At some unspecified point in the future, Booster Gold is captured by the evil version of the LSH, minions of Darkseid, and sends Validus backward through time in hope of somehow alerting Superman that the future "is already lost." It not a very well-thought-out plan and untimately doesn't work, but Validus first (?) arrives in Smallville on the day of Lana Lang and John Henry Irons' wedding. Lois and Lana both have superpowers, and there is a little kid who is the split image of Jimmy Olsen (I first thought he was a ventriloquist's dummy) sitting on Jimmy's lap. After the supes have driven Validus back into the timestream, the ceremony proceeds and the minister shouts, "...YOU MAY KISS THE BRIDE!" (Jeez, calm down old man.) Superman recalls that Validus appeared in Smallville once before, 20 years ago, when Clark and Lana were 16 years old.
Validus next appears in Smallville 20 years ago, when Clark and Lana were 16 years old. Clark is in the verge of telling Lana his secret when he, too, is sucked into the timestream along with Validus. While there, he glimpses the future in which he is married to Lois Lane. Superboy is under the influence of a mental block put in place by the LSH which prevents him from remembering any facts about his future revealed to him via time travel, but he returns with a subliminal impression of what he has seen which cause him to change his mind about revealing his secret to Lana at that time.
Back in the present, Mr. Terrific constructs for Superman a device designed to remove Validus from the time stream and prevent him tumbling through it. Those two (plus a Justice Leaguer called "Omen") successfully do so and send him... somewhere. But no one figures out Booster Gold's "clue" that the future is in danger.
COMING UP:
April 23 - Superman #25
May 14 - Supergirl #1
May 21 - Superman Unlimited #1
June 11 - Action Comics #1087
June 18 - Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #1
July 9 - Superman Treasury Edition 2025 #1
July 23 - Superman #28
September 3 - Adventures of Superman: Book of El #1
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Also, Superman Day on April 18!
I'll be looking forward to a lot of this, and mostly reading it a month later on DCUI. (Aside from the Waid stuff...and likely the Legion appearances. Gotta have my Legion, even if they're evil!)
SUPERMAN #25:
I gave this one a pass, but if you've got anything to say about it, here's your chance.
I came this close to deleting this entire topic due to a lack of interest (mine). Then yesterday came...
SUPERGIRL #1:
Where to begin? First, I can already tell that this series is going to be just as good as Tom King and Bilquis Evely's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow... very different, but equally as good. Supergirl has probably been affected more by various crises and universal changes than her more famous cousin, and I have read a least some of all of them. So which "Supergirl" is this? (Frankly, I've lost track.) Basically, this is the Silver Age Supergirl (as well as the 10-issue 1972 series, which writer/artist Sophie Campbell cites, twice, as a particular favorite of hers. Perhaps this series, if it is successful, will lead to a Bronze Age Supergirl Omnibus. But I digress.) Much has been made of Campbell's redesign of Supergirl's costume, which retains and combines many classic elements while remaining unique unto itself. Storywise, Supergirl returns to Midvale to visit her parents (whco have recently moved back into their old house), only to find that an imposter has taken her place. Even her parents don't remember her. (This is a trope we've seen before, but I'm curious to see where Campbell goes with it.) Recommended.
ACTION COMCIS #1086: This also shipped yesterday, but it is branded as the "Can't-Miss Finale of the Superman Superstars Era" rather than "Summer of Superman" so I did not buy it.
FCBD 2025 SPECIAL EDITION #1: DC's FCBD offering this year featured an advance look at Superman Unlimited, but I found Rafael Albuquerque's art to be virtually unreadable. I decided not to buy it on that basis, but writer Dan Slott had some intriguing things to say about it in Supergirl #1, so now I'm reconsidering. I have a week in which to make up my mind.
I enjoyed Supergirl #1 as well. Probably because I grew up with the Silver Age Supergirl, I prefer the character uncomplicated. No Earth Angels, no protoplasmic blobs, no connection to Atlantis. Oh wait, that's Power Girl. Same principle! Supegirl is Superman's cousin, and she has super-powers, and she wants to do the right thing. That's all I need! This series gives me that, althought it also gives us a set of Danvers from TV, which I just tune out until it's important.
I also read the 1972 Supergirl series mentioned, and it's been more than 50 years, but I seem to remember it was pretty much the same. The stories by Cary Bates weren't terribly complicated, and the art was generally by a Golden Age artist named Art Saaf, which was inked by Vince Coletta. I'm no fan of Colletta's work, but I suspect in this case it provided a "modern" look to some rather old-fashioned artwork. And I loved the simple, dramatic and uncomplicated covers by Bob Oksner. It didn't break my heart when it was canceled, but I can see how some people would regard it with nostaligic love.
SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #1:
Superman's life flashes before his eyes while trying to divert a Kryptonite meteor the size of Metropolis from striking Brazil. He awakens aboard the Justice League Watchtower three months later to find that "the global economy practically changed overnight." The nation-state of El Caldero (between Brazil and corto Maltese) has become "one of Earth's wealthiest countries ever since it became the largest supplier of opur planet's newest, rarest, and most valuable metal: Krypronit." It was interesting to see which aspects of Superman lore writer Dan Slott mined from which sources, but I still find the art incredibly unappealing. Bad art can sink a good story quicker than a bad story can sink good art. Thematically, the so-called "Emerald Era" is the opposite of Superman #233. I won't be buying any more issues of Superman Unlimited, but don't worry about me. The "DC Finest" will release "Kryptonite Nevermore" on June 3. I'll be fine.
ACTION COMICS #1087:
[That cover has a very "Smallville" (TV show) look to it, doesn't it?]
I had high hopes when I first heard that Mark Waid was going to be writing the Legion of Super-Heroes in Action Comics (#1070-1081). Those hopes were cruelly dashed, but we need not go into that here. Now Mark Waid is back with another chance to get it right, and this effort is far, far more impressive than the previous one. This story starts in the present day (Did you know that Perry white is now mayor of Metropolis?), but quickly flashes back to the day Superboy's existence was revealed to the world. This is not a retelling of a previously told story; it's all new. It makes an interesting complement to the DC Finest collection of Superboy stories from the 1950s I am also currently reading.
This has nothing to do with the comic in question, but it strikes me how young some of these creators must be. On the "Welcome to Metropolis" pages, Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton writer Ryan North cites Kingdom Come and Superman: Peace on Earth as among the first comics he ever bought. And group editor Paul Kaminski refers to Smallville as a "Super-TV classic."
The current issue of Alter Ego is highlighting the artists that followed Joe Shuster on Superman
KRYPTO: THE LAST DOG OF KRYPTON #1:
There is a difference between a lab animal and a family pet. Krypto is the El family's pet, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. Ryan North knows he's a pet? Of course he does. How could it be otherwise? This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story he and Mike Norton are going to relate. Sometimes Jor-El and Lara call him "Krypto" and sometimes "Goodboy" but he answers to both names. It's all the same to him.
Ryan North: "He's not a talking animal. He doesn't think in captions. He's just a pup, scared and lost, trying to understand a planet that doesn't understand him back."
And there's a joke from Gary Larson's The Far Side.
Do not page ahead.
You have been warned.