Action Comics #763 (March, 2000)
"Y2K, Part Five: Sacrifice for Tomorrow"
Writer - Joe Kelly
Pencillers - German Garcia & Kano
B13 FX - Tommy Yune, Steve Kim & Ed Roeder
Inker - Marlo Alquiza
Colors - Glenn Whitmore & WildStorm FX
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Associate Editor - Maureen McTigue
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $1.99
So, whattayado when you really wanna talk about a certain character... say, that "new" android Hourman we met yesterday... but you've also got this #Action100 Endeavor you're currently working on?
Well, I guess we look for an issue of Action Comics that features Hourman! I'm happy to report that Hourman does appear in this issue... for a whole two panels. Don't worry... both panels will appear in this blog piece.
--
We open on New Year's Eve (or maybe it's New Year's Day)... and Brainic 13 is wrapping the planet... Earth, that is... not "The Daily" in energy conduits. Superman burrows through the planet (again, Earth) and faces off with the bot above the Planet... er, "The Daily", this time. Ya dig? Worth mentioning, they're using a different art style for Brainiac 13... it's this weird polygonal matte look... kinda like a game for the original PlayStation. It looks super-dated now, but perhaps back in 2000 it looked kinda cool. Anyhoo, before they can face off B13 invites Superman to take a look at what he's done with all of the citizens of Metropolis. Superman turns around, and is aghast to find that everyone has been made into a mindless slave!
After Superman gets tossed through a building, we shift scenes to LexCorp, where Lex and his daughter Lena (who has been infected by Brainiac 2.5) are inside a stolen Kryptonian Warsuit. They pow-wow over ways to take down B2.5's upgraded version, B13. Feels like we're playing Bingo, doesn't it?
Back outside, we find Superman and a Kelex robot about to fly toward Brainiac 13. Before they can land a single punch, the Kryptonian Warsuit bursts through B13's chest!
Superman realizes that Luthor is inside the Suit, and suggests they put their differences aside for the moment and work together toward shutting down B13. Lex thinks this idea is positively adorable... and in response, bashes Superman into the pavement.
Superman enters a mindlink with Kelex, and commands it to link up to the Warsuit by any means necessary. Just then, he is attacked by several of DC's highest profile robots! We see Red Tornado, the Metal Men, and our new favorite (and reason we picked this book today), Hourman!
Inside the Warsuit, Lex and Lena trigger an electromagnetic pulse which downs all of the bots. Welp, it was nice seein' ya, Tyler.
Amid the chaos, Kelex attempts to link up with the Warsuit. Superman takes the fight to Brainiac 13... and it doesn't go all that well. Ya see, this is a Brainiac from the future... one who has learned from all of his earlier mistakes. He has run 1,098,288,546 simulations of Superman's death... so, he's more than prepared. And so, he coats the Man of Steel in like molten metal cables... maybe? Kelex, while attempting to link, pleads with Luthor to help save Superman... but he ain't budgin'.
And so, Kelex calls in a revived/unslaved Red Tornado!
At this point, Red Tornado's vortex is causing Brainiac 13's "essence" to be drawn into the Warsuit... and so, an annoyed Lex and Lena disengage and bug out. Kelex informs them both that he was lying about helping them... and that this was the plan all along.
It looks like the day is just about saved. With Brainiac 13 trapped in the Warsuit, the B13 virus begins to dissipate throughout the world... and the human slaves begin to come to.
After checking in with Lois, Superman notices that Metropolis still appears to be infected. He hears something behind him... and turns around to find Lex standing alone... the B13 Warsuit and Lena have disappeared!
We jump ahead one week later and join Lex sitting on an upper floor of the new Lex Tower... he mulls over what happened in that final moment. Ya see, Brainiac 13 made him an offer... he couldn't refuse. He offers up the B13 Virus codes... and the opportunity to be the "King" of the "City of Tomorrow", in exchange for... Lena. Welp, we now know how that turned out.
We wrap up with Superman threatening Luthor... he says he'll find Lena... and ensure Lex pay for what he's done.
--
It's been awhile since I read Y2K... I was nervous to see how well it aged. I'm pretty sure I've made it clear throughout our chats that I do hold a certain fondness for the literal "City of Tomorrow" era of Superman. This is where I came back to the books... actually, the book advertised in the letters page is the one I came back with!
I feel like this was an interesting way to differentiate Metropolis from the rest of the DC Universe... and, I suppose it can be (and has been) argued that the spectacular futuristic city might've taken something away from Superman's "specialness", I found it most inviting... and a welcome shift from the "norm".
The issue itself... was a good one. It's hard to really look at a "part 5 of 5" in a vacuum, but I feel like Kelly did a good enough job catching us up on what we missed in the earlier chapters. I'm actually hoping to do a long-form look at Y2K for an upcoming episode of Weird Comics History, where we would examine that Superman 2000 pitch from Grant Morrison and the gang. Hopefully the stars will align on that sooner than later!
There's a certain quaintness here... that is not the book's fault at all. I mean, let's look at this for a sec. The story is called "Y2K"... I mean, there are 19 year old humans walking the planet that weren't even born yet... who might not grasp exactly what Y2K meant to those of us who were there. All of that "planes will fall out of the sky", "banks are going to lose all of our money", "stock up on canned goods and bottled water" fear and hysteria was a real thing... probably a lot "realer" for some of us than others... but real enough nonetheless. It would be interesting to hand this book to a Millennial and see if they "get it".
While on the subject of "quaintness"... how 'bout that killer CGI? Again, not a fault with the book itself... but it looks just so out of place, doesn't it? I mean, we've always had odd collage pieces in comics... just look at any old Kirby "star field" page... but this feels like it really wanted to be "cutting edge"... when, I mean... even at the turn of the century, it looks dated. Maybe I just can't take my "current year" glasses off, but it looks like something out of Reboot or something... and that show aired... I wanna say, 6-7 years before this. I can't really get mad at it... but felt it was worth mentioning. I'd guess that would be this story arc's "low hanging fruit".
Overall... if you're interested in this story, and how the next "era" of Superman comics kicked off... I'd suggest grabbing the trade paperback collection. It's a (relatively) tight-knit story, and really ought to be read as a whole.
--
(Not the) Letters Page:
--
Interesting Ads:
779
Hourman #1 (April, 1999)
"Through the Hourglass"
Writer - Tom Peyer
Penciller - Rags Morales
Inker - David Meikis
Colorist - John Kalisz
Separations - Digital Chameleon
Letterer - Kurt Hathaway
Editor - Tony Bedard
Thanks - Grant Morrison, Mark Waid & Dan Raspler
Cover Price: $2.50
Today we're going to discuss a book that went completely under my radar when it first came out... however, has intrigued me ever since!
Unfortunately it's not a series that I come across all that often "in the wild"... and whenever I do, it's never the first (or first few) issues.
Yesterday... St. Patrick's Day... I guess I had a little of the Luck of the Irish when I ventured down to a local shop, and plopped my happy self in front of their discount bins... because lo and behold... I found myself a grip of Hourman.
And today... we're going to finally "meet" him.
--
We open with an introduction to our new Hourman from the 83rd Century... with some narration from... well, that'd be telling. We jump to the JLA Watchtower where Hourman is pleading with the team to allow them to jump ahead 20 minutes. The rest of the team hasn't the foggiest idea what he's going on about. He claims that there will be much awkwardness afoot over the next half hour or so, and he'd prefer to skip it altogether. He spoils who's going to win a will-construct video game between Wally and Kyle... and then infers that Kyle will eventually make a... sorta-kinda, but not really sexist comment. This annoys Huntress who berates Kyle as though he'd actually said anything at all. It's really much funnier than I'm explaining it to be!
Hourman's even more confused at this point... not grasping how dangerous his knowledge of the future might be to those around him... but he goes on anyway. He claims that Flash will make a remark about Hourman's need to socialize... and so, he wishes to go speak with the JLA's resident authority on... dating. You're gonna love this.
The League hops to and heads out to chat up... Batman. Unfortunately, he is currently preoccupied... he's dealing with the Mad-Hatter... and at the moment, his head is stuck in a guillotine. Hourman swoops in, ages the wooden guillotine to the point where it turns to dust... and de-ages the Hatter and his gang. Batman isn't pleased.
Batman insists he re-age the Hatter crew... and attempts to instill in Hourman that precognizance is not the same thing as actual experience. With that, Hourman decides to "absorb" the entire history of the Justice League of America.
Now, knowing exactly what he must do, Hourman takes off. The League follows him to the Mad Yax Cafe in Happy Harbor, where we meet our obnoxious mysterious narrator... Snapper Carr!
Snapper greets Hourman, or "Tyler" as he calls him... and the pair leave to meet up with a woman named Bethany. The rest of the League remains, kinda dumbfounded... just staring at one another wondering if they ought to follow. Zauriel suggests in Snapper, Hourman might've just found his "Guardian Angel".
On the walk to Snapper's pad, Carr tells Hourman everything he knows about him. He's from the year 85,721... and his Miraclo Geneware is a dupe of Rex "Tick Tock" Tyler's DNA... hence why he's calling him "Tyler". Hourman attempts to return the favor by telling Snapper everything he knows about him. Snapper responds to each guess with a "Bzzzt!". Snapper's house, by the way, is a dump.
Inside, Snap heads over to a corner of his disgusting living room (right next to the cinder-block bookcase) and fetches a thumbdrive... were those around in 1999? If not, this book might actually be prescient! Anyhoo, Hourman gets one sniff of it and says it "smells like... ten years.". Y'ever look back at pictures from the 1970's or something... and think, "Man that decade must've smelled bad!"... I wonder if that's what Hourman means here.
What it actually is is... a little piece of the Android Adam... the first android ever created... the Mighty Amazo! If I ever get around to building an android... I bet most of the time I'd be working on giving it the perfect Widow's Peak.
Anyhoo, Hourman... though annoyed that Snapper swiped this little bit from the JLA trophy room... really wants to chat up the first of his kind, and so... he summons him! Amazo instantly recognizes Snapper for the irritating little tool that he is, and lashes out.
Hourman responds by sending Amazo "back". Moments later, there's a great explosion... and Amazo has returned! This time, however, with one-half of Hourman's own (infinite) power! I can't claim to understand any of this... but it's pretty cool nonetheless!
At that moment, Bethany arrives at Snapper's (who I really want to call "Rick Jones" every single time I type it) hovel. She winds up getting blasted by an errant time-shot... thing, and is de-aged into a tiny tot.
Back inside, Hourman splits into various Hourmen of the past and future... I think. Amazo responds by building his own army of Amazos (or Timazos) from throughout time. Again, I don't understand it... but it makes for a great visual.
Hourman claims to have made preparations for something like this and proceeds to count down from five. At zero, Amazo... disappears. Hourman reveals to Snapper that in order to "do away" with the disparate Amazos, he had to reknit time... changing the future to affect the past... I think. At this point, Hourman realizes that Batman was right... there is a difference between power and experience. He wonders what to do about his omnipotence... to which Snapper suggests he "chuck" it.
And so, Hourman does just that.
We wrap up with Hourman passed out on Snapper's bed (I swear I typed "Rick" again)... while Bethan-ita plays in traffic.
--
This was... a blast!
Definitely had more fun than I expected from this issue... I really didn't know what to expect going in. As mentioned above, this is a character I have almost no knowledge of... he seemed to fly just under my radar back in the day, and didn't "rank" high enough for be to drop two-dollars and two-quarters on every month. Looking back at some of the absolute garbage I paid that much (and more) for back then really compounds what a sin that was.
I mentioned that I kept wanting to refer to Snapper as "Rick" during the synopsis... that reason is twofold... first, I mean... duh, Rick Jones and Snapper Carr aren't terribly different... and second, I'm getting very strong Captain Marvel (the Peter David run) vibes from this. It's equally humorous, and the hero-dynamic feels quite similar.
I was afraid there would be a lot of Hourman backstory from DC One Million that I'd have to have a "working knowledge" of before popping in here... and though, it might've helped a bit, it certainly wasn't a requirement. It's been... yikes, twenty years since I read DC1M... can't remember a lick of it!
What we have here is a proper introduction to the character... his inexperience and naivete are the focus... and by the end, he has a newfound motivation to gain the experience to match his former omnipotence. The series is given a "hero's journey" kinda format... and for a character such as this, it's a really cool idea. He's discovering the "present" while at the same time learning more about himself. Can't give that a big enough "thumbs up".
Another thing I wasn't expecting... this book is funny. It's not often I chuckle (or even smirk) when reading a comic... but that bit at the beginning where Huntress is haranguing Kyle for a sexist remark he hadn't yet made? Very funny! Also, Batman as the League's "Resident Expert of Dating"? C'mon... that's just great!
The "time powers" he wields... are a bit confusing to me... though, that might be intentional. I really can't claim to follow much of what went down during the Amazo/Timazo fight... but again, I think (hope?) it was written that way to illustrate how truly powerful Hourman is... just how incomprehensible his powers are to us normies. Messing around with time is never something I'm able to wrap my noggin 'round anyway... so maybe it's just me!
The art here is fantastic. It's been awhile since I'd seen turn-of-the-century Rags... but, it's pretty great! Also love the Scott McDaniel cover... it gives the character a "chunky" feel... almost like an action figure. Really dig it!
Overall... if I haven't made it obvious, this book gets a high recommendation. I can't (yet) speak for the rest of the series... however, if it's half as fun as this issue, I think we're in for a good time! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this series has made it's way to DC Digital yet. Worth the hunt!
--
The Making of Hourman:
A Wizard Magazine Free-Insert which shows preliminary sketches for Hourman... his costume... his mask... and his cast! Check out the ridiculous Snapper Carr!
--
Interesting Ads:
778
