Adventures of Superman #431 (August 1987)

Over his eighty-plus years of adventures, Superman has fought many a foe. Some of these villains have become iconic characters in their own right. Key parts of the mythos: Lex Luthor, General Zod, Brainiac, Metallo, etc. However, not every threat that Superman fights reaches that level of fame. Allow me to show you one such villain, as we take a look at Adventures of Superman #431!

The cover is a bit basic. Well-drawn, but basic. A Jerry Ordway piece, it depicts Superman angrily crushing a gun in his hand. Doesn't really hint anything about the story. That's a shame, really. Also, is it just me, or does his jaw seem a bit...off?

"They Call Him--Doctor Stratos!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: Erik Larsen
Inkers: John Beatty, Dick Giordano, Karl Kesel, Bob Lewis, Jerry Ordway, P. Craig Russell(Credited as India Inc. Get it?)
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Letterer: Albert Deguzman
Editors: Andrew Helfer, Mike Carlin
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with a group of gunmen firing at the Man of Steel.

"Keep wasting these bullets, boys!"

It's a group of gunmen going up against Superman, so naturally he is able to easily deal with them. They had robbed a charity event that he was speaking at. Yeah, they're not very bright. But these men are not the real antagonist of this tale. We go to a palace that looked like it was designed by an Amazon architect. This is Castle Chaos, and it's the home of this man.

"Gentlemen! Behold! My glorious mullet!"

Meet Dr. Constantine Stratos. He's a bit touched in the head. Much like Maxie Zeus in Batman: The Animated Series, he fancies himself a god. And this self-proclaimed god is angry. You see, his aide Emil Markos has done a pretty lousy job. Markos has also stolen from him and tried to turn Stratos's staff against him. Markos pleads for mercy, but Stratos is not a merciful man. He then proceeds to kill Markos by presumably making him explode. I think. The comic is unclear.

It's here we learn a bit of Stratos's past. You see, the redheaded fury was found as a baby on the base of Mount Olympus. Yeah, it's a real mountain in Greece. Highest mountain in the country. This had convinced him that he was a scion of the Greek pantheon. After bedding one of his assistants, she tries to kill him. However, a strange icy wind kicks up, freezing her solid.

"I had a divine dream about freezing a woman, and...oh. Awesome."

We next head to the Daily Planet. Lois Lane and Cat Grant are discussing some family issues. Cat had heard that Lois's mother was unwell, and she thought she'd want to talk about it. Cat's been starting a custody battle herself with her son, but Lois is icy about it. Everyone's fine, and that's all Cat needs to know.

Clark Kent is outside the Daily Planet building buying a hot dog, when he sees Lois stomp by. He tries to ask how she's doing, but Lois is basically like "figure it out yourself, Smallville" as she walks away. Cat finds him and invites him to lunch, when a sudden hailstorm kicks up. This is unusual for Metropolis, as it's May.

In Washington D.C., the then-President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, sees the hail from the White House. He's not worried about it, until a giant hailstone smashes into the building.

Yeah, the taxpayers will be footing that bill, too. He gets a call from the Soviet Union's then-premier, Mikhail Gorbachev. Moscow is being hit by a heat wave. Doctor Stratos calls in and basically tells him "I can do worse, and I will speak my demands". Ronnie tells Gorby that the two have a mutual problem. Luckily, Ronnie knows a man who can handle this. No, not Batman!

In the Planet's microfilm library, Cat goes to find some evidence she can use against her ex-husband for her upcoming custody trial. The gopher who works there is drawn as a stereotypical skinny balding nerd with a major crush on her. She takes advantage of this to get him to help her find what she's looking for.

At Castle Chaos, Doctor Stratos only has one question: "How is the satellite"?

Doctor Stratos designed this on a mead binge.

Yeah, this is how Stratos has been pulling his weather tricks. He sees it as a substitute until his natural godlike powers emerge. Stratos's men detect Superman flying over London, and Stratos gives the kill order. The Man of Steel gets battered by powerful winds. Superman welcomes this as if whatever is behind this focuses on him, innocent lives will be less at risk. And I can also imagine that other superheroes will be able to focus more of things like helping with the cleanup and search and rescue.

Superman gets battered by tidal waves and lightning, but he's able to save London by creating a moat around Parliament. He then discovers Paris is under a thick pea-soup fog. Huh. Isn't that London's thing?

You see, Superman can't take care of Stratos simply because the man is using his satellite to imperil innocent people with extreme weather, and that's the priority. Stratos covers Egypt and North Africa in snow, but Supes is able to deal with it. Superman realizes that the only way the mad wannabe god can affect so many places at once is...from orbit. Superman discovers Stratos's satellite with his telescopic vision. He also is able to follow the transmissions to the satellite to Castle Chaos. Stratos tries to blast the Man of Tomorrow with a bolt of lightning. The Metropolis Marvel blocks the lightning, but Stratos is caught in the backlash.

"OH MY ME, I AM IN SO MUCH PAIN RIGHT NOW!"

The burning madman falls out of the castle, screaming that he can't die like this. Gods don't die like this! Superman couldn't save him due to his being exhausted by his cleaning up Stratos's weather disasters. Superman dives into the water, but can't find even so much as a body. Superman is left with a lot of questions.

Oh well, at least it's all over. All that's left to do is dismantle the equipment, and take a nice long vacation. God knows Superman deserves it after the day he's had. Several days later, the Aegean Sea starts to boil, like it's being heated in a giant kettle. A large hand emerges from the water, followed by an equally powerful body.

"I LIIIIIVE! ...where are my pants?"

Like any good horror movie villain, Stratos is alive. Now mutated into a more monsterous giant form, he rants that he's finally achieved the godhood he was destined to have...and that one day, Superman will die by his hand. That never happens. Stratos never appears again.

This story was an alright done-in-one. It was rather fun to see the Man of Steel be pushed to the limit, against a force of nature twisted to malevolent ends.

Doctor Stratos himself is a bit of a dopey villain. He has a criminal scheme that makes me think of the Silver Age with the ruthlessness of the post-Bronze Age. There's really not much to him, he' just a delusional man with a god complex. To be honest, I think he would be a good fit for Wonder Woman's rogues gallery. After all, this is the DC Universe. The Greco-Roman gods are real there. They could confirm whether Stratos was an actual demigod or just a crazy man. Would have loved to have seen the look on his face if Zeus told him "Nah, you ain't my kid. Also, I couldn't help but notice Stratos bears a striking resemblance to the younger red-haired body that Lex Luthor would use to house his brain later on in the comics.

Erik Larson's art is rather...interesting. The style of it does lead to some rather humorous-looking facial expressions. He does show some really good storytelling at parts, too.

This feels like a bit of a fill-in story, but it's not terrible. I personally would have liked to have seen Doctor Stratos return. Shame that DC reorganizing their universe has made that practically impossible. If you want to read this one for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2005 trade paperback Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 4.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourself and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask. See you next time, when we rejoin the Black Panther on another adventure...