Action Comics #792 (August, 2002)
"Big City Little Man"
Writer - Joe Kelly
Penciller - Pascual Ferry
Inker - Mark Morales
Colorist - Moose Baumann
Letters - Comicraft
Assistant Editor - Tom Palmer, Jr.
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.25
After a few days off, we're back to our Action Comics 100 Project.
Today we're going to discuss a... quiet issue of Action Comics from 2002. This is part of the Joe Kelly run, which I initially ran sort of hot and cold with. In revisiting them, however, I'm finding a lot more to like than to dislike. Maybe I'm softening in my old age... or maybe I just foolishly dismissed them as a younger lad.
Either way, let's get down to it!
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We open on a snowy Metropolis morning. Clark Kent is making his usual stop at his regular newsstand to grab a paper, and engage in some idle chit-chat with the proprietor, Valentin. We see that they have a sort of exchange each day... Clark gives him his lunch, and Valentin keeps his paper on the radiator to keep it warm for him. Val seems a hard-working fellow, and is incredibly proud of his daughter, a student... soon to be a doctor. Over the months, we learn that Val's daughter became pregnant, putting her academic career in jeopardy... but he's still optimistic. All's reasonably well in the world... until one day, Clark visits to find his pal no longer there.
We shift scenes to see Superman and Wonder Woman engaging in some JLA business. Together they save the lives of two-million Hawaiians when they stifle an active-and-angry volcano... however, it's clear that Clark's mind is elsewhere. He just can't shake his concern for Valentin.
As Clark, he checks in on Lois at the Daily Planet. Worth mentioning that at this point, Clark Kent has been "fired". What's actually going on is Perry and Clark staged the firing in hopes of catching President Lex Luthor off-guard. Anyhoo, he shares his concern for the newsstand proprietor with Lois... and she decides there might just be a story there.
Together they head into Little Hispania, and Clark does some x-ray peeping until he finds Valentin's (pregnant) daughter. They invite her to a diner, and ask some questions about her missing father. She's reveals that he's been missing for three weeks and is positive that he's already dead, since he missed her birthday.
After dinner, Clark is called away on JLA business... which takes him to, well... I don't know what that is. Looks like a giant Kewpie doll with its brain hanging out... built into the side of a mountain. Or something. Anyhoo, he chats up Batman about the Valentin case... and is given some wildly positive advice... "You can't save them all." Way to go, Bats!
Back in Metropolis, Clark can't shake the feeling that there's more to this disappearance than meets the (human) eye... and so, he returns to Valentin's apartment to do some snooping. What he finds is a book (a numeros diarios)... that reveals Valentin was becoming a rather avid gambler.
And so, Lois and Clark venture into the 'hood to check in on his bookie. Lemme tell ya, this dude's a sleaze-bag. He tells the Kents that Valentin made some bets... and vanished. He rubs salt into the wound by suggesting he was only gambling because of his unwed pregnant daughter... of whom, he was embarrassed.
Lois and Clark grill the grifter... until, thanks to his super-hearing, Clark catches him in a lie. The Kents are then... politely... asked to leave.
Outside Clark struggles with the fact that he's very likely the most powerful being on the planet... and yet, he finds himself helpless. He wonders if he should just return and "make him talk", but they both know that's not his style... and it's also a line you can only really cross once. And so, Superman takes a different approach... deciding to just shadow the bookie everywhere he goes. Knowing full well that nobody will want to work with a fella who has Superman on his shoulder.
Finally... the bookie cracks! He reveals to Superman that Valentin actually won... and won big! So big he couldn't cover the bet. So... this fool coughed up the cash... buuuut, took it back immediately, if you smell what I'm cookin'.
We wrap up the following day... at the harbor. Lois and Clark bring Valentin's daughter to the drink, and wait for Superman to do his thing. After a super-quick change of clothes, Superman dives in... and finds Valentin's body.
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I'm currently doing a re-read of Superman: Grounded for an upcoming episode of the Cosmic Treadmill... and lemme tell ya folks, if you ever wanted to hear me let loose with the expletives, this might be the episode to check out. Anyhoo, I only mention that (besides the cheap plug) because right here, in this very issue... Joe Kelly shows us why Superman didn't need to take an indulgent walk across our great nation to "connect with the people". Superman/Clark Kent already did that... every day of his life.
Of course, I have my suspicions as to why JMS wrote "Grounded" the way he did... but that's a discussion for another time. This issue, was really quite good! It's a bit of a novelty to see Lois and Clark "on a case"... so that was a lot of fun. The inclusion of little things... like Clark nervously tapping his foot, and causing a slight quake. Lois having to cover for him... and help him maintain his cool. They make such a great team, and it really was a treat to see them "on the beat" together.
We don't often think... or, at least I don't often think about Clark Kent going through the motions of having a "normal" life. It's interesting to consider that he, like the rest of us, still has 24-hours to fill every day... and so, it's pretty neat to see him hanging out with a very talkative newsstand proprietor. This also illustrates Clark's saint-like patience in a way... ya gotta figure, and I don't wanna talk ill of the dead, but Valentin seems like the sort to go on... and on... and on. You'd almost need to be Superman to keep going back.
The story gets dark... and it gets dark fast. Let's look at what the bookie says toward the end, "He was justa guy working a newspaper shack. Who would miss him? Who would care?" I think that's the crux of this issue. Valentin was just a guy... in a city of millions. Who would notice... or care? Well, Superman for starters. Further illustration that Superman is always connected to the people. Even when things take priority... like say, an angry volcano acts up... or, uh... New Krypton happens... Superman is always connected to, and always thinking about "his" people. We really don't need to think on it much harder than that! Some things just "are".
The art here is from Pascual Ferry, who I've always enjoyed. It's very fitting artwork for the time and era of Superman, and has aged quite well to boot! Really a wonderful book to look at. I know not everyone's a fan of the "Berganza era" in style nor story, but there's quite a lot of good here!
Overall, I'd most definitely recommend this issue. If you're down for a more street-level "quiet" Superman story, this might be the one for you! For your convenience, this bugger is available digitally.
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Letters Page:
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Day of Judgment #5 (November, 1999)
"Soul Search"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Matt Smith
Breakdowns - Christopher Jones
Inker - Steve Mitchell
Colorist - James Sinclair
Separations - Jamison
Letters - Comicraft
Associate Editor - Tony Bedard
Editor - Dan Raspler
Special Thanks - Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $2.50
Okay, let's put this one to bed!
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We open with Hal Jordan flying through the "inner being" of the Spectre... where he eventually comes across its current occupant, Asmodel. Outside, we pick up on our "evil Superman" cliffhanger... where he just vomits up Neron. Eh? Well, that was worth it.
And so, a battle begins. Oddly, Neron refers to the group calling themselves the "Sentinels of Magic" as... the Sentinels of Magic. I guess word travels fast! After some rough-and-tumble with Blue Devil and Captain Marvel, Neron swipes the Spear of Destiny... and uses it to pierce the Spectre.
Into the... inside, Neron joins the fray as a potential host for the Spirit of Vengeance. From the streets of Manhattan, the assembled heroes look on as the over-sized Spectre begins to seize. Suddenly, back inside, the Spectre entity lines its three "suitors" up, and wonders who to accept.
Each man pleads his case. Asmodel appeals to how similar he and the Spectre are as victims of lost status. Neron insists he would be the best teammate for the Spectre... in that between them, no souls will go unclaimed. Hal... well, Hal just cries. He reflects on his past transgressions... and his hope to eventually atone. Well, looks like he said the magic woid... because the Spectre choo-choo-chooses him!
Back on the street, Asmodel and Neron hit the pavement with a thud. The heroes look skyward... and get their first look at the brand-new Spectre!
Neron proceeds to sass him... which doesn't seem like the smartest course of action. He mocks the Spectre... even going as far as to refer to him as something of a subordinate. Hal don't take kindly to that... and locks him up in a lantern construct to yell at him some. Neron is suddenly sent back to "back where he came" by... the old Spectre-host, Jim Corrigan.
Jim wishes Hal the best... and informs him that some of the lost souls in Purgatory will finally be getting their appeal. He even takes Asmodel back to Heaven with him.
Overwhelmed, Hal takes his leave... but not before restoring Manhattan to its former glory.
The heroes celebrate their victory... and we get a pretty good shot of the Sentinels of Magic. Zatanna informs the crowd that they are free to applaud if they want. With lines like that, I wonder if this makes her the first ever Millennial? Hell, it was still the twentieth century when this came out... talk about being ahead of one's time!
We pop down to Hell... and learn that Neron has been "demoted". Something tells us this might've been Etrigan's plan all along. He's an easy character to write (besides the rhyming of course). If he wins... it's all according to plan, if he loses... well, that was his plan anyway!
After a brief scene with Zatanna accepting a date with that nerdy barkeep from wayyy back in issue #1, we meet up with the Quintessence... who give us the Animal House updates on our major players... which really makes me think this was all a pitch for a Sentinels of Magic series... which makes this overlong endeavor even that much more pointless.
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Well... I'm glad that's over.
Don't get me wrong... I can't get too mad at this story, because I feel like it's a story worth telling. My problems stem from the length and pacing of the thing.
When we talked about Millennium... which, holy smokes... was a year ago, I complained that so much of the action was going down in the tie-ins. We knew this because there were references to it in the main series. Here, I couldn't even venture to guess what was happening in the tie-ins. Did the whole Spear of Destiny thing happen "off campus"? I hope so, otherwise, the scenes we get here were... really lacking. Same with the Fate-hunt in Salem. Was that really just a single page search? Or did it happen in a tie-in?
I get that we enlightened "turn of the century" comic fans were supposed to be above such silly "comicbooky" things as editorial notes... but, ya know... sometimes things exist for a reason. I'd hate to think I was slighting this thing for the wrong reasons.
One thing I have no such qualms about is the over-reliance on cliffhangers... and the unsatisfying resolutions that followed. You can't end a book with "something" happening... then start the next with a "nevermind, everything's cool!". I mean, "evil Superman" lasted... two panels? Hell... most things in this event seem to last for two panels!
I'll spare y'all the broken record... suffice it to say, this could have been paced (and compacted) much better.
Is it worth checking out? Well, yeah... I think so. If you're a Hal-buff, or even Hal-curious... this is an important step in his retribution arc. It feels like a way to try and give the fans the "best of both worlds" in the context of the direction the DC Universe was heading at the time. For new fans, you've still got Kyle... for lapsed and seasoned fans, you get Hal too!
What we don't get is... a Sentinels of Magic series. Not that something of that sort would interest me in the slightest, because it wouldn't... but, after the hard push we get here... it seems strange that nothing really came of it.
Overall... as a series, it's bloated... over-reliant on lame cliffhangers... chock-full of weird "nothin' happenin'" cameo scenes... just not a pleasant experience if you're reading them one at a time. If you decide to take the plunge and read'em all at once, you might think differently. As a single-issue, this one has the most going for it. Outside of the cliffhanger-resolution, and the Sentinels-heavy end, this was a pretty enjoyable read!
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(Not the) Letters Page:
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Day of Judgment Solicitations:
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Day of Judgment #4 (November, 1999)
"The End of the World as We Know it"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Matt Smith
Breakdowns - Christopher Jones
Inker - Steve Mitchell
Colorist - James Sinclair
Separations - Jamison
Letters - Comicraft
Associate Editor - Tony Bedard
Editor - Dan Raspler
Special Thanks - Kevin Dooley
Cover Price: $2.50
Penultimate Judgment!
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All around the world, heroes are taking the fight to the demons... including, in a rare post-Vertigo appearance, Animal Man! In Manhattan, the Spectre looms large... and looks to be belting out quite the chorus, while Alan Scott is knelt before the shards of Hal Jordan.
If you recall, yesterday... Hal returned to the mortal plane, and in his first move... he socked the Asmodel-Spectre in the jaw, only to be turned into glass... which shattered when it hit the ground. You might also remember a few days back where Asmodel-Spectre turned Superman into a pillar of salt. Well... this cliffhanger pays off similarly... which is to say, Hal Jordan is okay again!
Thanks to Doctor Fate! So that's why we were in Salem, eh?
Alan tells Hal that he can't do this alone... and suggests he settle his tea kettle, and stay focused. And so, Hal decides to strategize... sending some construct fighter jets to take on the Spectre's pestilence bugs. Unfortunately, it's been quite some time since Hal's last charged his ring... and purgatory-apparition or not, rules are rules.
And so, the Sentinels of Magic combine their powers to give Hal a proper recharge. Hal then assembles a very familiar army... the Green Lantern Corps!
Meanwhile in Space... Starfire has the Spear of Destiny, and has gone rather mad with the power. This threat lasts exactly one panel... S.T.R.I.P.E. nails her with some electric blasts, and Captain Marvel reclaims the relic.
In Hell faced with the threat of Nebiros, Faust empties out that bag of bones he'd been carrying around. The skeleton begins to reanimate, and comes together as... Blue Devil!
Topside, the construct Corps are pounding away at the Spectre, and in a neat bit... Hal tries to apologize to Kilowog. The big lug doesn't wanna hear it... they've got a job to do. At the same time, Captain Marvel and the gang returns with the Spear of Destiny.
Back in Hell, Blue Devil easily bests Nebiros... and the heroes jump to the task of reigniting the fires of frozen-over Hell. Faust notes that his good deed in vanquishing Nebiros has released his soul... for the first time in who knows how long, he is complete! We've still got a problem in that the hellfires refuse to light!
Faust realizes that the only way to spark it is to perform an act of true evil... and so, he slits the throat of the Enchantress! Wow, that's pretty hardcore. Whatever works though!
Topside... the battle continues to rage. After a brief skirmish with Etrigan, Captain Marvel plunges the Spear of Destiny into the Spectre's chest.
With Asmodel weakened... it's time for Hal to, in the words of Kilowog, "take his medicine".
At the same time, Superman and the Hell-lighters return. Kyle is pretty taken aback... thinking he'd just seen Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps (there's a book waiting to be... oh.) Anyhoo, Superman is acting weird... he kayos Batman and Kyle, and approaches the Spectre claiming that he will take the power. Well, that's right responsible of him! Oh... waitasec, he also wants all of the heroes' souls. Whoops.
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Some really neat scenes here... but still can't help but to feel that this is going on too long. I keep imagining this as a nice over-sized special... or maybe a prestige-format dealie. I think it would've read so much better that way. Perhaps I'm doing it (and myself) a disservice by insisting that I read these one at a time. Maybe if I just powered through, I'd receive it a bit better. Buuuuut, that's the cross we bear here at the Infinite Earths.
Let's start with the cliffhanger resolved... Hal goes to pieces, and suddenly he's back. I feel like this is kind of lazy... same with the Superman-as-salt cliffhanger. It's like, okay... how do we end this one? Oh, I know... we'll kill Superman. Cool... how do we walk that back? Well, next issue he just won't be dead anymore!
I guess when we're working with magic... it's easy enough a fix, but still... kinda lazy. Kinda feels like a cheat. Hal's just "okay" again. Another point for this to be a one-and-done... there'd be no need for these cheaty cliffhangers.
Now the cliffhanger going forward... Superman turned heel! Never having read this before, I can't pretend to know how this works itself out, but it stands to reason to guess that it will be resolved within the first couple of pages of the next issue. It's hard to get excited when we've already had a couple of cop-out resolutions.
Onto the awesome scenes! It was really cool seeing the Green Lantern Corps... especially since they weren't exactly "constructs". In Hal chatting up Kilowog, we can see that he had a "soul" or "consciousness" about him. It gave Hal the opportunity to (attempt to) make amends... which was something I really wanted to see. I do wish Kyle was able to get a better look at the Corps in action though.
The scene in Hell was... hit or miss. The Nebiros fight felt a bit like a throwaway... but it was necessary for what followed. Faust is a character I have very little investment in, so his soul returning didn't do all that much for me. Can't really hold that against it though... that's just me. His killing the Enchantress was interesting... I guess I dug it because I really can't stand the Enchantress. The character always annoyed me.
The Spear of Destiny bit... again, such an oddly-paced scene. I mean, we get Starfire overcome with the power... and she's zapped in the very next panel. Why even bother? Just get the damn Spear...
Overall... I'm gonna ride the fence here. I do think this is an important story... and there's a lot to like about it, but... the pacing here is a bit off-putting. I know I'm coming across like a broken record here, but... this didn't need five issues, and would have been better served as an over-sized one-shot... or maybe between Spectre and Demon Annuals or something. Anyhoo... we'll wrap this bugger up tomorrow.
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