Movie Talk - The Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen

Next up for the month is a return to DC’s Animated Movie Universe. While I’ve seen a few of them like the Batman ones and a couple of the Justice League ones, they haven’t been on my radar much. I don’t know if it’s the changes to the animation or the fact that they were heavily inspired by the New 52. While I did like that era of comics, it wasn’t all good. One thing that definitely piqued my interest was that they were going to do the Death and Return of Superman once again. Now, DC had tried this before, but Superman: Doomsday was just okay as a whole. It would’ve been nice if it felt like a true adaptation, though.

The WB released The Death of Superman in 2018 and it’s sequel, Reign of the Supermen, in 2019. The voice cast is more or less the same it’s been for this DC animated universe. We got Jerry O’Connell as Superman, Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman, Jason O’Mara as Batman, and Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern.  There are some new voices too. Lois Lane is voiced by Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O’Connell’s wife. Lex Luthor is voiced by Rainn Wilson, Superboy is voiced by Cameron Mohonagan (Joker from Gotham), Steel (John Henry Irons) is voiced by Cress Williams (Black Lightning), and Patrick Fabian is Hank Henshaw.

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

Trade Tales! - The Return of Superman

So, I’ve have looked at lot of homages to Superman this month. My next four (yes, four) aren’t homages as much as they are replacements. That’s right, I’ve finally gotten to this part of the Death/Return of Superman story arc from the 90’s. The Return of Superman pretty much contains all of “Reign of the Supermen,” the arc that had four heroes posing as Superman. I’ve already looked at the Death and the Funeral and enjoyed them both. Today, I’ll be seeing how well this stacks up with the rest of the story line.

The trade more or less has every issue from “Reign of the Supermen.” We have Superman: The Man of Steel #22-26, Superman #78-82, The Adventures of Superman #500-505, Action Comics #687-691, and Green Lantern #46. Pretty much everyone from the previous arcs are here on the book. The biggest change is that Karl Kesel replaced Jerry Ordway as writer of The Adventures of Superman. We also have Gerard Jones, M.D. Bright, and Romeo Tangal for the Green Lantern tie-in. So, sit back because this may be a long one.

The Return of Superman

Writers: Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonsen, Roger Stern, Karl Kesel, and Gerard Jones

Pencils: Dan Jurgens, John Bogdanove, Jackson Guice, Tom Grummett, and M.D. Bright

Inks: Brett Breeding, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier, Doug Hazelewood, and Romeo Tangal

Colors: Glen Whitmore and Anthony Tomlin

Letters:  John Costanza, Albert DeGuzman, and Bill Oakley

Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - The Adventures of Superman #624

Hello and hello. Well, I have one more Super-Analogue for the month before the grandness of… some four dudes. Anyway, today’s analogue is another one I really know little about: Mister Majestic aka Lord Majestros. He is also from the Wildstorm Universe exactly like Apollo.  Unlike Apollo (who was apparently a government experiment), Majestic is a Kheribum from another planet. He lived on Earth for centuries and was also fought against the Daemonites. I know he had to have been one of the Wild C.A.T.S. at one time. I actually saw him in one episode of the short-lived animated series from the 90’s.

When Wildstorm was acquired by DC, it was decided to have him interact with the then-current DC universe for a while. He was brought in during a story-arc in Superman that involved time shenanigans.  Also, Superman’s missing for some reason. This was right before the “Godfall” arc, so I guess that’s why he’s missing. The Adventures of Superman #624 was where he made his mark. It was written by both Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The pencils were done by Karl Kerschl.

The Adventures of Superman #624

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

Pencils: Karl Kerschl

Inks: Renato Guedes and Oclair Albert

Colors: Tanya and Richard Horie

Letters: Nick J. Napolitano

Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.

Editor: Eddie Berganza