Like Superman#75, this issue sported multiple covers. The newsstand edition featured Supes and Pa Kent back to back, surrounded by the various threats. The special edition cover featured a removable white plastic film. With the plastic on, you saw Jonathan Kent’s hand outstretched towards a ghostly-looking Superman. Remove the plastic and Superman stands revealed, his hand stretching out towards you. You can see both covers here. I can’t quite tell which is the cheesier cover.
Rather than definitively answer the question about whether Superman was dead or alive, #500 instead focused on a surreal story in which Pa Kent, in a near-death experience, may or may not have brought his son back from the dead. It was probably one of the most un-Superman-like Superman story I ever read, with Jonathan Kent fighting side-by-side with Superman against . . . well, we’re never really told what they’re fighting against. Demons? Ghosts? It’s deliberately unclear. Really, the only thing that is clear is that the whole 46 page story was just a set up for the next event storyline, “The Reign of the Supermen.”
When I last talked about “The Reign of the Supermen,” I mentioned that this storyline introduced four new characters, each claiming to be Superman, or to be somehow related to him. In Action Comics it was “Vigilante Superman” who was revealed to be the Eradicator. In Adventures we have Superboy. Physically and emotionally a teenager, this is a Superboy who hates authority figures, makes jokes, and is as interested in playing video games and chasing girls as he is in fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. Oh, and he hates being called “Superboy.” It’s a welcome relief in a storyline that takes itself far too seriously, and it makes for some of the most enjoyable Superman stories I’ve read so far.
Of course, the name “Superboy” was well known to comicbook readers; Superboy had been a DC Comics staple since the mid 1940’s, and for most of its existence the character was just a teenaged Clark Kent. But like so much, Crisis on Infinite Earths changed that, editorially decreeing that the concept of “the adventures of Superman when he was a boy” never existed. Ironically, this version of Superboy did appear briefly during the John Byrne era of Superman to help clear up the continuity problems that were caused by Crisis. That Superboy conveniently died in the same storyline, and the mantle lay unclaimed for the next six years. So fans were excited to hear the character was coming back during the “Reign of Superman” title.
Since this new Superboy was created in the 1990’s the concept had to be tweaked a bit. Rather than literally being a teenaged Superman, Superboy was re-imaged as a clone of Superman (later revealed to be a generic super-powered clone that was an attempt to replicate Superman’s powers rather than an actual Superman clone; later revealed to be a Kryptonian/human hybrid . . . really, no comicbook character can last for any length of time without its origins becoming totally discombobulated). Superboy is also a walking poster-child for the worst of 90’s fashion clichés: His hair was shorn on the sides Vanilla Ice-style but curly on the top, he sports round sunglasses, a pierced ear, a leather jacket, and wears two leather belts around his waist. Verily, it is a wonder to behold.
He’d be a bit of a punk if he weren’t so endearing. This is due to the superb characterizations by writer Karl Kesel (who took over the writing duties from Jerry Ordway, who left after #500). For example, in Superboy’s debut (#501), Kesel has the character take down a crime boss. To do that, Superboy has to walk a gauntlet of over-the-top death traps—including exploding manholes and a bus dressed like it came from the set of Mad Max-- that puncture Superboy’s bravado if not his skin. But at the same time, we do see Superboy fight the good fight, showing that his heart is in the right place, even if his brain is on the immature side.
In fact, Kesel wisely makes that immaturity something the readers can sympathize with rather than be put off by. He introduces Tana Moon, the aspiring reporter who functions as Superboy’s conscience. At first she uses Superboy as a way to launch her own career but she quickly sees how Superboy’s naiveté leaves him open to less scrupulous exploiters. For example, Vincent Edge, whose sole characteristic until now has been pinching Cat Grant’s ass, is now written as a much slimier, Rupert Mudroch-like executive who has no qualms about the collateral damage caused by manufacturing threats for Superboy to face (and thus improving ratings for his TV news station). By creating people that want to manipulate Superboy, Kesel makes the readers feel protective of the character in spite of his faults. Yes, the plot is all a bit superficial, but Kesel’s dialogue is snappy, the villainy is serious but not psychopathic and, unlike Jerry Ordway’s, Kesel’s jokes are actually funny. All of this gives these “Reign of the Superman” issues an air of light-heartedness that keeps things from being too-heavy handed.
Aside from the larger problems of “The Reign of Superman,” my only real complaint about these issues is Superboy’s girl-chasing. I’m sure, as an 18 year old, I was perfectly fine watching Superboy ogle every female character he meets; hell, I was pretty much looking at women the same way (hopefully slightly less blatantly). And, let’s face it, artist Tom Grummet knows how to draw an attractive (and—mostly—anatomically correct) woman. If this were solely a characteristic of Superboy, then it could be more forgivable. But there’s an ugly sexism at work here that is more than just a character trait. Tana Moon may be mature enough to see through Vincent Edge’s manipulations of Superboy, but she still goes along with them rather than fight against them. And there’s a scene in issue #501 when Superboy tries to take down the crime lord. Faces a squad of gun-wielding prostitutes and he quips “look, I’m sure it’s society’s fault you’re here. And I wish I had time to get to know each of you personally . . . but business before pleasure.”
And then there’s Supergirl. I know I’ve already railed against how poorly she gets treated by the Superman writers, how she spent much of the early 1990’s as Lex Luthor’s sex toy. But even I was shocked by how explicitly the sexism was portrayed in issue #502, when Superboy meets Supergirl. To start with we have this gem:
And then there’s Supergirl. I know I’ve already railed against how poorly she gets treated by the Superman writers, how she spent much of the early 1990’s as Lex Luthor’s sex toy. But even I was shocked by how explicitly the sexism was portrayed in issue #502, when Superboy meets Supergirl. To start with we have this gem:
On one level it’s a cute gag that reinforces that, to a sixteen year old boy, you will definitely be focusing on certain attributes of Supergirl more than others. But the sad part is this objectification is implicitly condoned by the comic’s creators. You know this because Supergirl, supposedly an intelligent, extremely powerful person, doesn’t even chastise Superboy for being so blatant. She just smiles and says nothing. Then later on in the issue, Lex Luthor parades her in front of Superboy, using her looks to manipulate Superboy while Supergirl babbles idiotically about how she and Superboy “could work together every day!” totally oblivious to what is really going on.
Supergirl’s superfluousness is most evident in the main storyline’s title: “Reign of the Supermen.” In a storyline that is nominally about the people who might be able to carry on the legacy of Superman, Supergirl is immediately disqualified solely because of her gender. Nevermind that the character has a pedigree second only to Superboy’s in terms of longevity; that she’s the only established character who was an ally of Superman prior to his death; that (manipulations from Lex Luthor aside) among all the various characters claiming to be Superman, she’s the only one who most closely resembles Superman in powers, temperament, and ideology. She wears Superman’s insignia like all the others, but clearly it doesn’t matter what you wear on your chest if there are breasts behind it.
The problem of sexism in comics goes far beyond this particular example, but I have no intention of making this blog solely about comicbook misogyny (although I’m sure I’ll be pointing out a lot more instances of it as this blog goes on). I mention this to explain that, as damning as the handling of Supergirl’s character is, for better or worse it does not diminish the fact that I truly enjoyed these issues of Adventures. The Superman books in the early and mid ‘90’s were so obsessed with making Superman relevant that they felt they had to make Superman edgier. But making the threats more violent or making Superman more angry didn’t make him edgier. It just made Superman comics more violent and angry. Those sorts of ideas work fine when used as a thematic point, but not as a status quo. If I want Watchmen, then I’ll read Watchmen. But Superman adventures should be exciting and thrilling, not pseudo-deconstructionist grim-n-gritty morbidity. For the four issues that focused on Superboy, you had a comicbook that was more the former than the latter, and I only wish it could have lasted longer.
Next Issue: Superman returns, Tom Grummet leaves, and I set a new record for the most comics reviewed in a single blog post.
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