Action Comics #721 (May, 1996) "The Fortune Plague" Writer - David Michelinie Penciller - Kieron Dwyer Inker - Denis Rodier Letterer - Bill Oakley Colorist - Glenn Whitmore Separations - Digital Chameleon Assistant Editor - Mike McAvennie Editor - K.C. Carlson Cover Price: $1.95 For today's hop into the world of #Action100, we're going to discuss an era of Superman I don't talk about a whole heckuva lot... the few years following The Death and Return has long been one of my blind spots. I guess hopping in on the Man of Steel at the most urgent of times, lends to anything short feeling a bit... blah. Add to that the "ehh" paper stock. This was the era of "deluxe" comics, an early attempt at goin' glossy... and man, it just doesn't do the art a whole lotta service. I'm scared to touch any of the pages for fear that I'm going to smear the inks and colors... it just looks so "piled on". I've said it before, but I was rather pleased when they rolled back to a better quality/less glossy stock while they worked on glossy that would actually work. Though, I think I'd still prefer newsprint... but, I'm kind of an idiot. Another reason we haven't discussed many of these here is... my beloved Triangle Numbering. I mean, I love it... but, it doesn't really lend itself to reviewing just one comic... especially if your review-blog was focused on say... just one of the ongoing-Superman books at the moment. Well, let's get to it... --
We open in Centennial Park where a man is trying to hold up a woman for her lottery tickets. He taunts her with a broken bottle... but is stopped by the arrival of Superman. The fella takes a run for it... and Superman just lets him go. He can tell that the would-be mugger wasn't a bad guy... just a desperate one. Well, that's certainly not a slippery slope, is it? Anyhoo. to show her appreciation, the lady peels off a lotto ticket for the Man of Steel... which he begrudgingly takes.
Back at the Planet, Clark gifts his ticket to a guy named Ted... and has an uncomfortable brush-up with Lois. This was during the time that the engagement was called off... which is one of those times I know about, but always seem to have a tough time placing. They part company before the winning lotto numbers can be read.
Wouldn'tcha know it... everybody wins!
Well, they all think they've won anyway... turns out everybody heard different winning numbers being read! Sounds like some fifth-dimensional stuff might be going on. As you may imagine, this leads to quite a bit of mayhem on the streets of Metropolis!
Back at the Planet, Perry sends Lois and Clark off to look into the madness. Lois whispers to Clark that she'll cover for him... so he can do the "super" work. This is an interesting little piece of the puzzle. I mean, Lois and Clark are broken up... but she still knows. Glad they included this bit.
On the streets... it's still riot-town. Even at the Ace of Clubs... where our man Bibbo has to deal out some swift and stern "Why I oughta's".
It's not just the lottery that's causing the world to be hinky... outside, a man is celebrating that he won a brand-new car at the church raffle... because everyone else bought lotto tickets. Well, I guess this is still tangentially lotto-related... anyhoo, his car gets smashed by a giant coin!
The coins continue to fall, almost crushing another fella... Superman winds up saving him... twice! Before imploring him (in four languages) to get his butt home.
We shift over to join Jimmy Olsen... who's looking less freckle-faced and more... I dunno, toadish? Anyway, he's wrapping up a date with his mom Dana, when suddenly he's rushed by a group of women all wanting nothing more than to jump his ginger bones.
After stopping yet another falling coin from derailing a train, we hop into a couple's brand-new apartment. The fella here's wearing a "Property of Alcatraz" sweatshirt... which is kinda silly. Anyway, he wishes that their new pad had a river view... which causes the building to sprout legs and start walking toward the river. Hmm...
Superman's still saving folks when he notices that the walking building is about to crush the Annual Sons of Ireland picnic at Centennial Park. He manages to bring all the "Sons" to safety just in the nick of time.
Elsewhere, Rob Troupe and Lucy Lane have a chance meeting on the street. Lucy mentions how lucky they were to run into each other, which causes Ron's spidey-sense to tingle (after all, the entire day's events have been predicated on "good luck turning bad")... he yells at her to stay put, just as a gas main explodes a few feet in front of her.
Superman wraps the walking building up in steel cables to halt its progress... leaving our happy couple with a pretty lousy view. We also learn that a little apartment in Metropolis goes for $2,000 a month! Yikes.
We wrap up with Clark returning to his apartment. He hears the shower running and his first thought is that Lois decided to come back. Well, no... it's not Lois, and it's not even Bobby Ewing... it's, well, the fella we all knew it was gonna be, Mr. Mxyzptlk (and boy is it disturbing)... might have to mark this entry "Not Safe for Work".
-- This was a neat little throwaway... which is kinda how I look at most Mxy-centric stories. Overly silly, and without much real consequence... Mxy stories kinda tough to look at objectively. I mean, his whole schtick is a gimmick... soon as things start getting silly in a book, it's just gotta be Mxy. That said... what can one say about a Mxy story? Not a whole lot, I'm afraid. It's suitably silly... and the antics look to be getting under Superman's skin. The use of a lottery to foment the riots was an interesting approach... and even drummed up a fair bit of tension. Of course, when giant pennies started raining, and buildings began doing the two-step, we kinda knew the deal. I admit, I became a bit deflated at that point. It kinda reminded me of old Twilight Zone episodes... where they start off with so much potential and suspense (luck, good or bad is a neat subject to explore)... but end, pretty much exactly how you thought they would. As for the art... I already said it above, but this early glossy paper really doesn't do anybody any favors. Overall... if you're a fan of Mxy and Mayhem, you're probably going to dig this. This issue is available digitally. -- Letters Page:
Action Comics #709 (April, 1995) "Crime Tunnel! ~or~ When Warriors Strongly Disagree!" Writer - David Michelinie Penciller - Jackson Guice Inker - Denis Rodier Letterer - Bill Oakley Colorist - Glenn Whitmore Assistant Editor - Chris Duffy Editor - Mike Carlin Cover Price: $1.50 For today's trip down Action Comics Avenue, we're dipping back into our suggested reads. This one comes from our pal Luke, who has been a great friend to the blog and shows! Most of his Action Comics experience comes from the more recent runs, however he did get to take a look at this Guy Gardner-themed issue from the mid-1990's. It's been... longer than I care to admit since I last read this one. I tell ya, time is one cruel SOB. In a fun twist, this story stems from an issue we discussed a lonnnng time ago, inGuy Gardner: Warrior #29... which also eventually became the subject for an episode of The Cosmic Treadmill!
--
As we wrapped up Warrior #29, we (along with Arisia and Veronna) found out that our favorite Vuldarian (well, he's the only one... but that point still stands) isn't quite well. And so, we join him today as he heads into Metropolis... via the bumper-to-bumper gridlock of the Queensland Park Tunnel. He starts losing his cool... and lemme tell ya, folks... you wouldn't like him when he loses his cool.
We shift scenes over to the Daily Planet where a... ponytailed Clark Kent ponders a recent string of notes he'd been receiving which all read "I know". He's eventually joined by Lois... who has brought him some furniture varnish... er, coffee from the Planet commissary. You ever have coffee from one of those machines? They sometimes also offer horrible "chicken soup"... and sometimes if you were really lucky... you'd get a noodle or two in your morning joe! Anyhoo... Clark surprisingly tells Lois what he's worried about... which, even more surprisingly, doesn't seem to phase her!
Suddenly Perry bursts in to inform the office about what's going on in the Queensland Park Tunnel... and before we know it, Superman is on the case. Back at the tunnel, we've got another Metropolis icon present... Terrible Turpin, who Maggie Sawyer "suggested" take a vacation. Also stuck in gridlock, the Terrible One sees the commotion and wonders what all the hub-bub is about.
Up ahead, Guy Gardner has his hands full with some active-duty officers. Turpin proceeds into the fray... only to happen across a crime in progress. A group of nogoodniks appear to be taking advantage of the chaos to try and rob their fellow traffic-trapped Metropolitans.
Meanwhile, Superman arrives on the scene... and approaches our grotesque Vuldarian friend. Guy is happy to see him... as Superman was the reason he was headed to Metropolis in the first place! Ya see, his Vuldarian nastiness senses a threat and is trying to take over his body... and he figured maybe another alien, perhaps a Kryptonian, might be able to help him out!
That is, until Guy's gross-side identifies that Kryptonian as the threat!
Back to Turpin... he approaches the would-be robbers to tell 'em to cool their jets. The would be victim, however, chooses to lash out at the officer for, I dunno... "taking his sweet time". He even goes to the "eating donuts" well... which, c'mon, is never a good look.
Even worse when the baddies try and bargain with Turpin... and the Terrible One plays along like he's going to cut a deal. Of course, this leads to a lot of punchin'.
Elsewhere, Superman and Guy continue to brawl... with the former noticing how the latter appears to be evolving on the spot. He sees that Gardner's skin seems to be thickening to protect him... which, besides being gross... is probably rather helpful in a fight! Superman manages to knock Gardner aside for a moment... long enough to come to the aid of an injured civilian. Unfortunately, this fella has some bad news to share... he's illegally transporting radioactive waste... and if the tunnel takes any damage, a whole lotta people are going to die.
We shift scenes to Suicide Slum where a frantic headache-having fella has newspaper clippings of Superman in a casket pinned to his wall. The police bust in to arrest him... and he begs them to look at the clipping. Oddly enough, all they see is... an empty casket. I gotta admit, I don't remember this bit at all... but it's pretty intriguing!
Back in the tunnel, Superman and Guy continue their brouhaha. Guy starts calling Superman "Tormock"... which, ya know... might not make a whole lot of sense at the moment, but take my word for it, the Tormocks play heavily into Vuldarian history. When it looks like Gardner has the upper hand, Terrible Turpin commandeers a motorcycle and crashes it into him!
With Gardner knocked loopy... and Superman knowing that the Vuldarian's body is capable of protecting itself... the Man of Steel hurls Guy into a truck full of liquid nitrogen! That... hmm... doesn't seem like the most responsible of moves in any situation.
As we wrap up, Superman delivers Guy's frozen body to S.T.A.R. Labs for further evaluation... before returning to Clinton Ave to check his mailbox. Guess what? It's full of postcards which read "I know".
-- When Luke suggested this issue, he said "it's not a standout issue buy I enjoyed it!"... and I think that's as perfect a description as any! This wasn't a stand out... and was really just killing time until "The Death of Clark Kent" story in Superman (vol.2) #100 a couple of weeks later... but it manages to kill that time in an entertaining way. I know this is a "Chris chestnut", but if this story were to happen today... we're talking four-issues minimum. Here there was no wasted motion... no wasted panels. We fill time with some great action, while building up the "I know" and "headache guy" subplots wonderfully. During the "triangle number" days, the Superman books had a great episodic feel, where it always felt as though there was forward momentum. Everything was constantly building and/or paying off. As for the Guy/Superman fight. A lot of neat action, though the result was a bit "iffy". I dunno, I just don't see Superman risking a tunnel full of Metropolitans to hurl Gardner (or any threat) into a tanker of nitrogen... especially when it's right behind a tanker full of toxic waste. Dunno... just seems a bit out of character. Then again, I've never been in a similar situation... so, who am I to argue? Overall... a fun issue that's certainly worth checking out. If you're a fan of Guy Gardner's "Vuldarian days"... I'm sure there's at least one of you out there... this one is a must-read. This bugger is available digitally... and if your cheap-o bins are anything like mine... easily found physically as well! Thanks again to Luke for the recommendation! We're not going to be doing Action Comics everyday... but keep the suggestions comin'! -- Letters Page:
Add to that the "ehh" paper stock. This was the era of "deluxe" comics, an early attempt at goin' glossy... and man, it just doesn't do the art a whole lotta service. I'm scared to touch any of the pages for fear that I'm going to smear the inks and colors... it just looks so "piled on". I've said it before, but I was rather pleased when they rolled back to a better quality/less glossy stock while they worked on glossy that would actually work. Though, I think I'd still prefer newsprint... but, I'm kind of an idiot.
