ACTION COMICS #692 - October 1993

And, Who, Disguised as Clark Kent?

Credits:  Roger Stern (writer), Karl Kesel (co-plotter), Jackson Guice & Denis Rodier (art), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  In front of a news crew, Superman saves Clark Kent from a pile of debris.  Clark explains that he’s stayed in the building’s civil defense shelter while waiting to be rescued.  Superman flies through the city, encountering Lex Luthor in his helicopter.  Lex demands to know where Supergirl has been, but Superman refuses to answer.  Later, at Clark’s home, “Clark” morphs into Supergirl.  Superman and Lois thank her for her help and then embrace.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• According to the news report, Doomsday’s rampage was only a little over a month ago.  Think of all of the Superman stories that have been crammed into that timeline!
• The news report also leaves Eradicator’s fate ambiguous, even though the previous chapter seemed like a clear death scene to me.

Production Note:  The Return of Superman trade only reprints eleven pages of this issue.  It’s placed in the back as an “epilogue.”

Review:  It’s not hard to guess why this portion of the story has been reprinted -- the reader needs to know how exactly Clark Kent explains his absence during Superman’s “death.”  The explanation is perfectly reasonable within the context of this era’s continuity, although I wonder now how DC explains this away in the re-re-revised canon.  (Surely Supergirl was never a shapeshifting pile of goo in the current continuity.)  With this dangling tidbit addressed, that closes out the Death and Return of Superman epic.

On a basic level, it’s hard not to view the entire stunt as a success.  It brought more attention to the titles (more than DC could’ve ever expected), increased sales, and enabled DC to compete against the birth of Image Comics and the increasing expansion of Marvel’s X-titles.  Marrying Superman and Lois off would’ve caused a blip in sales and a smidgen of publicity, but killing him off, duping the audience with four possible replacements, and finally reviving him kept attention focused on the books for almost two years.

Creatively, the storyline has a few problems.  The initial point the story tries to prove, that Superman is a true hero that will endure past any fad, seems to fade in and out as the months continue.  A few characters learn lessons about true heroism over the course of the event, but the stories seem more and more concerned with gigantic fight scenes than making any metatextual statement about the public’s perception of heroism.  And those closing issues, the big fight scene that draws all of the characters together, seem to drag on forever.  It’s a shame that the creators couldn’t have devised a more satisfying conclusion to the event, rather than stranding the reader on Engine City for what feels like an eternity.  If you want to see Superman fight Doomsday, his actual killer, in a rematch, then you’re out of luck.  That comes later, in a different set of higher-priced bookshelf format specials.  It’s the ‘90s, folks.

Following the resurrection, DC felt obligated to indicate that not everything has returned to the old status quo.  You can’t take your flagship character and put him through this kind of experience without some acknowledgment of what he’s endured, right?  So, now Superman has a mullet.  And Clark Kent has a ponytail.  What can you even say?  I can understand the creators’ desire to return to a more traditional Superman, with only a small cosmetic change thrown in, but it seems like a wasted opportunity.  If you’re ever going to redesign Superman’s costume, this is the time to do it.  Why couldn’t he keep the black and silver look?  Who’s to say he even needed to return as Clark Kent?  For that matter, why is Superman even returning before the next big anniversary issue (Action #700)?  Even after the gimmick of which Superman is the real one has been exhausted, I think Supergirl, Superboy, and Steel could be able to carry the titles for around a year.  Why create a massive marketing event around Superman’s death, but only leave him dead for one month in the timeline?  Why couldn’t Superman return to a very different Metropolis?

Despite my gripes, I have to say there has been a level of, at the very least, professionalism throughout the event.  The Superman titles never reach the nadir of the Azrael solo stories the audience had to endure during “Knightfall,” and we should all thank the heavens for that.  It’s obvious the creators have genuine affection for the Man of Steel, and even if it’s easy to view the event as a cynical stunt, I think there was a sincere effort all along to tell an entertaining story.  There seems to be a decent amount of nostalgia for this era of Superman, and I have to acknowledge that most of these stories have aged pretty well.  Trust me, as far as ‘90s gimmick storylines go, the audience dodged a bullet on this one.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #504 - September 1993

Assault on Engine City

Credits:  Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superman, Superboy, and Steel invade the newly christened “Engine City.”  They defeat an army of Mongul’s alien henchmen, but are unable to stop the Engine Bomb from being launched towards Metropolis.  Superboy grabs on to the missile and attempts to use his powers to dismantle it.  The missile is still intact when it reaches Metropolis, but Superboy is able to pull it away from the city.  Tana Moon watches in horror as the missile detonates over the horizon with Superboy still onboard.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Superman suggests “Man of Steel” simplify his name and go by “Steel,” making this the first time the name is used in an actual story.

I Love the ‘90s:  Superboy wishes Superman were referring to Michelle Pheiffer when discussing a “full frontal assault.”

Total N00B:  Perry White exclaims “Great shades of Elvis!” as the Engine Bomb reaches Metropolis.  I assumed Perry’s Elvis fixation was an invention of the Lois & Clark TV series, but it seems this issue saw print a few months before its debut.  Was this line added as an early tie-in to the series (like Renee Montoya’s earliest appearances in the Batman titles), or was the Elvis gimmick already in place?

Review:  It’s the big action issue that has the real Superman teaming up with the two Supermen that are only a few months away from starring in their own spinoffs.  The only real significance of the issue, aside from the debut of Steel’s official superhero name, is the image of Superman picking up gigantic ‘90s guns and blasting away at the enemy.  (They’re not quite implausible enough to be Liefeld guns, but they’re close).  Superman only uses the guns to “hold them back,” meaning there are no images of anyone actually getting hit with the weapons, but the creators are clearly using this imagery to provoke some kind of a response out of the readers.  Superman’s probably the last hero who should be picking up gigantic guns, which I get is the entire reason for doing the scene, but within the context of this story it feels utterly gratuitous.  It doesn’t come across as parody, yet the story doesn’t take itself seriously enough to justify this as a grim turning point for Superman, either.  I realize there’s a larger point behind this event, showing how Superman can still be traditional Superman and compete against the ‘90s breed of hero, but a scene like this seems to undermine what DC has been trying to prove for the past year.  It feels like an image that’s thrown out there just because it’s “so wrong,” but aside from intentionally provoking a response from the more traditional readers, there’s no obvious point behind it.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #503 - August 1993

Line of Fire

Credits:  Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Cyborg Superman contacts the White House and requests they send Superboy to help him locate Eradicator.  Shortly after Superboy arrives on the West Coast, he’s shocked when Cyborg Superman destroys the GBS news copter that’s following them.  Superboy tries to stop Cyborg Superman but is unable to control his powers.  Inside Mongul’s ship, Mongul’s thoughts reveal his own plans to rule the new metallic Warworld being constructed in Coast City.  In Antarctica, an armored suit begins a trek through the bottom of the ocean.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• This issue establishes that the real-life city of Santa Barbara was also wiped out when Coast City was destroyed, and that earthquakes have begun along the West Coast, killing thousands in cities like Portland.  I don’t believe that the damage outside of the fictitious Coastal City ever remained in DC continuity.
• The first hints of Superboy’s unique power, tactile telekinesis, appear for the first time during his fight with Cyborg Superman.
• Superman faced Mongul for the first time in Superman #321, according to a footnote.

I Love the ‘90s:  Superboy has a Spin Doctors poster in his apartment.

Review:  The casual treatment of not just one (fictional) city being destroyed, but also much of the West Coast is a clear sign we’re dealing with a storyline conceived years before 9-11.  I realize that movies and comics are now back to the routine destruction of major cities, but there does seem to be more of an effort to acknowledge the civilian toll in these situations.  This issue, people are freaked out over what’s happened, but no one’s especially sad.  Over seven million people are dead, but the cast acts as if they’re in just another superhero adventure.  Superboy never stops smiling and goofing off in the story, until he’s directly faced with a news copter that’s destroyed (that seems to happen around him quite a bit).  Now he’s upset, while the deaths of several million people couldn’t put a damper on his day, this is just too much.  It’s hard to accuse the issue of being insensitive since Americans had no real context for an event like this at the time, but looking at it today, it’s amazing to see how blasé the creators assumed the public would be regarding such a massive loss of life.  Even Tana Moon, presented as the moral center of this book, is more upset that she won’t get camera time when Superboy travels to Coast City than she is over the millions dead.

Regarding the Cyborg/Superboy fight, it’s enjoyable enough.  Tom Grummett handles the action well and Cyborg Superman isn’t bad as an over-the-top villain.  It’s the tone that’s all wrong, however, and it’s impossible to read this issue today and not notice just how badly the creators have misjudged the mood of the story.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #502 - August 1993

Boy Meets Girl

Credits:  Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Lex Luthor sends Supergirl to invite Superboy to dinner.  During the meal, Superboy is persuaded to join Team Luthor and grant W-LEX exclusive rights to his image.  Within a few hours, however, he forgets the verbal agreement after GBS’s Vincent Edge buys him Clark Kent’s abandoned apartment.  Unbeknownst to Superboy, Vincent Edge and his new manager, Rex Leech, have arranged for the assassin Stinger to attack him in public the next day.  Tana Moon reluctantly covers the battle, which is soon joined by Supergirl.  Stinger escapes, but not before blowing up a nearby bridge.  Meanwhile, Bibbo’s dog is renamed Krypto after the engraver leaves a letter off the dog tag.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Superboy’s future love interest, Rex Leech’s daughter Roxy, debuts this issue.
• Lex Luthor’s right leg is in a cast and he’s using a cane.  Adventures seems to be the only title acknowledging Lex’s leg injury, since he last appeared in Man of Steel with no cast.

I Love the ‘90s:  Superboy thinks he can’t rescue a car full of teens from falling off a bridge…NOT!  Later, Roxy describes Superboy as “cuter than Bon Jovi, Luke Perry, and Robin put together!”

Review:  The misadventures of Don’t-Call-Me-Superboy continue, emphasizing that he’s motivated more by his hormones than any heroic ideals.  After a cute opening that has Superboy attempting to rescue a runaway car, only to be rescued himself by Supergirl, Lex uses Supergirl to sway Superboy to his side. Within a few pages, Vincent Edge has Tana Moon and Roxy convince him to stay with GBS.  (This version of Supergirl isn’t Superman’s cousin, by the way, so the story’s able to get away with her flirting with Superboy.)  Kesel isn’t writing Superboy as a total cynic, but he’s definitely not in the mold of the genuinely altruistic heroes like Superman.  Most likely, Kesel is leading the stories in the direction of Superboy eventually learning about true heroism, which has little to do with the amount of publicity he receives.  The idea of different media conglomerates competing for the attention of a superhero is a clever calculation of where society was heading in 1993, and the new Superboy suits these kinds of stories very well.  The villain of the month is the Stinger, a fairly generic assassin with a look that resembles Deadpool’s, which wasn’t the most original design the first place, of course.  Tom Grummett is great at drawing these vaguely Spider-Man figures, and while Stinger’s personality is nothing new, Kesel does a decent job giving him menacing and occasionally sadistic dialogue.  It’s an entertaining issue, although I feel obligated to point out that Superboy has already forgotten about the man he indirectly killed in this month’s Man of Steel.  I knew it was a bad idea that would be dismissed quickly, but not this quickly…

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #501 - June 1993

…When He Was a Boy

Credits:  Karl Kesel (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Superboy, who appears to be a teenage clone of Superman, fights crime in Metropolis.  After accosting Lois Lane at the Daily Planet, he runs into aspiring reporter Tana Moon.  Tana books an interview with Superboy on local network GBS.  GBS, hoping to gain exclusive rights to Superboy, arranges for Superboy to apprehend crimelord Steel Hand in Suicide Slum.  Unbeknownst to Superboy, Guardian helps him defeat Steel Hand’s gauntlet.  Meanwhile, Bibbo rescues a drowning puppy and names him Krypton, and Lex Luthor interrogates Packard from Cadmus.  Packard reveals that Superboy isn’t technically a clone.

Irrelevant Continuity:  At this point, Superboy wants to be referred to as Superman and is adamant that no one call him “Superboy.”  Eventually, he’ll accept the moniker and star in his own spinoff.

I Love the ‘90s:  Superboy’s long on top, shaved at the bottom haircut was fairly popular in the early ‘90s.  As a few people have noticed, Rob Liefeld had it at this time.

Total N00B:  Lex Luthor has mysteriously broken his leg since he previously appeared in Man of Steel #22.  I don’t know which story the Return of Superman trade is missing.  And exactly how many versions of Krypto existed in the post-Crisis universe?

Review:  Karl Kesel makes his full debut as writer of Adventures, which will now focus on the ‘90s incarnation of Superboy.  I’m not certain how this happened, but the modern teenage version of Superboy has mutated over the years from a lighthearted, slightly bratty character into a po-faced, angst-ridden teen with issues.  I’m not even sure if they’re supposed to be the same character, and how exactly Lex Luthor got involved in his (their?) origin, but I suspect it’s information I’d rather not know.  I remember the new-new Superboy as the absolute worst aspect of the Young Justice cartoon, which summed up how far off the rails DC has gone over the years.  They couldn’t even use the extroverted, upbeat Superboy in a cartoon aimed at kids.  

As he exists in 1993, the premise behind the new Superboy is that he wasn’t raised by the old-fashioned Kents and has come of age, with no guidance, in modern times.  Even in the early ‘90s, that means he’s consumed with entertainment media and desperate to be famous.  DC’s reluctant to outright label him a clone, presumably because they feel fans will think of him as a literal copy of Superman, so some mystery is thrown in early on to hint that there’s more to his origin than we realize.  I personally feel “teenage clone of Superman” is a simple, easy to grasp concept, and think they probably should’ve stuck with it.  Maybe they were trying to avoid the trap that Marvel soon fell into with Spider-Man, though.

Superboy’s debut story establishes the kind of stories he’s going to star in for the next few years.  He’s cocky, in over his head, but also has some measure of heroism inside him.  I don’t think the Kesel/Grummett Superboy run ever quite reached the level of the Dixon/Grummett Robin era, but they’re all very entertaining teen superhero stories.  Superboy seems heavily inspired by the Wayne’s World phenomenon -- not to the extent that he’s stealing the catchphrases, but it isn’t hard to imagine Adventures, and later Superboy, as the exploits of Wayne Campbell with superpowers.  It’s the type of persona that could easily come across as a stereotype, or just outright annoying, but Kesel manages to make Superboy at the very least a readable protagonist.  These stories are much less serious than the other Superman titles of the time, and if there must be a new Superboy, this is a fairly creative way to go about it.  Teenage Superman with “attitude” just sounds awful on paper, but Kesel/Grummett are able to make it work.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #500 - June 1993

Life and Death

Credits:  Jerry Ordway (writer), Tom Grummett (penciler), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Albert de Guzman (letterer), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Jonathan Kent has a near-death experience in the hospital.  He sees Superman walking towards the light and tries to talk him back.  Jonathan pursues Superman and in the process, relives traumatic events from his own life.  The entity Kismet sets Jonathan on the proper course, and he soon finds Superman in a Kryptonian funeral procession.  When Jonathan tries to awaken Superman, the Krypotonians are revealed as demons.  Jonathan and Superman escape into a tunnel.  When Jonathan wakes in the hospital, he’s convinced his son is alive.  On Lois’ plane ride home from Smallville, she sees a flying caped figure.  Various news reports later claim Superman has returned.  She visits Superman’s tomb with Henderson of the Metropolis police.  They discover his casket is empty.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Subplots this issue include Vincent Edge sexually harassing Cat Grant (who doesn't seem terribly offended since she later accepts his dinner invitation), Jimmy Olsen avoiding the filming of his “Turtle Boy” TV show, the Prankster annoying his cellmate, and the Metropolis police attempting to arrest Gangbuster after he blows an undercover sting operation.  A homeless man helps him get to safety.  Also, Gangbuster has a warrant for his arrest because a group of drug dealers he previously busted filed charges against him.  A footnote points to the Legacy of Superman one-shot.

I Love the ‘90s:  Cat Grant tells Vincent Edge that “this is the nineties” and she doesn’t have to accept his sexual harassment.  Even though she does.  Later, the Prankster’s cellmate tells him that “Turtle Boy” is so bad it’s good.  “It’s, y’know, very nineties.”

Production Notes:  This issue was published after a two month gap in which the Superman titles suspended publication.  The World without a Superman trade only reprints the main story in Adventures #500.  The next trade in the series, Return of Superman, reprints the final stories, which are all vignettes introducing the four new Supermen.

Gimmicks:  Three versions of this issue exist.  A standard newsstand edition, and two collector’s editions, one in a white polybag and one in a black polybag.  The collector’s editions have a holographic cover. According to comics.org, the newsstand version didn’t have eight story pages that were in the collector’s editions.  The Fortress of Baileytude blog has a collection of the "deleted scenes."

Review:  Adventures #500 was the first big issue following the death of Superman, although apparently the sales didn’t live up to the hype.  How do you follow up on the death of your most famous character?  DC was stuck in an impossible position; this stunt was only supposed to be a temporary replacement storyline to delay Superman’s wedding, but now a large portion of the general public actually believed Superman was dead.  DC rode the wave of controversy, embraced the publicity, and went out of its way to sell the death as being genuine, but how exactly could the creators get out of this hole?  Feeding the hype only made Superman’s inevitable return a larger problem for the creators to handle.  Adventures #500 is a logical choice to feature Superman’s return, since it is the next anniversary issue, but how exactly should Superman be revived?  Bringing Superman back to the living and just returning to normal so soon after his death would be perceived as a cheap move.  Maybe DC could’ve gotten away with that if only comics fans had been paying attention, but when you’ve made the New York Times and the CBS Evening News?  Can you backtrack so quickly with the world watching?  DC’s solution ultimately turns out to be this: hint that Superman’s alive, introduce a gimmicky storyline with four replacement Supermen, kill time, and finally, bring back Superman.

It’s hard to imagine any scenario where Adventures #500 doesn’t disappoint some portion of the readership.  Anyone who actually thought Superman was dead wouldn’t want to see him revived so quickly, and the readers who wanted him to return probably didn’t appreciate being teased in such a fashion.  Luckily, hindsight makes it easier to simply judge the issue on its own merits.  And it’s actually a strong anniversary issue.  Jonathan Kent is the real star of the issue, with Ordway taking the reader on a tour of his life, reliving traumatic moments from his childhood on to his stint in Korea.  I’m not familiar enough with Superman continuity to have a feel for how Jonathan Kent was normally portrayed in this era, but Ordway does a great job of making Jonathan fit the mold of what you’d expect Superman’s dad to be while also giving him a bit of a specific personality.  He’s not just a generically nice old man, he’s a veteran who’s lived a hard life filled with loss.  When Jonathan is pitted against Superman’s birth father in this ethereal recreation of Krypton, you’re genuinely rooting for Jonathan to win.  There’s also a great idea about Superman accepting his “death” and entering the afterlife simply because he was taught by the Kents to believe in an afterlife.  As a yellow sun charged Kryptonian, who’s to say his mortality is analogous to a human’s?  Superman's been conditioned to believe he has to go into the white light, but how can be entirely certain that he's dead yet?

As always, Tom Grummett’s contributions can’t be overlooked.  Everyone’s on-model while being slightly stylized, the panel layouts are creative, and the action scenes look just as good as the conversation scenes.  Doug Hazelwood also does an incredible job on the added tones during the afterlife scenes.  I’m not sure if he’s using the same technique John Byrne used on Namor, but it’s a very similar look.  I love the unique texture zip-a-tone provides, and it’s a shame that look has died out over the years.  I have no idea if Photoshop can recreate it, but I wish someone would try.

First Sighting…

Credits:  Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Karl Kesel, & Dan Jurgens (writers), Jon Bogdanove & Tom Grummett (pencilers), Jackson Guice & Dan Jurgens (breakdowns), Dennis Janke & Doug Hazelwood (inkers), Denis Rodier & Bret Breeding (finishers), Bill Oakley, Albert de Guzman, & John Costanza (letterers), Glenn Whitmore (colorist)

Summary:  Steel emerges from the debris of Metropolis during a gang fight between the Sharks and Dragons.  The Eradicator kills a carjacker.  Superboy escapes Project: Cadmus with the help of the Newsboy Legion.  Cyborg Superman flies into Metropolis and destroys a Superman memorial plaque in front of a family of tourists.

Irrelevant Continuity:  The back-ups in Adventures #500 introduce the four replacement Supermen.  Since DC was unwilling to admit in the beginning that none of these characters actually is Superman, it takes a while for some of them to develop code names.  For simplicity’s sake, I’ll be referring to them by the names they’re now associated with.

Review:  Overlooking the debate over whether or not transferring the titles to four fake Supermen was a good idea, I do think it was a pretty smart decision on DC’s part to give a teaser for each new character in Adventures #500.  It makes the anniversary issue feel like an even bigger event, and of course, serves as a commercial for any curious fan about what’s happening in the rest of the line.  In retrospect, it’s impressive that DC has continued the “event” sensation for so long after the start of the Doomsday storyline.  Obviously there’s no way this issue was going to sell the same numbers as Superman #75, but I remember that a lot of enthusiasm remained for the books at this point.  People who would never look at the Superman comics were openly debating over which Superman was the “real” one; a great hook for the next chapter of the story, even if the resolution is ultimately a copout.

There isn’t a lot of story in the backups, just enough to give readers a sense of what to expect in each character’s respective title.  Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove are going urban in Man of Steel, Roger Stern and Jackson Guice play off the ‘90s vigilante cliché in Action, Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett are exploring a lighter tone with Superman’s teenage clone in Adventures, and Dan Jurgens provides an ominous introduction for the Cyborg Superman that’s taking over Superman.  It seems rather obvious that two of these characters are explicitly not Superman, regardless of what the pre-release hype might’ve lead us to believe.  The two most likely candidates as the real Superman are given the most mysterious introductions, indicating that DC wants at least a few more months to string us along.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, if you’re not turned off by excessive hype and just willing to accept the “Reign of the Supermen” era as simply the next chapter of the story.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1 - October 1995

Planet of the Symbiotes Conclusion - Mortal Victory

Credits: David Michelinie (writer), Steve Lightle (artist), Bill Oakley & N.J.O (letters), Marianne Lightle & Malibu (colors)

The Plot: Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, and Venom narrowly avoid a forty-foot tall Carnage and an army of alien symbiotes. They regroup at Peter’s home, much to MJ’s dismay. Venom develops a plan to overwhelm the symbiotes with psychic agony and force them into comas. While Venom harnesses his anguish at Our Lady of Sorrows, the two Spider-Men face Carnage again. During the battle, Carnage is knocked unconscious by an exploding gas truck, while the invading symbiotes suddenly disintegrate. Spider-Man realizes that Venom knew all along that his wave of mental sorrow would force the symbiotes into suicide. With MJ’s help, he decides the ends justified the means.

The Subplots: None.

Web of Continuity: Our Lady of Sorrows is the church where Eddie Brock contemplated suicide shortly before he joined with the alien symbiote and became Venom.

I Love the ‘90s: MJ sleeps in a Hootie & the Blowfish t-shirt.

Review: Wow, they wasted hired David Michelinie and Steve Lightle for this? I don’t think anyone considers “Planet of the Symbiotes” a classic, but to the editorial team’s credit, they did at least try to hire respectable creators for the project. This is the only chapter of this storyline I’ve ever read, so I imagine my enjoyment of the issue is hindered by coming in to the story so late. As a fan of David Michelinie’s early Venom stories, I can appreciate the significance of MJ meeting Venom face to face again, and his return to Our Lady of Sorrows, but the story’s so rushed and chaotic those scenes barely make an impact. As a kid, I always wondered if the alien symbiotes would get an origin story, or if we would ever see more of them arrive on Earth. This storyline covers all of that territory, but unfortunately it had to be published during a mega-event I viewed as utterly dumb and borderline insulting at the time, so I intentionally stayed away. Charging $3.95 a chapter for a five-part story also struck me as highway robbery anyway, so I didn’t mind missing out on this one. There were overpriced X-Men books I had to buy, anyway.

Cats and Robbers

Credits: Karl Kesel (writer), Patrick Zircher (penciler), Jeff Albrecht (inker), Jim Novak (letters), Tom Smith & Malibu (colors)

The Plot: Black Cat stakes out five-star restaurant Mikkal’s, anticipating a pair of thieves named Leather and Lace. While battling the duo, she notices Flash Thompson is on a date with a woman named Cinda inside. After defeating Leather and Lace, Black Cat asks Mikkal to return the favor and comp Flash’s meal.

Web of Continuity: Black Cat claims this is the first time she’s seen Flash since they broke up. She’s also using an unseen informant named Loop to tip her off to future crimes, enabling her to sell her services for “protection.” I had never heard of Loop, but apparently he's appeared a few times.

Review: Wow, they wasted hired Karl Kesel and Patrick Zircher for this? That’s certainly a higher level of quality than your average Web annual back-up. The premise of the story simply has Black Cat fighting two characters that somehow predate Jim Balent’s Tarot work, but it’s a fun read. The ending is also sweet, showing a side of Black Cat’s personality that most writers would probably ignore. One of the better Flash/Felicia stories, even if it does take place after their break-up.

Growing Pains Part Five - Where Monsters Dwell

Credits: Terry Kavanagh (writer), Roger Robinson (penciler), Saleem Crawford (inker), Loretta Krol (letterer), Chia-Chi Wang (colorist)

The Plot: Ben Reilly encounters the newly mutated Lizard at Empire State Hospital, Ben’s new employer. The Lizard escapes, leading the Scarlet Spider to seek the aid of a new hero, Strongarm. Together, they track Lizard to a nearby zoo. Scarlet Spider defeats the Lizard by freezing him with fire extinguishers and trapping him in his webbing. Later, Strongarm visits a friend in the hospital who was injured by the Lizard.

The Subplots: Ben is trying to win over a coworker, Rick Barron, who seems to irrationally hate him. Rick’s girlfriend, Toni Moore, walks in on Ben in the hospital’s locker room.

*See _________ For Details: Ben knows that he’s the “real” Peter Parker, following the revelations of Spectacular Spider-Man #226. The Lizard previously attacked “Doc Purl’s party” in Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1.

Creative Differences: Once again from the Life of Reilly, Glenn Greenberg on this project:

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't discuss the "flip-book feature" in these five Super Specials-namely the SCARLET SPIDER five-parter that Tom Brevoort and I edited. Stretching across all five Super Specials, this would essentially be a Scarlet Spider limited series, which I thought was a pretty cool idea. Tom B. and I really did want to make it special, to produce a worthwhile story that further explored Ben Reilly as a character and deserved all the space that was being devoted to it. It was the kind of project that J.M. DeMatteis would have been perfect for, but I don't remember why we didn't get him to write it. He was probably too busy, or Tom B. and I simply wanted to use this project as an opportunity to bring in a different writer, one that we'd always wanted to work with.

Again, Danny Fingeroth was overseeing us on this, and somehow, for some reason, he got it into his head that we would be bringing back the Lizard for this story. Tom B. and I were present at the Spider-Man writers' conference where the idea had been mentioned in passing as a possibility, but we'd never committed to it as anything other than a possibility. And as I recall, neither Tom B. nor I had any real enthusiasm for the idea, so it wasn't something we were going to actively pursue.

Tom B. and I brought in John Ostrander, a writer who had greatly impressed me with his work on DC's SPECTRE series. The initial idea that John pitched us was very intriguing, about whether or not a clone could have a soul. Unfortunately, it conflicted with future plans in the main Spider-Man books. I think John took another stab or two at coming up with a story line, but for whatever reasons, we couldn't get his ideas approved, and John eventually decided to just move on. Not only that, but every time any new story idea came in, be it from Ostrander or another writer, Danny would ask, "Where's the Lizard?" Tom and I would roll our eyes and try to muddle through.

Eventually, it became clear that Danny would simply not approve any story idea that did not include the Lizard, and he had already started to push his own choice writers upon us. With time-and our patience-running out, Tom and I simply submitted to Danny's will and did whatever he wanted. Terry Kavanagh ended up writing the story, which featured the return of the Lizard.

This was one of the few instances where Tom Brevoort and I felt completely disconnected-creatively and emotionally-from a project we were working on. It became a project we had to endure, rather than something that we could really take any pride in having put together. Some time later, this Lizard story was systematically undone in the pages of SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, and no one was more pleased by this than Tom B. and myself.

Review: Wow, they wasted hired Terry Kavanagh and Roger Robinson for this? No, wait. That sounds about right. Yes, this is as bad as you expect. The Lizard has been mutated into a Jurassic Park reject, yet another Kooky Kavanagh Kreation is shoehorned into the story, and the art resembles something straight out of 1995’s Extreme Studios. I also have to wonder how exactly Ben’s found a job and cultivated a new supporting cast in such a short amount of time. I know about Ben’s career at the Daily Grind, but I had no idea there was a previous attempt to set him up as a staff assistant in a hospital. Regardless, Kavanagh doesn’t seem to have any new ideas for the personal drama, either. Did anyone really think giving Peter Ben yet another redheaded bully who hates him for no reason was clever? There’s even an appearance by a new Blonde Girl Who's out of His League, this one named Toni Moore. Man, I can’t wait to read about the orderly with the rich father and bizarre hairstyle who asks Ben to become his new roommate.

EXCITING X-PATROL #1 - June 1997

The Curse of Brother Brood!

Credits: Barbara Kesel (writer), Bryan Hitch (penciler), Paul Neary (inker), Joe Andreani & Digital Chameleon (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Shatterstarfire reluctantly leaves Niles Cable behind during a battle with Brother Brood, returning to the X-Patrol’s base for help. The team leaves on a rescue mission with their mysterious new member, Jericho. Landing on Zenosha, X-Patrol soon faces the Brood-infected Niles and Terra-X the Destroyer. While battling Niles, Jericho’s rocky disguise is destroyed, revealing Jericho as Niles’ younger self. Niles decides to let his techno-organic virus consume his body and kill the Brood infection. Near death, Niles is saved by the spirit of Raveniya the Healer. Inspired by his younger self, Niles vows to continue fighting.

Continuity Notes: The island of Zenosha is presumably an amalgam, yet plain ol’ Genosha was shown to exist in the Amalgam world in the previous year’s Magneto and the Magnetic Men. This reality’s version of Jericho is a combination of DC’s Jericho, the Thing, and X-Man. Brother Brood is Brother Blood infected by the Brood Queen. Terra-X the Destroyer is an amalgam of the Teen Titan’s bucktoothed traitor Terra and Galactus’ herald Terrax the Destroyer. Raveniya the Healer merges Raven with Mother Askani.

Review: Oh, another Bryan Hitch comic that isn’t marred by excessive detail lines and “realistic” faces. That’s like finding an old Greg Land comic without any traced porn. I’m sure someone at the time thought using “eXciting” on the cover was a cute parody, unaware that Marvel was a mere four years away from using a gratuitous X-dash in the actual title of a comic. Anyway, eXciting X-Patrol is the sequel to the previous year’s X-Patrol, the title that was nominally a merger of the Doom Patrol and various X-spinoffs. Apparently, someone just liked the name, because the Doom Patrol did not play a large role in the amalgams. This year’s special makes it even more obvious that the creators want to do a Teen Titans/X-Force mash-up -- which is fine, but why is this even called X-Patrol? Wouldn’t “X-Titans” or “Titans-X” work just as well?

I’m only familiar with the Titans from a few trade paperbacks, a handful of cartoon episodes, and the relentless Jericho hate online, but I think I’ve caught most of the jokes in this one. It’s hard to deny that Terra-X the Destroyer is a great gag. The Marvel characters chosen to be amalgamated surprised me, but as much as I dislike the Askani and X-Man in the mainstream continuity, Barbara Kesel works them into this story in surprising and funny ways. Her dialogue is a fairly accurate representation of ‘90s era X-team interactions, without crossing the line into snarky condescension. This is a dense read, packed with characters and action, but there’s enough humor to keep fans of either franchise entertained. I can’t imagine what someone unfamiliar with the material being referenced would think of this, though.