Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman: The Man of Steel #47

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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