Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics

Adventures of Superman #425 (1987)

Adventures of Superman #425

Cover date: February 1987

Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciller: Jerry Ordway
Inker: Jerry Ordway

"Going the Gauntlet"

Reviewed by: Christopher Evans



Professor Emil Hamilton speaks to an unseen person, telling them his story.

During a recent meeting between Lex Luthor and Hamilton, Luthor revealed that he owns Hitek, the company Hamilton was working for whilst he developed his magnetic field generator. Ergo, Luthor also owns all of Hamilton's work and expects to see the blueprints on his desk that very night. Luthor promises to pay Hamilton for the three weeks he worked at Hitek and then has him thrown out.

Hamilton returns to his apartment in Suicide slum, where five men break down his door, beat him up and trash his home, telling him to give back what wasn't his in the first place. Neither the police nor the Department of Defence are able to offer Hamilton any assistance (due to a lack of proof and their belief his work was too dangerous, respectively) but days later, as he sits in his trashed apartment, with no hope and no money, a man named Henry Wyatt arrives. Wyatt is from Compucon services, who have heard of Hamilton's work and are willing to fund him, offering an even split of any profits. Hamilton eagerly agrees and signs up.

Within days, he has completed a working prototype and arranged a demonstration, during which the prototype malfunctions, (although we see someone cutting wires just prior to the 'malfunction') killing a member of Compucon staff. Accused of squandering the money and being a killer, Hamilton flees, swearing to prove that what went wrong was not his fault. Whilst on the run in Metropolis, terrorist attacks hit the city and Superman moves to stop the mechanical monster involved (as seen in AOS #424).

Superman faces off against the combined 'Freedom League' machine, using a steel I-beam to batter it and avoid the machine's electrified hull. It launches a seeking missile and, unsure of the damage it may do to the city if it hits him, Superman attempts to race it out of town. Hamilton is wandering the streets at the same time, with his invention in a case. Seeing the battle he decides that if he can use his invention to save Superman, he'll prove to the government that his invention works.

Seeing that people have been evacuated from the immediate area and having checked for radiation to determine that the missile is not nuclear, Superman leads it back towards the Freedom League's machine, swerving at the last moment so it impacts, crippling the mechanical monster. Moving in to take care of the people inside, Superman and the machine are suddenly contained within a magnetic grid - Hamilton has set up his device and activated it. Some of the mechanical monster's weapons are still functioning and Superman finds himself blasted against the side of the magnetic grid, with both it and the concussion beam draining his strength. Smashing the beam with a piece of debris, he rips his way inside the machine and confronts its crew. Refusing to surrender, they overload the devices that control the machine with their brainwaves and commit suicide.

The mechanical monster self destructs, and the blast is contained by Hamilton's device. Hamilton deactivates his magnetic generator and reporters and cheering civilians crowd the Man of Steel, who, shaken by the Freedom League's death, refuses to give an interview and leaves. Nobody wants to listen to Hamilton, as he tries to explain how he and his device helped to save the day. Hamilton swears to never be ignored again.

Days later, as the sun rises on a Sunday morning, Hamilton issues a challenge to Superman over a loudspeaker system. The life of an innocent is at risk on 5th Avenue. Superman is to come so that Hamilton can prove to the world how he has been right about his invention all along. Superman arrives at 5th Avenue, finding Hamilton holding a gun to the head of a young woman. Hamilton activates his magnetic field, containing Superman so that he has to walk a gauntlet to reach him. Superman sets off, overcoming one automatic weapon after another, asking Hamilton to give up. Hamilton refuses and sets the machine to explode and kill all three of them. Superman leaps on the generator and takes the full brunt of the blast, saving both Hamilton and the young woman. Telling Hamilton that he wouldn't let him destroy himself, Superman collapses in his arms. As the police arrive, Hamilton surrenders, asking for them to take care of the fallen hero.

Unseen, Luthor and a member of Lexcorp staff discuss the events as they unfold. Luthor muses how Hamilton never realised that Compucon was yet another Lexcorp subsidiary...

Hamilton finishes telling his story. By now Luthor will have his machine and will take all the credit for it whilst Hamilton rots in jail. The 'camera' pans back, revealing Emil is behind bars and has been telling his story to a guard, who is sitting reading a newspaper. As he finishes telling his story, the guard looks up and asks if Hamilton just said something? Holding his head in his hands, Hamilton sinks down onto his bed in despair.

5Story - 5: A satisfying conclusion to the story that began last issue. I felt sympathy for Emil, despite him acting as nutty as a fruitcake by the end and threatening to kill the "strumpet" he had at gun point. And all this erratic and dangerous behaviour sets up the background for revelations in "Adventures of Superman" in 2006, which I won't ruin for you here... Luthor is again shown to be a right ol' meanie. Using his wealth and power to get what he wants, casually sacrificing lives in the process (boo! hisss!).

Emil makes an interesting reference at the start of the story, telling Luthor that his "discoveries in the mid-seventies were astounding" and putting a time stamp on things. This will of course now be defunct with ret-conning, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

I liked Clark's internal monologue as he fought the mechanical monster (hey, is that a reference to the Max Fleischer cartoons?) - we again get to see that the revamped Superman is a lot more about the 'man' and a little less about the 'super' as he is stunned by an electrical attack and talks himself through putting the pain out of his mind and letting it all wash over him. A nice reference to Clark's past as a "top pitcher in the Smallville Little League" too, as he later lobs debris to stop a concussion beam. I found it all gives you a feeling of being able to relate more to the Man of Steel - that this 'new' Superman isn't almost godlike in his powers and invulnerability. His logical thinking about the missile and use of an I-beam to attack the Freedom League's machine shows he can think other than just with his fists too. It's nice to see Superman, well, acting like Superman!

4Art - 4: The Ordster inks his own pencils in this issue and they look good. I especially like the way Jerry draws faces - very realistic and with lots of character. The only thing stopping me from giving a five is that his Superman sometimes looks a little too... chunky for me. That said, there are also panels where I think he looks great. If you've got this issue, check out the second panel of page 10. I know I've just been critical of 'chunkiness', but Superman's physique looks superb here. I love Jerry's occasional use of very heavy shadow, as with this panel. It adds real definition to his work.

5Cover Art - 5: Great image! A tattered Superman (remember that this was a surprising thing back in the day) apparently helpless and looking like he's about to be blown to smithereens. Okay, so that doesn't actually happen in the issue, but it encapsulates his struggle with the mechanical monster very nicely and for me, a cover doesn't always have to portray something that exactly happens in the book. If it's wildly out of sync then yes, it bugs me, but hey, when the image looks this good- who cares!? This cover really grabbed my attention when I first saw it.


Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comic Book Reviews

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