SHIPPED TODAY:
I have been bellyachin' about DC not releasing '70s era Superman for so long now that if I didn't buy this volume on the day it was released I could be classified a hypocrite. In point of fact, DC did release some of this material (Superman #233-238, 240-242) 16 years ago as part of its late, lamented (by me), all-too-short "DC Comics Classics Library" line. I did buy it then but found it to be be, frankly, somewhat disappointing. But, in addition to those issues, the DCF volume also includes Superman #243-246 and Action Comics #393-406, 18 additional issues of content. Actually, when I was in elementary school, I was quite a regular buyer of Superman, Action Comics in particular, mostly between 1973 and 1974. None of those issues are in this collection, but once I finally decided to "Make Mine Marvel" I got rid of all my DCs and am looking forward to re-reading them, 50 years later, in future editions of DCF. The Superman Family edition put me behind reading The Superdog from Krypton, and The Superdog from Krypton has put me behind reading Kryptonite Nevermore, but I thought I'd get this discussion started in case anyone else has something to say about this run.
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I ordered it yesterday, too!
Sadly it stops right before one of the best Superman stories of that era, IMHO, the first appearance of Terra-Man and his amazing origin!
First... I thought I'd givde myself a little head start by re-reading the "DC Comics Classics Library" version from 2009. I was disappointed in it then because my expectations were too high. This time, though, having read it before, I knew exactly what to expect and I enjoyed it more the second time through. the DCCL version is printed omn paper stock much more akin to ordinary newspring (except it is whiter), as opposed to the slick, glossy stock of the DCF version. "Kryptonite Nevermore" is a short (nine-issue) story arc composed mostly of "done-in-one" stories. It begins with the introduction of the "Quarrmer" and ends with his/its departure. I read the 1992 post-Crisis version of "Kryptonite Nevermore" (Superman Special #1 by Walt Simonson) long before I read the original, and I must admit I still prefer that version... at least as far as the "Quarrmer" part of the story is concerned.
There is one thing about the original I hadn't remembered from 16 years ago. The fact that Peter Parker takes pictures with an automatic camera webbed to a wall is an aspect of comic book lore long baked into my willing sense of disbelief. But in these stories, Morgan Edge regularly sends Clark Kent out to cover a story with a television camera and no cameraman! Clark set the camera up on a tripod then flies into action as Superman wearing a throat-mic attached to his neck so he can narrate. Uh, uh... I'm not buyin' it.
Then... today I bought DCF: Superman Nevermore. I don't know why I wasn't expecting this, but not only does the volume not begin with Superman #233 (three issues of Action Comics are reprinted first), but the "Quarrmer" arc is interrupted by issues of Action Comics which do not tie in to the storyline. I don't really mind that... there's something to be said for presenting the issues in the order they were originally released, but still I think I'd have edited it differently (just as I would Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" series if anyone ever asks me). I'll just skip the issues I just read as I'm making my way through it. Still, I had been planning to cull the DCCL version from my shelf, but now I think I'll hang on to it.
I'll be back with additional thoughts on the rest of the volume as I work my way through it.
Here is what Captain Comics had to say about "Kryptonite Nevermore" over in this week's "Comics Guide":
DC FINEST: SUPERMAN — KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE TP ($39.99): I've seen a lot of excited chatter for this book in the DC Finest thread, and I'm excited FOR you guys. However, I was disappointed when this series first occurred. I didn't want to see a de-powered Superman in 1971 — I read Superman in those days for sensawunda — but especially in the early '70s when DC had already de-powered Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, and exiled Martian Manhunter. And I felt, in my all-knowing youth, that the Quarrmer/Sand Superman was a clumsy means to an end — the end being to de-power Superman, which I didn't want in the first place. So I pouted through the whole thing.
But that's just the reaction of one know-it-all 13-year-old in 1971. This book's stories represent a sea change for the Man of Steel, albeit (like all things DC) more temporary than we expected at the time. This is the "Clark Kent, newscaster" era, when Morgan Edge and Steve Lombard were new, Kryptonian stuff was downplayed and Superman struggled with half-power — and his humanity, courtesy of the post-Weisinger generation of writers, who were concerned about such things. It's full of great Curt Swan art and Neal Adams covers. It's a product of a more progressive era, a pre-Internet, Stranger Things kind of world, that's long gone.
And now I've halfway talked myself into buying this.
Let's see if this discussion can talk you the rest of the way into it. ;)
And here's what ClarkKent_DC had to say about it in 2020:
"And then there's Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore!, which collects Superman (Volume 1) #232-238 and 240–242. I've seen the leadoff story -- the one in which all kryptonite on Earth is destroyed -- many times, but not any of the ones that followed. So after reading the Bendis version of Superman, it was a treat to read the Bronze Age version.
"Unfortunately, the writer here is Denny O’Neil, who isn’t quite the right fit. After taking the radical step of eliminating all kryptonite on Earth – the in-story result of a science experiment gone wrong – he goes into an extended saga about Superman losing his powers. The science experiment made Superman crash land in a desert, and the sand in the divot where he lands comes to life like a golem and follows Superman around. Every time he is in proximity with the thing, his powers weaken and some of them cut out entirely.
"O’Neil plainly subscribes to the “Superman is too powerful” school of thought. For my money, any time I hear a writer make that plaint, I take it as an admission that they aren’t up to the job and ought to step aside for someone who is.
"Anyway, through these stories, Superman struggles through how to function with diminished capabilities, at first baffled as to how and why, and then realizing the “Sand Superman” is to blame. But his silicon-based doppelganger is mute through most of this tale. Eventually we learn he is a being from another dimension, and just wants to get home – even if it means Superman has to die to make it happen.
"This was different than most Bronze Age fare in a lot of ways. This is a real story arc that covers several issues, instead of the done-in-one stories typical of the time. The leadoff story is the one in which Morgan Edge makes Clark Kent switch from reporting for the Daily Planet to WGBS-TV. It seemed odd to me that Clark didn’t have a camera crew, just some kind of portable camera rig. But actually, being a “one-man band” is how it’s done today at a lot of TV stations, so O’Neil was 40 years ahead of his time in that respect.
"One thing we see throughout is thought balloons, which are welcome. I don’t know why it became a convention in today’s comics to write characters without showing their inner thoughts, especially because I think it’s stupid to take a tool out of your toolbox. But Superman’s characterization is a little off in one way: He is quite grouchy about rescuing Lois Lane, jarringly so. Which I think reflects on O’Neil as well.
"There’s also an unexpected team-up with Wonder Woman, then in her Emma Peel non-costumed guise, and her mystic blind Chinese companion, I-Ching.
"All of the stories are drawn by Curt Swan, and all but one are inked by Murphy Anderson; that odd one is inked by Dick Giordano, so they all look great.
"It was interesting to see these stories, and I don’t know why I haven’t seen them before, but I think Cary Bates and Martin Pasko, who followed O’Neil, had a better handle on Superman’s character."
There always was a "weaker" Superman in World's Finest and Justice League of America so the other characters weren't superfluous. In fact, Superman fought enough gangsters, scientists and common criminals to never need his full strength!
And remember, after affecting Superman, they had to find another way to limit Supergirl!
Denny O'Neil had already revitalized Justice League of America, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Batman/Detective, so it made sense to give him the reboot of Superman which he admits wasn't the success either he or DC wanted.
Other than the unpowered Wonder Woman series, I haven’t read anything discussed here, but…….
O’Neil plainly subscribes to the “Superman is too powerful” school of thought. For my money, any time I hear a writer make that plaint, I take it as an admission that they aren’t up to the job and ought to step aside for someone who is.
We are currently enjoying discussions about Silver Age Mort Weisinger comics, poking loving fun at some of the storylines. My eyes tend to glaze over when every DC and Marvel story must have a world-destroying threat to justify the hero not winning on page 2.
When Superman had to spend most of his time saving Lois and Jimmy from themselves, was only threatened by magical characters and was threatened by all-to-common chunks of Kryptonite it was a way of conceding that very, very few writers could make such an overpowered character interesting.
One thing we see throughout is thought balloons, which are welcome. I don’t know why it became a convention in today’s comics to write characters without showing their inner thoughts, especially because I think it’s stupid to take a tool out of your toolbox.
I 100% agree.
I am now up to Action Comics #403.
Action Comics #403 was my second "Superman" comic (following Superman #213), and only my twelveth comic book overall by my count. (I don't count children's fare as published by Harvey, Dell, Archie, etc. as "real" comic books.) Here is what I had to say about its two new stories back in 2018:
It has been 2½ years between my first “Superman” comic and my second. One thing that has changed is that the credits for the new stories are now prominently displayed. The first story is written by Cary Bates, drawn by Curt Swan and inked by Murphy Anderson (popularly known as “Swanderson”). Again, DC, why has this material not been collected? A collection of the “Krptonite Nevermore” story arc was released a couple of years ago as part of the now defunct and much missed “DC Comics Classics Library” series of hardcovers, but that did little more than whet my appetite.
“Attack of the Mircro-Murderer” deals with a magical entity known as a “Zohtt” which has no physical form but possesses a series of hosts over a span of years and turns them evil. The Zohtt vows revenge on Superman when its host body is mortally wounded following a bank robbery. The next day, Superman (as Clark Kent) receives a message from the future which threatens to kill innocents unless Superman meets with it. In the future, the Zohtt has first possessed a female micro-biologist, then a highly infectious micro-organism and kills her with it.
When Superman arrives, he finds the scientist dead, and the Zohtt (as the mircro-organism) transfers itself to Superman, who immediately succumbs to a high fever. An examination reveals that the disease will kill him within two days. A blood transfusion is needed to save his life, and “writer’s fiat” dictates that neither Supergirl nor the Kandorians are able to donate. Hundreds of gallons of human blood might work, and the call goes out across the land leading to the scene symbolized on the cover.
Unfortunately, the transfusion doesn’t work, and Superman makes his goodbyes to the planet. Across America, certain cities have arranged to turn on either red or yellow lights creating a giant “S” shield across the entire Midwest in tribute. (As fantastic as this story is, that’s the one aspect I just could not buy, even at seven years old.) Superman tricks the Zohtt by flying to a distant asteroid where it cannot transfer to another body, forcing it to re-enter Superman’s body. But while the Zohtt wasn’t looking, Superman pulled the ol’ switcheroo and trapped it in one of his robot replicas from which it could not escape.
This story had a lot of great things going for it. In addition to the fanciful story and wonderful art, we got to see Superman breaks the “time barrier” using his own power, we saw Lois Lane’s reaction to Superman’s impending death, and we got a bit of “shared universe” continuity with Linda Danvers. (This story also reinforced my appreciation for the female form; the geneticist from the future was laid out in a glass coffin and wearing a form-fitting leotard.) It’s amazing how much of Superman’s mythos I accepted at face value. For example, Superman has a city of Krptonians living inside a glass bottle in his fortress? Check. It is only as adults we need things “explained” to us.
“The Man with the X-Ray Eyes” (Geoff Browne and “Swanderson”) is set during Clark Kent’s college days and deals with the university janitor who has the power to skry and see the future by gazing into a reflective surface (usually his mop bucket). He also knows Clark Kent’s true identity. An unscrupulous professor tries to take advantage of the man’s power, but accidentally sets off an explosion which kills the professor and removes the janitor’s memory and powers of precognition. I cannot say for certain, but this story is probably my first exposure to the concept of ESP, or extra-sensory perception. If I’d’ve been paying attention, I could have learned skrying, pregognition and “Zener cards” as well.
Now, 55 years later and reading these stories in context for the first time, I'm glad that my second "Superman" comic book was not Action Comics #402 or #404, or Superman #241.
If I may comment on previous stories?
ACTION COMICS #393 (O'70), "Superman Meets Super-Houdini!" by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan & Murphy Anderson.
The Man of Steel observes "Hairbreath" Holahan, a master escape artist, free himself from chains as he plummets to the ground. Also there is Holahan's young son, Dan who's part of the act. Superman naturally figures out how Holahan did it (with a gadget) and rather smugly is bemused that he can't be fooled by his tricks.
But Holahan has one big secret: he's really escaped convict Mace Larkin who broke out of prison years ago and started a new life. And Dan does Not know. Gangsters threaten to reveal his secret unless he helps them. Having no choice, he accepts and steals a rare diamond from a museum but Superman catches him and exposes who is and brings him back to a maximum security prison.
But that was the plan all along so Holahan could break mob boss Stoney Croy out of prison with a cyrogenic molar (don't ask). As they flee across country, Croy takes Holahan to the mob's new headquarters, the old prison! Holahan slips up, recognizing the other criminals, not that it mattered as Holahan was really Superman in disguise! Big surprise! He switched places with the escape artist in order to find the mob's new HQ.
Holahan gets a pardon, Dan is happy and Superman gets melancholic over not having a son.
It ends with "KIRBY IS COMING!"
Second story: "The Day Superboy Became Superman!" (Number Four in a series! Collect them all!) by Geoff Brown with art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito aka MY Amazing Spider-Man art team!
While still at Metropolis University, young Clark/Superboy must continually stop the Raiders, a gang from the slums from swimming in the University's pool and stealing food for neighborhood children. Super-Elitist says the LAW is the LAW despite the argument from fellow student Marla Harvey who wants the Overgrown Boy of Steel to have some humanity. Superboy treats her as condescending as he did Lana Lang.
Later Marla leaves the college and starts her own school in a crumbling building and encounters Superboy again after the Raiders swipe the college library's books for her. The next day, the building collapses, killing Marla before Superboy can save her. He begins to build a new school for the poor then realizes the people must take action themselves without his help and they agree. Months later, the school is complete. They try to dedicate it to Superboy but he refuses, changing the bronze bust to that of Marla who made him realize that he is now...SUPERMAN!
I think I figured out why this is the first story of the collection. One, this was when DC started touting that a change was coming to the Superman titles in 1971 and two, the second story can be considered "Relevance" ala Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
I had this issue when I was younger, several years after it came out!
Plus, the escape artist with scientific gadgets is fairly close to Mister Miracle!
If I may comment on previous stories?
Of course! Be my guest.
I don't plan to take this discussion any further myself, other than to comment on others' posts.