Next up is one of the weirdest villains from Superman’s
gallery: Mr. Mxyzptlk. He is an imp from the 5th Dimension (not these guys). He has
the ability to warp reality to his own means. Every 90 days or so, he comes to play
tricks on Superman and Metropolis. He’s
definitely one of Superman’s sillier villains but that can work to his favor.
With the powers he has, he’s basically a god, so Superman has to find ways to
trick the trickster. He’s also been revamped a bit over the years. Sometimes,
he’s been annoying but a bit harmless. There have been times where’s he’s been
straight-up scary, though. Luckily, this is one of the
“fun” times.
Today’s issue is Superman: The Man of Steel #56. At this
point, Lois and Clark were going through… issues. Since Lois and Clark: The New
Adventures of Superman pretty much dictated when the comic versions could get
married, it was decided to have Lois break-up with Clark for a while. Louise Simonson
wrote the issue. Jon Bogdanove handled the pencils and Dennis Janke handled the
inks. So, what happens when an imp from the 5th Dimension finds out
his favorite couple is having problems? Find out below!
Superman: The Man of Steel #56
Writer: Louise Simonson
Pencils: Jon Bogdanove
Inks: Dennis Janke
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Digital Chameleon
Editors: K.C. Carlson and Mike McAvennie
“In the Money “
We start out the issue with a quite ghastly image: Mr.
Mxyzptlk taking a shower. Luckily, Superman takes the full brunt of the sight
before Mxy changes into something more suitable. This time, he’s back to grant “good”
wishes like having folk winning the lottery or having kids get snow days. Since
this is the imp of the 5th Dimension we’re talking about, they aren’t
turning out well. Superman does what he can to quell the madness. Meanwhile,
Bibbo Bibbowski is getting ready for a boxing match with Hunya “Killer” Adams.
I guess Mxy still has some Silver Age issues laying around at home.
Lois comes on to the scene and it’s here where Mxy finds out
about their break-up. Shocked, Mxy takes all of his attention off the city and
centers on those two. He tries to put the two into different situations and get
them to make up. They ain’t having any of it, though. We go from Super-baby to
Super-Ape in about a few pages. Then, Mxy switches the playing field and makes
Lois into a superhero with Clark being the damsel. Meanwhile, the Bibbo’s fight
with Adams isn’t going too well.
I feel ya there, little dude.
Superman and Lois realize they need to do something to get
Mxy to leave. They’re able to get him to turn all his damage back to normal,
but he still won’t leave until they reconcile. Superman relents and makes a
wish… for Mxy to return to the 5th Dimension. Devastated, Mxy heads
home. Meanwhile, Bibbo is shockingly
able to pull a win on Adams. I guess George Forman wasn’t the only washed-up
board at this time! The story ends with Clark and Lois realizing they really need
to sort things out. Will they eventually figure things out? Considering the
fourth season hasn’t started yet, it'll take a while.
………………………………………………………………….
This was a fun issue. I’ve read a bit of 1996’s Superman
comics, so I know all about the break-up. I’ll probably talk about it later,
but I have to say that it feels pretty forced. As I said above, the writers had
no choice, so they did what they had to do. Luckily, this issue doesn’t focus
so much on the relationship. It’s just a fun time with Mxy. Just about
everything with his plot was funny. We got babies, a T-Rex, Clark in an apron,
and Lois wearing a gaudy superhero suit. It all seems on point. Bibbo’s subplot
was nice too and I liked the nod to Superman vs. Muhammad Ali.
The artwork was okay, though. Of all the Superman artists of
this time, I wasn’t a big fan of Bogdanove’s work. It’s not bad, per se. It
just has a stylized look that I’m not that big a fan of. For example, look up
Super Lois and you’ll see what I mean. That being said, his stylized look does
work with how Mxy warps reality. It’s all chaos with that little imp. Other
than some of the art and a couple of nitpicks, this was a nice one.
Mr. Mxyzptlk is one villain who’s a little underused. I
think he gets put low on some folks’ list because of his silly nature and the
fact that Superman can’t really fight him. To me, that makes him cool. We’re
talking about a universe where a guy dresses up as a bat. Some levity is definitely needed.
I also like that his antics cause Superman to beat him in another way. Well,
that’s all I got for this one. The next villain may not be too silly, though.
For now, Peace, God bless, and go work out your relationship problems. You might
get a 5th dimensional imp or Denzel Washington showing up at your
door. That’s all I’m saying.
Gotta throw Denzel somewhere!
No comments:
Post a Comment