Credits: Written by Jerry Ordway, pencilled by Tom Grummet, inked by Doug Hazlewood and edited by Mike Carlin
Cast: Clark ‘Superman’ Kent, Bloodwynd (seriously!!) Maxima, Lex Luthor II, Supergirl, Mitch, Catherine ‘Cat’ Grant, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Tora ‘Ice’ Olafsdotter, Guy Gardner and The Guardian
Plot: Superman slows Doomsday almost long enough to head back and save Mitch’s family along with Bloodwynd. With most of the league incapacitated, he flies after the creature himself who is cutting a swath across the country from Ohio to New York State, he lands in a town called Kirby (always respect to the King) and that’s where Superman and Maxima catch up with him.
In Metropolise, Supergirl (the shapeshifting Matrix version) is watching Doomsday’s rampage on TV, while sitting on the lap of her boyfriend Lex Luthor II (actually the original brain of Lex Luthor in a cloned body, no seriously, that was the situation there) who convinces her to stay local, just in case the monster heads their way. At WGBS, Lois Lane drags Jimmy Olsen from his TV filming (the Turtle Boy show) with the permission of his boss Cat Grant.
Maxima tries to stop the monster, but is as much a danger to everyone around her than Doomsday. Superman tries to keep her on point, but ultimately the battle causes a massive gas main explosion, knocking Superman and Maxima out. When Superman comes to, he is joined by Guardian, a clone of the golden age hero, currently working as security chief for Project Cadmus. Seeing all the harm done, Superman realises that he has to stop Doomsday and do so alone.
Notes: This is the first time you can see the panel reduction page design that often defines this story. Every page has 4 panels. Part 5 will have 3 panels etc. This has the effect of drawing you in more and more, ratcheting up the tension. As the battle moves across the country, Metropolis looks on, dreading the monster hitting their city. But ultimately it’s setting the idea that this whole massive story is getting Superman and Doomsday together one on one.
Verdict: Writing 3 out of 5:. There’s little dialogue and little characterisation, this is essentially one massive action set piece and really the writing is only there to move the plot forward to the next bit. It does this well and leaves the art team the room to have fun with it.
Art 4 out of 5: This issue is wall to wall action and Grummett excels here. Rubble, violence and injuries are all things he does well and the story flows here from the action set pieces to the smaller scenes where his command of body language and consistency with everyone looking on the model makes the whole issue more than the middle chapter slugfest it could have been.
Overall 7 out of 10: What could have been filler, is instead setting up the next chapters and showing what it’s like waiting for a disaster. No one knows what is coming, but they know things will be forever changed when it arrives.
Next Time; After 3 prologues, we get a chapter 1
My Marvel Life 