Captain Cochran was unceremoniously killed off since that issue ended. The revelation comes with a footnote from Marv Wolfman which seems to essentially say, "I didn't create that character and I have literally zero interest in writing him." It's kind of funny, though also a bit callous toward Bill Mantlo's storyline.

SKULL THE SLAYER #3

"TUMULT IN THE TOWER OF TIME!"
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Pencils: Steve Gan
Inkers: Pablo Marcos & Steve Gan
Letters: Irv Watanabe | Colors: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: Skull wrestles with a prehistoric beast until it bucks him off, after which he, Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey continue their exploration of the prehistoric world. After being nearly trampled by a herd of stampeding dinosaurs, Skull leads the group to see what spooked the animals. They come across a field of skeletal remains tied to posts. From there, they move on to a huge tower, which offers glimpses of various time periods -- a different one on each level.

As they gaze into the tower, the group is attacked by a T-Rex. Skull and Jeff fight the creature, while Corey slips away. Skull figure out that the Tyrannosaur is a robot, and destroys it. Then the group hears Corey scream. They follow him and find that he has stumbled into ancient Egypt, where he's been captured by a Pharaoh's soldiers.

Continuity Notes: Not many in this issue, though it should be noted that Skull's corpse-robbing ways have evidently rubbed off on Ann and Jeff. At Ann's suggestion, all three of them pilfer clothing from the skeletons near the tower. Doctor Corey, however, remains in his normal clothes.

As for the skeletons themselves -- they're from a number of different time periods, and there are extraterrestrials among them (and it is from the alien-but-humanoid bodies that our heroes procure their new cothes). Later, when the group finds the tower, Jeff notes that it is covered in alien writing identical to that which was in the cave where the primitive humans worshipped an alien corpse.

SKULL THE SLAYER #2

"GODS AND SUPER GODS"
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Artist: Steve Gan
Letterer: San Jose | Colorist: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: Jim Scully is dragged by his caveman captor to a primitive camp, where he's thrown into a cave with the other plane survivors: Ann, Doctor Corey, and a young man named Jeff. Revealing his nickname of Skull, Scully leads the survivors in an escape from the cavemen. But when a herd of rampaging dinosaurs storms through the camp, Skull commandeers one and leads the beasts away. This earns him the respect of the cavemen, who lead the survivors into another cave. There, then find the skeletal remains of an alien in a futuristic chamber.

As Doctor Corey, Ann, and Jeff study alien writing on the wall, Skull decides to pilfer the alien corpse of its skull-buckled belt. He takes and dons the garment, but the alien skeleton crumbles to dust, causing the cavemen to attack. Skull holds them at bay and then joins the other survivors in fleeing to the jungle. They attempt to cross a river to escape the cavemen, but are attacked in the water by a Brontosaurus. Skull begins to glow and somehow subdues the dinosaur. The survivors all make it ashore, where Jeff points out that the glow is coming from Skull's stolen belt.

Continuity Notes: For some reason, the cover logo from issue 1 has already been replaced. The new logo will carry through the remainder of the series, though the issue 1 logo does appear on the title page of this issue (but then never shows up again). I don't know why it was changed, but I liked the first logo a lot better. Its primitive look gave more insight into what the series was about.

Page 1 provides a brief textual recap of all the events in the prior issue, with a few illustrations.

SKULL THE SLAYER #1

"THE COMING OF SKULL THE SLAYER!"
Stan Lee, publisher, presents the beginning of an epic by:
Creator/Writer/Colorist: Marv Wolfman | Artist: Steve Gan
Letterer: Pablo Marcos | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Vietnam veteran Jim Scully is aboard a military plane for extridition from Bermuda to the United States, where he is wanted for the murder of his brother. But en route to the U.S., the plane flies into a time/space warp in the Bermuda Triangle, then splits apart and crashes in an prehistoric world. Scully emerges from the front end of the plane, its sole survivor. Meanwhile a trio of additional passengers survives the rear segment's crash.

As Scully hunts for food, he is attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Elsewhere, the other survivors are spotted by a group of primitive humans. Scully battles and eventually kills the T-Rex when he stabs it in the eye and sends it plummeting over a cliff. But as he recovers, he is struck in the head by a flung rock, and is surrounded by more primitive beings.

Continuity Notes: Our cast, at least as of issue 1, seems to consist of Jim Scully, and the three other survivors: a man called Doctor Corey, a woman named Ann, and a mostly-silent young man whose name is yet to be revealed.

Rather than recap Scully's backstory, I'll just mention that he was a special forces fighter dispatched to Vietnam and immediately captured, and then I'll let Marv Wolfman's ridiculous narration take it from there:

THE UNBOXING - APRIL 2020

I may be under state-mandated quarantine due to COVID-19, but The Unboxing recognizes no authority! Here's what we have this month:

From DC, it's TALES OF THE BATMAN: MARV WOLFMAN (inexplicably labeled as "Volume 1" even though I'm pretty sure this contains every Batman story Wolfman ever wrote). As we saw when I looked a ton of Batman in the Seventies comics last year, Wolfman's run on BATMAN continued directly from Len Wein's, wrapping up several loose ends, so the main reason I grabbed this volume was to site beside TALES OF THE BATMAN: LEN WEIN on my shelf for just that reason. It also contains a number of other Wolfman-penned Batman stories, though, which I'm sure I'll check out someday.

And from Marvel, we have the CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION: BLOOD AND GLORY, another installment in Marvel's collection of Mark Gruenwald's dedace-long run on Cap. When I started buying a lot of digital collections a couple years ago, I gradually tapered off my purchases of most trade paperbacks, figuring that Marvel seems to publish everything in hardcover sooner or later, and the digital versions would be my reading copies of most paperbacks (and of things I never really needed to own physically in the first place) until the inevitable Omnibus, oversized hardcover, etc. came around. But these Gruenwald Cap collections are pretty much the only paperbacks I "grandfathered in", since I had several already.

For those keeping count, this book follows from the previously released Epic Collections SOCIETY OF SERPENTS, JUSTICE IS SERVED, THE BLOODSTONE HUNT, STREETS OF POISON, and THE SUPERIA STRATAGEM -- plus the out-of-print Epic-in-all-but-name THE CAPTAIN -- and all of them together collect CAPTAIN AMERICA # 307 - 410. Gruenwald's CAP run ended with issue 443, so that's only thirty-three issues to go, which will comprise a total of three more Epic Collections (which we know since BLOOD AND GLORY is volume 18, while MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY, the book beginning the Mark Waid/Ron Garney run that immediately followed Gruenwald, is vol. 22.

I grabbed a few digital items this month as well. Amazon/Comixology had a BOGO sale when the Coronvirus situation really started heating up, so I picked up the following:

• AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES
  (The only Silver Age Avengers Epic I was unable to get in Marvel's big year-end sale because it wasn't discounted at the time.)
• AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION: THE AVENGERS/DEFENDERS WAR
• AVENGERS: THE ORIGIN
  (You'll be seeing more about this book, plus the subsequent pair listed below, very, very soon right here!)
• AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES vol. 1
• AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES vol. 2
• X-MEN MILESTONES ONSLAUGHT
  (I'm weirdly excited for this one because it contains only the core, "essential" parts of the "Onslaught" saga, without all the extraneous crossover junk. Looking forward to cracking it open when Gentlemen of Leisure's "X-aminations" reaches this point in the not-too-distant future!)
• X-MEN MILESTONES: PHALANX COVENANT
  (Since for some reason, the old PHALANX COVENANT hardcover has never seen a digital release, this will be my digital copy -- even though it's missing a few issues from the hardcover edition.)

Not too shabby, considering I haven't been allowed to leave the house for nearly a month! But now, with distribution on hold from some publishers due to the ongoing quarantine situation, we can only wonder what May will bring...!

BATMAN #335

"ASHES TO ASHES!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artists: Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Ben Oda | Editor: Paul Levitz

"The Lazarus Affair" -- and our overall look at Batman in the Seventies -- concludes with the May, 1981 issue of BATMAN. On Infinity Island, the Caped Crusader is offered a chance to join Ra's al Ghul, and -- after weighing the options -- he agrees.

But of course, Batman is bluffing. The funny thing is that everyone goes along with this in their own ways, but they all know it's a sham. Ra's al Ghul welcomes Batman into the family and sends him off with Talia for a tour of the island, then confides in his chief scientist that he knows Batman's agreement is insincere. Robin puts on a show of feeling betrayed, but secretly receives hand signals from Batman that let him know the Dark Knight is simply buying time. Even King Farady, who throws a punch at Batman over his betrayal, does it for show, as he also catches the hand signals, and even though he doesn't know what they mean, he understands this is a ruse.

So surely Batman, the world's greatest detective, must realize that no one believes him. Yet for whatever reason, everybody plays along... until they decided they're finished. For al Ghul, it happens when Talia escorts Batman into a room containing the Lazarus Pit. He decides at this point to go beat Batman up and turn him into a mutate. For Robin, Faraday, and Catwoman, it happens after they've been escorted back to the slave mines. Robin randomly decides that Batman needs them, so the group breaks free -- again -- and returns to the dome -- again -- to help Batman. From a story perspective, none of this seems to make any sense. We could've jumped straight from the opening page to al Ghul knocking Batman out and his friends fighting on his behalf -- but Wolfman needs to squeeze in some exposition, so he uses Batman's transparent ploy to work it in.

BATMAN #333 & #334

"THE CHINA SYNDROME!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artists: Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Ben Oda | Editor: Paul Levitz

As with the previous issue in the "Lazarus Affair" saga, BATMAN 333 begins with a one-page prologue -- this time it's a mysterious white-haired man in Nepal, listening for a signal from somewhere. And, for the first time in ten years, he receives it.

We then jump to Switzerland, where Batman is impersonating Gregorian Falstaff's right-hand man, Karlyle Krugerrand, in an attempt to gain access to Falstaff's safety deposit box. But the disguise is penetrated, and the Caped Crusader finds himself on the run from several agents of Falstaff's mysterious master. It becomes immediately clear in the subsequent pages that "The Lazarus Affair" is, at least in part, Marv Wolfman's tribute to the classic James Bond movies. Because if Bond winds up in Switzerland (or really, any exotic, snowy locale), it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll get involved in a high-speed ski chase -- which is exactly what happens here to Batman.

The Darknight Detective is shot in the arm, but nonetheless manages to elude his pursuers and meet up with Talia at their shared hotel suite. But when he changes to Bruce Wayne and attempts a romantic dinner with his traveling companion, he's attacked again -- suggesting that his enemies know his secret identity. So with dinner ruined, Bruce and Talia instead return to their room to knock boots before departing the next morning in a small plane for Hong Kong to meet with another contact, Feng-Wei. But after sneaking to the island through China, Bruce leaves Talia behind for this new rendezvous -- and is immediately captured by a sinister sea captain.

BATMAN #332

"THE LAZARUS AFFAIR: FALLOUT!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artists: Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Ben Oda | Editor: Paul Levitz

After a brief prologue that we'll look at in a moment, this week's BATMAN installments begin where last week's ended -- with Robin storming out of the Batcave after Batman has agreed to allow Talia to stay there. But Batman soon leaves his love behind to go investigate Gregorian Falstaff, and we learn some tidbits I don't think Len Wein intended when he created the character: specifically, that Falstaff was virtually unknown before three years ago, when he made all his money, and that he is operating as a front for someone else. This is confirmed a scene or two later, when Falstaff himself refers to a mysterious "master" while chatting with his lieutenant, Karlyle Krugerrand.

Batman deduces that Falstaff has been getting intel on Wayne Enterprises from Bruce Wayne's secretary, Caroline Crowne. The Caped Crusader payes Crowne a visit and saves her from being roughed up by a "mutate" on Falstaff's payroll. Crowne admits that she's only been spying on Bruce because Falstaff is holding her daughter hostage. Batman changes to Bruce and visits Falstaff, where he learns that the villain is seizing Wayne properties left and right. Later, back at the Batcave, Talia sedates Batman, but as she leaves to carry out a mysterious errand, she fails to realize he's still conscious.

BATMAN #330 & #331

"TARGET!" | "CLOSED CIRCUIT!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Dialogue: Michael Fleisher (issue 331)
Penciler: Irv Novick | Inkers: Vince Colletta (issue 330 & Frank McLaughlin (issue 331)
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Paul Levitz

And now we rejoin our story, already in progress... or so it seems when one dives into this issue. Don't get me wrong -- the story begins cleanly, with a setup introduced on the first page (specifically, a crook Batman sent up the river years ago is scheduled to be executed the next day, so he puts out a bounty -- he will pay ten million dollars in gold to anyone who can off Batman before he dies). But in terms of sub-plots, something's a bit off. Robin arrives early on to assist Batman in avoiding the various assassins who are now gunning for him. So far, so good -- until suddenly, Batman gives his partner the cold shoulder, and Robin realizes it's because this is the first time they've interacted since he announced that he was dropping out of college.

Now, look -- we haven't been reading every Batman-related story that came out around this time. Yes, we've covered BATMAN consistently; every issue dating back nearly two years now. And we've looked at a lot of consecutive DETECTIVE COMICS issues as well... but only the main stories. Both these series ran backup features, off-and-on, usually starring Robin and Batgirl. And I have to assume that Robin dropped out in one of those -- which is fine! But what strikes me odd about this is that Wolfman's script mentions it casually, almost in passing, as if we're supposed to know about it. And to the reader of 1980/81, that may well have been the case -- but you can't assume that all readers have been picking up every issue of every comic.

BATMAN #328 & #329

"DOUBLE JEOPARDY!" | "TWICE DIES THE BATMAN!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artists: Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Ben Oda | Editor: Paul Levitz

Look up top for a second, will you? No, not at the writing credit, which tells us that Marv Wolfman is now aboard as BATMAN's regular writer (for eight issues, anyway). Check out those story titles: "Double Jeopardy!" "Twice Dies the Batman!" Yep, you guessed it -- not only is Marv here, but Two-Face came with him! And on top of that, Wolfman is using these stories for a bit of a deep-dive into Batman's lore, which is always nice to see.

We begin in the Batcave, as Batman is taunted by a video message from Carl Ternion, who was recently tried and found not guilty of murder, but who -- in his message -- now brags to Batman that he did commit the crime. Protected by "double jeopardy" laws, he can never be tried for that crime again, but Batman nonetheless sets out to get to the bottom of Ternion's confession. As he investigates, the Darknight Detective finds that Ternion is dating Gilda Stevens, the ex-wife of Two-Face, who was recently widowed when her second husband, David, was murdered.

So here's the thing: Wolfman plays this as a mystery, but it really isn't one. Besides big clue in the title above, Ternion is depicted several times throughout part one with half his face obscured, or split down the middle through some means such as the divider between window panes as he looks outside. Combined with the fact that he's dating Harvey Dent's ex and has killed the man who murdered her husband (who was Harvey's former assistant when he was district attorney), it's quite obvious that Ternion is Two-Face in disguise.

DETECTIVE COMICS #408 & #410

"THE HOUSE THAT HAUNTED BATMAN"
Story by: Len Wein & Marv Wolfman | Art by: Neal Adams & Dick Giordano

Note: Screenshots below come from BATMAN ILLUSTRATED BY NEAL ADAMS VOLUME 2 and are not representative of these stories' original colors (the covers are presented as published, however).

Len Wein was twenty years old in early 1971. Marv Wolfman was twenty-four. And somehow they were paired with one of the hottest artists in comics at the time, Neal Adams, to draw one of their very first published stories. (for comparison's sake, Denny O'Neil was thirty-one at this point and Frank Robbins was fifty-three -- while Adams was twenty-nine). But what, you ask, do anyone's ages have to do with the story? Nothing; I just thought it was interesting that these two young whippersnappers worked with Neal Adams just as they were starting their careers.

"The House That Haunted Batman" features our first guest appearance from Robin since he departed the series in the initial issue we examined, BATMAN 217's "One Bullet Too Many" -- which was published over a year prior to DETECTIVE 408. Of course, this isn't the first time the readers of the era had seen the Teen Wonder since then -- he was a regular feature in backup stories in BATMAN, and he had popped by to team up with his mentor in a few stories we didn't look at. But for us, here and now, we haven't seen Dick Grayson in several issues, and we haven't seen Robin at all.

Funnily, the setup for this story will be reused by Denny O'Neil in just a few more months for the start of his Ra's al Ghul saga. Specifically, both this tale and O'Neil's begin with Robin kidnapped from Hudson University and Batman searching for him. But the similarities end with that single sentence. "The House that Haunted Batman" picks up en media res, with Robin already missing and Batman having located the place where he's being held -- while the upcoming "Daughter of the Demon" will show both the kidnapping and Batman's search for his ward.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #434 & 435

“SHAMBLES”
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artist: Jerry Ordway | Inker: José F. Marzan
Letterer: Albert de Guzman | Colorist: Anthony Tollin | Editor: Mike Carlin

The Plot: Superman intervenes in a mugging, but fails to stop a LexCorp security guard’s keys and ID card being stolen. Later, a mysterious individual receives the stolen goods and prepares a costume for himself. Meanwhile, Perry and Alice White pick up their son, Jerry, from jail on bail. At LexCorp, Luthor discovers his Project Synapse lab was trashed, and has the guard whose keys were stolen beaten for his incompetence.

Later, Metropolis’ new vigilante, Gangbuster, accosts some criminals in their hideout and learns that Max Carter, second-in-command to mobster Jay Falk, has been arming the city’s youth. Superman, having somehow deduced that Jose Delgado broke into LexCorp, visits his apartment but finds him gone. He follows clues to a warehouse where the latest group of the city’s troubled teens are being armed, to find Gangbuster already there fighting the punks. Superman joins the fray, as does Jerry White, and the angry youths are routed.

The next day, Jay Falk is arrested for his role in the gang war, and Superman sends Luthor an instant message informing him that he knows the corrupt billionaire was pulling Falk’s strings.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #433 & SUPERMAN #11

“GANGWAR PART TWO: A TRAGEDY IN FIVE ACTS”
Dramatized and Choreographed by: Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway
Inked by: Bob Smith | Lettered by: Albert de Guzman | Colored by: Anthony Tollin
Edited by: Mike Carlin

The Plot: A series of vignettes follows Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane, Perry White, Jose Delgado, and Lex Luthor though their interactions with Jerry White. First, Jimmy is inside a convenience store when it’s robbed by a gang including Jerry. Superman catches most of the group, but Jerry gets away. Later, Lois visits Jose to find him arguing with Jerry. Jerry leaves to go warn “the boss”, a portly older man, that Lois was spying, but Superman interrupts their meeting before the boss can have Jerry beaten.

Later still, Lois presents a story to Perry White which includes reference to Jerry as a member of the gangs that have recently plagued Metropolis. Perry goes to visit his son in prison, but Jerry gives him the could shoulder. After being escorted to a darkened room, Jerry is harassed by a gang of inmates, but Superman appears and saves him—however, at some point after the Man of Steel departs, Jerry is beaten anyway.

As Lex Luthor receives a humanitarian award, Jose Delgado accosts him. Luthor’s private security catches up with Jose and prepares to kill him, but Superman intervenes. Later, Luthor meets with one of his scientists about Project Synapse, a plan to create a “super soldier” to challenge Superman, but declares the project a failure when only one of the test subjects survives.

SUPERMAN #9 & ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #432

“TO LAUGH AND DIE IN METROPOLIS”
Story & Pencils: John Byrne | Inks: Karl Kesel
Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Tom Ziuko | Editors: Michael Carlin & Andrew Helfer

The Plot: A fake Superman robs the Metropolis Diamond Exchange. When Superman responds to the robbery, the imposter reveals itself as a robot with a nuclear bomb in its chest. Superman flies the robot into space, where it explodes, then returns to Metropolis to find that the Joker was behind the robbery. Joker calls on Superman with Jimmy Olsen’s signal watch, revealing that he’s captured, Jimmy, Perry White, and Lois Lane, and is holding them hostage in lead-lined coffins around the city. But Superman easily determines the coffins are empty, then tracks down the Joker, saves his friends, and brings the Clown Prince of Crime to jail.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Clark receives a package in the mail at the Daily Planet, containing his mother’s scrapbook which was stolen by agents of Lex Luthor in issue 2. Soon after, in Smallville, Lana Lang is approached by a strange probe which knocks her out.

Upon returning to Earth after disposing of the bomb, Superman attempts to fly and falls flat on his face, furthering the sub-plot about his powers periodically acting up.

Maggie Sawyer puts in an appearance, allowing Superman to explain to her that he and Batman are not friends. Moments later, Superman notes that Jimmy created his signal watch himself, and muses that the young man is destined for great things.

ACTION COMICS #591 & ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #431

“PAST IMPERFECT”
Story, Pencils, & Figure Inks: John Byrne | Background Inks: Keith Williams
Lettering: John Costanza | Coloring: Tom Ziuko | Editing: Michael Carlin & Andrew Helfer

The Plot: Superboy freezes Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes with his stasis ray, then takes the Legion members to deliver them a mysterious master elsewhere in the timestream. Superman breaks free of the ray’s effect and pursues, but is thrown off and lands in Superboy’s Smallville. Pete Ross find him and brings him to the Kents’ home, but Superboy soon returns and a fight ensues.

Krypto joins the fight and heads for Superboy’s lab to grab some gold Kryptonite, but the rock robs him of his powers before he can use it. Pa Kent gets an idea from Krypto’s sacrifice and confronts Superman with all the forms of Kryptonite, but none work on him. However this pause in the action allows Superman and Superboy to make peace.

Superboy and the Legion depart for the future to battle Superboy’s master, the Time-Trapper, but they insist Superman return to his own time rather than risk his life by coming with them. Superman reluctantly agrees and is returned to modern-day Metropolis.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Superman notes multiple times that Superboy is more powerful than he is, but the Man of Steel’s experience allows him to go toe-to-toe with the Boy of Steel.

The Time-Trapper explains how it is that Superboy and his version of Smallville exist in the post-CRISIS universe:

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #430

“HOMEWARD BOUND!”
Setting by: Marv Wolfman | Design by: Jerry Ordway
Engraving: Albert de Guzman | Hues: Tom Ziuko | Editing by: Mike Carlin & Andy Helfer

The Plot: Superman battles the Fearsome Five in Metropolis, but they defeat him and escape. As he worries over his parents’ upcoming anniversary party and the two sides of his dual life, the Five argue over whether or not they should have finished him off. A week later on the night of his parents’ party, Clark Kent receives a call warning him that the Fearsome Five are aboard a luxury liner called the Augustus Mandrell. Superman arrives and fights them again, and again they escape.

Clark misses his parents’ party and shows up after all the guests have left. Pa Kent gives him a pep talk about letting his two lives coexist in harmony, and the next day, having received another phone call about the Fearsome Five’s whereabouts, Superman barges into their hideout. This time, not distracted by the conflict between he costumed life and his secret identity, he defeats the group.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: The Fearsome Five count two new members among their number: the mysterious Charger and Deuce. We see during the story that they’re more bloodthirsty than the rest of the group and that they joined as a couple. It’s also revealed in the story’s conclusion that Deuce was the one who called Clark Kent, apparently knowing he was actually Superman, to tell him where to find the Fearsome Five. Presumably we’ll learn at some point that these two are members of the Circle.

ACTION COMICS #587 & ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #429

“CITYSCAPE!”
Written & Penciled by: John Byrne | Embellished by: Dick Giordano
Colored by: Tom Ziuko | Lettered by: John Costanza
Edited by: Andrew Helfer & Michael Carlin

The Plot: In Gotham City, renowned occult expert Jason Blood and his entourage visit a curio shop. Jason’s friend Glenda opens a miniature glass city, and it immediately begins transforming everyone in the vicinity, and soon everyone in Gotham, into glass buildings. Blood changes into his alter ego, the demon Etrigan, and avoids the effect. Superman, passing by, has a brief scuffle with Etrigan before the demon explains the situation, then sends the Man of Steel back in time to stop the effect before it can start. Superman teams up with the Jason Blood of the Dark Ages, and together they stop the sorceress Morgaine Le Fay from enchanting the mini city in the first place. Superman returns to the present day to find that all is well.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Superman is familiar with Etrigan from past encounters, though he learns here for the first time that the demon is actually Jason Blood.

My Thoughts: Following from its installment of the LEGENDS/Darkseid storyline, ACTION COMICS returns to its established format as a throw-away team-up vehicle. Now, that doesn’t mean the story is bad; Superman’s team-up with Etrigan is fun, and Byrne’s fondness for time travel gets a quick demonstration here, but ultimately this is an entirely skippable affair.

We’ll note again that Byrne’s recent penchant for the gratuitous slaughter of bystanders is in full force, as Superman himself kills, or at least grievously injures, a few innocents when he smashes Etrigan against the crystal towers in Gotham. One of them even starts bleeding! Of course it’s all corrected via time travel, but even so, it’s a little much to see Superman himself causing such carnage — even if indirectly.

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.

SUPERMAN #3, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #426, & ACTION COMICS #586

“LEGENDS FROM THE DARKSIDE”
Writer/Penciler: John Byrne | Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Tom Ziuko | Editor: Andrew Helfer

The Plot: While Lois Lane interviews G. Gordon Godfrey at the Metropolis Grande Hotel, Clark Kent is chased around the city by twin energy beams. The beams eventually catch up with him as he attempts to elude them in the sewer, and transport him to Apokolips. There, Darkseid is confused by the beams’ grabbing a mortal instead of Superman, and he tosses his guest out a window. Clark lands in Apokolips’s slums, where he loses his civilian clothes, grabs rags to hide his costume, and explores. Soon he is attacked by a Pacifier, which grabs him and pulls them both into one of the planet’s fire pits.

“FROM THE DREGS…”
Writer : Marv Wolfman | Artist/Co-Plotter: Jerry Ordway | Co-Plotter: John Byrne
Letterer: Albert de Guzman | Colorist: Tom Ziuko | Editor: Andrew Helfer

The Plot: An addled Superman is fished out of the fire pit by a “hunger dog” named Graggin. Word spreads quickly, and the hero soon comes to the attention of a woman named Amazing Grace, who convinces the hunger dogs that Superman is the savior of the people of Apokolips. When the Man of Steel fights off a troop of Parademons sent to rout the hunger dogs, they begin to believe the hype. Soon Superman, his memories fragmented and powers reduced thanks to the fire pit, leads the hunger dogs against Darkseid’s forces, and though their battle is incredibly costly, the day is won. But as the gathered rebels celebrate, Amazing Grace and Superman reveal their true nature, allowing an even larger force of Parademons to swoop in and slaughter the hunger dogs.