Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman in "The Day of the Krypton Man"

This week for Superman Month, it’s all about family. Clark’s got two sets of parents, so I thought I’d center on the ones who influenced Clark the most: The Kents. Yeah, the Els may have birthed them and maybe taught him stuff in the Fortress of Solitude, but the Kents were the ones who raised. They were the ones who instilled Superman’s morals in him. Considering how Clark turned out, I think they did a good job.

Jonathan and Martha Kent (or Pa and Ma Kent) were actually introduced a year after Action Comics #1 was released. You could say that they were there in the beginning, but they had no name yet and Superman’s history was still in flux. Their names weren’t set in stone until much later either. The Kents also didn’t live long in the pre-Crisis era since they died when Superman was still Superboy. The idea of the Kents living and interacting with adult Clark didn’t come to pass until the Byrne reboot in 1986. The Kents being alive was then undone with the reboot in 2011. They been all over the different media as well.

Today’s story is one I’ve wanted to get to for some time. “Day of the Krypton Man” was a multi-part story that took place in Superman #41-42, The Adventures of Superman #464-465, and Action Comics #651-652. At this time, the Super books started to fit more in line with one another. This took place during a time where Clark was having issues. Ever since he returned from his exile, stuff has been weird. He accidentally got Jimmy sick, he and Lois have been getting close, and he quit his job at the Daily Planet to become the EiC at Newstime. He’s also been dealing with that pesky Eradicator device and that’s going to hit him big time in this story. So, what happens when Clark turns a stogy, cold, violent (?) jackass? A lotta stuff, ‘yo!

“The Day of the Krypton Man”

Writers: Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens, and Roger Stern

Pencils: Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens, George Perez, and Kerry Gammill

Inks: Dennis Janke, Art Thibert, and Brett Breeding

Colors: Glenn Whitmore

Letters: John Constanza, Albert DeGuzman, and Bill Oakley

Editor: Mike Carlin and Jon Peterson

SYNOPSIS

So, how do I put this… Clark Kent is a Jerk!

Wow... that's cold-blooded even for me!

The story basically has Clark being completely out of character. Ever since he dealt with the Eradicator in the Fortress of Solitude (which the Eradicator created itself), Clark has started to act cold at his job. Essentially, he’s turning into a cold, emotionless Kryptonian. He’s started to shut everyone out. He uses his secretary to ward off Jimmy Olsen (who’s having his own issues) and she hates him for it. He’s also been a jerk to the rest of his employees and even fires a long time Newstime worker. His personal life is no different since he acts cold to Lana on her birthday, blatantly refuses to have dinner with Lois Lane, and even acts cold to his parents.

He keeps on going and he was already giving Lana mixed signals when he was normal!

As Superman, Clark ends up dealing with some alien threats this time. The first is Lobo who basically comes to Earth on a drunken binge… it’s Lobo, y’all! He even brings Bibbo and a weird Nightcrawler rip-off to the Fortress. Superman and Lobo have their first tussle there. Next up, Maxima, the gorgeous despot of Almerac shows up to claim her Kryptonian male! That goes as well as you’d expect it since Superman’s not the best ladies’ man in this story. It’s also because of her that we get a new suit for Superman.

All right, Kal! Admit the truth: you don't like redheads, do you?

Then, the “big” threat comes in the form of Draaga, the alien Superman defeated on Warworld. He wants a worthy re-match with a worthy death. Superman is willing to give him that and more. They throw down in New York City and Superman ruthlessly trounces him. Emil Hamilton is able to teleport them to the Moon but that doesn’t stop the fight from ending. Superman almost kills Draaga but Emil teleports him back to Earth. Also, who knew Earth could get good reception on the Moon?

Nice save, Emil. Also, too bad what happened to you in the 2000's!

After this, Superman’s had it with humanity. He ends up getting fired form Newstime and he has a dispute with Gangbuster, another vigilante. He’s getting ready to take his stuff to the Fortress and live the Kryptonian lifestyle. Then, the Kents show up. They saw what Superman did and are pretty worried. Clark (or Kal-El) tries to give the ‘ole Kryptonian jive. He even takes them to the Fortress and shows them what Krypton was.

This is such a cool image. Clark is looking like a boss in that chair.

Even though Clark seems to be too far gone, Ma and Pa Kent ain’t having it. They remind him of the humanity he has and the fact this his biological father, Jor-El, once said that his Krypton was lost. As they start to get through to Clark, the Fortress tries to attack them with its weapons. Superman tries to protect them and realizes that the Eradicator is trying to control him. With Jonathan’s help, Clark is able to deactivate the Eradicator and save his parents. After the Kents give him a spare uniform, Superman flies into space. He throws the Eradicator and the suit it created into the Sun “where it is never heard from again.…”

OPINION

This was a nice six-part story. While I won’t call it a perfect one, it’s definitely one that is kind of important since the Eradicator obviously comes back later years. It worked well with showing how the aftereffects of Superman’s exile is still affecting him and his supporting cast. Since the books were trying to give Superman a big, sprawling cast, we get mostly everyone that had a supporting role play a part. I don’t know where “The Adventures of Lobo, Bibbo, and Raof” fits in, though. I thought the writing, while verbose at times, was pretty good. Ordway, Jurgens, and Stern had a handle on all these characters in this era.

So, Clark’s an ass here and that’s about as nice as I can put it. In this post-Crisis era, Krypton wasn’t the good, sprawling metropolis it was in the Silver Age. It was cold, dull, too technology-driven, and kinda lifeless. The Eradicator represented that part of Krypton’s past and it almost destroys Clark’s life. It’s thanks to his of his parents that the Eradicator was stopped. They were the ones who instilled his humanity and I liked the role that they played here.

The artwork is really good here. If there’s one area I rarely have any issues with in this era, it’s the artwork. Everyone brings their A-game to the pages. The action is pretty good as usual and quiet moments are good as well. I especially liked the Kryptonian suit the Eradicator created. It’s actually a pretty cool look for Superman. There had a to be a reason I chose it for my profile picture. The art is also helped by having Glenn Whitmore color all six issues of the multi-parter.

I don’t have too many issues with the arc as a whole. I did think the Lobo side of things was a bit lame. I’m not the biggest Lobo fan, so that may be why. At least it had Bibbo being a goof. While the writing was good, Brainwashed Clark was a little too verbose. Maybe Martha should have slapped him like Amanda Grayson slapped Spock or something. Maybe this is what happens when you read too many Bendis comics. You can read through those things in ten minutes! Other than those things and some small nitpicks, this was a nice story.

In the end, “The Day of the Krypton Man” was a nice arc for 90’s Superman. It especially used Clark’s parents pretty well. I like the Kents as a whole and they’re cool to see in other media. I wish they were still around in today’s comics, though. I get that it’s the “cool” thing to kill off the hero’s parents, but it seems like writers go that well too often. At least we got to see the Kents interact with a fully-grown Clark. Well, it’s time to move to the other group of parents.

NEXT TIME: JOR-EL or LARA?