Previously on Squadron Supreme: The World's Mightiest Heroes asked the world's governments to give them one year to repair the massive damage to their world. However, there are already problems the Squadron has to deal with. Nuke's parents are dying of cancer because of his increasing radioactive powers, and he is desperate to save them. Tom Thumb agrees to help as best as he can, but is unable to come any closer to a cure than anyone else who has researched the disease. His desperation nearly drives him to make a deal with the evil Scarlet Centurion for a possible cure, but decides against it to Nuke's fury. Tom then reveals he himself is dying as well.
The cover is a simple one. Doctor Spectrum and Nuke battling over a city. This is appropriate, considering what happens in this issue. I don't have a whole lot to say about it other than it's very well-drawn, and I like the muted colors on the city background. Makes the eye concentrate on the characters up front and center. Nice.
"Showdown"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciller: Bob Hall
Inker: John Beatty
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter
The issue begins with Zarda, aka Power Princess, showing off her shield, which allows her to deflect bullets.
She is fighting off some men who are shooting at her, and easily trounces them. However, it turns out Zarda is filming a commercial, complete with a voice-over by her. I can imagine her sounding like Susan Eisenberg...okay, she did voice Zarda in The Super Hero Squad Show. She's filming a commercial promoting and informing a program the Squadron is doing which would result with the military and police force's guns being replaced with non-lethal alternatives.
Doctor Spectrum is there as well, and he feels that Zarda takes things too seriously at times. So, he decides to have a bit of his idea of fun with her.
Zarda, understandably, is none too happy with Doc Spectrum's antics. She threatens to give him some similar humiliation, but settles for taking his cape. Se does warn him that one day, his irresponsibility and cockiness will come back to haunt him. Foreshadowing. After speaking with the President, and reassuring his concerns about how the American people will react to it, considering the obsession with the Second Amendment (mostly the "bearing arms" part), she decides to go back to her apartment. It's been a while since she saw her husband, and she's hoping the Squadron one day will be able to house their loved ones in their headquarters.
After three hours, she returns to Squadron HQ. Inside, Whizzer, Doc Spectrum, and Golden Archer are discussing the incident. Archer is laughing at Spectrum's story, and Spectrum claims he's getting the uncensored video from cameraman. Whizzer thinks that Spectrum went too far with his practical joke, and I have to agree with him on that, personally. Archer thinks Whizzer is a stuffed-shirt. Zarda passes by them.
I love this panel. It's really expressive. Zarda looks like she's trying to maintain her dignity, Spectrum is cocky, Archer is teasing with a wolf whistle, and Whizzer feels bad for her.
The Squadron have a meeting, and Spectrum worries that Zarda will report his actions to Hyperion. Zarda says nothing about it, which makes him relieved. Hyperion reports that every gun and manufacturer in America has been shut down. Golden Archer and Lady Lark talk about a personal appearance they made in a city called Angelopolis (I'm guessing that's their Los Angeles), and it was a smashing success.
Hyperion then turns the subject to Nuke. The youngest member of the Squadron has missed a lot of meetings, and they have been too busy to try and find him. Hyperion figures that now is the time that the Squadron find him. Tom Thumb recalls Nuke coming to him to cure his parents, but flipped out when he failed. He wants to tell the others this, but he fears the Squadron will think less of him for it.
This is some nice subtle character work here. Tom has been shown struggling with low self-esteem and his depression over it, and we see how it's affecting him. He's so afraid of being seen as worthless that he won't divulge information that could've helped the Squadron.
Whizzer offers to find Nuke, figuring his superspeed would allow him to find Nuke quickly, but Zarda decides to volunteer Doctor Spectrum to find him, stating that he and Nuke used to go out on the town a few times.
Queen of the subtle trolling, our Zarda. Spectrum admits that yeah, he did take Nuke out for drinks a couple of times, but he found the walking nuclear plant a bit of a nuisance. Despite this, Doc Spectrum realizes that he's not going to be able to talk his way out of finding Nuke, so he volunteers. Zarda gives Spectrum his cape back, telling him that things are still not even between them, and he should wash it on occasion. Tom Thumb points out that Nuke's parents are ill, and he should check out the hospitals in his hometown.
Spectrum flies off, grumbling about how long it will take him to find Nuke as he flies to Motor City, Wyandota (Earth-712's Detroit, Michigan).
Spectrum's cockiness and arrogance is on full display here when he mentally remarks that Nuke brought him here once after he joined the Squadron, and he was not impressed by the city. Wow. Spectrum is a jerk. Spectrum discovers a steaming crater in the distance, figuring Nuke caused it battling one of the Squadron's foes. You know, Spec, Nuke could've had some villains of his own, like Carrion, or the Ice Queen. Or even Duplicator or Tornado.
Back at Squadron HQ, Whizzer is relaxing in bed, needing to rest after using his powers so much. It's an interesting caveat to Whizzer's speed, but I don't think it plays much of a role here. However, Tom Thumb has summoned him, Amphibian, and Arcanna. There's a raid on a gun factory in a place called "Alamo City, Olmstead".
Based on the Alamo mention, I'm assuming Alamo Town, Olmstead is the Earth-712 San Antonio, Texas. That's there the Alamo mission is. Seriously, Gruenwald, just use the real state names. Meanwhile, Doc Spectrum has found a hospital in Motor City, and finds out Nuke's parents, Gilbert and Florence Gaines, have passed away on June 18th and the 21st, respectively. Spectrum actually is able to stop being a jerk for a moment, realizing the Nuke was in mourning and probably wanted to be left alone. He does grumble that Hyperion would want Nuke to take an official leave of absence.
Amphibian, Arcanna, and Whizzer arrive in Texas, and Whizzer and Arcanna get to disarm the rioters awesomely. Arcanna then asks a rioter why they're causing all the panic. His answer?
When you think about it, the rioter...has an understandable point. The Squadron Supreme were mind-controlled into tyrants not long before the events of this miniseries. People would be understandably VERY nervous about the Squadron's Utopia plan. A clever bit of deconstruction on Gruenwald's part. It also leads Arcanna to consider that maybe the Squadron did not think completely through what they were doing. Despite this, she and Whizzer gather up the guns to be destroyed. Arcanna remarks that Amphibian will be left with nothing to do. Poor Amphibian, he REALLY gets the short end of the stick in this miniseries.
Gruenwald has remarked that Squadron Supreme is about the greater good vs. individual rights, and it shows here. In order to end war, the Squadron must take away the weapons of war. The Squadron are slowly becoming tyrants again, and this time, there's no mind control to absolve them.
Spectrum finds Nuke's neighborhood and meets his younger brother, Scotty Gaines. Scotty is a big fan of the Squadron, and even owns all their action figures, two of Doctor Spectrum.
This confuses me. The Squadron revealed their secret identities to the world on national television, yet in this issue, Scotty has no idea his brother was Nuke. How could he have been unaware of that? If he didn't see it, he must've heard people talking about it. Nuke's a Motor City boy, the city would've been abuzz about this! Also, if Nuke's parents got sick from being around him, how come Scotty seems perfectly fine? Was he not around his brother enough?
Anyway, Doc Spectrum explains Nuke has been missing for a month, and he wants to know if there's anywhere Al would go. Scotty says he may know where he is, if Spectrum flies him there. Spectrum does so. It's nice to see that even though Spectrum may think of Nuke as a nuisance sometimes, he is willing to do this for Scotty.
Spectrum and Scotty find Nuke in the cemetery where their parents are buried. Nuke himself looks like hell. He is overcome with grief, frustration, guilt, heartbreak, and rage. He hasn't slept or eaten in days, and I like to think his growing powers were also messing with his mind. Nuke is furious that Spectrum has brought Scotty here, and starts ranting about the Squadron, Tom Thumb in particular.
Spectrum asks how there was a crater in town, and Nuke demonstrates where it came from by blasting the ground, scaring Scotty. Spectrum tries to get Nuke to calm down, but Nuke decides, "Nah, I'm gonna nuke Tom Thumb", and flies off in a rage. Spectrum gets Scotty home, then takes off after Nuke.
Some people may think that Nuke went crazy rather quickly since last issue, but keep in mind, this mini takes place over the course of one year. Each issue covers a moment during a particular month. Nuke had plenty of time to get consumed by his grief and for that heartbreak and frustration he had with Tom Thumb to fester into rage, hatred, and insanity. He didn't go crazy overnight. This was building up for a long time coming.
Spectrum manages to catch up to Nuke, and encases him in an energy bubble. Nuke busts out.
Interesting that Spectrum still calls Nuke a "twerp" in his thoughts even though Nuke has clearly lost his mind, and needs help right now. Nuke and Spectrum trade energy blasts, and Spectrum is able to catch Nuke in another bubble. This time, Spectrum thickens the bubble to contain Nuke's power. Spectrum notes that the attacks in the bubble have stopped. He worries Nuke may be playing possum so he'll be released, but Spectrum is not taking chances, as as much as he finds Nuke annoying, he has no desire to see him actually hurt.
Spectrum notices something is very wrong. Nuke is completely still, and Spectrum fears that Nuke may have burned up all the air in the bubble and suffocated. He tries mouth-to-mouth to resuscitate him, but it's no use. Albert Gaines is dead. And he won't be the first Squadron member to fall here.
Zarda's warning to Spectrum comes to pass, but through no real fault of Spectrum's own. I have to note that this is the best-drawn panel in the entire comic, in my opinion. The clear anguish on Doctor Spectrum 's face is shown beautifully here.
It's another bit of subtle deconstruction on Mark Gruenwald's part. It would make sense that an energy bubble would only have the air inside the bubble as an air supply. Spectrum could've made very tiny holes in the bubble so that Nuke could breathe, like the air holes in the lids of jars used to catch insects.
In a panic, Spectrum considers hiding Nuke's body and saying that he couldn't find him, but he reconsiders, realizing that he could never live with himself if he could. It's another thing that pops up in Gruenwald's works, sticking to your principles and always doing the right thing.
Spectrum brings Nuke's body back to the Squadron HQ, and he admits what happened. He breaks down, and who is the first Squadron member to comfort him?
Zarda. Yup. Zarda. After what he pulled with her earlier, Zarda goes out of her way to comfort him after this. Really tells you a lot about Zarda.
Two days later, Spectrum visits Scotty and tells him that he accidentally killed Nuke. Scotty concludes that Al was not a very good superhero. In a heartwarming moment, Spectrum tells Scotty that no, Al was a great superhero, and he was proud to have known him. He asks Scotty to remember Al as the good man he once was, and that he hopes Scotty will forgive him for the accidental death of Al. The last line in the issue...
Scotty forgives Doctor Spectrum. Awww.
This was a very good issue. The art does seem improved over the last two issues (Maybe Bob Hall is setting into a groove), and the story is very well-told. Nuke's tale is a tragic one, and a sign of darker times to come. Next time, we'll go from a dark-toned ersatz JLA, to a light-hearted actual JLA. Next time, we'll look at the birth of my personal favorite incarnation of the Justice League: the Justice League International!
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