Superman: the Supergirl Saga
Writer: John Byrne
Pencillers: John Byrne and Jerry Ordway
Well, it’s here. I finally have the will and the time to start this. I got these three issues at The Great Escape for a decent price ($3.00 maybe?). I got these mostly because I heard so much about it. The last issue is also John Bryne’s last time on the Superman books (I think it was creative differences, I don’t know). At this time, he was writing both Superman books. Action Comics (a book he also wrote on for a time) had ended up becoming weekly for a while. Anyway, these issues are Superman #21-22 and The Adventures of Superman #444. So let’s get to it.
Part 1: You Can’t Go Home Again
We start out on a devastated world where a couple of people in battle armor are talking. They talk about the state their world is in. Pete, one of the guys, is still holding on to hope that the other guy’s plan will save them. We then see that theyare viewing Superman with some cameras somewhere. (still don’t know what’s going on? Well, you’ll find out.)
Meanwhile, Superman is flying back to Smallville from helping the Doom Patrol, and he senses that someone is following him. With some trickery, he is able to discover who the mysterious person: a Supergirl?? She then changes her appearance into Lana Lang…..So wait. Lana with superpowers? So this is where that crappy storyline from season 8 of Smallville came from!! Oh man….Anyway, Supergirl tells Superman that she got her powers from Lex Luthor, which ticks Superman off. He tells her that he is an evil man (EVILLLLL!!!). Supergirl doesn’t believe him. When he mentions metropolis still standing, She thinks it’s all a trick and attacks Superman using telekinesis and some invisibility. Supes heads to Lana’s Farm where he finds the Kents and Lana tied up. They tell him that Supergirl did it. After some thinking (and a light bulb appearing above his head) he realizes where this Supergirl may be from.
Duh!
He flies back the battleground where he gets Supergirl to follow him to Metropolis. Supergirl‘s shocked because she thought it was destroyed. They then go see Lex, who is not in the greatest of moods.
Who knew they would make a great couple? (Just wait....)
........
The reason the Pocket Universe was created to explain how the Legion of Superheroes interacted with Superboy in this continuity. See, in Superman's new history, he was never Superboy, so that really messed up LOSH continuity. Anyway, enough of that.
Supergirl finally remembers who she is and as they talk she teleports herself and him to the Pocket Universe where they meet the “Man with the plan” from the beginning of the issue: Lex Luthor (and with hair too)!!
Part 2: Parallel Lives Meet at Infinity aka “Flashback and Exposition!!!”
We pick up right after the events that happened on the cover (which is an awesome cover by the way), where Superman is mourning the deaths of Superboy’s parents. We then see that Smallville is all what’s left of the Earth…#$##. We then get all of that flashback and exposition I was alluding to. First, we revisit the events where the Time Trapper created the Pocket Universe to mess with the Legion of Superheroes and we also brush over the events of Superman’s first visit to this world. This is good because if this is the first Superman comic you have ever picked up, you’re going to be confused. One thing to note is that there are no heroes or villains in this Earth, which explains Lex’s non-villainy.
We then get more flashback from Lex. Lex meets Pete Ross and Lana at the funeral for Clark’s parents. They talk some mostly about Superboy’s disappearance (he actually died…) and the fact that his identity is now public. They then go to the Kents’ Farm and find Superboy’s Secret Lair (think of it as a Proto-Fortress of Solitude). There they find all sorts of experiments that Superboy was working on. The group then comes across a room with some top secret stuff in it. Lex tells them to leave because it might be dangerous and he goes into the room. He was trying to find out where Superboy had disappeared to by using the equipment when he accidentally stumbles upon the three Phantom Zone criminals -- General Zod, Ursa, and Non…..Oops. I mean General Zod, Zaora, and Quex-El . They claimed to be scientists who were trapped in some sort of zone after the destruction of Krypton. Lex lets them out not knowing this. After they are out, they destroy the Zone projector and leave to wreck havoc on the world. Lex forms a resistance group in Smallville, gives Lana her abilities, and even recruits Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, and Bruce Wayne to join the group. The humans put up a fight. Zod then comes up with an idea that only a madman could come up with. I’ll let Lex show you:
Is that even possible...Oh yeah. Comic book.
In the present, all of the main people meet up and plan strategies. Superman then vows that they all will put an end to these criminals’ reign of terror. Alright! This looks like it’s going to be the battle of the century! I wonder what happens….. (Reads Superman #22)…..Oh dear.
Part 3: The Price
The first page starts out with a grim-looking Superman. It’s kind of in contrast to the last page of Man of Steel where Superman looks all happy and stuff (America!!!). Anyway, we move on to the battle, which goes to hell in a hand basket. Smallville is destroyed, Pete, Bruce, Hal, and Oliver are all killed by the criminals, and Supergirl gets heat vision badly. Ow. Superman does what he can do until Lex tells him to leave and go fetch something at Superboy’s lab, which is still intact. Quex-El follows him and a fight ensues. Since this Earth was based on the Pre-Crisis Earth, Quex-El is whooping our Man of Steel. Luckily, Superman finds what he’s looking for: a canister of Gold Kryptonite. This brand of K takes away a Kryptonian’s abilities permanently, and it does so with Quex-El. It doesn’t affect Superman because he is not of this universe. After this, he makes the lair into a prison for the criminals and then goes to fetch up the Zaora and Zod with the Kryptonite in tow.
He then finds Lex, who is dying from his injuries. Before he dies, he tells Superman some things. He tells him that the Supergirl is actually a protoplasmic matrix he brought to life and that Lana actually died early on in the war. He also tells him that he always knew where the Gold K was. He never used though because of ego. (In other words, he never used it because HE IS AN IDIOT.) Anyway, the last thing he tells him to do is to not let these events happen on the ordinary Earth. Lex dies from his injuries, which leaves Superman and the criminals as the only people alive in this universe. After some thinking, Superman makes a decision and goes into the prison. What happens is this:
They all die of the Kryptonite poisoning, while Superman looks on sadly and sheds a tear. After burying their bodies, Superman finds the melted Supergirl an brings her back to ordinary Earth to be put in the care of the Kents while he goes off to contemplate over what he has done.
…..
And it is the end. Well, what can I say that hasn’t already been said? Well, I really don’t have any complaints about these issues. With the exception of a small part given to the staff at the Daily Planet, all of these issues deal with the new Supergirl and the Pocket Universe. The art is real well done. One thing to note is the layouts in all the issues. They’re pretty good and unique, especially in #22. Both Byrne's and Ordway's mad pencils look exquisite in my opinion. The inkers were also good, especially Janke in #444. The story is also pretty decent. The dialogue is old-school, but good. Byrne’s end on the Superman titles is a little bittersweet, but what he started does get better as the rest of the writers continue on. And now I will talk about the big pink elephant in the room: Superman kills.
Well, first off, it is a shock seeing him kill. A lot of fans would say that this was a bad move. Should Superman Kill? My answer is no, but with a couple of reservations. To me, Superman should never kill unless it is the only thing possible in saving the day and saving innocent lives. Did he do this here? Yes, mostly. The Phantom Zone criminals posed a great threat to his Earth. He just saw them literally destroy an Earth by themselves. To let these villains stay on that Earth locked up would be a risk to his universe. He also couldn’t put them back in the Phantom Zone. Now, were there any alternatives to him not killing? At the moment, not really. He could have left them there in that universe and destroyed all the ways of transporting to his universe, but that’s still a risk. At the end of the arc, Superman is shaken by what he did, and this leads him to do something down the road…but that is something I will get to when I am able to get the tpb (I’m on a budget. Remember?) Well, I could say more, but I really don’t want to right now, so I will leave you with this:
NEXT TIME: "AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE WORLD !!!"
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