Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics


Man of Steel #5

Man of Steel 5 (Miniseries)

Cover date: September 1986

Writer: John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: Dick Giordano

"The Mirror, Crack'd..."

Reviewed by: Josh Gehling (rgehling@concentric.net)


"You're getting sloppy Luthor," Superman says as he holds a man in a green battle suit (if you collected the Super Powers action figures in the 80's, it looks just like Lex Luthor's green and purple suit) in the air. He tells Luthor that the man inside the suit is carrying a Lexcorp ID and that every part of the suit came from a Lexcorp company. Luthor responds to Superman's accusations by explaining that all the parts of the suit have been listed as stolen and the employee was fired weeks ago. Superman tells him that computer records can be faked and he'll wait to see what the man has to say when he regains consciousness. Luthor smiles and says that the man probably didn't know that anyone who wore the suit for more than a hour was left a complete vegetable. Superman gives up and then flies away, but not before telling Luthor that one day he'll screw up and that he's going to nail him (Luthor) when he does.

After Superman has left, Lex enters a secret passage which leads to a huge laboratory where Dr. Teng gives Luthor a report of his progress. Teng tells Luthor that the scanners in the outer room scanned Superman's cellular and molecular structure. This data was then fed into the waiting cloning matrix. Teng also tells him that, through his research, he's found that Superman is not human. Suddenly, the cloning matrix opens and a prefect clone of Superman steps out, but the clone quickly collapses. Teng runs over and explains to Luthor that the matrix was created for duplicating known forms of life, but that Superman is an unknown form of life, therefore, the matrix is rejecting his DNA and the body is crystallizing. Luthor angrily tells Teng that he doesn't want to see him or the clone again and storms out of the room.

In Metropolis, Lois prepares to leave for work and asks Lucy (her younger sister) if she will be okay. Lucy tells her that she will be fine (Lois is worried because Lucy has recently been blinded and she's now in severe depression).

Across town, an ambulance gets a flat tire and Superman quickly arrives and takes it to the hospital. When he sets it down, the driver gets out to thank him, but when he sees "Superman's" face, he runs away (if you hadn't already guessed, this is the clone). He quickly flies away from the hospital.

In Lois' apartment, Lucy sits on the balcony outside and jumps off the balcony (trying to kill herself) but she is caught by "Superman" and put back in the apartment. Lucy asks him if he's going to lecture her or something. He gives no response and when she touches his hand she asks him why he feels so dusty, but he's already taken off again.

Meanwhile, in the Daily Planet, Lois arrives at the office. After Lois insults Clark, he asks her about Lucy. She tells him that the doctors still can't figure out what it was that the Hijacker threw in her face last year (she was a flight attendant, the plane was hijacked, she tried to interfere...) and they say that her sight could be restored if they can find the proper combination of chemicals. As they're talking, Jimmy comes up and asks them if they heard about the robbery where a guy broke into a men's clothing store and smashed a couple thousand dollars worth of glass to steal a hundred dollar suit. Clark's super-hearing picks up a scream from downstairs and he uses his X-ray vision to see a tall man with what looks to be the hundred dollar suit. He quickly exits from the newsroom and thanks Jimmy for the tip. Lois chases after him, but by the time she gets out of the newsroom he's already changed and is downstairs.

In the lobby, Superman approaches the man and taps him on the shoulder. When he turns around he sees a chalk-white man with a coat, pants and glasses with a Superman suit underneath. He tries to get him away from the building before any staffers see him and realize Clark Kent=Superman. When he touches the thing, it gets angry and punches him out on to the street. Superman approaches the creature again and it uses heat-vision on him. He falls to the ground in agony and then grabs a car and throws it on top of the thing. Superman gains the upper-hand and starts punching the creature. While he punches him, he notices an odd white dust that flies off the creature at every impact. When Lois exits the Planet building, Superman quickly uses his heat vision to melt the "Clark Kent" clothes off the creature. Lois runs over to the battle to try and help Superman but she is grabbed by the clone and flown up, up and away. Before they land on Lois' apartment building, the creature kisses her (she thinks to herself that she has waited five years for Superman to kiss her and now...). When they land, Lucy asks if it is Lois and tells her that after the creature saved her earlier she's been able to see shapes and colors. Superman quickly arrives, and the two fight in the air, but the clone is triumphant and shoves Superman down onto the street. He gets up and takes off for a final deathblow, the creature positions himself in front of Superman and they collide... head-on. A huge explosion occurs and as white dust falls, Lucy tells Lois that she can see once again. A battered Superman lands and explains that whatever the dust was made off, enough of it was released when the creature was destroyed to cure Lucy completely. Lucy smiles at him and asks if he knew that, when he risked his life, the dust would cure her. He tells her that he didn't but that somehow, the creature did.

5Story - 5: This was my first Superman comic, so it holds a special place with me, but even if it wasn't, it's still deserving of a "5." The villain in this issue actually offered a threat to Superman and I think I like the clone of Superman alot more as a silent beast then as a talking idiot (which he was in pre-crisis and would one day turn into in post-crisis). This issue may not have had that much of a story but I think it's the most fun to read of all the issues in the series. Another great chapter in the MOS miniseries, it just keeps getting better and better.

5Art - 5: Once again, an extraordinary job done by Byrne and Giordano.

5Cover Art - 5: Simple and nicely drawn... I also like that the MOS logo.


Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comic Book Reviews

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