“DIFFERENT WORLDS”
Story & Breakdowns: John Byrne | Finishes: George Pérez
Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Tom Ziuko
Assistant Editor: Renee Witterstaetter | Editor: Mike Carlin
Story & Breakdowns: John Byrne | Finishes: George Pérez
Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Tom Ziuko
Assistant Editor: Renee Witterstaetter | Editor: Mike Carlin
Hermes reveals to Wonder Woman that a group of New Gods invaded Olympus. Meanwhile, Darkseid and Desaad, observing the two heroes from a control room, send a fake Wonder Woman (actually Amazing Grace in disguise) to seduce Superman and a fake Superman (Kalibak in disguise) to clobber Wonder Woman. The heroes fight their enemies, who perform a switch to lure them into fighting one another, instead.
But Superman and Wonder Woman quickly discern the truth and find their way to Darkseid’s hideout. Confronted by the fact that he failed to kill them, Darkseid departs with Desaad, triggering explosives set around Olympus before leaving. But Olympus will only fall when the gods will it, and is unharmed by Darkseid’s treachery.
Superman and Wonder Woman return to Earth, where they decide that a romantic relationship is not meant to be, but they will be friends.
Superman Romance Tip: Always kick off a first date by kissing her without preamble, and then telling her you had a wet dream about her:
Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Darkseid explains that Olympus was created when the New Gods replaced the old. A beam of Old God energy projected from the explosion that represented the transfer, and shot to Earth, where it created the Greek pantheon. So the Greek gods may actually be even newer than the New Gods…?
Kalibak appears in his SUPER POWERS character design rather than the classic Kirby look, doubtlessly because the toys were still in stores at this time — though Darkseid, Desaad, and Parademons still look like their non-redesigned selves for whatever reason.
On Earth, Myndi Mayer plants a story in the papers that Wonder Woman and Superman have started a relationship.
On the story’s final page, when Wonder Woman asks Superman to call her Diana, Superman responds by asking her to call him Clark — the first instance of current-day post-CRISIS Superman willingly revealing his identity to anyone.
My Thoughts: I know Darkseid doesn’t get his hands dirty. He’s a manipulator and a mastermind, and he has henchmen and Omega beams for when he needs somebody roughed up. But just the same, it’s kind of a shame to team up Superman and Wonder Woman, and have them talk Darkseid into leaving. Even if it goes against his established M.O., I really would have liked to see the story concoct some reason for our heroes to come to blows with him!
Nonetheless, this is still a fun installment. The Superman/Wonder Woman sub-plot comes to an end (more on that below), and there’s plenty of action and wonderful artwork along the way. (Who would’ve thought George Pérez would make such a terrific inker over John Byrne?!)
I do wish more could’ve been done with the romance angle, though. I don’t think Superman and Wonder Woman would ever really work out as a couple long-term, but it could’ve been fun to see them try for a while. I know DC eventually did this earlier in the “New 52” era, but I’m surprised it took them that long! The idea of Superman and Wonder Woman trying (and eventually failing) to build a relationship solely over the fact that they seem physically compatible with one another is a fun one.
ACTION COMICS 600 also features a whopping four backup stories by Superman creators past, present, and future. Here they are, though I’ve elected not to review them outside of summaries and sub-plot notes:
“TRUE LOVE”
Plot: Byrne | Pencils: Schaffenberger | Script: Stern
Inks: Ordway | Letters: Oakley | Colors: Scotese
Plot: Byrne | Pencils: Schaffenberger | Script: Stern
Inks: Ordway | Letters: Oakley | Colors: Scotese
The Plot: Lois sees a news article about the relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman. Troubled, she returns to her apartment, where Clark arrives to console her — but he’s called away by Jimmy’s signal watch before they can speak.
Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Lois appears to be warming back up to Clark before he abruptly departs.
“GAMES PEOPLE PLAY”
Story by: John Byrne | Pencils by: Dick Giordano | Inks by: John Beatty
Coloring by: Tom Ziuko | Lettering by: Albert de Guzman
Story by: John Byrne | Pencils by: Dick Giordano | Inks by: John Beatty
Coloring by: Tom Ziuko | Lettering by: Albert de Guzman
The Plot: Lex Luthor meets with Maggie Sawyer and reveals that he has a secret about her which will get her kicked off the Special Crimes Unit.
Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Maggie’s scandalous secret is apparently that she’s a lesbian, but on the story’s final page, Dan Turpin appears to know what Maggie’s secret is, though I believe an upcoming backup story will reveal this isn’t the case.
Luthor receives the prognosis that he’s come down with Kryptonite poisoning thanks to the ring he’s worn for several months, and he will likely lose his hand because of it.
Maggie once again calls Dan Turpin “Ben”.
“A FRIEND IN NEED”
Plot: John Byrne | Script: Roger Stern | Pencils: Curt Swan
Inks: Murphy Anderson | Letters: Albert de Guzman | Colors: Tom Ziuko
Plot: John Byrne | Script: Roger Stern | Pencils: Curt Swan
Inks: Murphy Anderson | Letters: Albert de Guzman | Colors: Tom Ziuko
The Plot: Superman arrives in a remote town in response to Jimmy’s signal. The Man of Steel prevents a toxic waste leak, but then collapses. At Superman’s request, Jimmy takes him into a nearby cave network to hide, then Superman sends him to find help.
Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Superman reveals that, though Krypton was destroyed decades ago, the fallout from the explosion has finally reached Earth, and the entire planet is blanketed in Kryptonite radiation.
(Note: John Byrne loves the speed of light, you guys. If there’s a way to write a story about the result of something traveling at the speed of light and reaching Earth long after the inciting event occurred, or even just to have a character comment on how long ago something in space happened in relation to when we're seeing it, Byrne will do it. Not saying this is bad; just kind of funny.)
“THE DARK WHERE MADNESS LIES”
Written by: John Byrne | Drawn by: Mike Mignola
Lettered by: Bill Oakley | Colored by: Petra Scotese
Written by: John Byrne | Drawn by: Mike Mignola
Lettered by: Bill Oakley | Colored by: Petra Scotese
The Plot: Man-Bat arrives at the underground caves for some rest and relaxation, and is surprised to find Superman there. The weakened hero believes Man-Bat to be a monster and attacks him, but eventually comes to his senses. Superman asks Man-Bat to find Hawkman, and Man-Bat does so. Hawkman enters the cave, ready to aid Superman.
Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: This appears to be the first post-CRISIS meeting between Superman and Batman’s mutant frenemy, Man-Bat.
Also, Superman vaguely tells Jimmy to go get “help” in the previous story, suggesting another alien such as Martian Manhunter or the Green Lanterns could aid him. But here he specifically requests Hawkman. He probably just had time to think it over and realized that he needs Hawkman specifically for whatever reason, but it’s still a little odd.
Next Week: Superman returns to Krypton in SUPERMAN #18, and Mister Mxyzptlk is back in ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #441.
I have a strong memory of getting this milestone issue and being pretty excited by its significance and pomp (my copy had a golden Superman statuette on the cover, Oscar-style). And yet I recall almost nothing of the plots you recount here (including the fact that Darkseid was in it, how did that not leave an impression?).
ReplyDeleteThe two things I remember were: (1) the Wonder Woman romance being over within the first couple of pages, kind of a weird anticlimax, and (2) that storyline where Lex threatens to expose Maggie Sawyer as a lesbian. That must have left an impression just because I don't think I'd ever seen sexuality addressed like that before (or at least I hadn't picked up on it...I read Byrne's whole Alpha Flight run utterly clueless that Northstar was gay).
I just remember one panel where Lex played his hand by having an attractive woman walk around in Maggie's presence with, if I recall, motion lines to signify her wiggling hips, presenting a sort of temptation for Maggie. The scene struck me as awkward and kind of unintentionally funny...a bit of a weird execution in addressing this topic (which, again, was not mainstream in '88).
Anyway, in hindsight, full props to Byrne for opening up this subject at all, helping to nudge it into the mainstream.
As it worked out this was my last Byrne Superman comic for a while. I
eventually went back to buy some back issues from the end of his run, but am not even sure if I got around to reading them all. Still, I recall the early issues of the run fondly and remember this DC renaissance era as a fun time to collect comics.
-david p.
I'm not sure if this issue had variant covers or what. The MAN OF STEEL trade paperback collecting it includes both the statue cover and the one I used above. I like both a lot; I just chose this one since it's more evocative of the story inside.
DeleteYou remember the Maggie scene correctly. Lex has her in his office, then he pages a sexy secretary to bend over and pick something up in front of Maggie, getting her all hot and bothered.
I've read where other people didn't realize Northstar was gay. I probably wouldn't have, if I'd read those issues as a child. That sort of thing went way over my head, plus homosexuality wasn't exactly mainstream in the early/mid eighties, at least as far as I recall. On top of that, I think Byrne had to be a little more covert with Northstar, because I believe Jim Shooter didn't want that sort of thing depicted in Marvel Comics at the time. DC must have been more open to it.
DC had a very flamboyantly, openly gay character in the New Guardians comic book around this time.
DeleteExtrano who hailed from Brazil.
The Northstar stuff under Byrne, at Marvel, was pretty subdued.
I don't think there was anything that obviously pointed to Northstar definitely being gay...although it's been a long time since I read those issues.
I think it was only under Mantlo, who you could tell was struggling under Shooter's edict, where the hints were a lot more obvious that Northstar was meant to be gay.
Oh yeah, I've heard of Extrano! I didn't know he was from NEW GUARDIANS, though. And yes, Byrne definitely played Northstar close to the vest. Wasn't it Mantlo who was going to have Northstar contract HIV, but Marvel nixed the idea, so the horrible ret-con that he and Auroria were actually fairies was born?
Delete(Honestly, I kind of side with Marvel there -- I doubt they did it for the right reasons, but preventing a storyline in which your only gay character gets HIV is probably a good idea. Of course, they should've found some other solution besides the fairy nonsense.)
I agree with you about Northstar contracting HIV.
DeleteDuring the period it was written, to do justice to the gravity of that plot, you have to have your only gay character die.
Otherwise, it's just dishonest, and also offensive to readers in the real-world, where AIDS was a death sentence.
I believe that Mantlo wanted to do that as a way to show that Northstar was gay, while staying within Shooter's guidelines.
Mantlo couldn't outright say that Northstar was gay, but if he was suffering from HIV, then it implied to many readers that he was a gay man.
I think when Marvel nixed that idea too, Mantlo sort of lost it, and decided to say that he and Aurora were fairies.
That was a bad decision, all around.
DC did do that plot in their "mature readers" Hellblazer comic, with the openly-gay character Ray Monde.
He was presented as having AIDS and dying.
I mean, it's an important real-world issue, sure. However, when you have one or two gay characters, it's probably not a good idea.
I think it was pretty obvious in X-MEN AND ALPHA FLIGHT, when Rogue had absorbed Northstar's memories and then meaningfully thought of "his... secret" when Walter Langkowski was chiding him for his relationship with women. It wasn't the the most difficult code to break what was hinted at.
DeleteI've long wondered if the Marvel position was Shooter's own edict or if this was excessive caution related to the way the characters were licensed and fear that this could damage the marketability of the products. (And yes one can argue that that shouldn't have been a concern, but the editor-in-chief wasn't the one doing the licensing.)
DeleteYeah, the blame gets laid at Shooter's feet, but I'd say it's just as likely -- maybe even more likely -- that Marvel or their parent company just didn't want gay characters in their comics at a time when there was still some stigma around that "lifestyle". I suspect the main reason Shooter gets blamed personally (besides the fact that he was the very public "boss" of Marvel) is that story he wrote about some guys trying to gang-rape Bruce Banner at the YMCA. It wasn't exactly a sensitive portrayal of homosexuality.
DeleteThis issue of "Action Comics" post-Crisis is pretty monumental. I like the Curt Swan/Murphy Anderson art for one of the stories here. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I like that DC enlisted some of the old hands for the backup stories. Swan, Anderson, and Schaffenberger were defining artists on Superman and his world.
DeleteI clearly read this, since I recall reading the sequence with Luthor being told he was going to lose his hand because kryptonite radiation was clearly still radiation and not a thing you want to wear all the time. But I don't remember a single other part of this issue.
ReplyDeleteWhich is bad, because now I get to read that uncomfortable as hell line from Superman about having dreams about Wonder Woman. That's just...ouch, Byrne, ouch. I'm not a prude-yeah, I know, given my reaction to some of Gunsmith Cats that seems hard to back up-but Superman just shouldn't SAY THAT.
Otherwise, having no memory of most of Action Comics #600 says a lot.
No one should say that, period! It's not exactly the best way to woo someone.
DeleteThe story itself isn't bad, but it's just very standard superhero stuff and, as I noted above, a little disappointing in that Superman and Wonder Woman don't actually fight Darkseid. Which, again, I get that he's a schemer above all, but you'd think for a giant anniversary issue, you'd want to see the main characters do more than talk the bad guy out of town.
But anyway, it's understandable you might not remember it that well if you only read it once thirty years ago. Nothing really stands out in it.
Both covers were used in (at least) the direct market. Was this the period when DC experimented with different covers for the (perceived) different newstand/comic shop markets?
ReplyDeleteI think the UK reprint of this was LEM readers' first real introduction to the modern Wonder Woman (her pre Crisis incarnation showed up in a Titans/JLA clash) and I remember finding the story tough going, not helped by a lot of it being rooted in the mythology of series we didn't get over here, leaving a somewhat overlong and ultimately underwhelming action story. It was also in the first issue after the title dropped to bimonthly publication and so had even more riding on it than usual (further not helped by forcing the JLI story to be cut in two, giving just the build-up to a fight with Lobo).
The Maggie/Dan story was in Superman Annual #2 which came out a couple of months later so it's possible the two stories were written the opposite way round from publication and perhaps "Ben" is a crude attempt to use lettering to create an identical different character to cover up the continuity error created.
If she only called him Ben here, I'd think you're right, but she also used that name in an earlier story, so I suspect Byrne just thought that was the character's name. I have a look at that annual backup coming soon, and it begins with a note setting the opening scene some months earlier, so it's probably the annual story, though published later, was simply intended to take place before this one.
DeleteAlso, I didn't even know DC ever did experiment with different covers for newsstand versus direct market. Fascinating!