#i know this is half the point of the clark kent superman type deal. it's so obvious

[coldflasher]

also i finally started watching supergirl (yay! i probably should have actually caught up on the flash first but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) and like. listen. i know that these shows are all ridiculous and camp and obviously not at all realistic but like. this maxwell lord guy really just looks kara DIRECTLY IN HER UNMASKED FACE like “somehow i WILL find out who you really are” as if he can’t see HER ENTIRE FACE

[superman86to99]

Superman #82 (October 1993)

REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN! The climax of this 19-part storyline, the entire "Death and Return of Superman" saga, and seven years of long-ass plotlines. And it only took this blog a mere six years and six months to get here! PREVIOUSLY: After Superman’s death, five different Supermen popped up to reclaim the mantle, some more convincingly than others. The front-runner, the Cyborg Superman, kinda ruled himself out of the competition when he nuked out a whole city and replaced it with a giant engine. Now the other would-be Supermen converge in that place...

The Last Son of Krypton/Eradicator finally arrives on Engine City, having set off from the Fortress of Solitude two weeks ago. We noted back then that he suddenly looked like an old man, but he's back to Superman's age now. If this storyline had gone on any longer, he would ended up Benjamin Buttoning himself into a grumpy, ultra-violent baby.

Superboy also flies in from Metropolis. It's the fourth time he makes the Metropolis-Coast City trip in a few days (not counting the time he got a ride on a missile), so he's gotta be pretty bored of it by now.

Steel, last seen getting crushed by some giant cogs, emerges from the bowels of Engine City with his armor in tatters but his body intact. Dude’s a tough nut to crack.

Supergirl and the powerless Man in Black continue making their way through Engine City. Supergirl's like "Wanna step out and let those of us with powers handle this one, chief?" but the Man in Black ain't having it. Wow, that's pretty heroic. Maybe... maybe he's actually the real Superman?! Nah, that's crazy.

And Green Lantern Hal Jordan is also there, because this whole issue takes place on top of the ashes of his old city and childhood memories and all. We see the end of his fight with Mongul from Green Lantern #46.

The Cyborg watches as the Super-People invade his fortress from his control room, but he's a glass half full kind of guy, so he's choosing to focus on the fact that he (apparently) gets to kill Superman again.

After the Eradicator joins the party and the Cyborg reveals his true identity, the Man in Black finds himself in the awkward position of having to team up with one of Superman’s worst villains (the one who wanted to turn Earth into Krypton) to fight a good guy driven crazy by space travel (and who once looked like Johnny-5). It's only after the Eradicator goes on a two-page exposition dump about how he brought Superman back to life that the Man in Black goes "alright, guess you're cool".

The Man in Black and the Eradicator follow the Cyborg to the center of Engine City, where a giant chunk of kryptonite powers the entire fortress. The combined powers of the Eradicator's Eradicator-ness and the Man in Black's punching (OK, mostly the first thing) seem to be winning -- but then, in a desperate move, the Cyborg shoots a blast of concentrated kryptonite at the Man in Black. The Eradicator, however, heroically jumps in front of the blast...

...which has the unexpected side effect of restoring the Man in Black's Superman powers, allowing him to dispatch the Cyborg with a swift "broosh". What's a "broosh"? You know, a "broosh":

After Supergirl uses her convenient clothes-shifting powers on the Man in Black's costume, it only takes one second of him in the classic red and blue tights to convince everyone that HOLY CRAP HE'S THE REAL SUPERMAN AND HE'S BACK FROM THE DEAD! (Side note: I like how Green Lantern goes "We'll mop up here! Not like I have anything better to do, what with all my friends being dead and stuff. Haha. I-I’m okay, seriously.")

It's him! It really is him. I knew it all along. Never doubted it.

Character-Watch:

The Eradicator is this issue's real MVP. His whole arc has been about slowly turning him from an emotionless robot into a sentient being through his interactions with people (Lois, Steel, even Loose Cannon and Guy Gardner), and it pays off when he jumps in front of that kryptonite blast yelling "I WON'T LET YOU DIE [AGAIN]!".

Also, when he tells Superman "We have always been linked, you and I", that's true. While their psychic connection influenced Superman negatively for a while (the Day of the Krypton Man saga), it looks like it also worked in the other direction and some of Superman's goodness rubbed off on him. By the way, it might be a stretch but the climactic shot of the kryptonite blast always reminded me of the Day of the Krypton Man's climactic shot, with Superman finally overcoming the Eradicator’s influence with Pa Kent's help.

Anyway, sorry, Superboy and Steel. The Eradicator had the best sacrifice scene in this storyline, hands down. Of course, they eventually brought him back again and turned him into a lapdog for the Cyborg and then Zod, but let's enjoy his dignified retirement while it lasts.

Plotline-Watch:

I'm not kidding when I say that this issue represents the convergence of seven freaking years of storylines. Let's recap (strap on, this is gonna be long):

John Byrne's Man of Steel #1 (1986) introduced Superman's birth matrix, the flying artificial womb that took him from Krypton to Earth. When young Clark sees the matrix for the first time he feels weak, because there's some kryptonite lodged into it. In Superman #1, a few months later, we find out that a crazy scientist stole the matrix and used it to build Metallo, so Superman decides to leave it suspended in orbit to prevent it from being used against him again. Three years later, the distraught mind of a disembodied astronaut called Hank Henshaw jumped into the matrix, and he made himself a tiny little spaceship from its technology, then sped off into deep space. Eventually, he went mad, hooked up with Mongul, and used the DNA information he got from the birth matrix to make himself a half-Kryptonian body. Hence: the Cyborg Superman. (As for that kryptonite rock, it ended up in Lex Luthor's hands... soon to be "hand".)

Also during Byrne's run, Superman briefly visited a "pocket" universe inhabited by a Silver Age-type Superboy, who died by the end of that storyline. Months later, the pocket Earth had turned into a hellhole thanks to three Kryptonian criminals. They too died by the end of that storyline... by Superman's hand. Feeling guilty over killing those killers, Superman exiled himself in space, was captured by Mongul's Warworld, and found an ancient egg-shaped relic created by his ancestors: the Eradicator. Superman brought the Eradicator back to Earth and it built him a nice Fortress of Solitude, but it also took over his mind and turned him into the emotionless Krypton Man -- who became an entity of its own after Superman overcame it. After Superman's death, the Fortress' robots rebooted the Eradicator so he could follow his “preserve Kryptonian life” directive and restore Superman back to life, but he got a little confused and thought HE was Superman. Hence: the Last Son of Krypton.

Another concept introduced by Byrne was the idea that Kryptonian DNA is too complex to be duplicated by Earth scientists, which led to the creation of Bizarro. Byrne's World of Krypton miniseries also established that Kryptonians used clones as spare parts to extend their lifetimes, and the conflict over clone rights literally tore the planet apart. So when Superman learned of a cloning facility near Metropolis called Project Cadmus, he immediately felt uneasy about it. After his death, Cadmus got hold of his body so they could create a replacement, but, again, you can't clone a Kryptonian... so they simply created an approximation of Superman's powers and features using human DNA. Hence: Superboy.

As for Steel, he's just Steel. Hence: Steel. Incidentally, if you’re wondering why his armor has been reduced to just some metal shorts by the end of the issue, here’s the answer. Pretty self-explanatory.

The only major plotline left dangling after this issue (aside from Dr. Stratos, of course) is Lex's own death/return/cloning misadventure, but the Super-Squad will deal with that in a big way pretty soon. Oh, and then there's the mess they left for Green Lantern, but that's another creative team's problem. (SHAMELESS PLUG: Follow my new Green Lantern '94 to '04 blog to see how that mess turned out.)

Believe it or not, there's even MORE stuff to talk about in this issue, so don’t miss the great Don Sparrow's section after the jump:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

In the first place I have to say that this issue is an all-time favourite of mine, probably in my top three of this era of comics we’ve been so dutifully covering.  The excitement at my local comic shop for this issue was incredible, and already being the Superman fan that I was, I felt like I was on the ground floor. [Max: I also remember the excitement when I first saw this issue in my cousin’s hands after he showed it to me the day he bought it... then didn’t let me touch it, so I read it years later.]

We start with the cover, and I got the deluxe edition, with the chromium cover.  Back when this issue came out, I had a love/hate relationship with Image comics.  I wasn’t interested in the dark & gritty characters like Spawn and the like, and generally thought the Image books favoured flash over substance and storytelling.  BUT, man, did the colouring and paper they used at Image ever look cool!  So I was a bit torn about DC using a “gimmicky” feature like this—it looked amazing, but I also felt it was leaning a little far in the direction of sizzle over steak.  But I didn’t mind that much, since this had been such a great story to this point.  Aside from the metallic 3D look of the cover, the drawing is great, too.  It was the first look at the returned Superman in the full suit, and also with the long hair present.  DC must have thought that the long hair was a gamble on some level (even though we’d seen it for months in the actual issues) because they hid it from the covers for so long. [Max: This was also the cover they used in both the Spanish and Mexican editions I have, so that’s what I went with for the top of this post. The “normal” cover looks like a historic oddity to me.]

Inside the issue, we jump in with another splash page—there are a lot of these, and it really calls back Superman #75, as most of the pages have one main image, with a few small panels laid overtop.   This one features another interpretation of the Eradicator, with short, non-spiky hair—it’s interesting to see these characters reinterpreted week to week.  This opening page also commits the unpardonable sin of demanding that we stop reading the issue until AFTER we read Green Lantern #46.  Being a naïve 13 year old when I read this issue, I of course complied with the demands of DC editorial, and read Green Lantern first, not realizing it has a near identical plot (albeit from a different point of view), right down to the “broosh” at the end, very much spoiling what is about to come in Superman #82.  I remember being pretty steamed that my first glimpse of a returned Superman didn’t come in a Superman book.  While I appreciate the coordination, I do find the caption misleading.

Also similar to Superman #75—it’s very hard for me not to talk about every panel or page, because this whole book is just gorgeous.  The badassery from the last issue continues into this one, as Superman with his tough-guy attitude and giant gun is pretty cool.  One quibble I have with this team is that when they bury Superman’s eye’s in shadow, it can have a sinister or tired look, which I don’t think is the intention.  Some panels it’s more prominent than others, but in one panel on page 6 where it makes Superman look pretty rough, and a lot less handsome.  We get more big gun Superman later when he starts taking it to Engine City in general, knowing it is connected to the Cyborg.

The Cyborg taking different shapes is done pretty effectively here, particularly when he forms himself out of what must be a lead-like metal to accuse Superman of a bunch of nutty stuff. The reveal of the Kryptonite heart of engine city is very well done, in part because of Eradicator’s bulging red eyes.  It is a bit weird to imagine a lipless robot saying “mmm, hmm” though.

We get another great full-page splash as the Eradicator goes all-out in his effort to defeat the Cyborg.  The captions here always confused me though, where it says “(The Eradicator)  was built to kill…the other (the rocket that brought Superman to Earth, which the Cyborg used to create his new body) to bear new life.  The victor would be obvious.”  But to me, it’s not obvious.  I would think that in a Superman comic, a vessel of LIFE would be the big winner over ancient weaponry, but I think the caption intends the inverse. I guess it’s saying a gun would beat a baby crib? It’s one of those passages that sounds cool, until you think about it.  Or think about it excessively, as I clearly have. [Max: To be fair, a gun WOULD beat a baby crib. It would kick that baby crib’s ass.]

Superman’s haymaker knocking off the Cyborg’s jaw is an incredible visual, and there’s a subtle set-up for the great cape visual call-back that comes later.

The entire sequence of the Eradicator taking the blast of Kryptonite is well done, in particular the panel when we see Superman through the vanishing Eradicator.  I’m a bit confused as to just how the Kryptonite suction thing works here—the Kryptonite meteor is shrinking and shrinking, but nothing is attached to it except for that one hose.  

Jurgens and Breeding do a great job of showing the physical cost of Green Lantern going toe to toe with Mongul.  It also sets up for my all-time favourite Superboy quote, one I think might be seen on this site from time to time in meme form, “Check it out! The Lantern looks so totaled it makes me want to hurl!”.  This entire saga has been worth it, to get to that line.  Just magnificent. [Max: I think Hal went evil because of that one comment.]

The glimpse of the burnt-out husk of the Eradicator is also incredibly well drawn—and painful looking—but even by the end of this story he seems a lot more recovered.

The scene of the returned-to-full-power Superman decking the Cyborg is a stand-up-and-cheer moment, and I love the detail that Superman is holding the cape for this whole scene. It’s interesting that as the Cyborg starts to get damaged in the fight, we see how little organic material there is. Metal seems to poke through the skin on his face, as if only a thin sheet were laid over the metal.  and when Superman punches right through him, there’s really no blood or anything, just a dry, cracked crater.  I had thought, up until this issue that the cybernetic parts were beside real skin and bones (as if to replace the damaged parts of Superman’s body from his fight with Doomsday), but this issue seems to posit that he’s all robot, with only a veneer of Kryptonian flesh overtop.  

The normally merciful Superman is pretty blood-thirsty here, vibrating his arm fully in the knowledge it might kill Henshaw (who helpfully reminds us, he’s survived before).  [Max: That moment kind of rubbed me the wrong way, and I think Jurgens himself felt uneasy with it too. One of the highlights of his recent “Rebirth” run was that Superman deliberately decides to jail Hank instead of killing him to at least give him a chance to be rehabilitated, which would be cool to see happen one day.] I love the little glimpse we get of the restored, and re-costumed Superman before the full reveal, and as a character moment, I love that he would think to show gratitude for the heroes who filled in when Superman was dead.

The next few pages are pure joy, as it’s such a treat to see our Superman soaring around in the sunshine, even with the new Tarzan haircut.  It’s such a show of restraint that they didn’t pack a reunion with Lois into this issue, instead allowing a different superteam to tell that story, which very much deserves its own issue.  Overall, though, I just remember feeling such a sense of joy, and relief that Superman was back, and back to full power. [Max: SPOILERS: And then some...]

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

I do love this era of comics before swearing (or even censored swearing) was a thing, because they have the weirdest phrases. John Byrne would always have characters saying “blast” instead of “damn” to an absolutely ridiculous degree.  In this issue, I don’t know for sure if “crud” is a stand-in for another word, but it does strike me as downright odd for Green Lantern to use it as a noun against Mongul.  The concept of “a crud” just amuses me, though I suppose it could be meant in the same vein as “scum” or something.

Is it me, or does Jeb look like Ricardo Montalbon here? [Max: Oh crud, I forgot Jeb was in this issue! Jeb was in this issue, everyone.]

I love they don’t even give the Cyborg a moment to be cool.  Just as he’s about to reveal his true identity in a villainous speech he gets clocked by Superboy, in one of my favourite moments with the character (but not my very favourite, as we’ve seen.)  I also like the low-level burn that Henshaw assumes that Superman must already know who he is, but Superman’s like, nope.

I do like that this issue goes to great lengths to explain that Superman can’t just keep returning from the dead, even going so far as to say it would never work again.  My pet theory is that the Eradicator’s Resurrection Matrix only worked because Pa Kent’s spiritual journey in Adventures of Superman #500 really did happen. [Max: I might be misremembering, but I think the upcoming issue of Action pretty much confirms that.]

I’m glad to see him recovered, but I kinda think Eradicator spoiled the moment a little with his observation about Green Lantern.

[Max: Blast it, Sparrow! You’ve done it again!]

[aurumacadicus]

@mrsbananers said Tony Stark/Clark Kent! The prompt was “Well the probability of that is zero, but you go ahead.”

Clark watched Tony mutter curses under his breath as he fiddled with a seam to the door of the cell they’d been locked in for twenty minutes before asking, “Are you sure waiting for rescue is such a bad--”

“If Bruce rescues me, he’ll never let me live it down,” Tony snarled immediately.

Clark nodded. “Okay.”

“I will not be in Bruce’s debt. That’s not going to happen ever,” Tony hissed.

“I’m pretty sure Bruce prefers to be called ‘Batman’ in these types of situations,” Clark began.

Tony whipped around to glare at him, wild-eyed. “WELL BRUCE ISN’T HERE RIGHT NOW, CLARK, AND I DON’T PLAN TO TELL HIM ABOUT THIS.”

“Okay,” Clark said again.

Tony went back to fiddling with the seam, muttering about kryptonite linings and useless human beings and ‘at least you’re still shaped like a triangle I guess.’ Clark was not as upset by this as he maybe should have been. They were in an incredibly stressful situation, and Tony would probably apologize for calling him useless later. Bruce had warned him about this.

Then again, Bruce had also warned him that ‘Tony is the world’s biggest kidnapping magnet, holy shit, I have been kidnapped a third of the amount of times as he has, it’s not “if” it happens, but “when”’ and Clark had just sort of… disregarded it. Who was going to kidnap Iron Man, after all? People who fought Superman and wanted to use his boyfriend as a tool, that’s who. He felt stupid about it now. Bruce had tried to warn him, and he’d missed it.

“This is why secret identities is a thing,” Clark said before he could stop himself.

“DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE,” Tony snarled. “I will find a way to take this kryptonite lining and kill you with it!”

Clark was unconcerned. “Well, the probability of that is zero, but you go ahead and try.”

Tony turned, scowling at him. “You’re being very flippant for someone who’s locked up, powers sapped, and boyfriend in danger, you know.”

“You wouldn’t have this problem if you were dating Clark Kent,” Clark pointed out.

“I don’t want to date Clark Kent,” Tony answered hotly, and not for the first time. “Did it ever occur to you that the reason you want me to date Clark Kent is the same reason I don’t? You’re--you’re Superman! You’re fast and strong and--and bullet proof! If something happens to me, you’ll be there in time to help me! And everyone knows I’m Iron Man anyway! But if you got kidnapped… If--if you--” he choked out, then hurried to turn away from him, hand coming up toward his face.

Clark heard him sniffle and felt awful. “If Clark Kent got kidnapped, there would be no guarantee that you could rescue me before I was forced to reveal my identity as Superman.”

“No super villain is stupid enough to try and kidnap Superman to get to Iron Man,” Tony whispered. “You’re safer this way. I’m used to this, being taken and held captive, so it’s really no big deal for me. It’s been my life since I was born. I’m used to saving myself anyway.”

Clark strode over to him and yanked him into his arms, holding him tightly.

“Clark?” Tony asked, confused but not unwilling.

“Sometimes your life makes me really, really sad,” Clark said, and then set Tony aside so he could punch through the door.

Tony looked dismayed. “I made you so sad that you could overpower the kryptonite lining?”

Clark entertained fibbing for approximately half a second before truthfully answering, “They didn’t line the door but I didn’t realize that until I was closer to it.”

“THEY DIDN’T LINE THE FUCKING DOOR?!” Tony bellowed, incensed. “YOUR VILLAINS ARE IDIOTS, CLARK.”

“Pretty sure the Riddler is one of Batman’s villains,” Clark said, then yelped as Tony darted out the door ahead of him. “Tony!”

Clark darted out after him just in time to see two guards go sprinting away as Tony chased after them with piece of the door he’d just punched out to probably beat them to death. “Tony, Batman doesn’t like killing!”

“He’s not gonna kill them,” Batman said, making Clark jump. “Just make them wish they were more competent. Tony loathes incompetence.”

“How long have you been here?!” Clark exclaimed.

Batman said nothing.

“He said to give Tony twenty more minutes to try the door before I broke it down,” Diana offered.

“Why didn’t you just open it?!” Clark asked.

Batman gave him a very unimpressed glare. “He has a routine. I didn’t want to upset him.”

“Well, it’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?!”

“I don’t know what you’re mad at me for,” Batman snapped. “You’re the one who was trapped in a room with an unlined door for two hours just because you didn’t check it.”

“I’ll just… go save Riddler’s henchmen from Tony,” Diana said as they began to bicker, and walked over to try and convince Tony to stop menacing the guards he’d finally cornered.

[thegeekerynj]

An Occasional Attempt to Read, Discuss and Review the Wonders of Comics

By: John Rafferty, cranky old man, and Fan of All Things Comics

The ALL Death Metal Issue 

Dark Nights: Death Metal # 5 - 6 (DC Comics)

# 5: Writer: Scott “the Scourge’ Snyder   Pencils: Greg ‘Cold-Blooded’ Capullo  Inks: Jonathan ‘Gallows God’ Glapion

#6: Writer: Scott ‘Slasher’ Snyder   Pencils: Greg ‘ Crusher’ Capullo   Inks: Jonathan ‘Death Punch’ Glapion

1)  ‘Speaking of Batman, What’d you do to the Castle Guy?

Simple. I transferred his soul from that Gotham to the one in your hand.

Thanks to a modified BRAINIAC algorithm, he will remain trapped inside for centuries, even thousands of yea - - -

Or, you could step on him!

2) He’s sent his evil Earths! I can sense them coming! Get Prepared!

Bizarro SO NOT prepared!

Wait!,What?

I have a very sharp rock.

From here on out, we fight together, every LIVING Being on this - - -

AHEM.

Sorry. Every being - - Living, DEAD, Undead - - We Fight together!

Better’

3)  ‘I’ve heard a lot of Prayers on the battlefield. Sometimes they’re whispered. Sometimes they’re screamed at the sky. They usually come before the worst of it. I’ve heard Prayers for Victory, for Providence, Prayers for Forgiveness. Whatever’s in a soldier’s heart, whatever longing, you hear it then.

God, I wish I still had my hair.’

4) ‘You wanna say it kid?

All right everyone… #$%* CHARGE!

Language kiddo, Language.’

———————————————————————————————————

Greetings, Gentle Readers, and welcome one and all to the back half of this, the ride to Crazy Town called Death Metal!

Now, before we go too far into this, and believe me, there’s lots to touch on, let’s recap:

At some point following Hell Arisen, The Batman Who Laughs, and his infected Multiversal minions, recreated much of the Earth - Prime Universe in his image

Perpetua is off destroying other Universes, collecting Crisis Energy, so she can remake the Universes in HER vision

Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Harley Quinn, and Scott Free are being kept as ‘Wardens’,  payment for protecting their loved ones

Batman is controlling the Black Lantern (we know what that means)

Superman has been infected with Anti-life

There are many heroes running around the reconfigured fighting their battles to maintain their freedom, and perhaps, turn the war

There are villains doing so, too

Jarro is totally badass!

Jonah Hex is so much moreso!

When doing multiple issues, and having so many great snarky quotes, you can’t pick just one… and 4 still isn’t enough!

So, between the Metal, Year of the Villain, Hell Arisen, the Primary Death Metal story, the side issues, which in some cases were better than the primary story, and the 5 issue crossover into JLA (a true crossover, not a Crisis 1-Panel type of crossover), we have come almost two years to get to where we are…

Issue 5 and 6, two issues which carry most of the motion toward the endgame of Issue 7, really deliver. We get payoff from some of the earlier storylines. We get explanations, and confirmations for things that were hinted at early in the storyline. 

There’s paragons of virtue working alongside villains. There’s Black Lanterns working with Red and Green Lanterns, Supermen, good, evil and cyborg, coordinated for one goal.

And an Amazonian Princess leading the largest group of Czarnian Bastiches ever seen.

All against the Hordes of the Laughing Bat.

I’m going a little off script here for a minute, so please, don’t treat this as a reason to zoom ahead to the next stop…

I must admit, I am sorry to hear the readership has dropped off for this storyline. While I understand there are choices that need to be made, to say there are too many crossovers is ludicrous, especially if you stuck through the original Metal Saga, then the Year of the Villain , with every title having three or four crossover books, then right into Hell Arisen, with the Infected one-shots, and the crossovers for all those books, and the native title crossovers.

The way Snyder and Capullo, and ultimately DC handled this Event was the right call… Keep everything isolated to the Event Books. Let the series continue to play out, so the Readers were not forced to make the unfortunate ‘Do I really need to pick up THIS title, even though I never read the book’ decision.

I mean, outside of the 5 issue JLA run, which wound up being a block of issues which were 100% a JLA story, links to the Death Metal storyline, there were none of the ‘Crossover Banners’ we have grown so used to since Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Invasion, Secret Wars, Spider-Geddon, Millennium, Civil War, and I could go on ad nauseam… No, for once, they took the High Road, and basically made the reader aware ‘This Book Is Part Of This Story’ Period. 

By giving the Readers the choice, do I want the Extras, or do I just want the Main Storyline, there was a show of Actual Understanding for the consumer. There was no need to stick 2 panels in a book to connect it to the Event, let’s play it out separately.

I’ve been reading comics for a very long time. THIS WAS A FIRST.

My feeling is, many Readers saw the first two issues, then the One Shots, and immediately thought they needed everything to know what was going on in the story. Now, that isn’t to say the first two issues weren’t a little slow, but, like I’ve been saying all along, that was the hill, and Issue Three, well, that was the First Drop, and we kept picking up speed from there.

I think many got out a little too early.

I can only compare it to a fine wine, which, upon opening, might not have everything you want in that first sip. However, once there is a little bit of breathing, slightly more time has progressed from the first sip to the second, there is so much more nuance, and flavor and outright appeal, that the progression through to the last swallow makes each prior an event unto itself.

So it is with great literature, and excellent graphic novels.

But I have digressed long enough.

These issues carry us from the action of the JLA ‘Doom Metal’ segue, where the reformed amalgam of the League, League Dark, and Titans fight their way to the Omega Knight, and both save the Martian Manhunter from his Bat influenced doppelgänger, and defeat the Omega Knight, recover the Death Metal, the legendary ‘Tenth Metal’ (Nth Metal actually being the Ninth Metal), which can bestow the ability to harness, unmake or create worlds and universes. This is the building material of the gods, used to create the Mother Boxes utilized by the Fourth World.

We also find out what ‘thinking small’ is all about, as Wonder Woman finally figures out what Lex was alluding to with the story of his childhood, and as a direct result, we get a different rendition of the WW84 Armor.

As setups go, these issues laid out the roadmap to the end of the story, making the participants fight for every inch of ground they travelled, every single enemy they extinguish.

Scott Snyder has paved the way to a MASSIVE FINAL Issue, a No Holds Barred, No DQ, No Time Limit , RFK Stadium Pelt Santa with Ice Balls Brawl between Wonder Woman and her Forces of the Multiverse and The Darkest Night and His Corrupted Dark Universe Minions, Winners Take All!

As with the last 4 issues, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion have left nothing to chance, portraying each panel with the care and dedication of master surgeons, giving the Reader visceral eye candy, which rips, rends and tears at the fabric of emotion, similar to the Warhead mixed in with pieces of lemon candy. In some cases, it is enough to bring tears, always for the right reason.

May the Gods, Snyder, Capullo and Glapion have mercy on our souls, as they bring the goods one more time! On to Issue 7!

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

(And, I am sorry for my time on the soapbox.)

===========================================================

Death Metal: The Secret Origin

Writers: Scott Snyder & Geoff Johns    Artists: Jerry Ordway  (1 - 7, 35 - 38), Francis Manapul (8-12, 32 - 34), Ryan Benjamin & Richard Friend (14 -21), Paul Pelletier & Norm Rapmund (22 - 31)

‘Look! The Evil Worlds! They’re vanishing!

Whoever did it, they just gave us a fighting chance!

Whoever did it is dead.

But who? Who did it?

We’ll never know.

RRF.

RAARF.

AAAOOOO!

———————————————————————————————————

The Secret Origin…

Or, the one where we figure out Superboy Prime…

Yes, Gentle Readers, this is the story Thirty-Five Years in the making.The Story of Clark Kent of Earth Prime, a young man who, on a night unlike any other found he had the same super powers as his comic book hero and namesake, Superman.

In the Infinite Crisis storyline, Superboy Prime was written having gone insane, having been in this ‘perfect utopian pocket dimension’, too long with the memories that everyone he had loved, his parents, his sweetheart Laurie, were all dead, he while was alive in an idyllic world.

Who wouldn’t lash out… and KILL Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-2?

Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns bring a completion to this story, bringing it full circle, to examine the character, and his psyche, what he has been living with, dealing with, and ultimately showing him to be a sympathetic character, and the hero he has always dreamed of being.

Now, as we learned in the Trinity Crisis one shot, The Bat who Laughs travelled the timelines, pulling specific players from the points of their defeats, and gave them an opportunity to correct their defeats… and did so with Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor and of course Prime. 

The Bat’s plan? To derail the Trinity, and ultimately end the War before the major fighting got started.

What wasn’t counted on was the ability of Diana to convince Clark Kent that the Bat would find a way to make the reward insufferable, and that she would help him to become the hero he had always seen himself as, the one he wanted to be by fighting against the Dark Universe’s influences, and help bring about the rebirth of the Multiverse that was.

Which brings us to the Secret Origin.

This is where we learn what the Bat offers Superboy Prime, what he thinks will sway this young man to give in to the madness which took him once, the madness he has regretted, and ultimately suffered because of, ever since.

Where we learn the measure of those he has been teamed with, and whether they Hero or Villain, are deserving of the titles they carry, based on how he is viewed.

Ultimately, we learn a lesson some of us have already known, that in the measure of intelligence, the instincts of a dog are far more impressive than the most intelligent man’s thoughts. By miles.

At this point, I would like to say when this character was included as part of Death Metal, I saw some form of this story coming. The character received truly shabby treatment after Crisis, and in Infinite Crisis, rather than being treated as broken, was painted as a villain. 

Hell, Hank Hall got better treatment after Armageddon 2001!

Anyway, Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns have written what must be seen as the HAVE TO READ Story of this series, outside of the series itself. This is not only a great story, it is a clinic on how to build a character, These writers have taken this broken child, a Kal-El who has lost everything he loved, over and again, and shown how a man can be saved.

Through belief, faith, and the love of a dog.

So, you see, Mr. Williamson, this is how you write a Redemption Arc.

The art for this story is transformative (heh heh heh). For each section of the story, whether it is the Man, the Superboy as seen by Others, The Boy and A Dog, or the Fight Scenes, there is a specific artist for each portion of the arc, with specific strengths. As such, they will be addressed individually…

Jerry Ordway opens and closes the book. I could stop here, and anyone who is a longtime DC Reader would know why this needed no elaboration. He has been a DC staple since the 1980s, known for artwork that is detailed artistically accurate and beautiful. For anyone who does not know his work, he is technically accurate and imaginatively beautiful. For comparisons, think Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, the Dodsons, or Capelli and Glapion… but, he’s doing it by himself, no inker to interpret his work. (Example - the comics spinner rack, with the 1984 accurate covers, and bending of same from being riffled through).

Then, of course, there is the final splash page of the book, an homage to Action Comics #1. This page would have brought a tear to this cranky old man’s eye, were I not already all cried out…

Ryan Benjamin and Richard Friend bring us through the character driven portions of the story, the interactions between Prime and the other members of the ‘Super Squad’, and the battle with the Bat’s team… The Superiors of the Ancient House of El - The Saint, the Shepherd, the Savior, and the Last Sun. 

These pages are beautifully rendered, detailed and distinct from all the other artists, but not distractingly so. This method of storytelling, with the truly distinct art styles gives an illusion of the ‘fractured’ nature of the character, how he is broken on some level, and as a result, is  somewhat disjointed. 

Add to this the ‘Temporal and Dimensional Dissonance’ displayed when Prime interacts with the characters, the explosive nature of the differences he sees when he physically assaults one of the Supermen, and the entirety of the storytelling process is on display from the mind of the character.  Without access to the script, there is no way to know how much of this is directly on the Art Team, however, as the interpretation is important, I’m happy to give the tie to the runner here.

It works on so many levels.

The battle between the Bat and Prime falls to the team of Paul Pelletier and Norm Rapmund. This work is sharp, explicit and explosive, showing the inter-connectivity between Prime and the Multiverse, a carryover from the Crisis events which become a major strength for Prime. Every touch, every punch evokes sights, visions of things that could be, could have been, may still be…

And now, the reason the old crank was all cried out…

Francis Manapul.

I held off talking about these pages due the something special I found in them.

For the most part, there were two characters on these pages. Yes, the first page and a half featured the entire Superman Squad, including the Villains, but my focus was drawn to, and laser focused on the Boy and the Dog.

You could say Manapul merely rendered the interpretation of the words Snyder and Johns wrote to describe each panel, but in the end, He. Drew. Each. Panel. Manapul owned each and every panel, whether it featured the Boy, the Dog, or Both. 

You could say Francis Manapul made each panel his bitch.

Now, any person who has owned a dog knows that the dog is actually the one who selects who their master will be, who they will love, and who they will stand beside, from the time they are both pups, until their end of times.

Manapul proves he understands this. He expresses this through graphite and ink, bringing more emption to the face of a dog than I’ve seen on many people. The feeling expressed in Krypto’s face tells as much of the story here as does Prime’s expressions. The expressiveness is captivating, and deserving of very tear shed.

In years to come, comics fans will (as Comics Fans do) bring up this story on a level with Old Yeller, The Biscuit Eater, Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Alan Moore’s ‘Man of Tomorrow’ and the incomparable Harlan Ellison’s ‘A Boy and His Dog’, as examples of how to write animals with feeling.

They won’t be wrong, except, in my humble opinion, this story is head and shoulders above the others.

This is the story which changes the entire Death Metal Saga, and more importantly, that finally redeems one of the most maligned characters in the Post - Crisis DC Universe.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

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Dark Nights: Last Stories of the DC Universe

Writers: Joshua Williamson, James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Mariko Tamaki, Gail Simone, Christopher Sebela, Cecil Castellucci, Mark Waid

Artists: Travis Moore, Rafael Albuquerque, Daniel Sampere, Meghan Hetrick, Christopher Mooneyham, Minka Andulfo, Francis Manapul

‘An Oath.

Excuse me?

I would’ve liked to have had an oath. Just something cool to say when suiting up. Was always a little jealous of the Lanterns, to be honest.

“Beware my noise! Black Canary’s Yell!”

Dork! Remind me not to let you write it!’

———————————————————————————————————

When all is said and done, it is necessary to go with a Green Arrow quote. There is no greater level of snark, and from a writing perspective, I just can’t use Robin Williams’ standard.

Gentle Readers, when it is time to go into the Final Battle, this is the group of characters, no heroes, one should want to see standing by, ready to take up arms for the people.

Now, with this particular book falling between issues 5 and 6 of the Death Metal series, these are the stories of the group of characters currently coming together around Donna Troy, Wonder Girl.

Teen Titans, Titans, JLA, and other groups as they have fallen together, all these characters have at one point or another crossed paths with Donna Troy, which makes her a perfect rally point for the writers. The fact she has been around, either as part of the Original Teen Titans, or with Wonder Woman since the Sixties, makes her one of the iconic characters in this storyline.

Williamson, Tynion and Snyder have no problem waltzing her around from group to group, checking on heroes, villains, combined groups. Tao make sure all is well, and to make sure a friendly face is seen before everything goes to Hell in ahand basket burning hand basket.

Which is when Wally West shows up.

This compilation of short stories gives some insight into the characters, their mindsets, and how they see all this playing out.

The Green Lantern story, is one of regrets repented, with Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro fighting on the same side, once again, in more ways than one. Jeff Lemire can write a simple story that tugs at the heartstrings, and brings real feelings. The artwork by Rafael Albuquerque is simple, and everything necessary for this story.

The Wonder Woman story, ‘The Question’, is the self examination of why we fight, what drives a person. The question, posed as a riddle by the Riddler, is simple, What do you call a person who’s greatest strength is their weakness, Someone who can never win, and never lose, A person who must fight for justice, but brings an end to justice?

The answer, both simple and complex. And the basis for the story.

Green Arrow and Black Canary take center stage in Dust From a Distant Storm. A story of oaths, and OATHS, and a question unspoken, but answered. Leave it to Gail Simone  and Meghan Hetrick to kick my ass in 8 pages. Feelings, laughs, Joker Megalodons, and the daughter of the Arrow and Canary from one of the 46 destroyed Earths. This was my second favorite story in the book, excluding the wrapper.

Cecil Castellucci is a name I have not heard before reading this story of the Bat-Family, We Fight For Love. That I hadn’t heard of him before meant I had no expectations, other than the potential to be disappointed. I was very happily surprised, and this story was a real gem. 

Now, part of the reason for this was the artwork of Mirka Andolfo, whose soft lines, and sharp detail (go ahead, figure that one out) made this a story more about the family that exists around Bruce Wayne, the young men and women who look to him as a father, and he to them, as his children. The beauty of the storytelling, the simplicity of some of the framing, the whole idea of the dead man bringing the family together to celebrate life, well, it struck a chord in me which has been hit all too often in this series.

And did I mention Damien, Magpie, Croc and Despero in a High Stakes Poker game… and Jason Todd trading some time to listen to Mara the swordsmith for a new sword? How about Dick trying to reconcile with Barbara before going into battle, in case there isn’t a later?

Oh, and a wedding.

My favorite story, well, that would be from one of my favorite writers, Mark Waid.

His story, Man of Tomorrow, is one we have been waiting for, or promised, or expected in some variation for, ahhhh, probably 30 years, since GENERATIONS. It’s a simple tale, one of desire to spend the last little while before all Hellscape breaks out with your loved ones, but also needing to answer the call of duty. How can a man accomplish both?

As it turns out, if the Man of Tomorrow has a piece of Time Hopper tech from the Thirtieth Century, he can answer the call to duty as many times as necessary in one minute… and he does. And why wouldn’t he, after all, he is Superman.

This, Gentle Readers, was the finest story of the collection, again excluding the wrapper story. Mark Waid pulled out all the stops, never took his foot off the gas, cut the brake lines, and powered through this story, not with action, but emotion. 

Now, Mr. Waid would have been nowhere without the pencils and inks of Francis Manual. I will NOT repeat myself here, as I had much to say about his work above. I can only say, Thank You Great Creators that there were no animals in this story. *snf*

Eight pages of people in need. Famine arrested, schools built, food delivered, the poor made whole, the damaged, saved.

Good-byes made to family and friends.

And, when the minute is up, the rest of the night is for his wife and son. 

I hate these people for making me feel.

And now, ‘Together’, where we see EVERY Titan from every iteration of the team… picking up right after Wally shows up.

This is the first time Donna has seen Wally since the Heroes in Crisis storyline, when his insanity brought about the Speed Force explosion that killed Roy Harper, their friend, and teammate.

Time, and history make strange bedfellows in this world, hugs and forgiveness become commonplace.

So does resurrected Black Lantern Titans.

Leaving this story, the Titans of Old, and New are whole, they’ve had their pep talk, and been told they are better than the JLA, because they have been facing the same things the JLA faced, but as children… which makes the Titans the team to be.

And, off we go, Gentle Readers, to the last steep hill on this pan dimensional roller coaster ride in an effort to reset the Multiverse. Wh will live, who will die, how much will be reset… only time, and Scott Snyder know for sure.

But, I can tell you this. I am looking forward to the last two issues of this series!

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

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[lopithecusfanfiction]

Make Love, Not War

Author: Lopithecus Pairing: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Rating: Explicit Word Count: 1750  Alternate: AO3, fanfiction.net Summary: {Takes place after Justice League: War (Movie)} Clark visits Bruce after they defeat Darkseid to "thank" Bruce for saving him. Warnings: 

PWP

Smut

Blow Jobs

Rimming

Author's Note: Unpopular opinion - I actually really enjoyed Clark’s arrogance in Justice League: War. XP

Soft feet land on the stone cave floor, making barely a sound. Bruce stops typing on the computer, looking up with a smirk. When he turns around, Superman is standing there, the Kryptonian’s own sly smile plastered on that face. Clark’s eyes travel the length of Bruce’s body slowly, taking in the way Bruce looks in the Bat uniform. The Kryptonian’s grin grows and Bruce licks his lips, his body heat rising.

“Superman,” Bruce greets, standing up and crossing his arms. He wants to see how long the game they are playing will be. They both had felt the attraction to each other on the battlefield, both know exactly what is about to happen. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have a little fun with dragging it out longer. “You found me.”

Clark takes a confident step towards him. “It’s not hard when one knows you’re Bruce Wayne.”

Bruce’s cowl is pushed back, exposing his entire face to the Kryptonian. He returns the alien’s previous action by looking Clark up his body. The man is quite muscular and Bruce’s imagination runs wild with what must be waiting for him under that suit. “To what do I owe this visit?”

Another step towards Bruce. “I wanted to thank you for coming to rescue me from Darkseid.”

“Oh,” Bruce lowers his arms, raising an eyebrow. “And how exactly do you plan on… thanking me?”

Clark’s head tilts down a little, causing the Kryptonian to look through eyelashes. The alien mimics Bruce by raising an eyebrow, smile coming full force. Before Bruce can say anything else, the Kryptonian is on him, the only warning having been a gush of air as Clark uses his super speed.

Bruce is slammed into the desk, grunting with the impact, as Clark’s mouth attacks his viciously. Bruce kisses the Kryptonian back, pushing his tongue into that awaiting mouth, his hand making its way into Clark’s hair to fist it roughly. Clark’s tongue meets his own, both sliding together vigorously. Clark’s hands find their way to Bruce’s suit, pulling the armor and Kevlar off quickly and leaving Bruce’s chest bare.

As Bruce tries to find the same seem in Clark’s own uniform, Clark eagerly moves onto Bruce’s pants, sliding them down over his ass. They don’t make it all off before those hands are back on his bottom, squeezing his cheeks. Clark groans with want and Bruce finally finds the hidden zipper in the back of the Kryptonian outfit. He pulls it down as fast as possible, pushing the strange material down Clark’s shoulders, exposing the alien’s chest. He rubs his hands down that broad chest, nails scraping over impenetrable flesh all the way down to where Bruce left the Superman outfit hanging off Clark’s hips. Bruce sticks his hand down the spandex, grabbing a hold of the Kryptonian’s cock.

Clark pulls back from his mouth and smirks wide at Bruce as Bruce strokes Clark’s cock slowly. “Eager, are we?”

Bruce huffs and stills his hand. “Keep that up and I’ll stop right now.”

Clark’s smile turns playful, mischievous, and yanks the rest of Bruce’s pants off, the sound of tearing echoing in the cave. Bruce ignores it, deciding to deal with it later. Right now, he is too busy. Clark’s mouth is on him again, lapping at his neck and biting him there hard enough to bruise. Bruce gasps, tilting his head back to expose more of his neck and pulling at Clark’s hair. Clark responds by sliding a hand up Bruce’s own chest, placing both hands behind Bruce’s neck.

Clark steps closer to Bruce, causing Bruce to lean onto the desk more. The Kryptonian then pushes the rest of the Superman uniform off, exposing the rest of that glorious, unmarred body. In response, Bruce wraps his legs around Clark’s waist while Clark starts thrusting shallowly. Both their cocks rub against each other causing both men to moan with need.

Pulling away, Clark smirks confidently at him before dropping to the cave floor. The Kryptonian places both hands on Bruce’s hips and takes Bruce’s cock into that hot, wet mouth, sucking him down with wanton enthusiasm as Bruce withers in his grasp. Bruce throws his head back with a long, loud moan as his cock slides into Clark’s throat, the Kryptonian swallowing around him. The heat of it is overwhelming and Bruce grabs a fistful of Clark’s curls, thrusting into that mouth.

He’s panting hard, allowing the pleasure to build and build, feeling as his orgasm nears. But then Clark is pulling off him, wrenching that head out of Bruce’s grasp with ease. The Kryptonian looks up at him through eyelashes and Bruce feels a wave of heat rush through his body and down to his hard cock. He wants to be ravished by this man, used, controlled, dominated. He had paid attention to how Clark had fought in battle, felt the pull of lust at how strong and confident the alien had been. If it weren’t for the fact that they were fighting for their lives at the time, Bruce would have gladly had sex with Clark then.

Clark lifts Bruce’s legs up, setting them onto those broad shoulders. The Kryptonian smiles, all teeth, and then lifts Bruce’s hips. Bruce falls back onto the desk more, practically lying on top of it now. “Rao, you’re so hot,” Clark breathes, his breath ghosting over Bruce’s ass. Clark’s hands grab a hold of his cheeks and spreads them, the wetness of a tongue running over his hole.

Bruce curls his hand into a fist and bites on it, stifling his groan. Clark’s tongue circles his entrance and then goes hard, piercing him repeated. Bruce yelps at the sudden intrusion and then moans around his fist, squeezing his eyes shut. It feels good and if Clark’s tongue can feel this amazing, Bruce can only imagine what the Kryptonian’s cock is going to feel like. “Yes,” he sighs, his head falling back onto the desk hard.

He hears Clark chuckle and then that wonderful tongue is removed and replaced by a spit slicked finger. Bruce groans loudly, his head turning to the side. His breaths come in gasps as Clark pumps that finger in and out of Bruce and Bruce feels himself clenching and unclenching around the digit. “Hmm,” Clark hums, cheek resting against Bruce’s thigh. “Look at you, so badly wanting to be fucked by me.” The Kryptonian sounds arrogant and it goes straight to Bruce’s crotch. Pre-cum leaks out of Bruce and onto his stomach, Clark’s hand coming up to play with his balls. “Don’t worry, Bruce, I’ve been wanting to have sex with you since the battlefield, to feel you around my cock.” Clark licks a stripe over Bruce’s balls. “Watching you fight made me so horny, made me so hard for you, Bruce.”

There’s a rush of air with the distinct feeling of loss and then fullness again within the matter of seconds. Bruce now has two fingers penetrating him, both being slicked with something other than spit. Clark reaches up and places a bottle of lube onto the desk. “How,” Bruce swallows thickly, “did you know where that was?”

Clark chuckles again, adding a third finger which causes Bruce to moan in more pleasure. “I looked for it.” A fourth finger and Bruce gasps, his hole spasming around Clark’s fingers. “So hungry for me.” Clark pulls his fingers out and stands, Bruce sliding off the desk. Clark catches him and flips him around, slamming his torso onto the desk to expose his ass. Clark leans over him, getting close to Bruce’s ear and lining up to his entrance. “You ready?”

Bruce looks at the Kryptonian, trying to match the alien’s arrogance with a challenging smirk. “No condom?”

Clark smirks back, eyebrow rising. “Do I need one?”

“Depends,” Bruce states. “Can you carry any diseases?”

Clark’s smirk turns smug. “No.”

Bruce wiggles his hips, enticing Clark. “Then get on with it. I won’t wait all day.”

“Dirty, dirty boy,” Clark says as he begins to push in, cock having been already slicked up with lube at some point.

Bruce gasps and squeezes his eyes shut tightly, his hand closing into a fist once more. He leans his head down, forehead pressed to the desk. Clark takes Bruce’s right leg and hauls it up, bending it so it can be perched on the desk as well. It allows Clark better access to Bruce’s ass, the man sliding into Bruce deeper. Then the Kryptonian begins moving, setting a slow but firm pace, slamming into him with measured thrusts. Bruce pants with it, sweat running down his face and dripping onto the desk. Pre-cum continues to leak from his aching cock and onto the stone floor, Bruce’s desire overwhelming him.

Bruce shakily reaches down and grabs a hold of himself, stroking in time with Clark’s thrusts, loud groan escaping his throat. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoes in the cave, Clark’s pants loud in Bruce’s ears. “Clark,” Bruce whines and Clark leans over him, hips picking up speed, teeth digging into his shoulder hard.

“You like that?” Clark asks, out of breath and close to his ear once the Kryptonian unlatches from Bruce’s shoulder.

Bruce can’t respond with coherent words, unable to breathe. He mumbles lowly, eyes half lidded and body jerking with each thrust. Bruce is getting close now, his hand speeding up on his cock and he can feel Clark’s thrusts faltering. They both moan their pleasure, each making their way to their inevitable release.

“Good,” Bruce manages to gasp out, swallowing the excess saliva in his mouth. “So good. Gonna cum. I’m gonna cum.” His body shudders with bliss and then locks up as he reaches his peak. “Cum-cumming,” he stutters, throwing his head back and moaning heavily, shooting his cum onto his desk.

Clark groans in his ear low and his thrusts turn shallow and desperate as the Kryptonian orgasms, filling Bruce’s ass up with hot cum. Clark’s thrusts come to slow stop, both of them panting hard and trying to catch their breaths. After a while, Clark sits up, peeling his body off Bruce’s sweat soaked one, pulling out carefully. Bruce turns around and sags to the floor. Clark sits beside him heavily.

The Kryptonian smiles at him. “That was good.” The satisfied smile on that face turns sultry and mischievous. “Maybe there’s something to working as a team after all.”

One corner to Bruce’s mouth turns up, seductive and playful. “Maybe.”

A/N: Thanks for reading!!