A Comic a Day: Action Comics #546

Action Comics #546

August 1983

Cover art by: Gil Kane

Story: Showdown!

Writer: Marv Wolfman

Art: Gil Kane

Superman is trying to figure out just what is going on with this new version of Brainiac. His supercomputer isn't any help at all, so he leaves the Fortress of Solitude.

Later he sees Brainiac's ship orbiting the Earth, and he goes to the JLA satellite to recruit the help of the Justice League. Kid Flash is there as well, and he ropes in the rest of the Teen Titans. The 2 groups will be dealing with the mind-controlled troops that Brainiac is unleashing on Earth. Meanwhile, Superman will try and deal with Brainiac directly.

The part with the JLA and Titans is typical mass combat fare. A spotlight here and there of a specific hero. It is fine if you like that sort of thing. Brainiac in the mean time has some of his soldiers chasing after Superman. They are able to match his speed, and Superman burrows through a mountain to escape them. That doesn't quite work out as he planned because they burn up and die. Oops.

Superman then flies off into space. Brainiac really wants to kill him, so he chases after him. The Man of Steel flies towards the Sun, but before he reaches it, Brainiac traps him in a tractor beam. The robot believes that Supes will continually fight the beam. Superman relies on this and flies toward the ship because it now has no shields. The villain counters this by releasing Superman. Big Blue then creates a bunch sun spots that wreaks electromagnetic havoc on Brainiac and his ship. Brainiac uses reserve powers in his ship to make a leap to hyperspace (or warp speed or whatever you want to call it) and gets away. Superman is relieved that he has fended off the villain for now.

A decent comic, but I really think Marv Wolfman shines in the smaller moments. My favorite line: “Maybe it's “a never ending fight” for Superman---but right now, Clark Kent could use a nice relaxing bath.” I liked Clark standing up to Morgan Edge. There was the part with Barry trying to convince Wally to stay in college. The splash page of the Titans and Leaguers meeting in the satellite. Terra being impressed with herself, but also not getting hung up on being a hero. Those were the really good parts. It is amazing with all of the decompressed storytelling we get now, we get less of those moments. Doesn't seem right.

I've always been a Gil Kane fan, and here he really shines. He is equally deft at the big melee as well as the little moments. Just terrific.

A final note. This is the beginning of a new box, and I think it is only the second time it didn't begin with an issue of Adventure.

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  • Since Marv Wolfman wrote it, no wonder there's some nice Titans moments.

    Funny that the New Teen Titans never appeared in Justice League of America. Perhaps due to some still lingering bad feelings between Gerry Conway and Marv? Or Marv not wanting anyone else to use the Titans?

    My initial thrill: the Red Tornado is there!

  • Wolfman and Kane sounds like a pretty decent team.  Was this the first story where we saw the new Brainiac?

    I doubt Marv could have stopped Conway or anyone else from using the NTT.  Maybe it's the bad feelings you're talking about; Gerry wasn't shy about using guest-stars; he used the All-Star Squadron in one story and Infinity Inc in another.

  • I'm not sure if Brainiac appeared in every issue of Action between his redesign and this issue -- there might have been a few diversions -- but IIRC, this is the wrap-up to the new Braniac's first big story, yes.

  • The JLA had earlier guested in the first Trigon story, in New Teen Titans #4 (with a cameo in #5). At the time of both stories Len Wein was editing New Teen Titans and Justice League of America, and I suppose he could have prevented the Titans appearing in the latter if Marv Wolfman didn't want them to. The title had a tradition of often using a third team or group of characters in the JLA/JSA crossover; possibly the creators who did the crossovers just had something else to do each year from the new Titans' debut up to Crisis.

    As a comparison, the JLA also guested in Batman and the Outsiders #1. Batman quit the League because Lucius Fox was in trouble in Markovia and Superman had promised someone that the League wouldn't involve itself in the conflict there. Subsequently World's Finest Comics depicted Superman and Batman as estranged over this. They fully reconciled in #300, in which the Outsiders guested.

    Action Comics #546 was the conclusion of a three-parter that started in Action Comics #544. That was a giant issue with two stories, one by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson introducing Luthor's green warsuit, and the other by Wolfman and Kane depicting Brainiac's transformation. The previous Brainiac story, also by Wolfman, had ended with him trapped at the center of a planet (an artificial one, I think). As I recall, in #544 he accidentally converted himself into energy as part of an escape attempt, escaped from the planet in this form, and had visionary experiences on the way that included an element he interpreted as meaning Superman had been appointed by God ("the Master Programmer") to destroy him.

    Kane and Wolfman had started doing Action Comics together with Action Comics #539, and worked together on the title to #554 with two interruptions (##542-543,  547-550). Kane also drew covers and backup stories for the Super-titles of the era. He also wrote and drew Superman Special #1 and drew Superman Special #2, which the GCD tells me was written by Cary Bates and was an imaginary story in which Brainiac's history proceeds differently from the starting point of the Action Comics #544 tale. According to the GCD these last two stories both first appeared in West Germany. For a period DC produced extra Superman stories for the German market, some of which it subsequently used in America.

  • It was easy for Conway to use the All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc. as he and Roy Thomas were good friends and writing partners.

    It still amazes me that no incarnation of the Teen Titans were ever included in a JLA/JSA team-up and they met Jonah Hex TWICE!

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