Bonus Book #3 - Doom Patrol (June, 1988)
"A Life in the Day"
Writer - Steve Miller (probably not that Steve Miller)
Pencils - Randy DuBurke
Inks - Joe Alidetta
Letters - Tim Harkins
Colors - Elizabeth Kessler
Edits - Paul Kupperberg
Consulting Edits - Mike Gold
Wow, that's a cover, innit? Pretty horrifying stuff... are we sure this is pre-Morrison Doom Patrol? How ya like Arani's pose there? Part tortured, part seductive... eesh, it's just really off-putting. If you followed during our ten-month Action Comics Daily endeavor last year, that art ought to be pretty familiar to y'all! Let's see how good it looks on the inside!
This bugger was jammed betwixt the staples of Doom Patrol (vol.2) #9 (June, 1988).
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We open with Celsius stood before a War Memorial. She is approached by an elderly woman in a wheelchair who seems to sense that she needs somebody to talk to. I'm not sure if the wheelchair is supposed to evoke Niles Caulder... but, I suppose that doesn't really matter. Anyhoo, the old woman asks what's up... and Arani hesitates before spilling her guts to this perfect stranger. She tells her all about the Doom Patrol and her missing husband. The old woman than shares that she recently lost a husband herself... and, she has decided that this day will be her "last day". As in, she's planning to die today. She introduces herself as Ellen and invites Arani to share in her company on this very important day. Since our Doomy has nothing better to do... and maybe figures she can talk this old bitty out of dying, she agrees.
Their first stop is Bryant's Barbeque Restaurant, which is actually a real place in Kansas City! Ellen orders a pork sandwich... and Arani kinda does the spoilsport thing and says she ain't hungry. Ellen takes it upon herself to order a sammie for her young tagalong.
Arani, unsurprisingly, loves the sandwich... and Ellen shares a story about the old owner of the joint, Arthur Bryant. She says he was so legendary in the area that when he passed away, a cartoonist drew him arriving at the pearly-gates of Heaven, with Saint Peter asking if he brought any sauce.
And, whattaya know...
Their next stop is to see the Kansas City Royals play. Ellen says she's been a fan forever, and always watches them on television... but has never visited the park. Today, they're playing the New York Yankees... so, why not? George Brett winds up hitting the game-winning Home Run... the ball soars right into Ellen and Arani's section.
The fan who caught the ball graciously offers it to Ellen. She gleefully takes it, and suggests she and Arani head down and try to get George Brett to autograph it for them. Arani is quite confused about the direction this day has taken.
They get the autograph... turns out Mr. Brett is "such a nice young man". Celsius is clearly beginning to lose her patience... and attempts to "call it a day", because she's got stuff to do... like, ya know, stare at walls, hoping that Niles' location will just magically pop into her mind. Ellen tells her they've got just one last stop. Arani begrudgingly agrees to accompany her.
On their way to their final destination, our pair happen across a burning building. Firefighters appear to be having great difficulty dealing with this inferno... but Celsius doesn't look to be all that interested in helping out. Ellen doesn't give her the choice... if Arani can do something to help save some lives, then she damn sure better!
Arani gives in and uses her powers to create a tremendous ice-slide gimmick. That's not good enough for our gal Ellen though. She insists that Arani inform the police and firefighters that she, in fact, assisted. Arani gives a flat-out "No".
Well, if we know anything about Ellen... and, we don't know much... but, we do know that she ain't about to take "no" for an answer. Arani tells the Police about her helping-hand... and is absolutely bombarded with questions. Oh! So, that's what all those Twizzler's Mouths on the cover were all about!
Finally, Arani and Ellen arrive at the "final destination". It's a fountain at a park. Ellen asks Arani to look around and tell her what she sees. She responds with "people wasting time". Ellen corrects her, explaining that they're not wasting time... they're "enjoying their lives". She suggests Arani do the same... make friends, share her life with them. Life's short and all'at. She hands over her George Brett ball as a memento of their time together...
... then, she dies. Arani kisses her on the forehead.
We wrap up back at Doom Patrol headquarters... where Arani has a little chat with Cliff. She even tosses him the George Brett baseball. It looks as though she learned something from her day with Ellen... and perhaps, tomorrow can be a new beginning for her. Ya know, so long as there isn't some crazy alien Invasion! heading their way.
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Ya know... I'm not sure what I was expecting from this Bonus Book endeavor... well, actually, I take that back... I know pretty much exactly what I expected. I expected, to be completely blunt... garbage. I expected throwaways... I expected halfhearted efforts. I guess, I expected "current year" DC Comics anthology fare. What we've gotten instead (at least to this point) is... very earnest, well thought-out little stories. These first three Bonus Books appear to have that one intangible we overly precious-types go on and on about... they've got heart.
It's easy to look at this one, and... after the first handful of pages, sigh to ourselves and say "Oh, it's going to be one of those stories"... a "final day" story, where someone is going to learn a valuable lesson about life. And, don't get me wrong, that's exactly what it is. It's a trope we've seen time and again in fiction. The thing of it is, however, that it's done just so damn well here! This really was excellent!
Now, it's been... a very long time... since I've read any pre-Morrison Doom Patrol. This Kupperberg run, while not bad or anything, was always sort of a "Premack" situation to me. It was what I'd force myself to push through in order to get to the Morrison run. Could've just skipped it... and a lot of times I did. But, the times I did read it, it was out of some sort of weird obligation rather than any actual interest.
That said, I know the broader strokes of Arani's search for the Chief... I mean, I guess it's all broad strokes... she's searching for the Chief. Done. Thing is, you don't necessarily even need to be familiar with that aspect of that story to fully appreciate this. Miller does a fine job depicting Arani as troubled and focused on her mission... and shares what that mission is. I suppose what I'm trying to say here, but taking a rather "scenic route" is, you can go into this story cold, and you won't be lost. You can (and likely will) still enjoy it.
I appreciated the nods to actual Kansas City locales and history. I'm sure had I not had a Google-Machine within arm's reach at all times, I'd likely assume places like Bryant's were just made up by the writer... and, I mean, while it doesn't so much matter that it's real... I definitely appreciate the effort. From the Bonus Book Bio page (included below), it looks as though our writer, (not that) Steve Miller might just be a KC native.
Let's take a look at Mssr. Miller. If the DC Wiki is to be believed, he was (sadly) a one-and-done. This was his only story. That's definitely too bad, because, I tell ya what... this was a damn good story. Trying to Google this fella, as you might imagine, is somewhat difficult. If I'm not pulling up that Steve Miller... I'm getting Frank! His career started prior to his DC try-out with a series called Rust from NOW Comics. From my (admittedly litte) research, it seems like he came up with the Rust concept... but might not have actually written the comics? He didn't do a heckuva lot in the field after this though. That's really too bad.
Across the table, we've got our artist Randy DuBurke. Chris is on Infinite Earths regulars might recognize him as the artist on Action Comics Weekly's pair of Black Canary features! Now, I gave him a bit of grief during those runs... both for being "boring" and for being wayyy too experimental. It was a very bi-polar effort. Here, however, it would appear that DuBurke has found that "happy medium" between clean-clear-comics and Sienkiewicz-lite. It certainly helps that this more "talkie" story might best suit his style. From the DC Wiki, it looks as though Randy went on to do Action Comics Weekly, a few other things... then, poof... that's that! He does have a website you can check out if you wanna see some of his more recent work... which, it rather nice! There are some amazing-looking painted pages posted there.
Overall... as if it's not obvious... I really dug this one. Well worth checking out... or digging up, if you've already got Doom Patrol #9 in a longbox somewhere!
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(Not the) Letters Page:
Bonus Book #2 - Doctor Light (May, 1988)
"Light at the End of the Tunnel"
Writer - George Broderick, Jr.
Pencils - Gordon Purcell
Inks - Timothy Dzon
Letters - Dan McKinnon
Colors - Glenn Whitmore
Edits - Barbara Randall
Consultant - Marv Wolfman
A... Doctor Light story? Really? That's what we're doing here today? Well, this is probably going to be weird, innit? It's also likely to be read by less people than I can count on one hand!
This Bonus Book was shoved into the staples of Flash (vol.2) #12 (May, 1988).
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We open with Doctor Light (the bad one) being transported from a high-security prison to a... less, I dunno, notorious setting? Ya see, ain't nobody taking this fella seriously enough to keep in Max-Sec. During the trip from Rykers Island to the... uh, Parma County Correctional Work Farm... Light is pretty much left to his own devices... which just goes to show how seriously they're taking him. Anyhoo, he triggers a light show from some little chip in his fingernail, which blinds his driver and guard. Escaping the bus, Artie finds himself at the town line of... Radiance, Pennsylvania.
Light sneaks into town, and realizing he'll need to be better-dressed... or at least more casually-dressed to fit in, trades clothes with a local yokel... which is to say, knocks some dude out, and swaps gear. The police, hot on his trail, mistake the yokel in prison togs for Dr. Light... under the assumption that one of his powers has to do with changing his appearance with holograms or something. With the heat off, Light starts heading down the main drag.
It's here we meet a trio of young boys... Shawn Rogers, Static Simms, and Stats Mehlville. Any of those surnames ring a bell? Of course they don't... unless you're a big-time Golden Age comics fan. They're being menaces, in the Dennis sense of the word... skateboarding down the (relatively) busy street. Just being kids, ya know? Anyhoo, they're stopped by a Police Officer, who just so happens to be one of the boys' father, and get a weak lecture on responsibility... in the shadow of Radiance Founder Hosiah Fitz's statue. It's really wholesome... so wholesome, in fact, that it makes Dr. Light wanna hurl... and, change his clothes.
Meanwhile, in Parma... not-Dr. Light is steadfast in the fact that he's, ya know, not Dr. Light. The Warden decides to call the Teen Titans to confirm... however, their conversation is cut short when someone attacks Titan's Tower. Okay, then.
Back in Radiance, the Mayor's office is full of local business owners, all complaining about some very recent thefts. The Mayor, by the way, is the father of another one of those boys we just met. The locals are ticked off about this "crime wave" and are holding the Mayor's feet to the fire. Outside, Shawn, Stats, and Static... wait, we've got a Stats and a Static? Okay then... whatever the case, they're outside on the Courthouse steps pondering how they might help track down the baddie.
After another brief stop in Parma, where not-Dr. Light is diagnosed as being in self-denial, we get the big Radiance Reveal. Doctor Light, in all his glory, struts into the square. Ya see, he's the guy who stole a bunch of stuff from the local shops... in order to put together his classic costume. Gotta say, dude's like a ninja with a sewing machine.
He threatens the town... basically saying he wants to take it over. Naturally, nobody takes this seriously in the slightest. And so, he points at the statue of Hosiah Fitz... and vaporizes the darn thing! This tells the Radiants... Radians... Radiantese... the common folk, that he means business.
He even gets into a stare-down with that local cop from earlier... ya know, whichever kid's father that was... and, the local "blinks" first.
And so, Doctor Light has taken over the town of Radiance, PA! Like, for real... he now runs the place! Even got himself an army of delinquents to "keep the peace" for him! Thing of it is, he's so paranoid that he's going to be found out, that he's basically locked himself in an office. His paranoia is so out of control (almost at Chris-levels) that he even second-guesses taking a swig of water from the cooler, fearing it's been poisoned!
Meanwhile, dem boys are still trying to figure out a way they might help out. They head to one of their houses, where they discover an old journal. This journal reveals that all three of their fathers were... Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys! The who, now? Well, these are the Golden Agers I was talking about earlier (first appearance: Sensation Comics #1 - January, 1942)... I won't even pretend to have ever heard of them before now (making me perhaps a true rarity in the comics-commentary community)! Along with the journal, they happen across all of the colorful costumes their Pops' had worn back in the 40's! You see where this is going, surely?
The kids get suited up, and endeavor to partake in some "creative problem solving". Ya see, they doubt very highly that an idiot like Dr. Light could actually recreate his supervillain costume. They figure there's gotta be a "gimmick". And so, they ultimately deduce (in surveying everything that Light had stolen before his "demonstration") that the most likely scenario was: Artie used a remote detonator using radio frequencies to make it appear as though he could destroy a statue by simply pointing at it. Ya dig?
And so, they head over to Dr. Light's office to... ya know, screw with him a bit. After launching a smoke canister through his window, Artie runs out to see what the hub-bub's about. When he sees the Blue Boys (II), he threatens with more vaporization. And, he... ya know points. Nothing happens. He points again... still nada. Ya see, the Blue Boys (two) have jammed the radio frequency he was using to make things go boom, rendering him... powerless. Dr. Light decides to attempt beating a hasty retreat.
The Blue Boys (dos) trip the baddie up, and before we know it, he's loaded back on the bus headed to Parma. Not-Dr. Light is returned home... likely ready to prepare a rather large lawsuit! We also get a somewhat touching scene between father-and-son-Blue-Boys.
We close out back in Dr. Light's cell, where he's in the middle of writing a missive to... Amanda Waller! Hmm...
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This was... cute. Wasn't expecting this one to be quite as much fun as it turned out being... I also wasn't expecting it to both tie into Golden Age continuity and facilitate Dr. Light joining up with the Suicide Squad! It's crazy... this story actually mattered! I really wasn't expecting that!
I appreciate any nods to past continuity... and as I was reading this in bed last night, I was searching for any information I could find on the Blue Boys on my phone... if you're going to do the same, might I suggest making sure your SafeSearch is on. Ahem. I kid, I kid. Not about the search though! I had to find out if this was a legit reference to the past or not... and I was delighted to find out that it was. Absolutely love this sort of thing!
I thought Doctor Light was handled very well here. I really dug his paranoia setting in as his plan appeared to be coming together. It really shines a light (no pun intended) on what a bad supervillain he's always been, when an actual victory is enough to really get under his skin! I mean, I really like that idea. This dude is so used to losing, his plan doesn't even have a "Step 2". He's just waiting for the walls to close in. Love it!
The kids discovering their dads' old togs? It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it works. I thought the kids were a lot of fun... and wanting to "do good" by their sleepy town is reason enough for them to don the hoods. Lotta fun.
Now to check in on our New Talents:
According to the DC Wiki... our writer, George Broderick did not go on to become a DC Comics mainstay... in fact, this story is the only thing attributed to him. That's a shame... I've always got time for creators who try and weave bits and pieces of lore into their stories... without making it come across as a blatant nostalgia-wank. Looks like where Broderick excelled was in his cartooning... and you can check out some of his stuff on his website!
Our artist, Gordon Purcell, (again, according to the DC Wiki) would go on to become a penciller for DC's Star Trek comics... which, you know I've never read. He's even listed as the writer for one of those issues! He would get some work at Marvel and later go on to provide art for licensed titles at IDW and for JMS's Joe's Comics over at Image. Pretty good! For this story to be among his earlier work... well, you'd never know! He's got a really good handle on just about everything... you show this one to anybody, and I doubt anyone would suggest it's someone's "try out".
Overall... this was way more fun than it had any right to be. A great outing for some new creators.
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(Not the) Letters Page:
Bonus Book #1 - Action Comics (April, 1988)
"Superman and Jimmy Olsen: The Karma Beggers"
Writer - Joe Calchi
Pencils - Britt Wisenbaker
Inks - James Scott
Letters - Dan McKinnon
Colors - Glenn Whitmore
Edits - Mike Carlin
Alrighty, with the Insert Prevue era firmly in the rear-view, we now move on to the official start of the DC Comics "Bonus Book!" These "second features" would appear for thirteen months... or at least thirteen issues, the cover-dates get really wonky during the Winter of 1988/1989, but we'll talk more about that sometime next week.
The gimmick here is, rather than using these 16-pagers as a way to introduce (or revitalize) a concept... these will actually put new creators in the driver's seat on some already established characters and properties. It's sort of an extension of the DC New Talent Showcase Program... however, instead of newbies writing and drawing stories and characters nobody's ever heard of... they're now going to be writing Superman, Batman, and a whole bunch of other notables from the DC Pantheon!
If you recall, I had originally planned to parlay this blog from Action Comics Weekly into covering New Talent Showcase, and we still might somewhere down the line... but, fair warning... those stories be dullllllll.
Speaking of Action Comics Weekly, today's Bonus Book comes to us from Action Comics! In fact, this is the final issue of Action during the short-lived post-Crisis "Superman Team-Up" era... which we've covered a few issues of here at the blog! Click dem covers to check 'em out:
Two issues after this one would actually kick off ACW! So yeah, from Action Comics #599 (April, 1988), I give to you... Superman's sorta-kinda team up with... Jimmy Olsen?!
Full disclosure before we begin... I've never read any of these Bonus Books before... any time I'd come across 'em in my readings, I would skip 'em... or plan to read them after I finish the main story... before forgetting they ever existed in the first place!
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We open with Superman returning to the Daily Planet after a run-in with Lex Luthor's Kryptonite Man... which places this story as immediately following the main feature of Action Comics #599! He's in kind of a rush, as Perry White's got him working on a four-page story. A four-page column in the newspaper? That might be the most unbelievable part of this entire thing! Inside, Perry's on the warpath, as per usual when new creators hop into a Superman story. Superman heads into a closet to "Kent-down", before getting a requisite cold-shoulder from Lois, who gets her story on the recent passing of rock star Rondo Harris moved to the weekend magazine section. More on that in a bit. Jimmy Olsen enters the scene... looking rather like, err, Crockett or Tubbs... whichever one Don Johnson played on Miami Vice!
Jimbo refers to his look as "fashionably unshaven"... and I'll hand it to him, this is probably the least goofy he's ever come across when trying to look "cool". He reminds the Chief that he's headed off on vay-cay, and just wanted to hand in his story on a recent Dog Show before taking off into the wild blue yonder. He tries to say goodbye to Clark, however, our main man's super-hearing has picked up some goings down at the Soviet Embassy. Jim then gets twirled around by the flirtatious Cat Grant... who really seems to dig his newly-scruffy face.
In twirling young Olsen, he accidentally bumps his Superman Signal Watch against a desk... which triggers the thing to Zee Zee Zee like the Dickens. Superman, who is still nearby, is nearly brought to his knees by the infernal racket... but uses his x-ray vision to ensure Jimmy's actually okay before disregarding it as a false alarm.
Jimmy hops into a cab to head to the airport. On the radio, they're talking about the recent passing of Rondo Harris. This triggers a flashback, as it just so happens that Jimmy was once in Ron's band! Betcha didn't know Jimmy played the drums in some dude's garage back in the day! Rondo would go on to superstardom before passing... which is what prompted ol' freckle-face to take this particular vacation.
Ya see, he's headed down to Florida, where he can catch a ferry to New Aphelonia Island... a formerly "lost continent" that Rondo and a Professor Argo Demostedes had discovered and raised "stone by stone". Man, who needs Superman when you've got Rondo friggin' Harris? Anyhoo, Jimmy looks at a photo of Ron, Argo, and a young woman as his plane comes in for a landing.
After checking in (as O.L. Jameson), he heads for the Ferry so he can investigate just what's going on at New Aphelonia since a treasure-hunter named Tane took the place over. At the docks, Jimmy is surprised to see some notable faces... actors, athletes, even an astronaut!
Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman is still taking all of the explosives out of the Soviet Embassy. Man, it took him from the time it took Jimmy to get from the Daily Planet... to the airport... to Florida... to the Ferry Docks for Superman to take care of this? C'mon... where's Rondo Harris when you need him?!
Back on New Aphelonia, Jimmy is making some dark discoveries about the place. Turns out, it's a culty indoctrination camp! Which might just explain why Rondo Harris left every last dime of his to the Island in his will!
Jimmy sits in on a ceremony, where Putnam Tane takes a seat on stage... before being overcome by the, I dunno, spirit of Gallus Kon Akkqqus! This Gallus kind of resembles a Masters of the Universe action figure... however, as he begins to share his "message", his voice gets all garbled and static-like. Hmm...
Jimmy smells a rat... as well he should. He sneaks off and discovers a control room hidden underneath the stage. As luck would have it, it's been left unlocked! Jimmy is able to log into a computer and finds out that many of the rich and famous members of the "movement" have signed over their estates to the Brethren! While Jimmy snoops, the crowd continues to chant for Gallus. So overcome by the... er, spirit... one woman actually climbs up on stage... and sort of throws herself off? This isn't entirely clear... but, it ends with the poor gal snapping her neck. Gwen Stacy never looked so good!
Jimmy leaves to... throw up. Guess his constitution hasn't quite caught up with his courage. He then observes as a Brethren member drags the dead gal out to the beach... to make her passing look like a diving accident. I'm no attorney, but it's probably easier to nab her estate that way!
Jimmy decides to give chase, by swimming out to the boat. Upon climbing up, he is attacked by... the dead woman?! Well, no... it's actually that young lady from the photo Jimmy was looking at on the plane. Why she was wearing a blonde wig, I haven't the foggiest. She explains that she is the late-Argo Whatshisface's daughter, Nina... and she's been trying to take down the cult. Well, actually, she just wants to kill Tane for killing her dad.
Deeper inside the boat is... Tane! He's getting the report of the neck-snapped gal... and he's not at all pleased. After all, she was supposed to be his "amusement" later on. He backhands some dude, before producing... an axe? Oh, c'mon. We learn that this gal was given a meal laced with "cardio hyper stimulants" whatever that means. Anyhoo, Jimmy and Nina decide to split up... with the former looking for evidence, and the latter taking one of the lifeboats toward shore, so she can contact the Daily Planet with the news.
Jimmy, unsurprisingly, is discovered. When faced with the threat of... I dunno, death... he brandishes his Signal Watch, warning that he'll call Superman! Tane ain't buyin' it.
Lucky for Jim, Nina didn't do as she was told... and she runs in to deliver a (very stiff, and not in the good way) kick to the baddie. Jimmy snags a nearby fire extinguisher and blasts Tane in the face. Ya know, it probably would've been more useful to actually hit the dude with the extinguisher rather than just spraying the suds at him! Jimmy and Nina then hop off the side of the ship into a lifeboat... rowing back to the camp, where Jimmy abducts a pilot! Wow, it's just gotta be the stubble causing Jim to act so rough, eh?
Jimmy, Nina, and the hostage-Pilot take off from New Aphelonia... with Tane and Company right on their tail! Jimmy nyoinks a brooch off the pilot's cloak, which seems to bring the dude back to his senses. Now, unfortunately for the bad guys, they find themselves being weighed down... by something. A quick glance wing-ward reveals that... Superman is here! I... hmm... I thought the whole thing here was going to be him ignoring Jimmy as a "false alarm"... why else would we get that other Signal Watch scene earlier on?
Bada-bing, bada-boom... Jimmy wins the day. Unfortunately for him, however, Perry White still thinks he's a complete dope, and so Lois is given the New Aphelonia/Gallus story! Oh! Also, that astronaut guy gets all of the credit for shutting down Tane! Oh well... at least Superman knows what a hero Jimmy is!
We wrap up at the Federal Prison on Stryker's Island where Putnam Tane has been locked up. From his cell, weird voices can be heard. When the guards run in to check it out... or tell him to shut up... they find that the wall of his cell had been blown out! In the water nearby, swims... *gasp* Gallus!
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This was... okay! I'm kind of surprised how much I enjoyed it. This was a Jimmy Olsen story, which I can kinda run hot and cold with... but, it was a whole lot different than the silly Silver-Age stuff (or absolutely horrendous "current year" stuff) we might be used to when it comes to ol' solo James. Sure, a lot of it is questionable insofar as Jimmy's character and, if we're being honest, efficacy... but, it was fun enough.
Our writer, Joe Calchi, is one I'd never heard of. In fact, we're going to be discussing his only other story in just a few days... at least if the DC Comics Wiki is to be believed. So, if the Wiki's right, this here ditty is Calchi's first comic script! Ya know, for a first outing, it's really very good. Heck, for a dozenth outing, it ain't all that shabby. It's not perfect... and there were a few things that jumped out at me in the reading.
First, dem voice balloons were pa-a-a-acked! As a fake-ass comics historian and analyst, I often find myself looking for "representative panels"... like, the images I can share that doesn't give everything away, but can actually compliment whatever it is that I'm babbling about as it pertains to an issue. When the dialogue is so jam-packed, it becomes kind of a challenge. That's not Joe Calchi's fault... or even the fault of the 16-page (14-story pages) format. I feel like this is an issue for an Editor to attend to.
Speaking of the Editor, there were some errors in here... one that jumps out immediately is use of "their" instead of "they're"... which only really jumps out because there/their/they're is one error I find myself making when I reread some of my older stuff!
My main observation about this story, in as far as the writing is concerned, was... the Chekhov's Signal Watch bit. Early on in the story, Jimmy bumps his Signal Watch... Superman knows it's a false alarm, and ignores it. You'd think that'd come back around, right? Heck, even our cover alludes to the fact that Superman might not be responding to the Distress Call! And so, at the end of the story, when Jimmy activates the thing again... Superman just shows up? There's no tension... we don't get a scene of Clark Kent chilling at his apartment or at the Daily Planet, shrugging off the Distress Call as just Jimmy "bumping" it again... we just get Superman. I mean, I know what they were going for here... it just didn't quite hit the mark.
Across the table sits our artist, Britt Wisenbaker, who is another we didn't hear all that much from after this outing. A quick Googling shows only this story, and some art-duties in Badger #38 (September, 1988) over at First Comics... though, without running upstairs to dig through my longboxes, I can't confirm that one. We might assume this was his first professional gig? Maybe? I dunno. Whatever the case, I thought the work was, outside a couple weird Superman and Lois faces, pretty good. In particular, I really dug Jimmy's Miami Vice look... I thought that was a lot of fun.
Overall... yeah, this was an interesting little story... a lot darker than I figured it would be when I saw the cover, that's for sure! I certainly wasn't expecting Jimmy to investigate and infiltrate a Cult! Our ending is pretty bittersweet, in that our man doesn't get any of the credit he deserves... but, Superman knows just what a hero Jimmy actually is.
Worth checking out if you're rereading your old post-Crisis/pre-Action Comics Weekly Superman books! Don't skip it like I did all those times before! This issue of Action Comics is available digitally... and, as it's listed as having 37-Pages, we can safely assume it comes with the Bonus Book intact!
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(Not the) Letters Page:
