Superman (vol.2) #22 (1988)

Superman (vol.2) #22 (October, 1988)

"The Supergirl Saga, Part III: The Price"

Story & Art - John Byrne

Lettering - John Costanza

Coloring - Petra Scotese

Assistant Editor - Renee Witterstaetter

Editor - Mike Carlin

Cover Price: $0.75

Well, here we are... Part III and the end of the Supergirl Saga (Part I Part II).  This is quite the pivotal issue in Superman history, as it features... well, something that many fans (even to this day) find unbelievable.  Don't wanna spoil it in the preamble... but I will say, if you haven't read this issue yet... and have any passing interest in Superman, and the way he deals with threats of this magnitude... you really ought to check it out before reading on (available via DC Digital, here).  This one is a big deal, and you don't need some fool blogger spoiling it for you.

If you're still here (or back)... cool.  Let's get right into it.

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We open with Superman surveying the absolute decimation of the pocket Earth.  Barring a handful of folks, there are zero signs of life in this entire universe.  Superman reconnoiters with Supergirl, and they spy Phantom Zone Criminal, Quex-Ul's ship flying overhead.

The Supers look to engage in battle with Quex-Ul.  Of special note, they are wearing breathing apparatuses in order to survive without any atmosphere.  This was added to the character post-Crisis as a way to power-down the Man of Steel somewhat from his Silver-Age capacity.  Quex underestimates Superman, thinking him just a fool Earthling cosplaying as Superboy.  He's gets walloped for his poor judgment!  

This surprises not only Quex, but Zod and Zaora as well.  To get over the shock, General Zod decides to... incinerate Bruce Wayne.  The would-be Batman perishes in a fiery poof.

Supergirl falls back and checks in with Lex Luthor.  We learn that after getting knocked loopy, Quex-Ul decided to check in on Smallville Station... and, ya know... destroy it, killing everybody inside to boot.  Lana is so enraged she flies headlong toward the Criminals and... gets toasted!  

She slumps to the decimated Earth, a mass of flaming humanoid glop.  Superman checks in with Luthor as we see both Ollie and Hal get unceremoniously killed.  Lex mouths his final plan to Superman, hoping he can use his x-ray vision to read his lips (so the criminals don't overhear).  Luthor is going to offer a distraction so that Superman can act.

Unfortunately, that tricky Quex-Ul gets in Clark's way.  The two engage in battle once more, until Superman burrows into the ground in an attempt to flee.  He shows a bit of embarrassment for taking the "coward's way out", but time is truly of the essence right now!  He continues to burrow until he emerges in Superboy's underground laboratory.  Quex-Ul shows his unflinching tenacity by jumping Supes shortly after arrival.

The pair gets back down to it, fighting all around the lab... until Superman finds his "ace in the hole" in the form of Gold Kryptonite!  Gold K is a pre-Crisis dealie that has the ability to permanently rob a Kryptonian of their powers... at least (and luckily) those Kryptonians who are from this pocket universe!

Love the "Gold K" canister!

Quex-Ul is down and out.  Superman crafts a giant cubic prison around the criminal brute and heads off to complete the hat-trick.  It doesn't take him long to find Zod and Zaora, and rob them of their powers as well.

With the Kryptonian threat neutralized, Superman goes off in search of Lex Luthor.  When he finds him, he's about ready to draw his final breath.  Before he passes on, he confides in Superman that the "real" (pocket) Lana Lang was long dead, and "Supergirl" was, in actuality created from Lana's molecular Matrix.  Lex used Lana in order to help ensure Superman's cooperation.

Superman heads back to the cube holding the criminals.  These bastards are still as cocky as ever... mocking Superman for his inability to truly "take them out".  He cannot send them back to the Phantom Zone... and they promise when they get their powers back (because they're sure they can), they would find his Earth, and do to it, what they did to this one.

Resigned to the fact of what he must do, Superman removes a canister from the wall of the cube.  Without hesitation, he lifts the lid... revealing green Kryptonite!

The Phantom Zoners never saw this coming.  Their first instinct is to turn on one another.  Zod claims to be a pawn of Quex-Ul... to which Quex begins choking the life out of him.  Zaora attempts to appeal to Superman's more... baser needs.  None of it matters, as only a few moments later the three criminals slump to the ground... dead.  Superman... killed them.

As he emerges from the cube, he spies something on the periphery.  We find out, after Clark returns to the "real" Earth that this was the gummy form of Matrix.  He delivers her to the Kent farm... to his parents.  He gives them the quick 'n dirty of what he'd just lived through, and asks that they take care of her for a little while.

The Supergirl Saga wraps up with Superman taking to the skies... heavy with the gravity and severity of what he'd just done.  He thinks to himself that going forward, things will never be the same again.

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Now, I gotta say... even though I knew it was coming, it still got me a bit.  This is the issue I think of when I hear people say "Superman doesn't kill"... no, he doesn't... unless there's absolutely no other option.  The Phantom Zone Criminals told him as much... they were going to "get better" and recover their powers... and when they did, watch out... they're coming to the "real" DCU!

Without the ability to return the crew to the Phantom Zone, he really didn't have any other choice.  It wasn't a decision he made lightly... and it was one that would carry the burden of guilt for a long time to come.  Superman was looking out for the needs of the many, rather than the dark designs of a few.

This issue really packs a punch, as, while it's kind of "under the radar" in the grander scheme, but... Bruce Wayne dies here... so do Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, and Lex Luthor!  Sure, they're not "our" versions... but still, kind of sobering to see.

The reveal that Lana was among the first Pocketers to perish was interesting (and validating)... it's been a long while since I first read this... and while I knew this Supergirl was the "Matrix" iteration, I was wondering if I'd somehow missed a truer connection between Lana and Matrix.  Now, I know.

Let's discuss the cover for a moment.  It's strange that for the longest time I never noticed the "S" on the executioner's shirt.  Whenever I look back on this era without context, I sometimes mistake the executioner for some sort of villain Superman has to fight off.  That is to say, for whatever reason, I don't usually associate this cover with this storyline.  I actually had to stop and realize that this is symbolic of the story inside.  Talk about "duh"... Superman is the executioner.

I've long held that if you were to build a comic book creator from component parts and from the ground up, what you would come up with is John Byrne.  He is the prototypical comic book creator to me.  He has such a mastery over giving subtle facial quirks to his characters.  From the moment Superman "pulls the trigger", there is a subtle "heaviness" over his brow.  It's not overdone, it's really just a very well-placed line or two... but it speaks volumes for the gravity of what had just occurred.  Absolutely beautiful work here.

This entire "saga" is well worth your time... as a matter of fact, I would heartily recommend the John Byrne post-Crisis Superman as a whole.  Thankfully, DC has collected nine (count'em, nine!) volumes of it... the Man of Steel Collection truly is "must-reading".

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Adventures of Superman #444 (1988)

Adventures of Superman #444 (September, 1988)
"The Supergirl Saga, Part II: Parallel Lives Meet at Infinity..."
Plot & Script - John Byrne
Plot & Pencils - Jerry Ordway
Inker - Dennis Janke
Letterer - Albert De Guzman
Colorist - Petra Scotese
Assistant Editor - Renee Witterstaetter
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $0.75

Enjoyed yesterday's introduction to the post-Crisis Supergirl Saga, figured I may as well keep on keepin' on...

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We open up pretty much dead in the middle of the scene portrayed on the cover.  Superman is kneeling before the graves of his foster parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent... this universes, Kents.  To make matters even worse, Lex Luthor informs him that their version of Superboy has also perished.  Superman mourns, and makes mention that it actually feels as though a part of him has died.

We get a bit of Time Trapper 101 to follow.  While the Trapper scanned the timestream, he found that in the far-flung future there was a team called the Legion of Super-Heroes, who assembled due to their being inspired by Superboy.  Only, this is the post-Crisis DC landscape... there never was a Superboy.  The Time Trapper had to act to ensure the team still came into existence, and did so by... well, removing everything from the universe except the Earth and Krypton.

Krypton was a scientific utopia, while the Earth... well, was the Earth.  Apparently world history is so heinous in and of itself, Lex Luthor believes it to have been a construct of the Time Trapper.  Superman breaks the news that, nah... the Earth has had its share of nastiness.  What this (pocket) Earth doesn't have, however, is superheroes!

We get a bit more of a flashback from Lex regarding his first day in Smallville.  He arrives in search of Superboy to tell him about his proposed cure to Kryptonite poisoning... only to find he's arrived a bit too late.  We learn that Ma and Pa passed shortly thereafter.

He introduces himself to Pete Ross and Lana Lang, and posits that there may be a way to find the fallen Boy of Steel... but no guarantees.  Lana and Pete bring Lex to Superboy's laboratory... and show him the secret room inside.  The trio comes across a locked cabinet, and Lex can't contain his curiosity.  He shoos Lana and Pete off so that he may try and open that sucker up.

Lex eventually finds his way through to find Superboy's Time-Viewer Scope inside it.  While flipping the channels in search of anything Legion-related, he comes across three "trapped" Kryptonians.  One introduces himself as Von-El, Superboy's Uncle!  He claims that he and his family, Mara and Ston-Ar have been trapped in what he refers to as the Phant--... er, Survival Zone.  They've always depended on the kindness of strangers, and hope that Lex might just be able succeed in "rescuing" them,  where their nephew had failed.  Lex shrugs, and goes "ehh, what the hell?", and frees the poor disembodied bunch.

Now, we know what Lex just did... now Lex is about to find out what he just did.  He freed General friggin Zod, Zamora and Quex-Ul from the Phantom Zone.  It doesn't take them terribly long to, ya know... take over the world.  Zod proclaims himself King of the world, and destroys everything and everyone in his path.  Man, woman, child... it don't much matter...

In an interesting and fun scene, Luthor erects a base of operations in Smallville, and drafts some familiar faces to his cause... Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen!

Luthor continues... he found a way to give Lana superpowers.  He also outfitted her in similar togs to Superboy as a way to provide inspiration to the survivors on this Earth.  Pete and Lex continued to do their best to hold up the resistance... including continually scanning for any sign of Superboy...

By this point the King Zod and company have grown tired of dealing with the insurgency... and decide to swat a fly with a cannonball... to get rid of the resistance, they should... get this, just wipe out all life on Earth.  And so, all three start boring down to the molten core of the planet.  This is likely what led to the pocket Smallville being under the dome in our opening chapter.

Luthor continues s'more... in order to make contact with the Superman he'd found on the scanner... he decides to send Lana to the "other" Earth... where she will lay dormant under the ice of the Antarctic for two-hundred years before approaching the target.  Luthor can not only place fast and loose with dimensionality, but also time it seems.

Superman's heard enough.  Five-billion humans, and uncounted billions of lifeforms have died at the hands of three Kryptonians.  It's time for some retribution... but just how far is Superman willing to go to neutralize this threat?

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We find ourselves getting a bit of a Pocket Universe info-dump.  Done in such a way that it doesn't so much feel like a "lesson" but as an intriguing and enjoyable story.

I've said in the past that the mere mention of General Zod usually makes me glaze over a bit, however, I find myself really getting into this version of the character.  He, as well as the other Phantom Zone criminals, are friggin' nuts... Makes me wonder just how Superman's gonna... ahem, neutralize the threat they pose.  Poor Lex sure fumbled letting them out!

It was fun to see the civilian Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen getting involved in the proceedings.  We can see that the Time Trapper really wanted Superboy to the be only superhero here.  We even see that he/it eliminated the entire universe except Earth and Krypton.  Talk about dedication...

The opening with Clark mourning his parents reminded me of the first issue of the Superboy-less Legion of Super-Heroes, wherein Superboy finds himself in front of his foster parents graves too.

All told, another great chapter in this story.  Jerry Ordway's art is just different enough from Byrne's, but not so different as to be jarring.  They're both wonderfully talented craftsmen, this was really a great time for the Super-books.

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Superman (vol.2) #21 (1988)

Superman (vol.2) #21 (September, 1988)
"The Supergirl Saga, Part I: You Can't Go Home Again"
Story & Pencils - John Byrne
Inker - John Beatty
Colors - Petra Scotese
Letters - John Costanza
Asst. Editor - Renee Witterstaetter
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $0.75

A few weeks ago, Reggie and I covered Action Comics #252 for our Cosmic Treadmill segment on the Weird Science DC Comics Podcast.  We talked at length about the Supergirl story inside as well as other incarnations of the character over the years.

When we approached the subject of the "Matrix" version of the character, I found myself at something of a loss... much to my surprise.  It had been awhile since I read the post-Crisis Supergirl Saga... figure there's never a bad time to remedy that.

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We open on a nearly barren planetside.  There appears to be something of a city being protected by a clear dome... which is being bombarded by... meteors?  Either way, there are explosions occurring on the dome.  Inside we meet a crew of folks dressed in a sort of turtle-necked armor.  They are discussing their current predicament, and lamenting the loss of their "greatest hero".  Not to worry, however, "she" is about to make contact.

Back on Earth, Superman is heading home after having an adventure with the Doom Patrol last issue.  He notices that he's being followed... and has been for quite some time at this point.  He zigs and swoops in behind his pursuer, grabbing their foot... boy is he surprised when he sees whose foot it is...

It's Supergirl... but then, it's Lana Lang... a girl with powers she claims to have been granted from... Lex Luthor?

We shift to the Daily Planet where Jimmy Olsen is petitioning Perry White to send him off to Ireland so he may do some research on the Silver Banshee.  After a bit of guff, Perry gives in... Lois Lane finds herself drafted into the trip as well.

Back in the sky, Superman is trying to talk some sense into "Lana Lang".  He reminds her that Luthor was... ya know, kind of a bastard to her a few months back.  He offers to take her to Metropolis... but, she's troubled... for some reason she thinks that Metropolis has been destroyed.  Thinking Superman a liar, she hauls off and unleashes a "psycho-kinetic blast" in Superman's general direction.

He attempts to reengage... and (after Supergirl makes herself invisible) gets another blast for his troubles... right into the ground!

Superman takes advantage of being underground, and decides to tunnel to Lana's farm to see what's up.  Much to his surprise, he finds not only Lana, but his parents tied up and gagged inside!  Lana tells him that there's a lookalike (lanalike?  langalike?) on the loose.  Superman is confused, as the impostor is an exact duplicate of Lana, even down to the molecular level.  He suddenly realizes what's up, and uses one of my very favorite sayings "if it were a snake it would have bitten me!" before taking off.

Superman hits the skies and engages in a bit of "catch me if you can".  This causes Supergirl to reveal herself and give chase... all the way to Metropolis.  She's is shocked to find it still standing, and begins to believe what "Clark" is saying.  Yup, she calls him Clark... much to his discomfort.  He tells her ixnay on the entKay, and they go pay a visit to Lex Luthor.

Supergirl is a bit surprised that Lex Luthor is kind of a jerk.  This isn't the man she thinks of when she hears the name "Lex Luthor".  I can't remember if this is after Luthor loses his hand due to poisoning from the Kryptonite ring... either way, he appears to be hiding his right hand inside his suit jacket in something of a Napoleonic pose.

The Supers take their leave and head off to a rooftop to reconnoiter.  Superman shares his story of entering the Time Trapper's pocket universe some months back, and meeting the Legion of Super-Heroes, and battling a younger version of himself.

Supergirl tells Superman that she remembers his visit!  They may have not have met at the time, but she was there and knew of his presence.  Superman says the Pete Ross of the pocket universe had mistakenly thought that Superman was a rapidly aged version of Superboy due to exposure to Red Kryptonite!  In the current port-Crisis landscape, if I'm not mistaken... there's only one kind of Kryptonite... green.

Supergirl claims his visit occurred ten years ago... when in "real" time, it was only a few weeks.  She summons a dimensional portal, and before we know it... we're in the pocket U...

... where Superman meets Lex Luthor... [to be continued...]

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I'm still surprised at how much of this story I'd forgotten.  That's not a criticism, mind... just a strange anecdotal observation.  I found myself really enjoying this... and I'm fascinated by just how quickly after the Crisis on Infinite Earths DC/Byrne decided they needed/wanted a Supergirl in the canon.  This is only a few years into the new continuity... I gotta wonder if this confused fans who were following the books at the time.

Were longtime readers given a flash of hope, kinda like people of my comics-generation were during 2015's Convergence storyline?  Where "our" Superman showed up... where Hal Jordan as Parallax showed up?  Gotta wonder... 

I enjoyed how Superman had to resort to out-thinking his opponent here.  Making her reveal herself when she chased him into Metropolis was a great move.  Introducing her to Lex Luthor was smart as well.

I've never been entirely clear on the Time Trapper's pocket universe.  I know it was put in place to fit into Legion of Super-Heroes origin lore... wherein they assembled due to taking inspiration from Superboy... and in the post-Crisis DCU, Clark Kent never was Superboy.  It's still so weird to see them tinker with pre-Crisis continuity in issues of this vintage.

Overall, a great start to the Supergirl Saga.  More Byrne-goodness, including a very interesting panel layout throughout the book.  Looking forward to reintroducing myself with the remaining two-parts.  If I'm remembering correctly, the next issue of Superman (vol.2) is kinduva big deal...

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