DC Super Heroes Presents: Superman Spectacular #1

1982. Cover price 75p.
52 pages. Full colour.
London Editions Magazines.

"The startling saga of...

...SUPERMAN-RED &
 SUPERMAN-BLUE!"

Edited by Vanessa Morgan.

Painted cover by Alan Craddock.

ISBN-10: 0861730410.

Contents:

 3 Superman Spectacular title page.

 4 Credits / Indicia

 5 Superman "Startling Saga of Superman-Red & Superman-Blue!" w: Paul Kupperberg, from a plot by Bob Rozakis; p: Adrian Gonzales, i: Vince Colletta, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Jerry Serpe.

r: Superman Album (Ehapa Verlag) #01 (Jan 1982).

52 The Super Heroes in-house advertisement for monthly title.

Rocketed as a baby from the exploding planet Krypton, Kal-El grew to manhood on Earth -- whose yellow sun and lighter gravity gave him fantastic super-powers! In the city of Metropolis, he poses as mild-mannered newsman Clark Kent -- but battles evil all over Earth--and beyond--as... Superman.

Alan Craddock's cover is a very 80's image, though isn't the best fit for the title - too soft, with an off-model Superman. It doesn't look like Luthor is holding a chunk of Kryptonite as much as it appears that he is holding the brain of some unfortunate victim. Actually, having Luthor appear so menacing on the cover restores the character's threat after so long as merely another villain for Superman to defeat on a semi-regular basis.

The yellow border kills whatever power the image has. If it had been a simple, understated border it wouldn't have been so overpowering, but being bright yellow, having rounded corners, and featuring an awkward plug in the top corner for The Super Heroes makes the overall appearance one of a cheap knock-off rather than a prestigious companion for the regular series. A small bonus, for the observant, is that the good Superman logo is present and correct, squared-off 'U' and all - some things shouldn't be changed.

One is a man from an earlier time -- trained from boyhood in the ways of science and unleashed on the universe like some galactic outlaw of the old west.

The other is also a man of science. He too is an outlaw... A criminal genius and the lifelong nemesis of Superman.

Singly, the Man of Steel has always emerged the victor in his battles against these foes... Yet never before have they banded together to produce the unpredictable and deadly...

"Startling Saga of Superman-Red & Superman-Blue!"

Perry White hold a meeting of Daily Planet staff, where he bemoans the news available for the afternoon edition, which is going to press in a half hour - a broken water main on 5th Street, last day of the flower show at the Coliseum, a traffic jam on the Eastside Highway... Jimmy Olsen cracks a gag about reprinting the previous day's news, which doesn't go over well, though his interruption palls into insignificance as Lex Luthor appears before them to announce a bold new crime.

Opening with such stilted artwork doesn't exactly scream quality, with Luthor appearing to have been drawn with an action figure in mind rather than depicting an actual person. The second-to-final panel of the third story-page expands the illustrative deficiencies to an inability to draw faces - Luthor looks positively disfigured, or heavily Botoxed, which is precisely the opposite of threatening and imposing.

The storytelling is little better, with Olsen rushing headlong at Luthor, crashing into the wall as he passes through the hologram. It's a superhero comic - so nobody uses their brains anyway - but the constant head injuries the photographer accrues over the years would likely have ended up as severe brain damage. Not that you could tell, comparing his earlier appearances with 1980s ones, as he's never been the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Luthor, perched on a jet-powered toboggan (for reasons wisely left undocumented), attacks S.T.A.R. Labs, quickly confronted by Superman - who would rather talk than actually capture him. Luthor uses a machine which generates magical energy to defeat Superman... who turns out to be another hologram, as revealed by the real Superman. Lassoing Luthor with telephone cable, Superman flies the arch criminal away, and is shocked when Luthor breaks free.

Which raises the question of where Supes got the cable.

Are the telephone lines down somewhere? Did he stop off at the telephone company's yards just before apprehending Luthor? The storytelling is oblique when it comes to explaining anything here, not least of which is how the hologram tech managed to find its' way into Luthor's hands. Superman x-rays Luthor, then punches him as hard as he can. Unfortunately, he hasn't gone as crazy as Captain America, he's merely realised that Luthor is a robot copy rather than the genuine article.

Space. Only the limits of imagination can keep the people of Earth from one day taming this most hostile environment, but tame it they shall--

and perhaps, on that day, they will roam the cosmic frontier as freely as this man... One of their own who was riding the solar winds fully a century before his fellows dreamt it was possible.

But until that day comes, Terra-Man will ride alone!

Only the limits of imagination? So... Science has nothing to do with space exploration?
Horses with wings make me think of She-Ra. I'm not sure a cowboy riding on one through space is much more credible, but that's where we are. Terra-Man, who really needs a better name, finds a chunk of Kryptonite while meandering in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, though what he's doing out there is (again) unexplained. Probably looking for a way out of this story.

Displaying an incredible lack of imagination, Terra-Man's first thought is to kill Superman. Luthor, watching events on his deep-space monitors, observes this, and soon the pair are in agreement on working towards the death of Superman. The Man of Steel, in blatant disregard for both city ordinance and health and safety rules, has placed a canoe atop Lois Lane's apartment building, and is busying himself with a light-show to impress her - what, isn't there any crimes going on in the city? Did he take the day off?

Superman's booty call is interrupted by Terra-Man arriving amid a shower of meteors. The Red Kryptonite somehow splits him in two - a red and a blue Superman, horrifying Luthor. As the Supermen work together to deal with the remaining meteors, Terra-Man captures Luthor, creating multiple holograms of himself to delay either of the Supermen from reaching him before he can make his escape. Luthor fills him in on the difference between regular and diet Kryptonite, though doesn't go into detail on how he knows so much about the effects.

Steve Lombard makes his way through the Daily Planet building setting pranks up for Clark Kent, though the pair of Kent's walking around manage to turn the tables on him. In a secluded stock room, the two Supermen discuss coordinating their movements, while - inexplicably - both removing their clothes. Having Clark Kent and Superman live completely separate lives never occurs to them. Skipping out on a staff meeting, they head to the Fortress of Solitude to try and track down Luthor and Terra-Man with the Crisis Monitor.

Hey, Supes, that Crisis Monitor will come in handy in three years. Don't break it.

Superman-Red deals with a waterspout in the Atlantic, before dealing with a brush fire in LA, while Blue prevents an air crash over Australia, then pays a visit to some guerrillas in South America. As they compare their inconsistent powers, Terra-Man opens a rift in space, requiring them to put aside the problem until they have dealt with the imminent threat. Tracing a trail of magic energy to S.T.A.R. Labs, Red discovers Luthor, but is unprepared to deal with the other-dimensional magical energy Luthor has tapped.

Blue works out that the he and Red only have one set of powers between them, so that when one is using a power the other can't. His battle with Terra-Man is soon underway. Luthor has almost succeeded in fulfilling his dream of killing Superman (or, at least, Superman-Red), halting his attack on the Man of Steel to melt some random buildings in a display of his powers.

Terra-Man and Luthor are both surprised when their Superman disappears in the midst of battle, as the original reforms in space, the effects of the Red Kryptonite having worn off. Easily defeating Terra-Man, Superman sets out to capture Luthor. The magical energy is too powerful for him to defeat, but when he discovers an unconscious Lois he ignores Luthor until the criminal's wand explodes.

And no, we're not reading Freudian anything into that.

It is a real shame that there are so precious few moments of real human behaviour in this story, as the constant plot-essential actions really don't stand up. Luthor never acknowledges that his hologram technology, his robots, or even his space observation telescope, might offer greater rewards than a fruitless obsession with murdering Superman. Terra-Man, likewise, is a one-dimensional villain.

With two Supermen in play, the script takes care to keep Lois out of the way for the majority of the story so as not to imply anything improper occurring in her private thoughts. So safe is the story played, with numerous examples of fake versions appearing, there is no credible threat to any of the characters. When a character is placed in peril, there is always the possibility that it will be a hologram or robot. Even the ending, where Lois is injured, is handled in a terrible manner, with Superman kissing the unconscious woman rather than rushing her to a hospital.

A poor beginning to a series which never materialised. Probably for the better, on the strength of this.