Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics

Superman: The Man of Steel #1

Superman: The Man of Steel #1

Cover date: July 1991

"Man of Steel/Man of Fire!"

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciller: Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Bob McLeod, Dan Jurgens
Inker: Dennis Janke, Jerry Ordway, Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding

Reviewed by: Jeremiah Boor

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Narrator tells us a warehouse was firebombed last night. The Daily Planet reads: Cerberus Strikes Again!

Metropolis Transit workers are on strike. A bus attempts to drive through the picket line, when an unknown gunmen shoots, severing the steering cable. Enter the Man of Steel to save the day.

Superman searches for the gunman, but instead finds a gang in the midst of robbing a newsstand. Superman does his thing.

Wondering who Cerberus is, Superman spots a cat in a tree. He returns the cat to its owner, a young orphan named Keith.

Flying away, the sun flashes red, and Superman sees the cityscape momentarily turn Kryptonian.

Jimmy has decided to move out and asks his mother for her blessing. She agrees provided he has chosen a safe location.

Still flying overhead, Superman watches the sun go red once again. His head is pounding. We see a figure in the sun. "At last... I AM."

The sunspot activity shorts out radar and communications on all flights surrounding Metropolis. Already on his way to the airport to pick up Ma and Pa Kent, Superman saves the day, plucking 30 blind planes from midair.

Just as he saves the last plane, Superman hears an explosive about to blow. He's too late to stop it. It is Cerberus, with a fire laden message. "You know who you are. You know what we want. Capitulate to our demands... Or worse will follow. Cerberus."

Still wondering who Cerberus is, Clark heads to the terminal and picks up his parents. He drops them at his apartment, then heads to the office to write up the latest Cerberus story. Martha and Jonathan worry about Clark because he "doesn't get headaches."

We see the figure rise from the sun. It is the Eradicator. He recaps his story for the reader. Originally a thing of circuits and wires and metal and glass, he was created by Kryptonians to seek out and destroy those whose systems of belief are opposed to Krypton's good... and to enhance the well being of those truly Kryptonian. Superman previously encountered the Eradicator, but threw him into the sun in an attempt to exterminate him. It didn't work.

Back at the Daily Planet, Foswell (acting Editor-in-chief while Perry takes a leave of absence) calls a meeting to discuss budget cuts. He decides to lay off some staffers. Margaret Adam and everyone's favorite cub reporter, Jimmy Olsen are two of the unlucky ones.

Lois protests, but Clark is called away to Prof. Hamilton's lab. On his way, Superman is met with yet another hallucination of Krypton. Prof. Hamilton is studying Mr. Z's gemstone (see Superman #51).

Once Hamilton puts the last piece of the gemstone in place, it activates and begins sucking the two inside the gem. Superman shatters it with his heat vision and promises the Professor that he'll take him to study the gemstone at his Fortress soon.

Perry White receives the news of the Daily Planet layoffs via telephone. Lois tells him not to worry, but he stews as his wife, Alice prepares for their vacation. She worries that a cruise can't make up for how she lied to him. (No big deal really... she just concealed the fact that Perry's son, Jerry, isn't his at all, but Lex Luthor's).

Lois and Clark have dinner with the Kents to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Lois and Clark, now engaged, give the couple a pair of cruise tickets to the Bahamas.

A bomb threat is called into the restaurant and an evacuation is ordered. Chaos ensues, Clark saves a little girl from being trampled, then changes into Superman. No bomb, just a prank call.

As the Kents sleep at their son's apartment, Clark is still trying to uncover Cerberus' identity. He falls asleep and dreams of a Kryptonian garden. The Eradicator kills the gardener, Martha Kent.

Clark wakes, inspired by the dream. He finds a link between all of the places Cerberus has hit... Lex Luthor. Superman heads to Lex Towers to investigate.

Superman hears the sound of a soon to be detonated bomb, and hurries to the scene. He gets the bomb away from civilians just in time. In the aftermath of the explosion, a similar message is revealed. But this time, Superman tracks down the man behind the trigger.

A fight ensues. The triggerman, a cyborg, confirms the link to Luthor, but gives up little other information. The crowd, fearful of the terrorist attacks that have beset the city, urge Superman to kill the cyborg. He refuses, but the cyborg is hit with a powerful beam. Superman looks up to see that it's the Eradicator that has disintegrated the villain. He tells Superman he must join him in his quest to transform the Earth into a new Krypton... or die.

4Story - 4: This new era is pretty unique in comics. Four different creative teams working together on a weekly format, each adding their own stories to the mix, and combining to tell a larger tale. It's interesting to see how the writers weave everything together.

It's the subplots that really make the issue sing. I counted at least eight: The void left by Luthor's death, Keith the orphan, Jimmy getting fired, the Kent's anniversary, the White's marriage, Foswell EiC, Mr. Z's gemstone, and of course the fact that this issue serves as the prologue for the "Return of the Krypton Man".

The first appearance of Keith is innocuous and would be considered a 'throw away' if the reader wasn't aware that he becomes a reoccurring character. Like Mr. Z's gemstone, not much to say yet.

As far as Perry taking a leave of absence, I'm not really sure what the creators were trying to accomplish. Were they just moving Foswell in to be a temporary bad guy to create the Jimmy story line? Was it an attempt to show the White's marriage progress? Maybe they just wanted to wrap up all the drama created by Jerry's death and Bryne's "World of Metropolis"? (It was Byrne who came up with the idea of Luthor fathering Jerry White).

Either way, I'm really enjoying all of the things that are (and will) spin out as a result. Particularly in regard to the Jimmy story line. The idea of Jimmy getting the ax on the day he signs a lease is wrought with juicy conflict.

I have few complaints about the issue, but one problem is the main plot itself. It's kind of ironic that of all the story lines jam packed into this book, the main yarn is actually the weakest. The Cerberus story is what Simonson decides to lead with right out of the box. Man of Steel #1 - Superman versus the mysterious Cerberus. This story should be the backbone of the issue, instead, it limps along until Simonson is ready to wrap things up.

No time is wasted introducing the new threat. Cerberus makes the Daily Planet headline in the third panel of the book. Cerberus is then set aside for four pages, when Superman wonders to himself, "Cerberus. What does he want...?" Superman is then sidetracked for seven more pages until Cerberus finally strikes (on panel). An explosion and a mysterious message later, Superman is left again to wonder just who Cerberus is. Three pages later, Clark writes up the Cerberus story, but no plot progression. Another seven pages later we see Clark investigating the Cerberus case, but again no progression. I could go on, but I think the point is made. Clark either wonders who the villain is, or tries to find out who he is... and fails.

The plot is in neutral for most of the issue, and therefore, kinda boring. Luckily the rest of the issue is all about action and forward progression. (I didn't even notice this problem until I reread it for this review.) To be fair, we do finally uncover part of the mystery at the start of the third act. We see Luthor is somehow connected and get a showdown before changing gears away from the plot line again.

With so many story lines to fit in, I don't mind that the main plot is stretched out. That's only natural. But the lack of forward motion leaves the entire issue feeling like a collage of scenes rather than a cohesive narrative.

Instead of wasting scenes, like Clark typing/researching at his desk only to come up empty, he should have been allowed to make the Luthor connection earlier. This would advance the story and give readers a new piece of the puzzle to ponder. As it is, Simonson runs the (small) risk of readers getting bored as they wait for the Cerberus shoe to drop.

As far as how the story serves as a prologue for the Eradicator's return, it's a mixed bag. The first panel we see Eradicator in physical form is nice. He surges back to life. And of course the words he first speaks, "I AM" were chosen for a reason.

I AM is the name the Christian/Jewish God gives himself in the bible. Therefore, those two words highlight the Eradicator's godlike powers. This comes just two pages after Superman wonders if his life as Clark Kent is just a huge waste of time. Obviously, shedding the Kent persona would leave Superman with no humanity, an empty vessel of super powers - just like the Eradicator.

Two quibbles though, one: Why was Superman seeing flashes of Krypton? Perhaps, just to foreshadow the coming of the Eradicator, but if so, then it makes no sense in the story world. Perhaps, it was because Superman had been formerly possessed by the Eradicator and their closing proximity was messing with Supey's mind? Whatever the case, it wasn't explained in this issue. Hopefully it will be addressed in the next.

My second problem is small, but on the last page the Eradicator has way too much dialogue. It's great looking, and a nice moment, but it's dragged down by Simonson explaining what she's already used a recap page to explain.

As much as I criticized, I really did enjoyed the issue. Reading it gave me the intended feeling of a whole new era for Superman. And as mentioned, the best part was the introduction to the new and interesting story lines.

5Art - 5: Because all of the Superman titles this month are oversized, editor Mike Carlin had all four Super-pencillers pitch in to handle the extra workload. I'm amazed at the consistency of the art. Sure, readers with a keen eye, or fans of these artists can probably tell who did which pages, it's not easy, especially at first glance.

There are no real background-less panels, no oddly proportioned bodies, no rushed panels. Also for 40 pages, there aren't an abundance of splash pages or two to three panel pages. Impressive work all around.

The first splash of Superman stopping the runaway bus is a beautiful way to kick off the new title. There is a nice iconic panel of Superman pulling his shirt open revealing the S shield, and we even get a great final page splash teasing the next issue.

4Cover Art - 4: I still remember when this issue first came out. I never liked the cover. Almost 20 years later, I'm still trying to get over the problems I had with it. I just can't get past the size of Superman's head. I know between Ordway and Bogdanove Superman was commonly drawn with a big chin around this time, but wow. His huge Jay Leno-like chin, coupled with his oversized shoulders and chest forces me to take this down a notch.

Otherwise, it really is a nice painted cover. Superman flying over Metropolis (actually New York if you look closer, but hey).


Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comic Book Reviews

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