Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics


Man of Steel #6 (Miniseries)

Cover date: September 1986

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

"The Haunting"

Reviewed by: Neal Bailey (baileyn@cc.wwu.edu)


Superman looms over Smallville, his old haunt. He hasn't visited in a good while, what seems like years. He swoops in before anyone can notice him, changes into Clark Kent, and careens unseen into the train station, where Ma and Pa Kent note his presence and call him over.

They get in the car and commence small talk, Pa and Ma talking about small town affairs, Clark about the life of a big city reporter, and Pa almost spills the beans on something.

Over dinner (and HOO BOY! Pie) Clark talks about his infatuation with Lois with his parents, but finds himself torn, because Lois loves Superman, but despises Clark for scooping her.

Later, Clark can't sleep. He is wondering what Pa was hiding from him. Clark goes downstairs for more pie, and is confronted by a Kryptonian visage of what seems to be Jor-El, though Clark doesn't know this... yet.

Talking to the visage does nothing, until the visage reaches over, touches him, and Clark is knocked out. He wakes in the Fortress, with Jor-El at his side. His parents present, Clark is astounded to hear the words they speak start to make sense. His mother starts to speak to him, but suddenly Clark awakens back in Smallville, his mother's face replaced with Lana's.

He's in a grassy field.

Lana comforts him, and he describes his adventure in the strange place with strange people he doesn't understand. But he doesn't indicate his Superpowers.

He asks Lana why she came back to Smallville. She bites him with why she left in the first place:

Clark, seemingly about to propose to Lana, takes her on a moonlit stroll (ten years ago). Lana is suddenly swept into the air as Clark flies her up, revealing his powers. He then drops her on a porch and disappears from Smallville, for years.

Clark, at present, apologizes for these actions in the past. Lana forgives him, tells him that it made her a better person.

Clark as Superman, goes out for a walk, kicking things around in his head. He likes Lois. He loved Lana. Why did Pa hide something from him?

He goes to the site where his rocket is stored on the Kent farm, pulls off the cover, and is astonished to find the rocket missing. The apparition of Jor-El appears again.

Superman demands that Jor-El be civil, and not attack his mind as he did before. Jor-El ignores him, hitting Superman again with the same beam, flooding Superman with knowledge even too fast for his Super-brain.

Pa Kent leaps onto the scene and hits Jor-El's apparition with a shovel, shorting him out. The shovel nearly dissipates, but the wood in the handle saves Jonathan from electrocution.

Superman stands, flooded with new knowledge, declares he needs to go off and think, and flies off.

He thinks... I am Kryptonian. I know Krypton now, just as well as I know Earth. More so. But his raising on Earth, he figures, makes him human, so he makes a solid declaration to serve Earth.

5Story - 5: This is the first Superman comic I've read in a while that is mostly thought and less action, and frankly, I welcome it. It seems that all comics are getting to be is action without thought. Did we learn nothing from Watchmen and Dark Knight? Readers love a good, well thought out plot a lot more than biff, bamm, and sock.
I want Byrne back. I like Loeb, now, but I want Byrne back.

4Art - 4: For its time, this was the best Superman drawn, and it's still pretty darn good. You can tell the writer and penciller are the same person and very well in line. Slightly problematic: Pa and Ma Kent look like the same person with different weight and hair.

3Cover Art - 3: It depicts and depicts well the subject and intent of the issue, but it just seems a little odd, and undetailed. Also, the scene depicted never occurred in a house, or in front of Lana. Cover fan-draw embellishment at its best.


Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comic Book Reviews

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