Mild Mannered Reviews - Regular Superman Comics

Adventures of Superman #596

Adventures of Superman #596

Scheduled to arrive in stores: September 12, 2001

Cover date: November 2001

2001 Shield No. 43

Writer: Joe Casey
Penciller: Mike Wieringo
Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr.

"Shipbuilding"

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



The Sydney Opera house lies in ruins. A huge crater dominated the center of Frankfurt. In Washington DC construction crews work to repair the White House. In Metropolis, the LexCorp Towers stand smoking, the upper half destroyed of each destroyed. High in the sky, Superman hovers above his city watching the repairs slowly being made, the buildings strengthened or rebuilt altogether following Imperiex's and then Brainiac 13's rampage on the Earth. Superman suddenly turns to see an airship descending from out of the clouds. Lex Luthor emerges from the carrier and asks the Last Son of Krypton if he is enjoying the show. Superman rockets off into the heavens.

One of Luthor's aides approaches him and asks why he won't be addressing the nation form Washington. Luthor tells him that in this time of rebuilding, his Metropolis will provide the finest example. Everything is working except for one thing, Superman is not following Luthor's plan.

Clark sits alone in his apartment, flipping through channels all showing the damage around the world. Suddenly, Martian Manhunter contacts Kal telepathically. He asks Clark why, when the rest of the League is active around the world, cleaning up the remains of the war, Superman has yet to lift a finger. Clark tells J'onn that with his father gone he's had a very hard time dealing with this. Plus, after the war he's realized something significant.

Before he can tell J'onn what it is, a report comes in from the South Pole. Ice is melting, quickly. The only Leaguer available, Superman tears open his shirt and heads southward. In Antarctica, he finds the Weather Wizard recording himself melting the ice cap. Superman quickly refreezes the water and fries the Weather Wizard's wand. Subdued, the Wizard admits that he was just making a video to use as a threat. His son has been taken from him, and he wants him back. With that, the Wizard vanishes in a flash of lightning.

Back in Metropolis, a group of workers are repairing the dams when suddenly a support gives way and a crane topples over the edge. Superman streaks in and in a flash, rescues the man. Luthor confronts Superman, telling him that if the Kryptonian would only do the reparations himself, then the workers would not have to put themselves in jeopardy. Superman disagrees; he's not there to do everything for mankind. If he does everything for humanity, then it means nothing. Luthor tries to brush it off as a convenient excuse, but the saved man agrees. He wouldn't want anyone, even Superman, to live his life for him. By not helping them rebuild, he's doing everyone a favor. Luthor glares for a moment at the man, and then turns away. Superman thanks the man for the speech. Inside his airship, Luthor tells his aides that he will be returning to Washington to address the nation from there, where he belongs.

3Story - 3: It wasn't a bad story, but it was kind of weak. We've seen the whole "to catch them as they fall" speech in JLA #4 and many other comics. I guess that it was a good place for it, right after the war, but its getting to be a rather cliche story in the DC Universe. It was nice to see Luthor shot down yet again, but why didn't he visit Talia while he was in Metropolis. You'd think that Lex would take a greater interest in his company. The Weather Wizard was also kind of pulled out of nowhere. With all of my complaints, it was still a decent follow-up story to the war. It just seemed like it could have been trimmed down to half its size.

4Art - 4: I'm really enjoying this art. It was a nice clean look to it that I am really enjoying. The splashes in here, especially of Superman descending on the South Pole, were great. I also liked Wieringo's J'onn. It was nice to see his version of the JLA.

I should make a note though, about two panels in particular. The second page of this issue has a picture of the LexCorp towers following their near destruction. The LexCorp twin towers bear a striking resemblance to the World Trade Center. On page eight there is also a picture of what seems to be the actual DCU version of the World Trade Center in the JLA monitor womb. As I'm sure you all know the World Trade Center fell victim to a horrific terrorist attack this past week. While I do not know if the LexCorp towers were originally patterned after the World Trade Center (the LexCorp towers have been in existance since late 1999 in the Y2K storyline), or if the towers shown were meant to represent the Trade Center, the coincidence of this week's comic occuring almost simultaneously with the terrorist attack is just that, pure coincidence. Mr. Wieringo drew these panels months ago and this chance was just a cosmic twist of fate. No anger should be directed at him, or DC Comics, following this. DC did not even have time to change the issue, as it had already shipped. Remember that this is just fiction, and bears no relevence to the tragedy this past week, except for perhaps providing us with the hope that Superman can instill in us all. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.

4Cover Art - 4: Kind of a boring cover. The only thing that saves it is its placement in the storyline. With the new costume debuting just last issue a cover showcasing the new symbol was needed. Otherwise, this simple cover would definitely have received a three.



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2001

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