Credits: Story by Jerry Ordway with art by Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood and edited by Mike Carlin
Cast: The soul of Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El, Jonathan ‘Pa’ Kent, Harry Kent, the Kent brother’s father, Blaze, Kismet, the Cleric, Jor-El, Lara, Martha ‘Ma’ Kent, Lois Lane, Jose ‘Gangbuster’ Delgado, Cat Grant, Vincent Edge, The Prankster, Jimmy Olsen, Ron Troupe, High Pockets and Inspector Henderson.
Plot: A Plot: Jonathan ‘Pa’ Kent has suffered a heart attack as the local ER doctors try everything they can to bring him back, his soul seems to go elsewhere. Before he ‘crosses over’ he is grabbed by the familiar sight of his son Clark, as he grabs for him, the identity falls away to reveal Superman, who informs Pa that it’s not his time and he should go back, this is a journey for Kal-El and as he says this two robed figures appear and escort him away, changing into Jor-El and Lara, fearing for his son and not wanting to say goodbye, Pa jumps after them. Meanwhile in the ER, Martha is joined by Lois, who set off as soon as she heard.
Now we get the B plot and subplots starting. Gangbuster is doing his usual beating of those involved in a drug deal, however it’s a sting and all he’s doing is interfering in the police’s activities and since he had recently hospitalised some criminals, he’s wanted and they try to arrest him. He fights back, flees and is stop as he escapes. He dives into the river, risking death to keep his freedom. Elsewhere at GBS News, his girlfriend Cat Grant is being flirted with by her boss Vincent Edge who tells her that he needs her to push Jimmy Olsen to come back to the Turtle Boy show, she listens, but then her worry over Jose going back to his Gangbuster activities causes her to be visibly upset. Edge seems sympathetic and offers her and her son Adam a dinner to cheer them up, then mentions calling Jimmy about Turtle Boy. On Stryker’s Island, a prisoner sharing a cell with the Prankster talks about Turtle Boy while watching it on a portable TV, this enrages the Prankster (a former kids TV presenter) who pours water on the TV, seemingly electrocuting the cellmate. Then we go to the star of Turtle Boy, Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen who is taking a photo assignment and feels unable to go play a hero on TV, when his hero is gone. He meets with Ron Troupe, who is missing Clark rather than Superman, but thinks the longer that he’s gone, the more likely it is that’s he’s gone forever, though he’d never say that near Lois, who is sitting with Martha, pulling at the subplots full circle.
Back to the A Plot: So, Pa is walking through an unreal place, he finds himself in a war zone, reminding him of his war experiences. He then sees his brother Harry, who died in a threshing machine accident, he fights over his brother with an unnamed enemy and realises that what he really needs to do is save someone, he thinks of as the ‘Airman’ not remembering it is his son. He then falls into a pit of some kind and seems to see his father pull him out, but it isn’t, it’s a large creature working for the demonic being known as Blaze. Blaze offers a deal, Clark’s return to life, for Jonathan’s soul. He doesn’t go for it and she casts him into space. There he is met by Kismet, a being who straddles the cosmos and fate and seeks to remind Pa why he is there, to find his son and sends him to a place he’s never seen, but has heard of, Krypton.
He comes across a religious looking funeral procession that is set up around Clark, led by the Cleric who gave Clark the Eradicator years earlier. Pa realises that Krypton was a more empirical society and this is out of place and their violent response to this reawakens Clark, now completely dressed as Superman. Pa points out something that seems sort of obvious, how does Clark know he’s dead? He was raised with human values and understandings, maybe his sense of mortality is part of that, how does he know what dead is to the last Kryptonian, who has been aborbing power from the sun for 30 years. Clark flies them both to the gateway home, but is stopped by Jor-El, much like he did the last time the image of Jor-El appeared, Pa whacks him with a shovel that appears in his hands. He grabs onto Clark and they both head for the exit. Then, Jonathan wakes up, talking about bringing Clark back, he’s not out of the woods, but everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
The main story ends with Lois’ return to Metropolis. On the flight back, a red clad person flies by the plane, upsetting her, it carries on when she sees/hears 5 news reports that talk about Superman. Unable to get this out of her head, she checks out the tomb with Inspector Henderson and the two of them are shocked the discover that the tomb is empty, Superman is back.
Well that is the story, but there issue has more to offer. The next 16 pages are broken up into four vignettes which will serve as introductions for the four characters that will feature in the four main titles during what will be known as the Reign of the Supermen. I’ll not put the creators here, though 3 of them differ from the main story, since they will be the creative teams in the titles they appear in.
First Sighting: Two different street gangs vie for control of Suicide Slums, both sides packing advanced military weapons they refer to as ‘Toastmasters’ which are being sold by a woman with white hair, who only sees this as a business. As police arrive chasing the criminals away, from under rubble a large man climbs out and declares that he has to stop Doomsday. This will continue in Man of Steel.
Second Sighting: A bearded man attempts a carjacking, but is set upon by a flying man with a cape and a red S logo, who uses his glowing hands to burn the fleeing would be car-jacker. Then we see the man clearly, he looks like Superman, but with glowing hands, a visor and a turn of phrase, including the phrase vengeance of Superman. This will be continued in Action Comics
Third Sighting: Inside Cadmus, Guardian learns that Experiment 13 has escaped. The Newsboy Legion have freed a teenager in a Superman inspired costume and they hand him a leather jacket to keep him warm before referring to him as Superboy, which this clearly teenaged person replies with a demand not to be called Superboy. This will pick up in the next issue of Adventures of Superman.
Final Sighting. Outside the Daily Planet building is a plaque, dedicating the spot where Superman died. A figure that from several angles looks like Superman lands, removing the plaque and melting it with heat vision, when asked part of a question, his reply is simply “Yes. I’m back.” He flies away and we see him for the first time, it looks again, like Superman, but most of his face, half his torso, one arm, one thigh and the other leg from blow the thigh are mechnical. This will continue in the Superman title.
The Reign of the Supermen has begun.
Notes: Jonathan Kent is often overlooked as a character, like Thomas Wayne, Ben Parker and the entire Castle family, they exist narratively to die. As a result, they’re often under-written, or under developed. The post crisis era did away with that need and had Clark’s parents as current parts of his life, making him more like an adopted person than an orphaned one. Here we get to see some of Pa’s life, his experiences with war, the loss of his brother, the discipline of his father and through it all, the love for his son. He is the beating heart of this issue and it’s great to see everything from his point of view. He finds his son, defies a demon and delivers another shovel to the head of Jor-El.. He also introduces the idea that why do we think that death for a human is the same as death for this alien? The question becomes is Superman dead because he believed he would? As alien from humans he is, he’s also very different from the world of his conception, all of whom were dying from prolonged radiation exposure. This was an interesting way to bring up the idea of him coming back, This closing of the funeral era, focused on the supporting cast and what happens when Superman is gone and I’ve enjoyed it, now it’s about to become something else.
Verdict: Writing 4 out of 5 This is a well put together issue. The transitions from the afterlife and the regular world are smooth and well paced out, so you’re never in one place too long. The subplots flow one into the other, a person appears in one scene, then referenced in the next, someone is mentioned in that scene, they’re referenced in the next, then appear in the one after that. It’s like good direction, it almost passes you by how good it is. It’s a nice reminder of how well co-ordinated the Superman comics of the triangle era were. The only downside I saw was the Gangbuster stuff and that’s a personal preference.
Art: 4 out of 5 The main story is drawn by Tom Grummett who is an excellent Superman artist, he can do real people and extraordinary things with equal ease. He gives age to Pa, but doesn’t play it as a caricature. His Superman is heroic and he can flesh out the emotion that Ordway puts in the story.
Overall: 8 out of 10 – This is the best way to end this section of the saga. We get the emotional hit of family tragedy and people coping with loss and then we get the previews of the new directions that each title will be going in. Who are these 4 strangers? Are any of them the real Superman? I didn’t know at the time and I am looking forward to re-experiencing the Reign.
Next Time: Where has Sigma been in all this commotion? Back to Fire From Heaven.
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