Credits: Written by Louise Simonson, pencils by Jon Bogdanove, inks by Dennis Janke and edited by Mike Carlin
Cast: Clark ‘Superman’ Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor II, Bibbo, Emil Hamilton, Mildred, Matrix/Supergirl, Dubblex, Guardian II, Jonathan and Martha Kent, Keith & Myra, Dan ‘Terrible’ Turpin, Maggie Sawyer and Doomsday.
Plot: Doomsday reaches the edge of Metropolis and starts killing as soon as he arrives, soon followed by Superman who immediately takes the fight to his monstrous opponent. Guardian and the astral form of Dubblex can only watch the devastation unfold away from them as Superman tries to keep Doomsday off the ground. Also watching are Superman’s mum and dad, who are horrified to see their beloved Clark in danger and no one seeming to take it as serious as it is. Superman is hurt.
Doomsday runs through the Underworlders, killing the prisoners from part 1 and causing a massive gas main explosion as Superman pulls him back into the air. Nearby enough that the explosion is heard/felt Lex Luthor II is giving a press conference and applying subtle shade to Superman’s presence as a magnet for trouble when his girlfriend Supergirl insists on leaving to help Superman against this monster, the first to admit that Doomsday is more than he can handle alone. As she makes this choice and leaves, Doomsday draws blood with one of his elbow spikes. As Emil Hamilton with his girlfriend Mildred and Superman fan Bibbo try to get an alien weapon left behind from Warworld, Supergirl faces off against Doomsday and is felled by one punch, reverting to her protoplasmic form. The way clear Emil fires the weapon, but it only serves to bring Doomsday down onto the roof they are on. As this is going on, supporting characters Keith and Myra are save from the gas main fire by a more haggered Superman.
Metropolis Special Crimes Unit now face the monster, but so does Cadmus’ weapons experts, but the raw power of this creature cannot be stoppedd. Superman clears everyone away and goes toe to toe against the monster, realising that this may kill him, but this city is where he holds the line.
Notes: Down to two panels now and the pace quickens to almost breakneck speed. This story is about two different things, the futile attempts to slow Doomsday’s rampage and everyone in the city questioning that Superman can stop it. Everyone seems really confident, but as it goes on, there’s more of a question mark in there. They all believe in them, but as he loses his cape, scraps of his clothes and then blood, you realise how much they put on him. The violence and destruction or depicted well enough and from the scripting you see that for all the pressure people’s expectation put on him, Superman puts more on himself, he sees the chance that this is going to end badly for him, but for everyone else he draws the line.
Verdict: Writing 4 out of 5 – Louise Simonson was the good right arm of Chris Claremont during his epoch making run on X-Men as his editor and collaborator on the spin-off books and when she was forced out of the X-office, DC got a gift with her take on Superman. Metropolis is a living city, full of people who intersect with Superman and make his world seem richer and this title does that really well. It’s full of snapshots of people doing their best to back-stop Superman, each knowing that he will probably be fine, up until they see Doomsday up close, then they start to worry. Simonson nails that. This is a 4, because there’s no real room to do more.
Art: 4 out of 5 – From the sight of Superman engulfed in flame saving two people, to the shear volume of destruction, Jon Bogdanove takes his two panels per page and goes epic. He isn’t my cup of tea most of the time, but this is where he shines, action and emotion and you feel the tension rise bit by bit.
Overall: 8 out of 10 – The story speeding up and intensifying the action and consequences frame this story well. At the start of this event, Superman was seen as sort of aloof and distant, but now we see otherwise. We see a man fighting for his home and he’s losing. He’s beaten down, tired and injured as the city burns around him. Everyone wants him to be okay and believe in him, but one by one they all see that this is too much for him. You can see much of his power is gone, but none of his resolve and as we move into the final part, the writer and artist and drawn the line their hero must hold. I can’t wait for the next part.
Next Time: I do have to wait, because we’re back on Gamorra with Gen-13.
My Marvel Life 