Bonus Book #1 - Action Comics (April, 1988)
"Superman and Jimmy Olsen: The Karma Beggers"
Writer - Joe Calchi
Pencils - Britt Wisenbaker
Inks - James Scott
Letters - Dan McKinnon
Colors - Glenn Whitmore
Edits - Mike Carlin
Alrighty, with the Insert Prevue era firmly in the rear-view, we now move on to the official start of the DC Comics "Bonus Book!" These "second features" would appear for thirteen months... or at least thirteen issues, the cover-dates get really wonky during the Winter of 1988/1989, but we'll talk more about that sometime next week.
The gimmick here is, rather than using these 16-pagers as a way to introduce (or revitalize) a concept... these will actually put new creators in the driver's seat on some already established characters and properties. It's sort of an extension of the DC New Talent Showcase Program... however, instead of newbies writing and drawing stories and characters nobody's ever heard of... they're now going to be writing Superman, Batman, and a whole bunch of other notables from the DC Pantheon!
If you recall, I had originally planned to parlay this blog from Action Comics Weekly into covering New Talent Showcase, and we still might somewhere down the line... but, fair warning... those stories be dullllllll.
Speaking of Action Comics Weekly, today's Bonus Book comes to us from Action Comics! In fact, this is the final issue of Action during the short-lived post-Crisis "Superman Team-Up" era... which we've covered a few issues of here at the blog! Click dem covers to check 'em out:
Two issues after this one would actually kick off ACW! So yeah, from Action Comics #599 (April, 1988), I give to you... Superman's sorta-kinda team up with... Jimmy Olsen?!
Full disclosure before we begin... I've never read any of these Bonus Books before... any time I'd come across 'em in my readings, I would skip 'em... or plan to read them after I finish the main story... before forgetting they ever existed in the first place!
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We open with Superman returning to the Daily Planet after a run-in with Lex Luthor's Kryptonite Man... which places this story as immediately following the main feature of Action Comics #599! He's in kind of a rush, as Perry White's got him working on a four-page story. A four-page column in the newspaper? That might be the most unbelievable part of this entire thing! Inside, Perry's on the warpath, as per usual when new creators hop into a Superman story. Superman heads into a closet to "Kent-down", before getting a requisite cold-shoulder from Lois, who gets her story on the recent passing of rock star Rondo Harris moved to the weekend magazine section. More on that in a bit. Jimmy Olsen enters the scene... looking rather like, err, Crockett or Tubbs... whichever one Don Johnson played on Miami Vice!
Jimbo refers to his look as "fashionably unshaven"... and I'll hand it to him, this is probably the least goofy he's ever come across when trying to look "cool". He reminds the Chief that he's headed off on vay-cay, and just wanted to hand in his story on a recent Dog Show before taking off into the wild blue yonder. He tries to say goodbye to Clark, however, our main man's super-hearing has picked up some goings down at the Soviet Embassy. Jim then gets twirled around by the flirtatious Cat Grant... who really seems to dig his newly-scruffy face.
In twirling young Olsen, he accidentally bumps his Superman Signal Watch against a desk... which triggers the thing to Zee Zee Zee like the Dickens. Superman, who is still nearby, is nearly brought to his knees by the infernal racket... but uses his x-ray vision to ensure Jimmy's actually okay before disregarding it as a false alarm.
Jimmy hops into a cab to head to the airport. On the radio, they're talking about the recent passing of Rondo Harris. This triggers a flashback, as it just so happens that Jimmy was once in Ron's band! Betcha didn't know Jimmy played the drums in some dude's garage back in the day! Rondo would go on to superstardom before passing... which is what prompted ol' freckle-face to take this particular vacation.
Ya see, he's headed down to Florida, where he can catch a ferry to New Aphelonia Island... a formerly "lost continent" that Rondo and a Professor Argo Demostedes had discovered and raised "stone by stone". Man, who needs Superman when you've got Rondo friggin' Harris? Anyhoo, Jimmy looks at a photo of Ron, Argo, and a young woman as his plane comes in for a landing.
After checking in (as O.L. Jameson), he heads for the Ferry so he can investigate just what's going on at New Aphelonia since a treasure-hunter named Tane took the place over. At the docks, Jimmy is surprised to see some notable faces... actors, athletes, even an astronaut!
Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman is still taking all of the explosives out of the Soviet Embassy. Man, it took him from the time it took Jimmy to get from the Daily Planet... to the airport... to Florida... to the Ferry Docks for Superman to take care of this? C'mon... where's Rondo Harris when you need him?!
Back on New Aphelonia, Jimmy is making some dark discoveries about the place. Turns out, it's a culty indoctrination camp! Which might just explain why Rondo Harris left every last dime of his to the Island in his will!
Jimmy sits in on a ceremony, where Putnam Tane takes a seat on stage... before being overcome by the, I dunno, spirit of Gallus Kon Akkqqus! This Gallus kind of resembles a Masters of the Universe action figure... however, as he begins to share his "message", his voice gets all garbled and static-like. Hmm...
Jimmy smells a rat... as well he should. He sneaks off and discovers a control room hidden underneath the stage. As luck would have it, it's been left unlocked! Jimmy is able to log into a computer and finds out that many of the rich and famous members of the "movement" have signed over their estates to the Brethren! While Jimmy snoops, the crowd continues to chant for Gallus. So overcome by the... er, spirit... one woman actually climbs up on stage... and sort of throws herself off? This isn't entirely clear... but, it ends with the poor gal snapping her neck. Gwen Stacy never looked so good!
Jimmy leaves to... throw up. Guess his constitution hasn't quite caught up with his courage. He then observes as a Brethren member drags the dead gal out to the beach... to make her passing look like a diving accident. I'm no attorney, but it's probably easier to nab her estate that way!
Jimmy decides to give chase, by swimming out to the boat. Upon climbing up, he is attacked by... the dead woman?! Well, no... it's actually that young lady from the photo Jimmy was looking at on the plane. Why she was wearing a blonde wig, I haven't the foggiest. She explains that she is the late-Argo Whatshisface's daughter, Nina... and she's been trying to take down the cult. Well, actually, she just wants to kill Tane for killing her dad.
Deeper inside the boat is... Tane! He's getting the report of the neck-snapped gal... and he's not at all pleased. After all, she was supposed to be his "amusement" later on. He backhands some dude, before producing... an axe? Oh, c'mon. We learn that this gal was given a meal laced with "cardio hyper stimulants" whatever that means. Anyhoo, Jimmy and Nina decide to split up... with the former looking for evidence, and the latter taking one of the lifeboats toward shore, so she can contact the Daily Planet with the news.
Jimmy, unsurprisingly, is discovered. When faced with the threat of... I dunno, death... he brandishes his Signal Watch, warning that he'll call Superman! Tane ain't buyin' it.
Lucky for Jim, Nina didn't do as she was told... and she runs in to deliver a (very stiff, and not in the good way) kick to the baddie. Jimmy snags a nearby fire extinguisher and blasts Tane in the face. Ya know, it probably would've been more useful to actually hit the dude with the extinguisher rather than just spraying the suds at him! Jimmy and Nina then hop off the side of the ship into a lifeboat... rowing back to the camp, where Jimmy abducts a pilot! Wow, it's just gotta be the stubble causing Jim to act so rough, eh?
Jimmy, Nina, and the hostage-Pilot take off from New Aphelonia... with Tane and Company right on their tail! Jimmy nyoinks a brooch off the pilot's cloak, which seems to bring the dude back to his senses. Now, unfortunately for the bad guys, they find themselves being weighed down... by something. A quick glance wing-ward reveals that... Superman is here! I... hmm... I thought the whole thing here was going to be him ignoring Jimmy as a "false alarm"... why else would we get that other Signal Watch scene earlier on?
Bada-bing, bada-boom... Jimmy wins the day. Unfortunately for him, however, Perry White still thinks he's a complete dope, and so Lois is given the New Aphelonia/Gallus story! Oh! Also, that astronaut guy gets all of the credit for shutting down Tane! Oh well... at least Superman knows what a hero Jimmy is!
We wrap up at the Federal Prison on Stryker's Island where Putnam Tane has been locked up. From his cell, weird voices can be heard. When the guards run in to check it out... or tell him to shut up... they find that the wall of his cell had been blown out! In the water nearby, swims... *gasp* Gallus!
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This was... okay! I'm kind of surprised how much I enjoyed it. This was a Jimmy Olsen story, which I can kinda run hot and cold with... but, it was a whole lot different than the silly Silver-Age stuff (or absolutely horrendous "current year" stuff) we might be used to when it comes to ol' solo James. Sure, a lot of it is questionable insofar as Jimmy's character and, if we're being honest, efficacy... but, it was fun enough.
Our writer, Joe Calchi, is one I'd never heard of. In fact, we're going to be discussing his only other story in just a few days... at least if the DC Comics Wiki is to be believed. So, if the Wiki's right, this here ditty is Calchi's first comic script! Ya know, for a first outing, it's really very good. Heck, for a dozenth outing, it ain't all that shabby. It's not perfect... and there were a few things that jumped out at me in the reading.
First, dem voice balloons were pa-a-a-acked! As a fake-ass comics historian and analyst, I often find myself looking for "representative panels"... like, the images I can share that doesn't give everything away, but can actually compliment whatever it is that I'm babbling about as it pertains to an issue. When the dialogue is so jam-packed, it becomes kind of a challenge. That's not Joe Calchi's fault... or even the fault of the 16-page (14-story pages) format. I feel like this is an issue for an Editor to attend to.
Speaking of the Editor, there were some errors in here... one that jumps out immediately is use of "their" instead of "they're"... which only really jumps out because there/their/they're is one error I find myself making when I reread some of my older stuff!
My main observation about this story, in as far as the writing is concerned, was... the Chekhov's Signal Watch bit. Early on in the story, Jimmy bumps his Signal Watch... Superman knows it's a false alarm, and ignores it. You'd think that'd come back around, right? Heck, even our cover alludes to the fact that Superman might not be responding to the Distress Call! And so, at the end of the story, when Jimmy activates the thing again... Superman just shows up? There's no tension... we don't get a scene of Clark Kent chilling at his apartment or at the Daily Planet, shrugging off the Distress Call as just Jimmy "bumping" it again... we just get Superman. I mean, I know what they were going for here... it just didn't quite hit the mark.
Across the table sits our artist, Britt Wisenbaker, who is another we didn't hear all that much from after this outing. A quick Googling shows only this story, and some art-duties in Badger #38 (September, 1988) over at First Comics... though, without running upstairs to dig through my longboxes, I can't confirm that one. We might assume this was his first professional gig? Maybe? I dunno. Whatever the case, I thought the work was, outside a couple weird Superman and Lois faces, pretty good. In particular, I really dug Jimmy's Miami Vice look... I thought that was a lot of fun.
Overall... yeah, this was an interesting little story... a lot darker than I figured it would be when I saw the cover, that's for sure! I certainly wasn't expecting Jimmy to investigate and infiltrate a Cult! Our ending is pretty bittersweet, in that our man doesn't get any of the credit he deserves... but, Superman knows just what a hero Jimmy actually is.
Worth checking out if you're rereading your old post-Crisis/pre-Action Comics Weekly Superman books! Don't skip it like I did all those times before! This issue of Action Comics is available digitally... and, as it's listed as having 37-Pages, we can safely assume it comes with the Bonus Book intact!
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(Not the) Letters Page:
Action Comics #692 (October, 1993)
"And Who, Disguised as Clark Kent?"
Writer - Roger Stern
Co-Plotter - Karl Kesel
Pencils - Jackson Guice
Inks - Denis Rodier
Letters - Albert DeGuzman
Colors - Glenn Whitmore
Associate Editor - Frank Pittarese
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $1.50
If you were to take a poll and ask those folks who trawl the 25/50-cent bins which books show up most often during their hunts, you're probably going to get a bunch of different answers... though most, I'd assume would be early-Image (or early-Image adjacent).
If you were to ask me though... it'd be this book, and lemme tell ya, it's not even close! Action Comics #692, for being such an important book (as we're about to talk about), is my most tripped-over weed in the cheap-o bins... and has been for well over a decade!
This is all apropos of nothing, of course... just something that immediately comes to mind when this cover passes my gaze.
Let's get to it!
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We open with our newly-returned Superman digging through the rubble of a building destroyed during the brouhaha with Doomsday... where he manages to find Clark Kent, alive and well! Hey, that takes care of that! Lois rushes over to embrace her missing fiance, before posing for a great photo-op.
Superman is pulled aside by Cat Grant for a statement. While they talk a slimy fellow rushes up to inform Superman (and the world) that the rights to the name "Superman" now belong to Rex Leech Enterprises... and that teen-age Superman clone!
Superman doesn't seem to be sweating this, and just figures he'll have a chat with the kid somewhere down the line. Speaking of Superboy (and the other three would-be Supermen), the news broadcast next jumps to a "where are they now?" segment. After sacrificing himself out at Coast City, the Eradicator is down and out at S.T.A.R. Labs. Steel was also injured during that to-do, and is expected to make a full recovery. Superboy, er, "the Teen Superman" has been seen canoodling with "LexCorp's" Supergirl, and the Cyborg has been confirmed as having been "destroyed".
We rejoin Superman in the sky, when he is approached by Lex Luthor (II) in his helicopter. He wants to know what Superman has done with his Supergirl. Turns out, she's been pretty evasive since the business in Coast City. Superman assures him that he's not Supergirl's keeper before taking off. Luthor seethes... but only for a moment. He now realizes this is the real Superman... which means, he still has the chance to kill him!
Back to Lois and "Clark", who are at Metropolis General. Clark is examined and given the medical stamp of approval. To explain his phenomenal shape, Clark claims that the place he'd been "buried" for the past month was well-stocked with food and water... and plenty of room for him to keep up with his calisthenics.
Meanwhile at S.T.A.R. Labs, the Eradicator is loaded into one of those fluid-filled tubes that people always seem to be loaded into anytime they visit S.T.A.R. Labs. Many of the sci-guys (and gals) assume he's a lost cause... until they pick up a heartbeat!
We shift scenes back to the Kent apartment, where Superman and Clark finally have a "private" face-to-face confrontation. Superman's all "hands off my woman", Clark goes "oh yeah, try and make me". They let Lois decide, and she picks Superman... which was always her way, wasn't it? Anyhoo, it's revealed here that "Clark Kent" was actually a shape-shifted Supergirl!
The Kents thank her for the help, and she heads off to return to her man, Lex Luthor (II). Lois and Clark have a bit of a reunion... until Clark remembers that he never checked in with Pa after his heart-episode. If you recall, Pa and Superman fought side-by-side on the other side during Adventures of Superman #500 (which I could've sworn we'd discussed here... must be getting my Treadmilling confused with my Infiniting).
Anyhoo, Superman goes to dial up his folks... when suddenly the scene dramatically shifts. Next we know, we're in the office of Dr. Occult, who Superman recognizes from an earlier adventure (which hadn't been told yet). He's here to spill the beans on exactly how Superman was able to cheat death.
He first takes them back in time to the battle between Superman and Doomsday. With every punch they experience, (present day) Superman appears to feel it! It's as though he's going through the same ordeal all over again. Occult assures Lois that Superman ought to be strong enough to survive this time around.
As the trip down memory lane continues... Superman dies. Occult explains that after "death", as Superman's spirit was vacating his body... that body was still soaking up energy from the Sun. Also, that Bibbo's efforts in resuscitating him were actually helpful!
Next stop... Superman's coffin. It's just Occult and Lois for this leg of the tour... present-day Superman has been kayoed. Occult drops even more knowledge. Ya see by this point, Superman's spirit did evacuate the body... however, all of the stored energy inside the body managed to preserve it.
All this explains how Superman was able to fight side-by-side with Jonathan Kent during the opening salvo of "the Return".
At this point, the Eradicator awoke and sought to claim Superman's body. The body was taken, and placed in a Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix. During the process, the Eradicator took some of Superman's energies... and as we know, briefly attempted to usurp his role.
And now... Superman's back! Lois wonders if this means Superman is unkillable so long as there's a Sun. Occult assures her that that's not the case at all... and that it was due to the confluence of a whole lot of factors that he was able to come back at all.
Next thing we know, Lois and Clark wake up in a field.
But not just any field... it's actually part of the Kent Farm! We wrap up with Lois, Clark and the Kents having a joyous reunion.
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Well, there we have it... so many questions answered in a single issue, that it's kind of mind-boggling, ain't it? Could not imagine something like this happening today. Explanations today are dragged across six-issues (if we're lucky!) and often wind up rendered moot with the arrival of subsequent creative teams.
It's hard to consider just how tight everything was back then. 90's comics get a ton of flack (some warranted, some not so much) for being vapid and shallow, but... c'mon, this is some solid stuff that doesn't just tie a bow on what came before, but spurs out into several new story threads.
Let's take a look at the explanation... by first being thankful that it wasn't the Phantom Stranger who took Lois and Clark on their magical mystery tour (though, he is sorta Phantom Stranger-adjacent... they're both part of that Trenchcoat Brigade we talked about a few months back).
The actual explanation though? It worked well enough. I mean, we're dealing with the life, death, and return of a superpowered alien here, so it's not like we should go into this expecting some crazy scientific deal... it's your standard "spirit left the physical husk" type'a stuff... only with the hows, whys, and whens included... and, of course the spirit reoccupying the body bit.
I appreciated the "where are they now?" bits discussing the four impostor Supermen. We didn't need full-blown visits with them here, and a panel a'piece (Eradicator excepted) was good enough. This wasn't their story this time out... but, it's good to know there's still "stuff" going on with them.
Overall, it's not quite business as usual for the Super-books... even though the Real Steel Deal is back to wearing the colors. This feels kind of like an evolution from where the books were pre-Doomsday, and I gotta say, it's a pretty welcome change. That isn't to say I didn't like/appreciate what came before... but, a quarter-century removed, this feels more like "my" Superman going forward. This issue has been collected... well, at least the "Clark gets dug out of the rubble" bit, and is available digitally (though, I'm sure if you really want it... dollars to donuts, it's in your local cheap-o bin!).
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Letters Page:
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Action Comics #976 (May, 2017)
"Superman Reborn, Part Four"
Writer - Dan Jurgens
Pencils - Doug Mahnke
Inks - Jaime Mendoza, Christian Alamy & Trevor Scott
Colors - Wil Quintana
Letters - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Paul Kaminski
Editor - Mike Cotton
Group Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Alrighty, today we're going to wrap up the latest (as of this writing) of the skatey-eight hundred attempts to straighten out Superman's continuity. Four issues to fix 'em all!
As with most other of our "completed" subjects, you can pop over to our Collected Editions Page and check Superman Reborn out in it's entirely... chronologically even!
Let's wrap this puppy up! Tomorrow begins our Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas on Infinite Earths!
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We pick up where we left off, and ol' Mxy sure is ticked! He lambastes the high-collared Kryptonian for being a cheater... but, here's the thing... the fix is already in. Jon celebrates the return of his parents, though when he calls out to his father... Superman doesn't recognize him as his son! What's worse, neither does Lois. They just figure him for a delusional lost boy.
Mxyzptlk celebrates his victory... and the Super-Fam is confused as to just what he's getting all excited about. Mxy comes clean that this whole mess is way above his pay-grade, and there's someone far more powerful pulling the strings... but doesn't say who. Superman has about had it with the imp, and goes to choke him out.
Mxy shape-shifts into Clark Kent, and jokes about fixing the "secret identity problem". Yeah, yes and no, I guess. Meanwhile Jon pleads with Lois to remember him... and, sadly she just can't. Mxy then grows real big and reminds Superman of the contract they signed last issue before racing to the top of the Infinite Planet Building. If you recall, if Superman won... Mxy would screw off back to the Fifth Dimension... what wasn't made so clear is that, he would be taking Jon with him.
Amid the chaos, Jon is approached by a pair of glowing blue orbs (you see where this is headed?). They encourage him to use his power to fight of Mxyzptlk... and he does! Only, it's a weird telekinesis-type thing... but, I guess the "normal" rules don't quite apply right now.
Suddenly, Mxy's world begins to crumble... Superman and Lois look at the boy, and, although they still don't know who he is... they realize that he is the key to everything.
The blue essences merge with Superman and Lois... making them remember everything... also, making them complete.
The whole situation is being monitored by Mr. Oz... who can't quite believe what he's seeing. Upon turning the page, I'm not sure I quite believe what I'm seeing! It's as though everything has been put into its place. Superman's entire history made (relatively) linear! He and Lois were never on the run as the "White" or "Smith" family... they've always been at the Daily Planet. Jimmy and Perry know all about their son, Jon. They're married. Doomsday once killed him. It's a blend of new and old... and for the most part, it works well!
Then... Superman appears with a brand new-ish costume! I remember them making a pretty big deal out of this... and it had a shelf-life of less than a year! Oh well.
We wrap up with the Super-Family returning home... to Metropolis. Another event that Mr. Oz is paying keen attention to... and it's here that we get the impression that all of these changes are even above his pay-grade. There's someone else out there...
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Okay, let me get this much out of the way. I was satisfied with the ending. Despite my misgivings with The New-52! overall, I'm still a stickler for the "everything matters" school of thought when it comes to comic book storytelling. To my mind, if something from continuity hinders a story you wanna tell... you've got a couple of options. You either rewrite the story you want to tell (ha!), or you just don't draw attention to the contradictions.
So often these days writers and editorial go out of their way to prove their stories are correct by simply taking the old ones out of existence... see also: 52!, The New. There is a way to "fix" things without ticking off entire generations of your customer base though... and I think stories like this (also DC Universe Rebirth) does as good a job of that as any.
Dare I say... if they used a story like this (but sorta-kinda in reverse) to introduce The New-52!, I'd have actually been more on-board with the entire endeavor! All we got in the Summer of 2011 was... hey, everything's new... because we want a few awesome months on the sales charts. I honestly believe there wasn't much more thought put into it after that. The way much of the line meandered (even right out of the gate) might be more evidence of that.
Now, while I really like the result... the story here, is kinda all over the place. Over the past few days I've referred to these issues as "breezy"... which I stand by. You could read through all four part inside a half hour... and that's including making a sandwich beforehand. So part of me feels like we spent far too many pages telling this story...
... but, another part feels like we didn't use enough. Let me try and put my thoughts together and explain this. I feel like Dan and Peter tried taking us on a roller-coaster ride here. If we were interested in playing along (and not spoiling things on social media), the sky really was the limit for this storyline. It could have resulted in the loss of Jon Kent. It could have resulted in the dissolution of the marriage. It could have resulted in a return to the Bronze Age "protect the secret identity at all costs" type of stories. Hell, it could have even brought back The New-52! Superman as "they guy" going forward...
... but they didn't take enough advantage of the uncountable possibilities. So many potential gut-wrenching moments left on the table. Lois and Clark don't remember Jon? Well, don't worry, they'll remember everything in 3-4 pages. I just feel like this was a missed opportunity to really play with our emotions... really make this feel like just one of a million outcomes it could have been, instead of just speeding along to the one we all had a pretty good idea it would wind up being from the get-go.
I mean, we had four issues to tell this... and, as mentioned... they were all five-minute reads. Why not "compress" a little bit, and explore some of the possibilities? Make this a true celebration and acknowledgement of Superman's entire history... even if some bits of it were to be kinda molded to fit the new(est) chronology?
Oh well... what do I know anyway?
Overall... I'd say this is certainly worth reading (in collected format), but you might wanna bring a second book to bed with ya, because this one will zip on by. It's important, and it's pretty... but, that's really about it.
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