Mild Mannered Reviews - Classic Post-Crisis Superman Comics

Superman #5

Superman #5

Cover date: May 1987

"The Mummy Strikes"

Writer: John Byrne
Penciller: John Byrne
Inker: Karl Kessel

Reviewed by: Kevin Hollander

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The story opens with Superman defending Metropolis from giant mechanical dogs. At one point during the battle, Wonder Woman appears and helps him finish off his robot adversaries. As she turns to leave he grabs her hand. He pulls her close to him. They stare intensely at each other. Their mouths open slightly and prepare to kiss. At this point Clark wakes up.

He is a bit surprised by the intensity of his dream. He finally admits to himself that she's been on his mind since they met in Washington [this occurred in the Legends mini-series]. Up until this point he wasn't sure if there was a match for Superman but his subconscious has other ideas. He decides to find out more about her in the near future. In the immediate future, he is due at the Daily Planet in three minutes.

Clark arrives and finds a package on his desk. Cat Grant stops by and flirts with him, complementing him on his new look, allowing his facial hair to grow out. He admits that he was running late and didn't have time to shave this morning. As she offers to buy Clark breakfast, Perry interrupts and calls him into his office.

He shows Clark a pre-recorded video message from Lois. She is currently on assignment in Costa Del Marco, a small country in South America. She explains that her story is bigger than she imagined. Discoveries made by archaeologist Dr. Estevez may uncover a large portion of human pre-history. She warns that intense electromagnetic activity has been interfering with the equipment. The recording then stops abruptly due to the electromagnetic interference Lois mentioned. Perry tells Clark to head to Costa Del Marco to find out what happened. As Clark leaves, Perry realizes that Clark's behavior toward Lois indicates that he has a massive crush on her.

Rather than heading toward Metropolis International Airport, he hops the Superman express to South America. After some quick reconnaissance, he sees that everyone in the camp is safe. He changes back to Clark and meets up with Lois. Lois is surprised to see Clark. Her surprise quickly turns into anger when she thinks he has arrived to steal this story from her. She is still furious with him for "stealing" the Superman interview from her. Clark assures her he is only here to help.

They meet with Dr. Estevez who shows one of the artifacts that they have uncovered. It is a metal cylinder that was crafted with precision difficult by modern standards. It was encased in a piece of pottery that is over six thousand years old. The mystery deepens as Estevez shows him architectural work beneath the pyramids that is one hundred thousand years old.

As they descend to the sub-levels, Estevez shows Lois and Clark a metallic chamber with massive limestone formations. They enter the chamber and meet Dr. Estevez's son Raoul who is assisting his father during this expedition. Estevez explains to the reporters that the cylinder they found may function as a key for an opening they found. As he tests his theory, a massive creature approximately 20 feet in height breaks through the wall nearest Lois. With the exception of its eyes, it's completely wrapped in cloth strips.

As the creature takes stock of Lois, Clark moves between them to protect her. The "mummy" takes this for aggression and unleashes his optic force beams at them, narrowly missing them. As they leave the chamber, Clark causes a cave-in to separate him from the rest of the group. This allows him to fight the creature without compromising his identity.

His plan backfires as the mummy proves to be his equal. In addition, his civilian clothes become shredded. He decides against changing into his costume as he may encounter Lois and she may notice that Superman has "Clark's" stubble. His wardrobe issues could be explained away as the natural result of avoiding the creature. When it becomes clear that he won't win quickly, Clark remembers that this creature appeared when Estevez inserted the cylinder into the opening. He then attempts to remove the key and causes the control panel to explode, taking out a large section of the collapsed ceiling.

Just prior to the explosion, Lois, Estevez, and his crew were working frantically to dig Clark out. Lois is the first one through the opening and finds Clark unconscious on the ground. As they carefully carry him out of the chamber for medical attention, Raoul wants to check around. He soon finds himself face to face with the creature beneath the wrappings: a highly advanced robot.

4Story - 4: This was a good beginning for the story. The pacing was excellent. The elements were introduced clearly and efficiently without coming across as forced. A few items do seem a bit strange. Clark's stubble was established early on to justify not suiting up to fight the mummy/robot. His decision could have been justified as it would have been too coincidental not to arouse Lois' suspicions. The other is why a robot would be wrapped up like a mummy in the first place. These are minor complaints and don't significantly detract from the story.

5Art - 5: Byrne & Kesel do an excellent job here. Each panel is well composed and the transition between panels is very fluid throughout the issue.

3Cover Art - 3: The cover is reasonably effective at grabbing the reader's attention. The artwork is nice, but I don't think that the mummy is proportioned properly. Based on the damage he caused crashing through the wall and the minimal damage to the floor, he would have arms that are approximately the size of his entire body.


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