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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman Adventures

Superman Adventures #63

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 7, 2001

Cover date: January 2002

Writer: Dan Jolley
Penciller: Neil Vokes
Inker: Terry Austin

"Magic Wand"

Reviewed by: George O'Connor (mo442@nyu.edu)

A former dancer named Wendy tends with the toils of a single, domestic life as she is further challenged by the physical limitations of a broken leg. She is about to take her dog out for a walk when a disturbing man from her past arrives at her door. Fleeing from him, with great difficulty, she eventually comes across a glimmering pole that resembles a walking stick.

Moments before, Superman had engaged in a battle against several hijackers attempting to steal government equipment. The "wand" was one of these items and was lost during the ensuing combat. Promising to return the wand, especially after learning of its potential power, Superman sets off on a search.

Taking the wand from a dumpster, Wendy immediately feels its intensity. At once, she is crackling with energy and realizes that she can now fly. Soaring away from her stalker, Wendy comes across a group of muggers and sends out an electrical blast in their direction, which hits the building behind them and sets it on fire. Overcome by the destruction she has caused, she begins to cry, but becomes strong again once she realizes that her stalker has caught up with her. With the powerful wand in her hand, she warns him against approaching but hesitates in striking at him. The man snatches the powerful weapon away from her when Superman shows up, puts out the fire, and demands the return of the wand.

Instead, the stalker strikes at Superman with the wand, blasting the Man of Steel backwards. Superman slams his fist into the ground, however, causing a tremor in the earth that knocks the man down and causes him to lose hold of the weapon. Wendy, however, regains the wand and prepares to wipe the villain's existence off the Earth once again. Superman convinces her against such an action and she eventually complies, handing the weapon over just as it self-destructs.

Superman deals with her stalker and the disappointed military while Wendy hobbles home.

Story - 3: This was a decent tale. It was fairly entertaining and the action scenes were fun to follow. The idea of a stalker picking up this power was also a little creepy and surprising for me to see in a book that has become more and more childish as the issues have progressed. While this wasn't anything terribly controversial, it at least added a slightly darker edge to the story.

Art - 3: I must admit I found some fairly nice pages in this issue by Vokes. I actually thought his work on the woman, however, was better than his job on Superman. I found the page where she was flying through the air to be very nice, and especially enjoyed her facial expressions on page 21. Besides the fact that she cries like a water faucet, this was certainly an improvement over Vokes' usual pencilling job.

Cover Art - 4: I was definitely impressed with the cover. The colors are vivid and exciting, the poses are well-done and life-like and everything just seems to come together very well. My largest complaints would have to be that Superman's legs are different lengths and that the cover isn't exactly faithful to the issue. Superman's fight with the hijackers is a backstory to the real plot.