posted August 16, 2002 06:00 PM    

select comicography (Superman related):

DC Comics Presents no. 1 (July-Aug. '78, cover: Garcia Lopez & Adkins) Superman & The Flash: "Chase to the End of Time!" (story: Martin Pasko; art: Jose Luis Garcia Lopez & Dan Adkins, 18 pages)

DC Comics Presents no. 2 (Sept-Oct. '78, cover: Garcia Lopez & Adkins) Superman & The Flash: "Race to the End of Time!" (story: Pasko; art: Garcia Lopez & Adkins, 25 pages)

Flashing forward some months, a new Superman title made its debut--DC Comics Presents. The premiere story was in the tradition of other Superman-Flash races. Only this time they're racing through time.

The events begin in Rosemont (New Jersey?) which is 102 miles from Central City and 322 miles from Metropolis, where an alien vessel has touched down, bringing both Superman and Flash to investigate. Soon unfolds a tale of two civilizations that have been locked in war for eons. Once they were one people, but their war has continued for so long that they evolved into two distinct races, and neither race remembers what the war is really about.

One alien has taken it upon himself to travel to the end of time. Given that these alien beings have no technology for travelling back in time, only forward--to get to the past, therefore, they must travel forward to the end of time to get to the beginning of time (time being a circle). The lone alien, Ilyar, intends to travel to a point in the past when the civil war first began.

Ilyar's people, the Zelkot, want him to succeed in his mission to end the war. But the Volkir wish to stop him and have set booby traps in the future. The Zelkot send Flash forward in the future (believing Flash to be faster than Superman), to safeguard Ilyar on his mission.

But after The Flash leaves, the Volkir send Superman to overtake The Flash and stop Ilyar. The ships of the Volkir and Zelkot combined races are organic, leaving the building blocks of human life behind them in their wake as they leave orbit. Such waste products from their organic drives seeded the Earth billions of years ago leading to the evolution of human beings. And then these same aliens went to another planet in a red sun system--Krypton--where human life had its first beginnings also, and that planet's core even back then was unstable, so the aliens reinforced it so it would not blow up (at least for many eons yet to come).

So Superman must stop Ilyar or human life will never develop on Earth or Krypton, and Krypton itself will blow up eons ago in the past.

Needless to say, Superman and Flash end up teaming up to stop Ilyar--Earth and Krypton are saved--and the civil war between the Zelkot and Volkir continues.

Just when this story was written is questionable. The letter column text seems to suggest that DCCP has been in the planning stages for some time and may have been delayed in its launch (?to coincide with a Superman movie that was supposed to premiere in June of 1978, around when these issues were on sale?). During this time, the decision was made to expand all DC comics (issue 2 is a 44 page comic, including ads), and as such Pasko, Garcia Lopez, and Adkins had to be brought back to add 8 extra pages of content to the story that already existed.

It seems, also going by the text page, that Pasko was supposed to be the regular scripter for DCCP. The text page writer anticipates Pasko's return but explains that the next issue (no. 3) will be a fill-in by David Michelinie, because Pasko has been called away by a special project--

quote:

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Dave stepped in for our regular writer when Marty needed the extra time to pour some tender loving care into the aforementioned special project...

THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPERHEROES: If you like superhero team-ups (and if you don't, why are you reading this?), you'll go nuts over this brand-new syndicated comic strip which is probably appearing in your local newspaper even as you read this.

---

Batman: The Sunday Classics 1943 - 46 by Joe Desiris (DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, 1991) gives a good run-down at the back of the book on this shape-shifting comic strip from the late seventies and early eighties:

quote:

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The World's Greatest Superheroes initially featured Batman, Robin, Superman, The Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Black Lightning. Eventually Superman became the main character, with infrequent guest appearances by other superheroes. Julius Schwartz and Joe Orlando edited the strip. The Chicago Tribune - New York News Syndicate, Inc. distributed the strip and Editors Press Service syndicated the feature in many foreign markets.

Sundays: First appearing on April, 1978, the Sundays run until February 10, 1985. The title was changed to The World's Greatest Superheroes Presents Superman c. October, 1981 and was again retitled on January 9, 1983, becoming The Superman Sunday Special.

Dailies: These continuities debuted April 3, 1978, and ended February 9, 1985. The strip became The World's Greatest Superheroes Presents Superman on June 28, 1982.

Writers: Martin Pasko scripted at the beginning. Paul Levitz took over from October 15, 1979 until March 22, 1981, with his initial story coming from a Pasko idea. Gerry Conway then picked up the assignment. A continuity from Mike Barr followed, appearing October 26, 1981, through January 10, 1982. Paul Kupperberg handled continuities from January 11, 1982, until the end, including a segment from January 12 through March 12, 1981, that he ghosted for Levitz. Bob Rozakis wrote all but two of The Superman Sunday Special.

Artists: Both dailies and Sundays were pencilled by George Tuska and inked by Vince Colletta. At various times from April 25 until November 13, 1982, the strip was worked on by Tuska, Colletta, Jose Delbo, Bob Smith, Frank McLaughlin and Sal Trapani. Delbo and Trapani then illustrated the feature from November 14, 1982 until the end.

---

posted August 17, 2002 10:59 AM    

<"The Big Sleep" is a notoriously confusing movie based on a notoriously confusing book.>

Yeah... who DID kill the chauffeur?

<Pasko had a choice. Maggin and Bates introduce the Clark/Lois passionate affair, but they also put it away. Conway could have avoided using it, but instead heated things up again. Pasko could have put aside this storyline (with just one balloon of dialogue) or he could have continued to heat it up endlessly with no real conclusion.>

The thing is, not long after he put the brakes on the Clark / Lois relationship, he heated up the Superman / Lois one back to its early Seventies LOIS LANE level. Maybe he was just partial to a different side of the triangle... or maybe he had heard that would be the focus of the upcoming movie.

<elaborate ruse. At superspeed he held up a lead canister containing the heart of a deceased Kandorian, thus that heart was exchanged for the green K--which is now in the canister.>

This irritates me. I know it’s one of those comic-book logic sequences that you MUST ignore to be a proper comics fan, but... why wouldn’t the lead canister be teleported also, thereby exposing Superman to the Kryptonite? And if Superman can move faster than Metallo can see or react, why not simply punch Metallo out before he can do ANYTHING? Sigh.

<Lana's lingo is much affected, reflecting all those years on the continent I guess.>

Isn’t this where she began her habit of calling people "luv"... especially Clark? Pasko made it deliberately snobby and annoying, but in the early Eighties, when they wrote Lana correctly, I found it genuinely endearing. Eighties Lana was IT, baby.

<And at the story's end the dogs are gathered at Portia's grave, baying their mourning howls to the moon.>

This is the kind of story that makes today’s fans think all the pre-Byrne comics were written no better than Twinkies ads. But still, it’s actually kind of touching...

<The show of temper by Superman seems rather out of character--or maybe Pasko was trying to make Superman more edgey, and saw Superman's greatest vulnerability to be his emotional state (pushed to the brink by Lois). But Pasko also seems to foul up on the character of Toyman.>

Showing Superman that enraged was unforgiveable for my money. If he had that little control over himself under stress, he would have killed somebody years ago. And Pasko’s backtracking on the Toyman was also a big disappointment. Everybody seemed to love the threatening Toyman he had reintroduced... it was a much better version than the anachronistic Ed Wynn-ish goofball OR today’s mere psycho-killer. At least he recalls that Schott would be a "lifer" in prison after the double murder in SUPERMAN #305. But before long, they were showing Toyman out on parole anyway.

< [the panel shows a flashback of Superman flying through the window and as Clark kissing Lois, while thinking that they haven't been close lately and he can't resist the temptation to kiss her at superspeed]>

I actually find his kissing Lois unawares at super-speed to be very creepy. It puts me in mind of an old dirty joke about Superman, Lois and a Marvel character that would probably get me banned from the boards if I printed it here.

<And Clark lazes on a park bench and dreams of Superman kissing Lois>

Clark dreams of SUPERMAN kissing Lois. You see, Pasko has already decided to shift the balance. If I recall correctly, by issue #322 SUPES and Lois are already getting deeper into the romance than they ever were... Pasko fades out the story with Superman meeting Lois at her apartment for some “bouef bourgignon” (and, by implication, he’s spending the night). Fade outs at dinner, hanging up the phone while embracing, closing the door on the reader... these were Seventies code-scenes for "they’re goin' at it". And by '78, even the Comics Code was willing to concede "Who needs marriage? Just make sure it’s not shown."

This was part of a trend that all the major super-heroes seemed to be embracing in the casual sex, disco Seventies era and into the go-go, yuppified Eighties. Green Lantern shared a house with Carol Ferris. Batman finally got some undeniable action, with Silver St. Cloud and later Selina Kyle. Green Arrow and Black Canary... nuff said. (The slightly older-skewing Marvel had been on board the trend for years, with Peter Parker and Mary Jane having sleepovers, and Daredevil shacking up with the Black Widow.) Was it a wise move? Was it diluting the moral authority the iconic characters possessed? Was it simply keeping up with the times? Who am I to say? Personally, I find it sort of refreshing in retrospect... but it may have been one of the first signs that, by throwing its college age-and-up audience a leering wink, comics was becoming the "adults only" medium it is today.

<Dailies: These continuities debuted April 3, 1978, and ended February 9, 1985. The strip became The World's Greatest Superheroes Presents Superman on June 28, 1982.>

I remember the tail end of this strip when it was definitely scripted by Kupperberg. In my paper it was called simply SUPERMAN and it didn’t run on Sundays. For some reason, I remember Superman contending with the Joker, of all villains, in at least TWO separate storylines... and no Batman involved. Go figure.

posted August 17, 2002 05:00 PM    

I know where Pasko was presumably, as of two years ago--but I'll save that info for the conclusion of my reports. From the information provided in Alter-Ego it looks like Marty doesn't want to talk--not to Roy Thomas anyway (and Cary Bates seems to have turned his back on the comic book industry and fans entirely).

And for fans of Super-artists I'd like to bring two items to everyone's attention, from this past week.

First, in the All Star Comics Archives (vol. 8) that came out, Bob Oksner's work (pencils and inks) was featured in one chapter. Interestingly, Oksner's technique was rather similar back then in the 40s to what it was in the 70s (allowing for adjustments in genre--the Caniff cartoonish heroes of the 40s, full-out cartoon work on Bob Hope, slicker super-heroes in the seventies).

At the back of the archive is this brief bio on Robert Oksner:

quote:

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Born in 1916, Bob Oksner's first comic assignments were for Timely in 1939-44, on such features as Marvel Boy, The Destroyer, and The Secret Stamp. From 1941 on he also provided Harvey, Pines, and Parents for True Crimes. At National/DC after 1946, he was at first primarily an inker on such features as Green Lantern, Ghost Patrol, The Flash, Justice Society, and others; he also did full art on one Hawkman story and one JSA chapter. Later he made his mark as the artist on such titles as Leave it to Binky, Bob Hope, and on such characters as Plastic Man, Supergirl, and Mary Marvel in the 1970s.

---

That info was provided by Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails. I should add that though Oksner left inking Swan on the Superman stories, he was never very far from Superman up until the Crisis. As can be seen from my previous posts, Oksner continued to work on many covers, and would do work on other characters in the Superman family--such as inking Infantino on Supergirl in the early eighties (Bob had been the Supergirl artist for awhile in the early seventies). And for Schwartz, Bob also inked many Ambush Bug stories by Kieth Giffen.

posted August 17, 2002 07:04 PM    

select comicography (all Superman by the team of Pasko/Swan/Chiaramonte/Serpe/Schwartz):

no. 319 (Jan. '78, cover: Buckler/Oksner) "How to Make a Marshland Monster" (letterer: Milt Snappin; 17 pages)
no. 320 (Feb. '78, cover: Lopez/Oksner) "The Absolute-Power Play of the Parasite!" (letterer: Ben Oda; 17 pages)
no. 321 (March '78, cover: Lopez/Giordano) "Too Strong to Survive" (letterer: Milt Snappin; 17 pages)
no. 322 (April '78, cover: Garcia Lopez) "Laser War over Metropolis" (letterer: Ben Oda)

To make my posts a little more interesting for me, instead of doing the same old blow by blow synopsis this time, I thought I'd break down this four part tale into its constituent parts. Starting with the main track at the center of the extended storyline and working out to the surrounding tracks at the beginning and end of the storyline. For those of you playing at home, try and reconstruct the story for yourselves in the sequence that it originally happened--good luck!

Track One: Absolute Power--

In 319, representatives of the Pentagon military intelligence met up with Superman at Professor Milius's observatory as the Action Ace returned from his mission in space (see the last issue, 318), and before the Man of Tomorrow could talk with the good professor, the top brass were asking Superman to go out to Mooney Island at 0200 hours tomorrow (I'm assuming Mooney Island was introduced in this story as an homage to Jim Mooney).

Supes is irritated by the military manipulation (realizing that they know more than they're saying), but that night he goes out to Mooney at 2 a.m., where a strange octopus-like sub is about to make landing at the lighthouse on the island--the lighthouse owned and operated by the military. But as Superman has approached the island he has become more angered at being used as a pawn. When he is harpooned to the lighthouse by the foreign agents in the octopus vessel, he gives full vent to his rage, and breaks loose of the harpoons that moments ago resisted his strength and the harpoons go flying into an approaching helicopter.

On the 'copter, the Flying Newsroom, are Lois Lane and Perry White who have come to investigate for the Daily Planet. And as Superman tries to capture thier falling craft, he ends up crushing it like an egg instead. Out of the "egg" fall Perry and Lois--luckily a super-breath provides an updraft to cushion their fall. Next Superman smashes into the military fortress housed inside the lighthouse.

There inside is the top secret L.D.S. tracking station. A kind of strategic defense initiative--"star wars" system--before s.d.i. was ever such a thing in our reality. However, this one is designed to deflect lasers being shot from satellites in space. Superman blows up at the thought that the military has kept him in the dark about this system and smashes one of the control panels.

Next issue, 321, has an impressive Garcia Lopez & Giordano cover montage of Superman holding his hands to his ears, shutting his eyes--screaming "I see and hear everything on Earth--all at once! It's turning me into a Supermaniac!"--as bells, motorcycles, jack-hammers, bull-horns, jets, police cars, etc are all pictured noisily menacing the Man of Steel.

Still at the L.D.S. command centre, three M.P.s try to arrest Superman. They are bowled over by the sound of his voice. Meanwhile outside the quasi-lighthouse, Lois and Perry wonder what's going on with Superman--Lois is sobbing. He doesn't seem able to control himself or his own strength and now dropping out of the lighthouse Supes grabs hold of another M.P. when suddenly The Man of Might is assaulted by an over-abundance of stimuli.

Repeating the scene on the cover, Superman tries to block out the sensory overload. It's all too much for him to take--all his senses turned on at once and taking in everything from around the world. He shuts his eyes and sees through his eyelids to the entire universe. Holding his hands over his eyes he can barely prevent the white hot heat of his vision burning everything around him. Superman is in absolute hell. But just when it seems like he can no longer control his being, he somehow recovers.

It's Lois who has brought him out of his sensory overload, but when he takes her in his arms to thank her and to kiss her, his passion is so strong that he sucks the breath out of her. Perry kneels over the unconscious woman and yells at the out of control Superman. The Man of Steel realizes he is no good to anyone in this state and leaves--not by flying, but by walking through the bay to Metropolis.

Then it seems like he's being assaulted by The Parasite, next thing he knows they're both in a desert, and Superman is growing into a giant. Then he awakens out of a dream--realizing that the dream imagery was trying to tell him something about his waking problems with his powers...

Track Two: The Parasite is Back!!!

Over in World's Finest, The Parasite was disintegrated, but way back in Action 361 (March, 1968), Parasite was serving time in an alien penal colony and escaped, but as he escaped one of the aliens shot him with a wierd ray weapon which altered his molecular structure, giving his cells their own independent "intelligence." Thus his cells reintegrated themselves at the U.N., where he was last disintegrated, and he absorbed knowledge of the L.D.S. from a U.S. ambassador.

In this storyline, Pasko takes the time to correct an error by Conway back in 304, where the Parasite is called Ray Jensen, not Maxwell Jensen (an error Rich Morrissey did not fail to point out in the lettercolumn). In this story The Parasite's full name is revealed as Raymond Maxwell Jensen.

Parasite has found new uses for the power prism he had in 304, and has used it on Superman--resulting in the Action Ace's amazing displays of power. In 321, while Superman is struggling to control his overloaded system, Jensen has arrived in disguise at Metropolis University and visits a Professor Hadley, telling him of his origin (back in Action 340) when exposure to radiation caused burns to his entire body resulting in a hideous purple countenance of scar tissue--as Jensen peels off his disguise. But the radiation gave him the ability with his touch to steal power from others. And then Parasite puts his hand over Hadley's face and steals his mind. Hadley was the only one who knew how to control the L.D.S. and now that intelligence belongs to Jensen, while Hadley is a vegetable.

Superman arrives too late to save Hadley and turns his anger on Parasite, knocking him through a wall. From his dreams, Superman realized that his mind had taken in information about everything in the world, and among those facts was knowledge of Parasite's schemes--only in dream could he process the overload of images. To control his extreme power level, Superman concocted a kind of sun-screen formula which when smeared over his body filters out some of the yellow sun radiation--weakening his over-powered body (a similar such sun-screen caused Superman's power-outages in "Who Took the Super out of Superman").

However, Parasite uses the power prism to steal the remainder of Superman's power and escapes. In issue 322, as Superman falls to his death he realizes what The Parasite has really done, and removes his own boots--revealing two bare feet to the yellow radiation of the sun--absorbing enough power to make him invulnerable to the impact of his fall.

Taking the bus home, Superman has a shower to get the sun-screen off his body. He realizes that his body never was overloaded with power. Instead, The Parasite removed his inhibitions. Superman's self-control was removed by the power prism, and without his usual restraint on his powers he seemed to be on overload.

Meanwhile, Parasite has been holding up Metropolis for ransom in the amount of one billion dollars under the threat that he will use the L.D.S. lasers to blast Metropolis out of existence. Too late the ransom is gathered and The Parasite fires the laser, but Superman has dived into the ocean and pushes at the mass of the Earth, moving the planet just enough so that the laser misses Metropolis and fires out into the void of space.

posted August 17, 2002 07:36 PM    

Track Three: Solomon Grundy is Back!??!!!:

In 319, there have been reports of a monster in the sewer. Then out of a sewer hole emerges a muck-encrusted mockery of a man holding a taxi in the air (the taxi happened to be parked in traffic above the manhole cover, and Lois and Lana happened to be in the taxi). Flying into action, Superman tangles with the monstrosity, which turns out to look a lot like Solomon Grundy (but naked as a jay bird). How is this possible since Grundy was last left on the moon?

As we will remember, Solomon just up and decided to walk to Earth 1 (an idea that I find very delightful in that story from issue 301, and the main source of its charm for me--I wonder if Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas hashed that idea out between the two of them). Turns out he left something of himself in the swamps of Metropolis (in that story Metropolis became one big swamp--I hate to think what deposit Grundy might have left in those swamps). The swamp waters went back into the sewers of Metropolis--but to generate Grundy-type life, apparently you need some sunlight to get to those swamp waters, and Superman is puzzled how sunlight reached the Metropolis sewage system.

After wrastling with the Caped Kryptonian, Solomon Grundy manages to escape back into his sewer home. But that night, after finding some ill-fitting clothes that better make Grundy look like his "father"--the swamp thing and the Metropolis Marvel have another encounter. This time, however, S.G. seems to have gotten a major powerboost.

Actually it's The Parasite using his power prism on Grundy. And it was Parasite who deflected sunlight into the sewers with his prism--giving life to Grundy. All Grundy wants to do it seems is get Superman's cape, and he'll do anything to get it--even if it means strangling the Man of Tomorrow.

Freeing himself from Solomon Grundy by slinging the marshland monster into the air with his cape, Superman traps Grundy between two cable cars (where he will remain for the rest of issue 320 thru 321 and into 322). Superman then grabs a spare non-invulnerable cape and wraps Solomon in it to keep him bound--which seems to keep Grundy happy since he wanted the cape so much.

In 322, Superman realizes that Grundy wanted the cape so he could fly. After Superman has saved the Earth from the laser, and after Superman has tangled with The Parasite on the Mooney Island fairgrounds, Parasite believes he's gotten the slip on the Caped Kryptonian, and reaches out from behind to use his parasitic touch only to realize as the caped creature turns around that it's really Grundy.

Grundy gives Jensen a good pounding. And Superman gives Solomon Grundy his heart's desire--which is to fly like the man in the red cape. So wearing his own cape, Grundy is brought to a far off planet whose lighter gravity allow the marshland monster to fly--"who knows?--maybe, in his own strange way, he'll become that world's resident super-hero!"

posted August 17, 2002 08:22 PM    

Track Four: Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane:

Issue 319, in the taxi cab before Solomon Grundy appears, sharing a ride with Lois Lane, Lana Lang senses something funny between Lois and Clark. Lois tells Lana about their "thing" and Clark's proposal and her "dumb move"--and of course she doesn't really believe Clark is Superman. Any "real man would've throttled" Lois "for pulling such a demeaning, insulting stunt." But Clark is a "doormat." Which just makes Lois feel like a creep.

After Solomon Grundy's cab caper, Lana shows up Lois by having filmed the clash between Superman and the monster, while Lois was so shocked she didn't even phone in the story. Clark is happy with his new co-anchor and invites her to celebrate--he knows a "cute little French restaurant that makes the best Boeuf Bourguinon." And with his arm around Lana, Clark leaves Lois to sulk over the "twerp's" snub--vowing to give Kent even worse.

In 320, Perry finds Lois all alone in the wee hours of the morning after the bulldog has gone to bed, in the city room. Lane has been driving herself to beat the competition from channel 8. As she awakens she has a heart-to-heart with her editor. Unburdening herself over the sad state of her relationships with Clark--and with Superman. Losing herself in her work because her love-life is on the skids. Dating Clark seems to have cooled things with Superman--"once in a blue moon...he may need my help...but he never needs...my love." Then it's off to Mooney Island.

321, it's Lois, her voice which cuts through the clutter of everything else assaulting Superman's senses: "Superman...darling...it's me--Lois >sob< listen to me...try to concentrate...narrow the focus of your mind..try to hear only my voice! Try, darling--try! Do it...for me! Try to remember...how much...I...love you >sob< !"

At first he sees through to her skull, then finally he sees her--because despite everything else "there is one thing that will never desert him...this woman's love!"

322--after we see a military personage promising to settle the score with Superman, owing to his interference in the L.D.S.--on the last page (last pages become increasingly a stylistic motif in these Pasko scripts)--Superman flies in the window of Lois Lane's apartment, rousing her from catching up on her sleep. He gives her a ring (a hideous piece of junk jewelry that she must have morbidly feared wearing in public)--a Kryptonian wish ring which reveals in its oversized gem what the wearer is hoping (in this case Superman kissing Lois). Superman tells Lois how sorry he is that they haven't had more time together and promises to correct that. They decide to stay in and Lois asks if he'd like some Boeuf Bourguinon and he answers that he'd rather have some roast babootch--a Kryptonian dish his mother used to make--but you can fake it with pork chops.

posted August 17, 2002 10:13 PM    

quote:

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Posted by India Ink:
Next issue, 321, has an impressive Garcia Lopez & Giordano cover montage of Superman holding his hands to his ears, shutting his eyes--screaming "I see and hear everything on Earth--all at once! It's turning me into a Supermaniac!"--as bells, motorcycles, jack-hammers, bull-horns, jets, police cars, etc are all pictured noisily menacing the Man of Steel.

---

It's interesting that Maggin used this idea to give Superman an enriching, enlightening experience.

quote:

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The Parasite removed his inhibitions. Superman's self-control was removed by the power prism, and without his usual restraint on his powers he seemed to be on overload.

---

This is intriguing. I don't have this story. What is the author implying... that Superman has a finite mind coupled with a body of infinite power; that his finite mind could be twisted or destroyed if it relaxed its control over his infinite power? Could a mind be so out of kilter with its physical senses? I don't think this could happen...

quote:

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Any "real man would've throttled" Lois "for pulling such a demeaning, insulting stunt." But Clark is a "doormat." Which just makes Lois feel like a creep.

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She IS a creep. I can't stand manipulative people.

posted August 18, 2002 04:20 PM    

<don't know Pasko's current whereabouts, but I wonder what it would take to get him to write [or collaborate or establish] his intent for the Amalak backstory?>

Pasko is actually still working for DC today. He was writing for animated TV shows awhile in the mid-Eighties, then returned to DC as a writer for awhile (on "Secret Six" and BLACKHAWK) before being "promoted". He edits their "special projects", I think, which means promotional giveaway comics, commercial tie-ins and such.

posted August 18, 2002 04:44 PM    

Re: Bob Oksner credits

<That info was provided by Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails. I should add that though Oksner left inking Swan on the Superman stories, he was never very far from Superman up until the Crisis.>

Yes, but Thomas probably didn't even know about the Superman work, or consider it very significant if he did. Although he eventually wrote some Superman stories himself, Thomas obviously had little if any interest in the post-Weisinger work on Superman... or in any DC stuff published after he had joined Marvel, I think.

<Speaking of Giffen brings us to another truly Super-artist who had reprint life this past week. Re-released was the trade paperback of Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga which features some superb guest-artist work by Mr. Curt Swan. I realize that it's Giffen's work that garnered all the attention for this Saga, but truthfully his work with the passage of time doesn't quite hold up in comparison with the timeless work of Swan. Obviously, however, I am biased.>

I agree that Giffen will never be remembered anywhere near as significant as Swan, but I do love his Great Darkness art; in fact, I really like his 1977-1984 stuff despite the aping of Kirby at times. (I like much of his later work too, but comparisons are pointless since he deliberately changes his style every few years).

That said, "The Curse" and its follow-up really was some of the best stuff Curt Swan ever did, certainly in the two decades preceding his death (another must-see artwise is the AQUAMAN mini-series from Giffen plots and inked by Al Vey). It's even more amazing that he produced such loving detail when you remember how frustrating he ALWAYS found it drawing the Legion. Paul Levitz must have provided him with a mountain of reference material to work from while drawing those annuals.

Here's an appropriate anecdote from a posthumous Swan tribute at Mark Evanier's website (property of Mr. Evanier, who hopefully won't mind if I cut and paste):

<<<I had the honor of spending about a half-hour with Mr. Swan about two years ago; we talked mostly of how the business had changed in the years he'd been in it, and which of his associates (editors, writers, inkers) and assignments had made his life less joyful.
In the latter category was almost anything besides Superman or Superboy, but especially the Legion of Super-Heroes. Not only was I uncomfortable when Swan drew Batman but, it turned out, so was he.
He liked drawing Superman, he told me, not because it was simple, but because it was an ongoing challenge to keep it fresh. When he drew a new strip, all his energy went into learning the characters and conventions of the feature. When he drew his eight-millionth Superman story, his energy went towards telling that particular tale and making it different from #7,999,999 and all before.
And he especially dreaded those times, he said, when a Legion of Super-Heroes script would turn up in his mailbox. The strip was fine. He just couldn't keep track of the characters, nor could he deal with all the nonessential (to him) trivia that the strip's fans demanded.
As if to illustrate this by example, a Legion fan interrupted us repeatedly throughout our talk. He was dead-set determined to ask Curt about some sequence in some forgotten Legion tale of the sixties, in which the fan thought a little sexual tension between Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy was implied.
Mr. Swan finally told the young man that he was sorry; he'd drawn so many stories in his career that he couldn't remember that one specific one from thirty-some-odd years back. As the fan trudged sadly away, Swan muttered to me, "I don't even remember who Saturn Boy or Cosmic Girl were." He actually reversed the sexes when he said it. But still, he couldn't help but feel complimented that a work he had created decades before had meant so much to someone.>>>

posted August 18, 2002 05:03 PM    

<There inside is the top secret L.D.S. tracking station. A kind of strategic defense initiative--"star wars" system--before s.d.i. was ever such a thing in our reality.>

I have to wonder if someone in the reagan administration chanced across one of their children's comics. I seem to recall that a Superman story in the Forties featured an atomic bomb created by Luthor, but government censors had its publication delayed until after Hiroshima. Not sure how accurate this is, but I have read it somewhere.

<Next issue, 321, has an impressive Garcia Lopez & Giordano cover montage of Superman holding his hands to his ears, shutting his eyes--screaming "I see and hear everything on Earth--all at once! It's turning me into a Supermaniac!"--as bells, motorcycles, jack-hammers, bull-horns, jets, police cars, etc are all pictured noisily menacing the Man of Steel.>

This, along with the Neal Adams cover for #317 you cited earlier, is definitely one of my favorites from the period. It's also worth noting that John Byrne reprised the sense-overload sequence very closely indeed during his run on the title years later (cf. SUPERMAN v2 #10).

<issue 322, as Superman falls to his death he realizes what The Parasite has really done, and removes his own boots--revealing two bare feet to the yellow radiation of the sun--absorbing enough power to make him invulnerable to the impact of his fall.>

I think it would have been hilarious to see a scene with Superman desperately gasping, "Must-- remove--sweatsocks! Only--instants--left!"

<In this story The Parasite's full name is revealed as Raymond Maxwell Jensen.>

As Maxwell Smart would say, "Very clever, Pasko! The old Robert Bruce Banner trick, eh?" Actually, Conway probably just remembered that Jim Shooter's original stories hadn't supplied the Parasite with a first name.

<They decide to stay in and Lois asks if he'd like some Boeuf Bourguinon and he answers that he'd rather have some roast babootch--a Kryptonian dish his mother used to make--but you can fake it with pork chops.>

Superman thinking of his mother at a time like this is downright Freudian.

Aldous wrote:

<What is the author implying... that Superman has a finite mind coupled with a body of infinite power; that his finite mind could be twisted or destroyed if it relaxed its control over his infinite power? Could a mind be so out of kilter with its physical senses? I don't think this could happen...>

I had to read over this several times myself. I don't think it bears thinking about too closely. Nobody else from Krypton ever had such a problem, after all. All Pasko is saying is that Superman is more powerful than he thinks he is, and has been secretly limiting himself all along. Again, I think it's an idea that doesn't hold up.

posted August 18, 2002 11:50 PM    

I wouldn't be too quick to criticise a fan who wants to question Curt Swan (or any artist in any medium) about something he created years ago.

Artists do this great work, and it makes an impression on somebody. It makes an impression on lots of somebodies. People are affected by Star Trek, they go nuts. It has an influence on who they are as human beings. So they roll up to a convention and pour their hearts out to people who have helped shape their lives. Some Star Trek actors denigrate the fans, sneer at them behind their backs, tell each other, "It was only a job for me. Why do they make a big deal out of it?" Other Star Trek actors (Shatner and Nimoy come to mind) may have a better understanding and intelligence for what the show means to people, and they try to be more considerate.

Anyhow, you know what I'm getting at.

A few years ago, Chuck Yeager visited New Zealand, and was so arrogant, rude and patronising (and belittling of his fans), that the interview I saw prompted letters to the editors of newspapers from people who had idolised him, saying how they were shattered.

If a fan came up to someone like Swan and asked him a question about a comic from 1950, Swan could say, "I don't remember." But if Swan rolled his eyes and made disparaging remarks about the fan, I would be very disappointed in him (or anyone else).

posted August 19, 2002 07:10 PM    

quote:

---

posted by Aldous:

What is the author implying... that Superman has a finite mind coupled with a body of infinite power; that his finite mind could be twisted or destroyed if it relaxed its control over his infinite power? Could a mind be so out of kilter with its physical senses? I don't think this could happen...

---

I don't think this is quite the case. Superman has a powerful mind, which controls a powerful body. Imagine someone in a chariot being pulled by a team of wild horses. If the charioteer losens the reins the horses will bolt and drag the chariot behind them. The charioteer constantly restrains the horses and drives them where he wants to go. But the charioteer is so used to pulling on the reins, that it becomes second nature (the charioteer doesn't even think about what he's doing anymore, he just automatically restrains the horses).

In this analogy, the horses are Superman's powers and senses, and the charioteer is his mind. His mind has to be very powerful to control all of those powers, all of those senses. When Parasite steals a part of Superman's mind--his ability to control his powers and senses--Superman's mind is then not strong enough to control everything going on. (I might not have made that clear in my brief summary.) Parasite upsets the balance between mind and body.

Although, Parasite doesn't actually steal Superman's mental control for himself, it would seem--we're left to assume that that mental control is siphoned off into the power prism. When Parasite then steals part of Superman's powers, he only steals part because in a previous story Superman allowed him to take all his power and it nearly destroyed Parasite--so much power was too great for Parasite to handle. This time he takes a portion (while the rest of Superman's power is being filtered out by the "sun screen" he has on), only as much as Parasite can handle.

This does raise questions about why it is that Superman has these problems with so much power--whereas there are other Kryptonians around who don't seem to have all these issues. But I guess we're not meant to think of that. That's not really Pasko's concern, since there have been lots of powerful Kryptonians around since the Weisinger revolution and it seems like a case of out of sight out of mind in all those stories.

posted August 19, 2002 07:22 PM    

select comicography (all Superman, by Pasko, Swan, Serpe, Oda, Schwartz):

no. 323 (May '78, cover: Garcia Lopez) "The Man with the Self-Destruct Mind!" (inker: Adkins; 17 pages)
no. 324 (June '78, cover: Buckler/Giordano) "Beware the Eyes that Paralyze!" (inker: Chiaramonte; 17 pages)
no. 325 (July '78, cover: Buckler/Rubinstein) "The Super Sellout of Metropolis!" (inker: Chiaramonte; 17 pages)
no. 326 (Aug. '78, cover: Buckler/Giacoia) "A Million Dollars a Minute!" (inker: Chiaramonte; 17 pages)

>oo< kids, our creature feature continues with some real scary freaks--if you thought The Parasite and that swamp monster were spooky, wait until you see The Atomic Skull and Titano. >oo< scary.

***

These issues give Jenet Klyburn something to do. I never understood why Klyburn didn't get more development in the comics. She's a scientist, she's pretty in white--you'd think she'd have more of a back story. Instead, she's mainly a walk-on character like Josh Coyle, Oscar Asherman, Lola Barnett, and Miss Conway. Well she got to spend a lot of time with Superman in these four issues--more than the other women in his life. First, because she's being held captive by a newly regrouped Skull (323/324), and then later because she's the only person Superman can turn to when his mind is being manipulated by the nefarious UBC scientist, Peter Silverstone(325/326).

Looking back on the Pasko run, as we've been doing, it occurs to me that Marty had made a finite commitment to this title. Likely he saw himself doing only so many issues and as a result he was doing as much as he possibly could in the time limit he had. That seems the most plausible explanation for why Pasko throws so much at the reader it makes your head spin.

With the villains, as with other aspects of his work, it's hit or miss. Really, though, a lot of these are thumbnail ideas. "You see," he's saying, "we can do this with Toyman or this or this." Amalak can be a Kryptonian Killer (true, Pasko had left him for dead, but death is a minor obstacle in comics). "Here's what you could do with Solomon Grundy..."

Following the Pasko run, someone ought to have gone over the torrent of ideas and picked out the best ones for extrapolation--Wein or Bates or Wolfman, these guys should have capitalized on Marty's indexical run. Sadly, too many of his nutshell ideas were laid aside and never revisited. It would be decades before James Robinson utilized some of Pasko's root ideas for Solomon Grundy in Starman[i] (although maybe Marty Pasko, who would work on Swamp Thing in the early eighties, did have an influence on Alan Moore's later muck-encrusted mockery of a man). It seems like only after Crisis did writers start to try and use concepts first developed by Marty--although when applied to the rebooted Superman these ideas morph into something else.

On [i]Superman, Martin Pasko mostly generated revitalizations of old villains (and some not so old). He got few chances to introduce his own new villains. In 323, Titano is offered up as some of the old this time around. Not really a miss, the super-ape is a shoulder shrug, a why bother? since the King Kong reject is so inexpressive, serving as little more than a menace with Kryptonite vision, he makes Grundy and Bizarro look like they're doing Ibsen and Chekov--

But a different purpose was served in Titano's brief moments of menace (he's actually being controlled by the Atomic Skull's brain blasts). Sure, some readers possessed intimate knowledge of Superman lore, like Rich Morrissey--but others of us (that is to say me), we had a limited though intense exposure to Superman--and for others still, Superman was all NEW! Pesky's archaeological investigations gave all us non-Morrisseys a chance to glance at those old stories we'd never read. In the first half of the seventies, without the lettercolumns (& their wealth of info from ENB and old-time letterhacks) and the reprints (compiled by Bridwell), just going by the new stories alone you never could get a full appreciation for the rich treasure-trove of storylines among Superman's souvenirs.. So the brief rundown on Titano's origin in 324 catches us up and sparks an interest in those old stories. The entire run of Pasko issues was like an intensive immersion program in Supermanology.

In 323, however, Marty allows himself the opportunity to introduce a new villain--The Atomic Skull. Although A.S. is Dr. Albert Michaels in a skull mask, I doubt that when Conway created the irritable director of STAR he actually intended this! So the bonehead brainbuster qualifies as a Martin Pasko original.

Original, but not without connections to villains of the past. One of the more obvious pregenitors of our skullhead is probably The Red Skull--arch enemy of Capt. America. But I also see a connection to a forgotten villain created by Gardner Fox. Most will not remember that villain because he belongs to a maligned epoch in comics. I'm talking about 1966/67 Batman--the so-called camp period. Batman 195 (Sept. '67) told the story of the "Spark-Spangled See-Through Man" (by Fox, Moldoff, Giella)--a smalltime petty crook who had the bad luck to enter a radiation filled room in a scientist's laboratory. The crook's body now becomes see-through--you can see through his body to his skeletal form--and he has the abiltity to electro-shock anyone with his touch. Unfortunately, every moment he spends as the skeletal being ("Bag o' Bones" as the Dynamic Duo call him), shaves years off his life.

I believe, Roy Thomas was inspired by this Fox villain in creating Mr. Bones for Infinity, Inc., just as Martin Pasko was inspired to create the Atomic Skull (& another Batman foe from that maligned epoch--Death-Man, created by Kanigher & Moldoff in Batman 180, March '66--probably also had a visual influence on both these later creations)...Albert Michaels has brain seizures--the Skull agents implant a radium neural pacemaker in his brain, but the implant malfunctions and mutates his brain-waves causing him to release energy bolts from his brain during these unpredictable seizures. The disease is progressive, shortening his life expectancy with each seizure.

***

(to be continued)

posted August 19, 2002 07:36 PM    

***

random plot points:

At the beginning of 323, Superman is flying through space in a lead suit of armour in the sector of the cosmos where Krypton-Two should be. But there's no trace of the planet except for a Kryptonite debris field. The Last Son of Krypton surmises that the planet had an unstable core like the previous Krypton. Cary Bates himself set up this possibility in the original story, "The Sun of Superman," from Superman 255 (Aug. '77). At the end of that story (page 16), after Superman has left the newly created Krypton-Two, the sun thrivers (the energy beings who created the original planet Krypton and its red sun) comment that Kal-El's efforts only gave them a temporary lease on life--"Krypton Two is also fated to blow up." It seems like Krypton-Two had a very short lease compared with the original Krypton--yet, in DC Comics Presents 1 & 2, Pasko establishes the possibility that the original Krypton could have blown up eons before it actually did.

It so happens that Skull has obtained the highly advanced technology to transport Kryptonite through hyperspace from the Krypton-Two debris field (with such technology, one wonders why they're wasting time on these elaborate but petty criminal schemes). The green K has been loaded into the warhead of a large missile. Superman, in his efforts to free Jenet Klyburn from a trap set by The Atomic Skull and his agents, unwittingly aids them in launching their warhead into the ionosphere and the explosion, in 324, forms a "Van Allen Belt" of Kryptonite dust around the Earth. Superman launches his own missile which spreads a fine dust of lead particles to counteract the K dust. But this lead cloud in the upper atmosphere is not entirely effective, and at the end of 324 we see Superman hoovering the ionosphere with his "Supermobile" which doubles as a cosmic dust-buster.

The in medias res opening for 325, "The Super Sellout of Metropolis," has Superman announcing for the media and his fans that he's signed an exclusive contract with the United Broadcasting Company. A disgusted Perry White bellows, "It's against Superman's code to merchandise himself that way--he's supposed to be above that sort of thing!" I wonder, however, if Marty wasn't being a bit coy in this tale. Afterall, at the end of the last issue and in this issue on the next page after Perry's comment, Superman is shown piloting the "Supermobile." The Supermobile! (registered trademark) which was injected into continuity by editorial edict to tie-in with merchandising of such a toy (unlike Batman, there just wasn't enough Superman gadgets to be licensed to toy companies). Superman signing a contract with a media corporation? well, what about National signing a deal with Warner Communications? Pasko must have been in the thick of Superman merchandising at the time, with the movie, comic strip and all--Superman was supposed to be above that sort of thing? ha!

"The Super Sellout" is actually stage-managed by Silverstone, working for UBC head honcho, Sam Tanner, who has given up on the idea that Blackrock might beat Superman in the ratings, and now wants to steal Superman away from his GBS competition. The Blackrock pseudo-science causes Superman to have several mental blackouts (in which he does things like leaving super-sized graffiti slandering GBS and Morgan Edge--eg. "STOP THE VIOLENCE ON GBS TV SHOWS" & "MORGAN EDGE IS A TIGHTWAD!"), before he's manipulated into signing a contract with UBC, and even worse committing himself to revealing his secret identity on his first national broadcast! As he confides to Jenet Klyburn, though he signed those contracts against his will, it would do Superman's reputation no good to go back on his word. In the end, however, Wonder Woman poses as Lola Barnett in a mock broadcast where Superman does indeed confess to being Clark Kent, but also uses his heat vision to ensure that the cameras and sound equipment will malfunction. WW then uses her magical lasso to induce amnesia on the UBC studio crew.

***

the LL feud:

Like the Kryptonite, Skull has managed to teleport Titano from a distant planet (and here I was thinking that Titano was trapped in the pre-historic past). In 324, The Atomic Skull, mentally controlling Titano sends the super-ape on a search and destroy mission against Superman. Meanwhile, getting the scoop that Superman and Titano are mixing it up at Cape Edmonton, Lana Lang sends Lois Lane on a wild goose-chase to Terrytown (Lois is about the only person who the oversized chimp will respond to). Once Lois is gone, Lana explains to Herbie, her pilot/cameraman on the Flying Newsroom, that Lois should know better than to trust a news rival.

But besides that, when Lana thought Lois was no longer Superman's girlfriend, she believed she had a clear field, and came back to Metropolis--only to find that fickle Lois had decided to warm things up with the Man of Steel again. Lana tells Herbie she's an old-fashioned girl! She has her suspicions that Superman is really Clark Kent--maybe if she makes the moves on Clark, she will get Superman! Because, while she likes her job, what she really wants is to be Mrs. Superman!

"Hoo-Boy! 'Old-fashioned' is right!" Herbie exclaims.

With some make-up and temporary hair-dye, Lana makes herself look enough like Lois to fool Titano at Cape Edmonton. The King Kong wannabe takes the raven-haired beauty in his paw, but then it starts to rain, which washes off the make-up and hair dye, which means Superman has to save Lana.

Next ish, 325, returning to the helipad of the WGBS rooftop, Lana is confronted by Lois--who is steaming mad for being sent on that wild goose chase to Terrytown. "I ought to pull out your flaming red hair by its mousy brown roots!" she threatens Lana--does Lois know a secret about Lana Lang? could it be that ravishing red hair isn't for real?

Lois flashes that big honking ring in front of Lana's face, telling her not to even think about stealing Superman, because Lois and the big Super-hunk are "going steady!"

Lana has her own come-back, accusing Lois of not being "on the stick" because she's been mooning about Superman, 'cause any real reporter would have checked Lana's source before rushing off to Terrytown.

In my opinion, Herbie's echo of "old fashioned" is a deliberate self-referential bit on Pasko's part. Lana represents the old-fashioned thread of jealousy--the green-eyed monster--in the old-time Superman tales (especially in the Lois Lane title). Marty Pasko seems to enjoy the contrasts that arise out of mixing the old with the new.

***

posted August 22, 2002 01:26 PM    

But I'll have a closer look at the contest pages to make sure just what they were all about (the second one had trivia questions with multiple choice answers--like what were the names of the Kents in the 1950s TV show).

I decided to pause for a couple of days in reviewing Martin Pasko's run, because I wanted to slow things down a bit. The issues toward the end of the run are some of my favourite Superman comics, and I wanted to live with them for awhile, before posting on them.

posted August 22, 2002 02:50 PM    

select comicography (from Superman-- story: Pasko; art: Swan & Chiaramonte; colors: Adrienne Roy; editing: Schwartz)

no. 327 (Sept. '78, cover: Buckler/Giacoia) "The Sandstorm that Swallowed Metropolis!" (letters: Ben Oda, 17 pages)
no. 328 (Oct. '78, cover: Lopez/Giordano) "Attack of the Kryptonoid!" (letters: Oda, 17 pages)
no. 329 (Nov. '78, cover: Andru/Giordano) "I have Met the Enemy and it is Me!" (letters: Jean Simek, 17 pages)
no. 330 (Dec. '78, cover: Andru/Giordano) "The Master Mesmerizer of Metropolis!" (based on a story-concept by Al Schroeder III; letters: Oda, 23 pages)

***

The DC Explosion was underway as issue 327 ballooned to 44 pages (for 50c), and added 8 pages of back-up--this issue featuring Mr. & Mrs. Superman (by Bates/Schaffenberger/Giella), newly spun-off from Action 484 (June '78), the 40th anniversary issue. The marriage of Earth 2 Lois & Clark seemed to be the compromise offered to readers who were begging for a Super-marriage.

Meanwhile in the lead story, Kobra came to visit bringing his bad karma with him from his failed series.

In preceding issues, shadowy agents had come looking for the teleporter device which Skull had stolen from them--the device that Skull used to transport Kryptonite and Titano from faraway places in the galaxy. As we saw at the end of the previous issue, these agents had tracked the device to Clark Kent's closet (Superman had recovered the device from Skull and then left it at the back of his closet in apartment 3 D).

Kobra now holds the device on CK and reveals the reporter's true identity as Superman. The device itself was originally uncovered by Kobra and his agents on a recent archaeological dig--Kobra had compiled a significant arsenal from sites of lost civilizations and UFO encounters--the teleporter device appears to be some alien technology from eons past, which allows the user to transport various items through the space-time continuum.

Knowing Superman's true identity, Kobra uses the device to transport Ma & Pa Kent from about a week before their deaths into the present. And threatening to destroy them (and thus Superman's timeline as he knows it to be), Kobra manipulates Superman into helping him. A sandstorm hits Metropolis, Superman has to recover all the sand from Metropolis, etc.

Issue 27 represents Pasko's low-point in his run. And issues 28-29 would not improve by much. Up to this point on Superman, my favourites bits by Marty were Toyman, Bizarro, Nam-Ek, the marriage proposal scene, Metallo, Lana Lang, Superman's power overload, Solomon Grundy, Jenet Klyburn, and Lana Lang.

The two essentials elements of Pasko's run were 1) character driven drama & 2) connections to Superman's illustrious past. Martin Pasko could get by with just one of these elements in a story, but without either the story failed to hold my attention.

In 27, there's too much action for any character driven drama and the connections to the past are in short supply. Ma and Pa Kent appear in a stasis bubble from the past, which does allow a little flashback to the days before their deaths and does allow for some emotional display in Superman--but it's just not enough. Furthermore, trapped in stasis, the Kents are entirely oblivious to their situation, entirely inactive, entirely unable to interact with their son. They appear as mere images, inspiring some pathos but no true tragic emotion.

In the Kobra series, Pasko played with the characters. There was a strong supporting cast. Kobra clashed with his psychic-connected twin brother (the good guy). But Kobra's guest appearance in this comic allows for none of that background drama. The pure evil of the villain is not enough to sustain a story.

The author does however do one good thing--he allows Kobra to leave with the knowledge of Superman's true identity. There are no stunts where Superman yet again proves that he really isn't Kent. Like Ra's al Ghul--who discovered Batman's alter ego--Kobra continues to know that Clark Kent is Superman.

posted August 22, 2002 04:17 PM    

The theme of identity (which inhabits the entire run, but which obviously was of importance in the last issue) gets treated in another fashion in the next two issues.

There is some clever business where Clark gets knocked out of a phonebooth and then shows up later, naked, needing a new suit of clothes, in an elaborate bit of plotting which has Lana trying to prove Superman's true identity. But the main business of identity has to do with General Daniel Webster Derwent--who we last saw as the mysterious general swearing vengence on Superman back in "Laser War over Metropolis" (issue 322).

A few years back, at the Cactus Flats proving ground, Superman volunteered as a human target for a high-powered howitzer--and without even Derwent realizing it at the time, an errant tiny piece of shrapnel pierced the general's arm, infecting it eventually, and necessitating amputation. Thus the one-armed general is on a vendetta against the Man of Steel, and the latest business with the destruction of Derwent's LDS project has only sharpened his resolve.

Unknown to the Last Son of Krypton, Derwent has been employing a reconstructed Superman robot that washed up on the shores of Mooney Island. Since the military installation is shielded with lead, Superman has not seen this robot performing menial tasks inside the army stronghold. Then from outerspace a strange piece of technology from Krypton lands at the base and fuses itself with the robot.

The wierd bit of technological organic life is called the Kryptonoid. Created by Ser-Ze (an associate of Jor-El's) it's a species of commensals which infest metallic substances. The commensals introduced to an artificial limb infest it changing it into an organic limb inhabited by the collective intelligence of the commensals, which react to the nerve impulses of a host body. Thus an artificial limb becomes a living limb. Except that the commensals took over their living host, and therefore were placed in a cryogenic chest and ejected into outerspace.

Now the Kryptonoid--the Superman robot fused with the commensals--seeks out General Derwent. The Kryptonoid wants revenge on Jor-El (it confuses Superman's DNA with that of his father) and it knows that Derwent wants revenge on this same person (or so it thinks)--and it makes a deal with Derwent to inhabit the general's body--fusing commensal, robot, and human into one being.

Although it allows for a little more character development, the two parter in 28 & 29 suffers from the same problems as 27--not giving enough character driven drama and connections to the past. The connection to the past with the Superman robot could have been interesting, but we never really see the robot interacting with others (prior to becoming the Kryptonoid). The old Superman robots could be a lot of fun as they interacted with the supporting cast--we miss out on all of that.

This tale just doesn't compare with the lead story from that perfect comic--Superman 284, February, 1975--the last 100 Page Super-Spectacular--by Bates, Swan, and Oksner. The story where Clark, Lana, and Pete meet up in Smallville. Where a Superboy robot has been protecting the town all the while.

What saves 28 & 29 is the puzzle plot. Martin Pasko, perhaps with the urging of his editor, seems to have enjoyed doing Gardner Fox like puzzle plots in many of his Superman stories. The Journalists' Disease, mysteries surrounding Metallo, and the secret behind Parasite's power play, all allowed the reader to guess at what was really going on.

Again, with the Kryptonoid story, we're given clues. The Superman robot has a bent belt buckle (looks like this: < ), the robot fused with the Kryptonoid, fused with Derwent has the same bent buckle. Superman at the Cactus Flats proving ground had a bent belt buckle. Answer: it wasn't really Superman, but a defective robot at Cactus Flats which caused Derwent to lose his arm--the same robot which now shares its being with Derwent! Oh the irony!

The next issue, while fustrating in some respects, would begin to turn things around for the author as he wrote some of the best stories of his run...

posted August 22, 2002 05:41 PM    

***

With issue 330, the DC Explosion was over. So soon!

But the story, "The Master Mesmerizer of Metropolis!" was 23 pages--with no two-page lettercolumn in this issue. Which suggests to me, that the story was written to be 25 pages (running the full-length of story for the 44 page issues), but with a sudden implosion, there wasn't enough room--so they squeezed in 23 pages (meaning two pages were most likely cut).

There's a lot that needs to be said about this one story, but I'll probably only be able to touch on some things and will likely pick up on this tomorrow or the next day...

This is a comic that I often find myself referring to when I'm talking with other people who don't read comics. These folks (often members of my family) invariably bring up the subject of Clark Kent's glasses--how come people don't realize Clark Kent is Superman with glasses? and I hem and haw--I don't go on to discourse about the mythic construct and theological import of the character--but I usually say "Well there was this one comic where..."

The story proper has an opening scene where a satellite has come crashing down and is about to strike the WGBS building, destroying everyone inside. Lois, Lana, and Jimmy, looking out the window at impending doom, say to Clark, cut the pretense for once--this is no time to play the game that we don't know you're really Superman, cut the act and get out there and do something!

Then Superman sits up in bed, realizing he was dreaming... and thinking...

"I wonder...if there's any truth to that dream! Is my Clark Kent disguise really that bad? Even if I do change my voice slightly when I pose as Clark...can my dual identity really be that easy to see through?!"

CAPTION: Smoothing back the curl in his forelock, he dons his glasses--and...

"Hmm--now that I stop to think about it...that's the dumbest disguise I've ever seen! What am I supposed to look like? A totally different person??

"Uh-unh! Superman wearing glasses is what I look like! But what else should I expect? Ordinary people start wearing glasses, do their friends say 'Who are you?' No--they say 'Oh--you got glasses!'

"Who was I trying to kid when I dreamed up that ridiculous disguise?"

He goes on to think about how the disguise has surprisingly worked all these years, just the same. Lois and Lana have suspected, but never proven their suspicions. But maybe everyone's been humoring him, playing along with the "gag." And now he's a celebrity, millions of people see Clark Kent on TV--and millions of people see Superman, too. So the disguise must work!

But as Clark, lost in thought, rides the bus to work, The Spellbinder happens (that old Batman villain from Detective 358, Dec. '66, "The Circle of Terror" by Broome, Moldoff, and Giella), using mass-hynosis to delude Kent and everyone else on the bus. Superman soon realizes that all the calamity around him is just a mass illusion and decides to take preventive action for any future spellbinding capers.

At the same time, associate producer Martin H. Korda has finally shown up for work at WGBS (Metallo had kidnapped and practiced some sadistic torture on Korda--while assuming M.H.K.'s identity). Now out of the hospital, Martin meets with Edge and Lang.

Then out the window, the three TV types see a big floating TV set in the sky, with Superman on the big screen. Superman warns the Metropolitans that Spellbinder is on the loose--"Mayor Harkness has declared a state of emergency!--since Spellbinder can hypnotize anyone, Superman wants everyone to agree to be mass-hypnotized. Swinging his belt in front of him and before the cameras, the buckle flashing light, the Metropolis Marvel puts everyone into a trance state and plants a post-hypnotic suggestion to be immune to any future attempts at hypnosis, until Superman says "released."

After this, Lana proceeds to take M.H.K. to wardrobe for a WGBS blazer, while at the same time Superman flies into wardrobe and changes into a Clark Kent suit.

What will happen next? Will Lana realize that Clark Kent is in reality the Man of Steel? Stay tuned...

posted August 23, 2002 05:18 PM    

The two first prizes were a role in the upcoming Superman movie with an expense-paid trip to the DC Comics offices.

There were 5,000 second prizes offered, which gave a choice of:

*The Secret Origins of DC Super-Heroes book.

*Copies of upcoming papeback novels featuring Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman [the only novel I remember from this time is Elliot Maggin's Last Son of Krypton.

*A year's subscription to the Amazing World of DC Comics.

*Copies of the all-new Superman & Wonder Woman, Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, & Legion of Super-Heroes super-size comics.

OR

*Tickets to Superman Movie Previews!

[If I had entered and won a choice for the second prizes, I'd've taken the movie preview tickets]

To enter and win, you had to clip coupons from the bottom of letter pages. Each coupon had a letter, which when collected would spell out S-U-P-E-R-M-A-N and either K-A-L-E-L or C-L-A-R-K.

Right there, I was not likely to enter since I would've had to clip too many comic books (and with the slow distribution in Canada it's probably unlikely I would have gotten my entry in by the deadline July 15, 1977--and being from Canada I probably wouldn't have been eligible anyway).

The winners were announced in the January, 1978, issues of DC comics (in this case, [i]Superman[i] 319), on a page which showed a black & white photo of Benny from "One Life to Live"--I mean Christopher Reeve--sorting through the mail with Jenette Kahn and Sol Harrison.

Chris came to the DC offices on July 20th, 1977 to participate in the selection of first prize winners with Jenette, Sol, and Cary Bates. Reeve selected the envelopes for each first prize winner.

posted August 23, 2002 06:15 PM    

***

(no. 330, page 12-14...)

As Clark/Superman has his hand down his pants, tucking in his shirt--Lana and Martin H. Korda walk in on him.

Lana yells "Superman??" and the Man of Might thinks that his "secret identity is finished!"

Lana: Uh...Hello, Superman! This is a surprise--and--er--a rather strange one at that!

(Superman thinks, "Hunh?" Meanwhile Korda is casually lighting his pipe, disinterested.)

Lana: Pardon my curiosity, Superman--but why are you wearing those glasses--and dressing up in a suit?

(Superman is confused, Lana doesn't seem to recognize Clark Kent, but apparently his secret i.d. is still safe)

Superman: Ah...I've decided that the best way to combat the Spellbinder is to assume a disguise...

Lana: That much is obvious, dear heart! But you'll never fool anyone that way! Who are you supposed to be disguised as?

(Superman is shocked--maybe the hypnotic block has made Lana forget about Clark Kent...)

Superman: My good friend Clark Kent offered to let me borrow his identity! That's why I'm here to pick up a GBS blazer!

Lana: That's supposed to be Clark? Oh come on, Luv! I admit there is a superficial resemblance--but you're too heavily built...and you're much too handsome! No--forget it! You don't really look like Clark at all!

(So she does remember Clark...)

Superman: But...Lana--you were always so sure that Clark Kent was my secret identity!

Lana: Yes, I was...And I was even more convinced than ever these past few weeks--what with Clark disappearing just before you would show-up--and vice versa! But the one thing I could never figure out...was how you could change your appearance so drastically when you became Clark! But now that I see you like this, I'm finally convinced you can't possibly be Kent! Disguising yourself as Clark would be too much for even a Superman to do--without making the disguise too obvious! Besides, Luv--if you were Clark--you wouldn't dare expect me to believe that line about "borrowing his identity!"

posted August 23, 2002 06:38 PM    

Herbie rushes in to tell Lana that Spellbinder is at the Norwich Sound Laboratory, and everyone rushes off leaving Superman alone. He gives himself a hypnotic block before he confronts Spellbinder again, then he's off to Norwich and engaging in battle with the master mesmerizer.

But his hypnotic block doesn't work as he's again fooled by another illusion making him think he's lost his powers, and Spellbinder escapes. After considering what might really be going on and making some preparations, Superman uses his super-hearing to detect the whereabouts of the go-go checked gangster via a certain frequency hum coming from the Spellbinder, and the two engage in another battle.

This time the Caped Kryptonian is victorious because he put plugs in his ears. He realized that the Spellbinder practiced his hypnosis via sound. A special disc hidden inside the mesmerizer's chest emblem emitted the sonic spells--and the sound of the generator for the chest device, the hum, allowed Superman to detect the criminal's whereabouts. The Spellbinder wore special lenses in his mask to filter out Superman's attempts to hypnotize him.

But what of Superman's secret identity secret?...stay tuned...

posted August 24, 2002 02:05 PM    

***

The Secret of Superman's Secret Identity (from no. 330)...

The last 3 pages of "The Master Mesmerizer of Metropolis!" seek to resolve the conundrum of why Lana didn't recognize Clark when Superman had his glasses on.

On the pretext of writing an article about what it's like to be Superman's closest friend, Clark Kent gets Ernie, one of the Daily Planet staff artists, to draw pictures of Kent and Superman from 8x10 photos of Kent and of Superman.

As Clark compares the photo and the drawing of Superman, they're reasonably the same; but when he compares the photo of himself and the drawing of that photo--the two are quite dissimilar. In the drawing, Clark looks thin in the face, and even his hairline seems to be receding.

"The sketch of Clark--which reveals the way Ernie sees Clark--is different! As Clark, I look frailer...and not terribly handsome!" he observes.

Clark then asks Lana what she thinks--"does this sketch do me justice?" And she responds, ">chuckle< Clark--that's you to the life!"

This confirms Clark's theory. It seems his power of super-hypnotism is always at work "at low power"--even without his willing it. The super-hypnotism makes real his subconscious impulse to be seen as a weaker man. However, this is only so because of his glasses. The Kryptonian glass, recovered from his rocketship, must have some unknown property that boosts the low power super-hypnotic effect of his eyes.

This is why, sometimes, people don't recognize him immediately from behind--thinking him bigger from the back, until he looks at them with his glasses.

When Superman broadcast his hypnotic block to all Metropolitans, commanding them to resist all hypnotism, that unknowingly included his own low-level hypnotic suggestion. So when Lana saw him in the WGBS wardrobe room, his glasses no longer had any effect.

Clark goes on to deduce that when he tried to hypnotize himself into having a block against the Spellbinder's suggestions, it didn't take because he had his glasses on when he tried hypnotizing himself in the mirror. The thing in the glasses that boosts his super-hypnotism for everyone else has the opposite effect on him. Thus he never sees himself as others see him.

Cameras must also reproduce this effect, and the trance must linger for a while. He's lost his powers before without the hypnotic suggestion fading--but then he's probably never been powerless long enough for the trance to fade completely.

"And here I thought my glasses were a dumb disguise! Far from it--without them, I wouldn't even have a disguise at all!"

***

Credit is owed to Al Schroeder III (of Nashville) as much as Martin Pasko for this story--and so is the blame. A letterhack of some reknown, Schroeder gives his reactions to the story in the letterpage of issue 335, and his comments confirm that a lot of the ideas were his. Spellbinder, the dialogue, and some added details of explanation were the contribution of Marty Pasko, but the dream, the hypnotic suggestion, the glasses--all of that is down to Al Schroeder.

Schroeder has only one reservation about Curt's art and that being that Clark looks balding. He may have intended that Clark should be thinner and less handsome, but not bald!

While I'm happy for Al Schroeder getting a credit in a Superman comic (heck, I'm jealous), and while I absolutely love this story on one level--I don't believe a word of it!

For much the same reasons we discussed back on page 17, concerning Action 446 (Apr. '75) "Clark Kent Calling Superman...Clark Kent Calling Superman!" by Bates/Swan/Oksner--I don't agree with stories that draw our attention to the conceit that Superman becomes Clark Kent when he puts on a pair of glasses. This is a convention of the myth. And it isn't even exclusive to Superman. There are many myths in many cultures where the hero is not recognized by his own people. And even in comics there have been several figures of this type--Diana Prince, Ted Knight, Jay Garrick, Dinah Drake--who with very little disguise if any become entirely different people.

The price of admission when you enter the world of Superman is that you believe for the space of 5 to 25 pages that Superman becomes Clark Kent.

To me the impulse to try and over-explain aspects of the mythology is misguided. It makes a thing that is ultimately poetic into something prosaic. Comic fans and letter writers seem especially given to this impulse. So long as these explanations maintain the fantasy I don't mind them so much and they can be a lot of fun, but when these explanations try to be too rational they invite only further scrutiny. And once studied under such an exacting lens the whole illusion falls like a house of cards (to badly mix metaphors).

I'm glad this story was written. I somehow feel my life would be much poorer without this story (if that doesn't seem an overly extreme statement), but I don't consider it to be part of the actual seventies Superman. Like a number of Weisinger era tales that flouted the very myths they were based in, I consider this one to be outside the canon. It's an apocryphal tale--well worth reading but ultimately immaterial to the actual Superman legend.

posted August 24, 2002 05:31 PM    

quote:

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Posted by India Ink:
To me the impulse to try and over-explain aspects of the mythology is misguided. It makes a thing that is ultimately poetic into something prosaic.

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I agree.