SUPERMAN #22

“THE PRICE”
Story & Art: John Byrne | Lettering: John Costanza | Coloring: Petra Scotese
Assistant Editor: Renee Witterstaetter | Editor: Mike Carlin

The Plot: Above the ruined surface of the Pocket Earth, Superman, Supergirl, Lex Luthor, Pete Ross, and Bruce Wayne (the latter two in jet fighters) make their last stand against General Zod, Zaora and Quex-Ui. Bruce is killed by Zod, and Pete dies when Quex-Ui attacks Smallville Base. Zod and Zaora shoot Supergirl out of the sky with heat vision, transforming her into a being of pink goo. Luthor sends Superman to Smallville Base to locate some gold Kryptonite, which the Man of Steel uses to rob Quex-Ui of his powers. Superman does the same to Zod and Zaora, then traps all three Kryptonians inside a prison of his own making.

Superman finds Luthor, shot down and dying. After he passes away, Superman returns to the prison and uses green Kryptonite to execute Zod and his followers. The Man of Steel then finds the remains of Supergirl and takes her back to Earth, leaving her in the care of Lana and his parents as he departs to sort things out.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Lex reveals that Lana died during the Kryptonians’ earliest attacks on Earth, and that “Supergirl” was a being he created in her image to fight against them. My understanding is that this creature would go on to become the “real” post-CRISIS Supergirl for several years.

WONDER WOMAN #21 & #22

“THE COSMIC MIGRATION”
Story & Pencils: George Pérez | Finished Art: Bob McLeod
Lettering: John Costanza | Coloring: Carl Gafford
Editor: Karen Berger

The Plot: Following Myndi Mayer’s funeral, Princess Diana is summoned back to Paradise Island by her mother, From there, Diana, Hippolyte, and Menalippe are transported to Olympus by the gods, who inform them that the Amazon’s help is needed for the “Cosmic Migration”. The Amazons agree to help and, through Diana’s strength and the Amazons’ prayers, the gods move on to the next plane of their existence.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: It’s revealed that Wonder Woman’s indestructible bracelets were forged from Zeus’s own shield.

My Thoughts: Ehh. It’s more god stuff, which in general never impresses me, as I’ve noted before, but this story commits the additional crime of just being boring. I don’t really think we needed an entire issue dedicated to the gods having people pray for them so they could leave Olympus. This would’ve worked much better as the second half of an action story or something. So let’s move along, shall we? Nothing more to see here.