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Superman in Crisis

SiC 27 — Why We Love Clark Kent (08:08:1985)

Reviewing Superman 413 with brief discussions of Super-related material from Justice League of America Annual 3, Legion of Super-Heroes 16, and Super Powers 3! Your feedback returns next week!

5 replies on “SiC 27 — Why We Love Clark Kent (08:08:1985)”

I agree with you that the cover of Superman #413 is very visually striking, really conveying the idea that (at least from Superman’s point of view) the world is fading away. Especially during the Crisis, when whole universes have been erased from existence, this would have been worrisome to some readers. In the story, I liked the idea of the tribute to Clark Kent by his coworkers and friends, and, in my mind, it might well have been Superman’s super-hearing that allowed him to hear their concern for Clark’s absence toward the end, and helped him to break free of Luthor’s mind control.
It’s a shame that, in Justice League of America Annual #3, Red Tornado got kind of a “bum’s rush”. I always had a fondness for the character (even though he was frequently portrayed as a bit “whiny”), and I think he deserved a better send-off.
I will miss hearing your voice next week, but look forward to hearing you again the following week. I hope your back-to-school has started well.

Hi Jon! The cover of Superman #413 is so striking. It really draws the eye when I look at the covers around this time while reading along on the DCU app. A real treat, I must say. But you know, I also felt it was out of place somehow, and I couldn’t figure out why until just now. This cover has nothing to do with Clark Kent Fired or Luthor. Until reading the issue, this could have been another issue like #411, interrupting the Luthor trilogy. But it’s not, so that’s good, and it shows how I’ve come to expect that kind of continuity and marketing on the cover of comics for a storyline. “Part 3 of 3”. “The End of the Luthor Trilogy.” No copy like that at all on this cover. Interesting how that’s changed. I wonder if you have thoughts on that.

For LSH and Brainy mourning for Supergirl, that’s always bugged me with time travel stories, someone from the past who obviously died long ago, so why is this the moment in the future to suddenly start grieving? Why didn’t they grieve on previous anniversaries? But I’m totally with you about that in real life, Jon, as I lost my dad as a teenager, so I have those times too.

I do have one thought, in that the Crisis has formed a fixed point in various eras, and the normal time travel cheat of meeting an earlier version of Supergirl is gone. Living in this moment, the Legion doesn’t know if they’ll ever be able to time travel like they used to, or if this is their reality going forward. This keeps them in lock step with the world of 1985, and there’s no distancing themselves physically or emotionally. It will be interesting to revisit how Legion reacts to Crisis in a few months.

Ah, the poor Red Tornado story was a mess. I just read the JLA issues where his link to the Tornado Champion/Tyrant was revealed, and at the conclusion of that story, only Firestorm knew the truth. Was that discussed in the annual?

A short-n-sweet episode! See you next time!

Oh shoot, I forgot to mention an annoyance. I read Superman #413 on the DCU Infinite app, and I couldn’t believe it, but they didn’t include page 21 of the issue! Nothing critical must have happened because the story still made sense, but oh the humanity!

Hi Jon, I think i better add my impressions SIC # 27 before I miss the comments party:

4 Javelins in Metropolis that affect Superman on the entire world? I thought that much coverage from those devices was a bit much to ask for my suspension of disbelief. I understand the game of a comic reader is to fill in the blanks for items like this so i’ll try- The javelins had an accumulative effect on his body and was absorbed into his brain so it would follow him anywhere he went on the planet.

I kept getting the feeling that the Luthor from the Chris Reeve movies were influencing his campy type dialogue and behavior in this comic. Maybe I’m wrong but the comic Luthor was never really goofy.

There ARE doormen still in New york. All throughout the streets of the upper part of Manhattan, they are ever present. My brother is moving into a condo in Staten Island and they have a doorman as well. Ah, to be rich. ( not my brother, he just lucked out).

You are correct, no one in charge gave Clark his job back. I’m guessing that instead of having a separate scene where Edge rehires him, it was erroneously left out by the artist and the writer included it in the dialogue as to not have him redraw the page.

This story had me genuinely mad at Luthor. I thought it would be okay if Superman REALLY put his fist through him like the previous cover showed. Everyone complains that Batman lets the Joker live but Superman really needs to eliminate Luthor. He crossed the line this time and he didn’t seem to ever give up trying to get revenge on Supes. The reboot “fixed” him a bit and didn’t have him as a one note revenge filled person.

As for the Red Tornado, He was really written as a wreck of a person who had no confidence. Of course there was no one to champion him as he was a D lister at best. Heck, Supergirl and the Flash were left unprotected by the big shots at DC in the Crisis, why would they project him ?

Thanks again for the podcast.

Hey, Jon! I finished listening at the beginning of the week, but as this has been the first full week of school, I’m just getting around to commenting. As a fellow teacher, I know you get it.

I thought the Luthor story wrapped up decently, but I keep thinking about everyone lauding Clark Kent at the hastily-assembled (and time-constrained) tribute…without him being there! I know they had the hall, but what was the point of buoying Clark’s spirits even he wasn’t even there to see it? Weird. I was excited by Curt Swan’s layouts again this issue, like the page where he put a hexagon in the center of the page and the other panels hooked up. Super cool.

Oh! Tim mentioned pg. 21 being missing on DC Infinite…I didn’t even notice. I guess that says something.

Even though I’ve read the Legion issue multiple times, I will never turn down a chance to reread that era of the Legion. #14 was the first issue of the Baxter series I’d been able to buy thanks to discovering a local comics shop in the pages of Comics Buyers Guide, which I had just started subscribing to. So, #16 has some nostalgia for me, as it was fun to see the new Legionnaires work together. Brainy’s despair over Supergirl’s death is moving and was earned by the series even if it might not make sense with the 1,000 year time difference.

Not much to say about the other issues, though I do love the Detroit-era Justice League. Can you tell I started reading comics in the 80s yet??

Okay, on to the next one!

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