It's been a while since the Man of Steel graced this blog. It's also been a while since I looked at a DC book here, so I figured why not
The cover is a piece, and it's pretty cool.
The story begins at Cadmus. The psychic being known as Dubbilex is having a bit of a headache. The Guardian asks what's up, but the collapsing ceiling answers the question for him. Meanwhile, Lois Lane and Clark Kent are enjoying some breakfast together. Clark receives a psychic cry for help from Dubbilex, and the sound of an explosion is heard. Naturally, Superman flies into action to check it out.
Once the Man of Steel takes to the air, he finds the source of the ruckus.
It's the distinctive head-shaped ship of the notorious computerized supervillain known as Brainiac. I'm going to call it the Brainship because that sounds nice to me. In a nearby grill, Superman's ally and future supervillain Emil Hamilton is about to have some breakfast himself, but the waitress encourages him to go and help the Metropolis Marvel. She gives him some donuts to fuel himself up. Mmmm...donuts...
Anyway, Superman engages the Brainship, paying homage to the Fleischer cartoons in the process, in particular, "The Mad Scientist".
Heh. I loved those old cartoons. Punchin' a laser! We get a scene with Jimmy Olsen and Bibbo Bibbowski, and then we focus back on Superman fighting the Brainship. Superman manages to fight off the Brainship's tentacles and force his way inside. We then check in on Perry White at the Metropolis fairgrounds. He was having a Power Breakfast, negotiating the terms of his new contract as editor of the Daily Planet. When Brainiac attacks, White is able to take charge and keep people safe.
Back in the Brainship, Superman encounters some robots.
I think it's another nod to the Fleischer cartoons, as the robots here kind of resemble the ones from the episode "The Mechanical Monsters". Superman finds the monstrous robots more annoying than fearsome.
Back in Metropolis, the local vigilante Gangbuster saves a worker at a local orphanage (and some children, of course) from a collapsing wall. In the Brainship, Superman uses the robots to damage the Brainship's stabilizer systems. We then get to peek in on Lex Luthor as he's having a meeting with Colin Thorton of Newstime Magazine and Mayor Berkowitz.
You may be asking yourself, "Wait, isn't Lex bald?" Well, that red-maned man there is supposedly his long-lost Australian son, Lex Luthor Junior. But in reality, it is Lex, just his brain transplanted into a clone body. It's a whole story for another time. Superman makes his way to the Brainship's control center and finds...nothing.
He then gets subjected to a mental assault.
We briefly next see Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, two prominent members of Metropolis's finest. Jimmy Olsen and Colin Thornton run into each other, and Thornton offers him a job.
Back to the Brainship! Superman endures a mental assault by Brainiac. The mad mentalist is softening the Man of Steel up for an unrevealed reason. The Brainship starts to head towards the ground. Emil Hamilton and Bibbo Bibbowski try to alert the Man of Steel about it, while Dubbilex also tries to do the same thing. Their mental cries allow the Man of Steel to fight off Brainiac's mind attack, and is able to shunt the falling Brainship into the sea.
Brainiac taunts Superman with another mental attack, saying that the Warworld is coming as Superman tumbles into the ocean. Lois finds Superman and helps him out of the water with a ladder. Superman alerts her of Warworld. It's a giant artificial world filled with an army of alien warriors and advanced weaponry. This is a job too big for Superman to handle alone.
Brainiac is not worried about it, as he's got allies of his own. Some powerful ones.
Page
The alien monarch Maxima, the warrior Draaga, and the Matrix Supergirl.
I enjoyed this issue. It's a nice little snapshot into the Superman mythos at the time. I will admit, if you were new to comics and you read this, you might feel a little lost. However, if you watched Superman: The Animated Series, you might recognize Maggie Sawyer, Dan Turpin, Emil Hamilton, and Bibbo Bibbowski. It's neat seeing each of these characters react to Brainiac's initial attack in their own way.
Jon Bogdanove provided the layouts, with Dennis Janke providing the finished art. And I think it looks pretty neat. It's got some good storytelling in it, and there's some good "acting" in it as well.
If you want to read this comic for yourself, I suggest tracking down the 1993 trade paperback Superman: Panic in the Sky! Thanks for reading this blog entry!
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