Monday, September 17, 2018

Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - Superman #39

Next up for the month is the Daily Planet’s photographer, James “Jimmy” Bartholomew Olsen. He’s been a supporting character for Superman for the longest time. While some say he showed up in Action Comics #6, he officially made his first appearance in the Superman radio show. Jimmy then made his way to the comics then disappeared for a bit. When Jack Larson played the character on the George Reeves’ Superman TV show, Jimmy was brought back to the comics and he even got his own book called Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen. Yes, Jimmy had a book and that thing lasted for years. Even Jack Kirby wrote on it when he came to DC! Since then, Jimmy has been a constant supporting character in the books. Whether he’s a reporter, photographer, being “Peter Parkered”, a man of action, an annoyance, or a cool black dude, Jimmy’s been around.

Today, I thought I’d look at something from the New 52 era of DC. Yes, it wasn’t all that bad, guys. Don’t let the trunkless era scare you off like that! The “Big G” himself, Geoff Johns, returned to the Superman books for a small period during that time. He was accompanied by John Romita Jr., a Marvel legend, and Klaus Janson. I’d say it was a match made in heaven, but it wasn’t. Still, their arc. “Men of Tomorrow,” was fine and it ended with today’s issue, Superman #39. This was Johns’ last issue for on the book while the other two would continue on for a bit. So, what happens when Superman is powerless? Not much but that’s not bad.

Superman #39
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inks: Klaus Janson
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Colors: Hi-Fi
Editors: Eddie Berganza and Rickey Purdin

“24 Hours”
Previously in this run, Superman had met a figure that was similar to him named Ulysses. He too had powers but he was the vanguard for an alien invasion. He was able to defeat Ulysses with the help of a new power called the Solar Flare. Unfortunately, this new ability has drained him of all his powers for a day. So, Clark takes the time to tell his friend and co-worker, Jimmy, that he’s Superman. He just comes out and says it with a newer costume on. Jimmy even sees how Clark has been able to go under the radar for years.
Ugh... 

Even though Clark has told him this, Jimmy’s excitement goes down when Clark reveals that he’s powerless for now. They head off to the Daily Planet and and talk about how Clark being out in public without his powers. When Clark sees a kid fall from a tree, he catches him but is scratched in the process. They get to the Planet and have the usual office banter. That doesn’t last long since we find out that there’s a hostage standoff downtown. Lois and Jimmy go to get the story. As for the powerless Clark, he switches into costume.
Okay, this was a cool moment... even though the artwork isn't that good.

Superman shows up to the hostage situation and (in a pretty awesome way) is able to talk down the person holding the hostage. After the incident, he and Jimmy converse some more until it’s revealed that Clark’s powers are back. The two then get some food end the day on the roof of the Daily Planet talking about how Clark handles his powers. The story ends with Clark heading back to his work desk and finding a package. At the start of the issue, a lady was delivering something at the request of who’s ultimately revealed to be Mr. Oz. The package turns out to be a blank book with the House of El symbol on the cover.

………………………………………………………..

I thought this was a pretty nice issue of Superman. The writing is pretty good on Clark’s and Jimmy’s end.  We get to see this version of Superman deal with not having his abilities for what seems to be the first time. I thought it was cool that he opened up to Jimmy since we really hadn’t seen that happen. The issue serves as both an epilogue and a final issue to Johns’ short stint on the book. Instead of some big action-fest, it’s Clark talking to one of his closest friends. We even get a pretty awesome Superman moment. It may be a little sparse (as with most modern comics), but the writing for this is good on the whole.
I wonder when we'll ultimately see Johns tackle more of "Mr Oz."

Then, we get to the artwork.

You know, I’ve been reading some of JMS’s Amazing Spider-Man run recently and I ran into some Romita work. I guess my question would be the following: where’s that guy because I don’t see him here? The artwork just looks weird in not in a nice way either. Superman’s suit just looks bad in places. I don’t know if it’s the combination of Romita’s pencils and Janson’s inks or if it’s just rushed art. I’ve see some of Romita’s other DC work and it varies from book to book. I will say that the layouts and colors are quite good. Also, that image of Jimmy and Superman on the roof is good. Too bad it’s a horizontal shot that you have to turn on the side to see. So, I’m mixed on the artwork as a whole.

Overall, this is a good story with mixed artwork. I also liked how Jimmy was used here. Even though he’s a mainstay of the comics media, I think Jimmy’s a fine character. I’m not a big fan of the dude but he has his good moments. I think I tend not to like him much when they play the annoying side up and he can get annoying sometimes. Well, that’s all I got for the red-headed man of action. Next time, I’ll get to the big man at the Daily Planet. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. Now, I’m off to bed since I'm back on days.

NEXT TIME: PERRY WHITE VS. THE WANNA-BE KKK!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment