Next up for the month is a villain who is in the D-list: the Kryptonite Man Even though the Kryptonite Man is a mostly unused
villain, he still has something that can knock Superman down to his knees. To
give you a hint, it’s all in his name. The name has been passed around to
different folk, but the effect is still the same: they are embowed with green
kryptonite radiation. The Kryptonite Man
first appeared in Superboy #83 (1960) and has sparsely appeared since then. I
think there were 3 versions in the Post-Crisis era and one of them was a weird
clone of Superman. Since I’ll be spending some time in that era this month, I
think it’s time for something more recent.
The Kryptonite Man made a return during Grant Morrison’s run
on Action Comics. This time, he was Clay Ramsey, the infamous wifebeater that
Superman threw around in his early days. Ramsey was a part of Vyndtyvx’s (Lord
Vinnie) for Morrison’s run. Today’s issue is the annual from that run
that featured the villain. Sholly Fisch, the backup writer on Action Comics, wrote
the whole issue. Cully Hamner handled the artwork. There is a backup “written”
by Max Landis with artwork by Ryan Sook at the back about the Atomic Skull. I’m
not talking about the backup here but I can say is that it was alright if a bit
brief.
Action Comics Annual #1
Writer: Sholly Fisch
Artist: Cully Hamner
Colors: Val Staples
Letters: Steve Wands
Editors: Wil Moss and Matt Idelson