Buy Now!

Mild Mannered Reviews - Regular Superman Comics

Superman #193

Superman #193

Scheduled to arrive in stores: May 28, 2003

Cover date: July 2003

Writer: Steven T. Seagle
Penciller: Scott McDaniel
Inker: Andy Owens

"Patronymic" (Part 2)

Reviewed by: Nick Newman (NNewman8283@yahoo.com)



Superman soars through the sky with the new Supergirl in tow. As he lands atop a mountain outside of town he begins to tell her that she can't just surprise him when he is Clark Kent and call him Dad. She tells him that he told her his secret identity, but Superman says he doesn't have a daughter. Tears springing to her eyes, Cir-el tells him that she is from the future and then with a red sun burst, yells out that he hates her. Kal tells her that she can't use her powers in anger like that, but she just bounds away, saying that he is acting exactly as they said he would. Kal pursues her and asks who 'they' refers to. Cir-el can barely name the Futuresmiths before a nuclear explosion rocks Metropolis. Soaring into the sky, he rushes off to save anyone he can. Cir-el bounds after him.

In the city, Lois watches the mushroom cloud with fear and begins whispering to her husband, saying that she loved him. As Superman touches down next to his wife, the crowds rush in to him, begging for him to save them. He tells everyone that it isn't what it appears to be. There isn't any radiation, and there is no damage anywhere in the city. Taking off again, Superman heads for the reactor.

Soaring into the breached reactor tower, Superman finds Radion crackling with energy. Outside, a reporter hurries forward with her cameraman to catch everything on the news. Superman melts the steel beneath Radion's feet, trapping the villain. Radion retaliate by blasting the wall behind the reporters and sending debris falling towards them. As Superman moves in to intercept the lethal downpour, it vanishes into thin air. When he returns to the villain, Radion is gone.

Across town, the Viceroy saves two people, setting down amidst a crowd of people. Turning to the crowd, Viceroy tells everyone that the Nuke wasn't real, and he will find out who perpetrated this hoax and bring them to justice. From a nearby monitor, the reporter names Radion as the culprit of the false detonation. Someone from the crowd calls out that Radion killed the first Viceroy, and now his sun has to avenge his father. Thanking the crowd, Viceroy takes to the skies. His O.W.L. begins to tell Viceroy that the original wasn't his father, but Viceroy tells the machine that that is the story he's made, so he has to play it out.

Superman is telling the reporters to leave as Cir-el finally arrives. The reporter instantly questions Cir-el, and for a few moments Superman and Supergirl answer every question with the opposite answer. The reporter then asks if Cir-el feels responsible for dropping Radion in the tower, and Superman whirls about to ask if she caused this. She quickly denies the blame, saying that the Futuresmiths told her to do it. Superman quickly tells the reporters to leave the area, now.

Suddenly Cir-el sees a wall behind them dissolve and Radion leaps through. His new power lets him rearrange leftover atoms and create mirages. As Superman pushes the reporters out, Radion knocks Supergirl to the ground. With his eyes glowing read, Superman tells him to fight someone his own size. Radion knocks Supergirl flying and turns to Kal-el. Suddenly the Viceroy falls from the sky and onto Radion's head, sending the villain into the pavement. Superman dashes after Supergirl and barely manages to catch her before they both slam into a building.

Radion quickly recovers from the assault and slams Viceroy down, pounding him into the ground. A few hundred yards away, Superman pulls Cir-el out of the wreckage and makes her promise to stay out of the fight. She agrees. As Radion hurls Viceroy at the two reporters, Superman suddenly returns and sends the villain flying with a flurry of punches. Arriving on the scene, Lois finds her rival lying on the ground, but Constance just hands Lois her microphone and tells her to finish covering the story. Using heat vision and then finally his super breath to draw Radion's oxygen out of his lungs, he renders him unconscious. Lois then steps in to interview her husband as the villain falls to the ground.

That night, Lois and Clark watch her newscast. They briefly talk about it, when suddenly Lois asks if it might be possible that Cir-el is theirs. Clark tells her that from what he has seen in his life, anything is possible. Outside their window, Cir-el perches on an outcropping, listening.

3Story - 3: Here's another really average issue that accomplishes next to nothing. We see Clark and Cir-el talk very briefly, and then he just forgets about her after the battle. Somehow I think if there was a superpowered fifteen-year old running around then he would want to talk to her right away, not run home to a quiet evening with Lois and just wonder. Also, what was the point of Radion? It only took two pages to take him down (although the asphyxiation idea was original) so why did he take up two issues. He was just a filler villain. Someone way to powerful to just appear once, but we'll probably never see him again. I also don't like the Viceroy character, but maybe once we learn his sinister intentions then I will. Despite all that complaining, the issue did have some strong points. I liked the aforementioned use of super breath, and I liked the short scene with Lois and Clark at home. We don't see enough of them being people for my tastes. I am looking forward to the Cir-el storyline progressing. I'm not a big fan of the idea as a whole, but I want to know where they are going with this.

3Art - 3: I liked some of the art, and some parts I didn't (Cir-el flying after Radion hit her looked particularly bad). My biggest gripe is that a lot of times I can't tell what is happening, and Radion (and Amok from the 10 Cent Adventure) are drawn so that you can't even tell what each part of their body is. In particular, Radion's illusion of blasting the wall and him attacking Supergirl were way too cluttered. Some good and some bad, but I really wish that it was cleaned up some.

4Cover Art - 4: I do like the cover though. It pertains to the issue, has a nice action-filled scene, has that nifty trick where the logos are affected by what's happening, and last but not least, we have the old title logo. The only thing keeping this cover from complete greatness is the art. I just don't like how Superman and Supergirl look. Still, a great cover.



Other recent reviews:

Mild Mannered Reviews

2003

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2003

February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003

Back to the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.

Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2003.