Matrix Mondays: Action Comics #644

Welcome to the next chapter in my now-and-then Matrix Monday reviews. This won't be a comprehensive look at all of Matrix's appearances. That would be a bit too demanding. But the hope here is to cover some of the big moments in that Supergirl's career that I haven't yet covered on this site.

I recently covered the early Byrne issues of Superman and the ultimate Byrne storyline, 'The Supergirl Saga', which brought the protoplasmic Matrix back to the DC Earth and onto the Kent Farm.

After Superman executed the Pocket Universe Phantom Zone villains, he took off into space, self-exiling himself. During that time, his secret identity was maintained by the shape-changing Matrix. Matrix became Clark Kent. But things have become dark.

And so we have Action Comics #644, the next chapter in the difficult early days of this character. So much for the return of Supergirl.

'Doppelganger' was written by George Perez and Roger Stern with art by Perez and Brett Breeding. I have give Roger Stern a lot of credit for picking up the ball dropped by Byrne and putting together a very solid run on Superman.

And the art team of Perez and Breeding is interesting. There is definitely a Perez 'feel' to this work but I feel like Breeding really puts his own stamp on things. You have to almost squint a bit to realize you are seeing a Perez book, as if it is hidden under the distinctive layer of inks.

But it is a good splash, Superman speeding like a bullet to Smallville to answer a call for help from his friend Lana.

It seems Lana warned Superman that Matrix was becoming too hard to handle for the Kents. He also spies a local structure which has been demolished by someone who apparently looked like Superman. It has to be Matrix.

All this gives Stern and Perez an excuse to give a quick recap of the 'Supergirl Saga' without too much Pocket Universe/Kryptonian killing details.

This might be the first time Perez drew Supergirl since Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. I love how he renders the Matrix costume, one of my faves.

Matrix was always portrayed as a sort of simple-minded creature and I think the physical attack didn't help the trauma. Just prior to his exile, Superman told 'Mae' to protect the Kents and it seems Matrix took it to heart. She adopted Superman's life, lived as Clark, toyed around with the Eradicator in Clark's apartment, set off an explosion, and then became unhinged.

Here, on the Kent's farm, Lana flags down Superman saying that she and the Kents just calmed down Matrix so Superman should tread lightly.

Now Lana has been through a lot. So I like that she isn't hysterical here. She actually is pretty measured.

Checkout Superman skulking outside the window, taking it all in.

Matrix, now in Clark's form, still wearing tattered clothes from his destructive outburst in the Smallville place, seems almost too happy. He/she seems to think everything is perfect, right out of a Norman Rockwell picture. After all, everything is better with pancakes.

But somehow Matrix can sense that Superman is there. But believing he/she is the actual Clark, she assumes the real Superman is a villain and attacks.

He/she scoops up the Kents and Lana and flies them to an abandoned Smallville quarry for their 'protection'.

And then to complete the mental breakdown and identity crisis, he/she takes on the complete form of Superman, albeit in a washed out gray/black version of the famous costume.

It is a subtle way to show that there is something darker about this manifestation. He/she might think they are doing the heroic thing here. But it isn't right.

It all leads to a confrontation between the two Supermen.

I do like how Perez gives us a tiny panel mirroring the cover, Matrix Superman shrouded in shadows. It is a good contrast to the next panel of our brightly clad hero, his face visible, the Kents and Lana hiding behind. This panel construction, use of shadows, and colors all show how they might look alike but Matrix isn't in a right state of mind.

And I also liked how the page also splits Superman faces between the two versions, adding to the confusion and feel of a split in their personalities and beliefs.

We get several pages of a brawl between the two, showing that Matrix is a decent threat to Superman.

But the property damage starts to add up. Ultimately, the quarry building collapses under the strain.

To save the Kents and Lana, Superman has to swoop in and stretch out his cape to shield them from the debris.

Now I know this is a pretty common thing for the supers to do. But I can't help but be reminded of something when I see this.

Here is Superman doing the same thing in the Fleisher Studios Superman cartoon 'The Mechanical Monsters' from 1941. Could this be the first place he did this move?

I recently saw this on the big screen, in all its glory, as the short before the Donner Superman movie, shown by Fathom Events.

Superman realizes that somehow the Matrix has been sharing memories because the Eradicator has linked their minds in a way.

But things are out of control. It is time for Superman to confront Matrix about who he/she really is.

Superman starts dropping truth bombs. She is an artificial life form. Her world was destroyed.

There is a panel of General Zod and his threat about destroying the real Earth as well. While Matrix wasn't there, those memories have been shared. And that seems to trigger him/her deeper into her madness.

He/she vows to save the world even if it means killing Superman.

Of course, the main lesson Superman learned from The Supergirl Saga and the resulting Exile storyline, it is that Superman does not kill.

As always, George Perez does a great job of using inset panels and page layout to tell the story more than the words just can. The slow more monstrous face of Matrix's Superman while Superman's remain steely and determined shows the unstable nature of Matrix's persona.

But it is wonderful how that simple realization ... that simple fact ... that Superman does not kill defuses the entire situation.

But there is one more interesting wrinkle to the whole thing.

Remember that Matrix has lived that the life of Superman while Kal was gone. And now that imitation of life, that walking in those footsteps, continues.

Matrix realizes that they aren't stable. They are a danger to others. As such, they cannot remain on Earth.

Hmmm ... didn't Superman recently come to the same conclusion and do the same thing?

And so the past page is this grayish Superman flying off into space. Superman wonders if Earth will ever see Matrix again.

I do wonder what Stern and Perez's thoughts were at the time. Did they simply want to get rid of this character? Was Matrix a Byrne-barnacle stuck to the hull of Superman?

Or did they know ultimately that they wanted her to come back as Supergirl? If they did, that was tremendous forethought because we don't see Matrix again for 2.5 years!! That is when Supergirl returns in the prologue of Panic in the Sky (as reviewed here:
http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2016/11/back-issue-box-action-comics-674.html )

And so we get another difficult brick in the foundation of the Matrix character. Here 'he' is unstable, perhaps due to the control of the Eradicator. Then she becomes the slave of Brainiac. Then she becomes the lover of Lex Luthor II. I promise we'll get to the good stuff.

As for this issue, it isn't a highly important Supergirl issue for a collection but it is a key moment in the history of Matrix. I also remind you we get George Perez Supergirl here. Look for it in the buck box.

Overall grade: B