Next up for the month is the Daily Planet’s Editor-in-Chief,
Perry White. For those who don’t know, Clark used to work for the Daily Star
when he first debuted. George Taylor was his Editor-in-Chief. Then, someone’s
wires got switched and the Daily Star became the Daily Planet. Perry White officially made his appearance in
the Superman radio show in 1940 and then transitioned over the comics. The
comics even explained the Daily Star business as being on Earth-2, so Perry’s
been Clark’s main boss in mainstream comics. He’s been there since then running
then pages of the Daily Planet.
He’s had got a lot of stuff added to him throughout the ages.
He got a wife named Alice, a twerp of a son named Jerry, and even an adopted
African-American son named Keith. He even served as a surrogate father to the
staff. He even at one point got lung cancer for a bit. He’s been in a lot of
the various shows and movies just like Lois and Jimmy too. He even hooked up
with Martha Kent on Smallville… for some reason.
Today’s issue is another one from the 90’s. Hey, I got that
era pretty much down. It’s Superman: The Man of Steel #47 form 1995. The writer
is Louise Simonson who was the writer for that book for years. Jon Bogdanove handled the pencils and Dennis Janke did the inks. So, what did Perry White and
Franklin Stern (the owner of the Daily Planet) get up to in the 1950’s/1960’s?
A lot messed up stuff that involves racists.
Superman: The Man of Steel #47
Writer: Louise Simonson
Pencils: Jon Bogdanove
Inks: Dennis Janke
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Ken Lopez
Editors: Mike Carlin and KC Carlson
“Sins of the Father”
We start out with Keith and his friends seeing Perry White and
Franklin Stern having a disagreement about goings on at Stryker Island Penitentiary.
Lois distracts the two by telling them she’s going to go to Stryker’s Island to
interview someone called “The Saviour.” From what I remember, he was a serial
killer that got caught in the books. She even mentions the Aryan Brotherhood which
gets Perry and Franklin back to arguing about the prison system. Clark decides
to tail her as Superman since she might need help. Instead of tailing Lois, he
pretty much gets distracted by incidents in Metropolis.
So... this is what Twitter looked like in 1995.
Back at the Daily Planet, Keith and his friends wonder how
Perry and Franklin even became “old friends.” Ron Troupe, another recurring
character from this era, shows them an article Perry worked on when he was just
a reporter. It not only involved meeting Franklin for the first time, but it also
involved a group of racists trying to create “supermen:”
We then flashback to the 50’s (it’s never mentioned when it
takes place) to a small town called Melonville. Perry came to investigate the
racial tensions in the town while Franklin, a civil rights activist, came to
see why his cousin went missing. When Perry sees Franklin being accosted by hooded
men in red jumpsuits, he tries to help Franklin. What he doesn’t expect is
getting a butt kicking of his own when he’s thrown around the place. The fight
stops and Perry gets Franklin checked up. They try to report it to the local
sheriff, but he seems to being ignoring them. The decide to team up and do
their own investigating. Perry does some research and finds out where the
hooded men could be hiding at. They end up tracking someone to a factory and
sneak in.
Yeah, not much to say here. It's two pages (taken with a camera) of some tough sights.
When they enter the factory, they find some disturbing
sites. We end up getting what’s essentially a KKK rally. It involves the hooded
“supermen” showing off their power. Perry and Franklin sneak around until they
find a laboratory which houses the stuff the Brottherhood’s been using. They
also find out what happened to Franklin’s cousin and other missing black men:
they were killed, experimented on, and put in cold storage. Unfortunately, the
two are founded by the group. Luckily, they’re able to escape with evidence and
even find out that the town’s sheriff was a part of it. Their story ends with
the Brotherhood being arrested, Perry getting his story, and Franklin being
credited as a hero.
In the present day, Lois finishes her interview with the
creepy “Saviour.” Through the guards, she finds out that the original
Bloodsport, Robert DuBois, is being transferred to Stryker's. Bets are being
taken that he’ll face the new, racist Bloodsport (Alex Trent). We find out here
that Trent’s family actually came from the racists that Perry investigated years
ago. I actually talked about this issue (The Adventures of Superman #526) here last year. In the end, Superman comes to
take Lois back to the Planet. We also get back to Perry and Franklin who show
that they are indeed friends.
……………………………………………………………..
I thought that this was an okay story. If you were ever
wondering how everything got set up between the two Bloodsports in that
Adventures of Superman issue, here it is. This is a story that tries to tackle
some hefty subjects and be action-packed at the same time. Even though it doesn’t
succeed at that, it was cool to see Perry in his prime as a reporter. Franklin
Stern, a character we didn’t see much of, also got some room to shine. Superman
isn’t featured much here and that’s not a bad thing since it’s not his story.
Still, he and Lois get a couple of moments to do their thing.
Superman: Sorry, guys, but I'm taking a break this issue!
The artwork is good for the most part. That cover is
definitely something that catches the eye. You already know what you’re in for
just by looking at it. I thought the action scenes were handled well and I kinda
liked how young Perry invoked a Golden
Age Superman look. With it taking place in that turbulent time, you end up
seeing some stuff that’ll make you feel something. I know I did. As for the negatives,
it does have a few. While it tries to hit a tough subject, I can’t say that it completely
succeeded. I felt that the flashback needed some more room to breathe. It felt
pretty rushed all the way through. Also, some of the dialogue could have been
better. Other than those things and small nitpicks, this was fine for the most
part.
If you’re wanting to see Perry White get into some action,
this isn’t a bad issue to read for that. As for Perry in general, I’ve always
liked him. He’s the tough boss who can sometimes serve as a father figure. I’d
probably say that my favorite version of Perry would be Lane Smith from Lois
and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He just did it for me there. Well,
that’s another one down. Next time, I’ll probably be hitting another comic from
the 90’s that involves Karl Kesel. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful
out there.
NEXT TIME: MAGGIE SAWYER, DAN TURPIN, AND INTERGANG?
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