I decided to review Superman Adventures #52 even though Supergirl, Kara In-Ze from Argo, is a sort of plot device, not a major player. Mark Millar is on writing duties here. Always hard to believe that he started on the all ages books given where he has ended up. And he has been in the news recently for his thoughts on the comic market.
But there are some other pieces of this 'done in one' issue that resonate with an old soul like me and made me think it would be fun to review. The main plot deals with Supergirl dying from an ancient and alien infection. It sort of feels and looks like the old Virus X stories from the seventies. There is a plot point in this which remind me greatly of the Superman III movie. There is a scene that reminds me of a Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen cover from the Silver Age. Lex teams up with Superman (sort of) which lines up with the current Superman title. And it ends with a sort of homage to a famous Superman: The Animated Series moment. That's a lot of hooks!
Aluir Amancio provides the art which mirrors the look of S:TAS completely. This could easily have been an episode. And the absolute legend Terry Austin is on inks.
On to the book!
Open the cover and you get hit with a tremendous splash page.
Supergirl, covered in pink splotches and clearly ill, collapses into the Kent house.
Nice title too. 'A Death in the Family' has been used in some form or another for some pretty famous Batman arcs.
Superman arrives and finds Kara nearly dead.
A quick scan shows she is dying of a viral infection which is overwhelming her body. Even her nervous system is affected.
It definitely gives a Virus X feel, reminding me of Superman #365.
Superman brings Kara to his fortress to run a diagnostic and utilize the database he has about Argo.
Supergirl is suffering from a common bit often fatal infection that occurred on Argo. There was a very effective vaccine against this which pretty much eradicated the disease. But Kara was too young to have received it when Argo went frozen. So she is susceptible.
Now I know that I shouldn't look for legitimate 'medicine' in comics. But an infection is either from a virus or a bacteria. Not both. I do like that even on Argo they used latin-sounding nomenclature. This bacteria is called Encyopylas Transloci!
To save Supergirl, Superman needs to recreate the inoculation. The problem is that there is an Element X in the vaccine, something not of Earth, something alien. And without that component, the vaccine cannot be made.
An unknown element. Reminds me of Superman III when Richard Pryor couldn't create Kryptonite because there was an unknown element. He replaced it with tar!
Again, I shouldn't look for medicine in comics. A vaccine works because after receiving it, you can make targeted antibodies when exposed to the infection. Once you have the infection, now you need an antimicrobial.
I suppose you can think of this like polio. It is basically eradicated here because of the vaccine. But if you aren't vaccinated and you get polio, the vaccine won't help. It's too late.
When S.T.A.R. Labs also admits they can't recreate Element X, Superman has no choice. He has to turn to the smartest man on the planet ... Lex Luthor.
I don't usually post a whole page but I loved this one too much.
Look at Lex lounging next to the pool like Hugh Hefner. A beautiful woman in a bikini at his feet. A maid there in a teeny weeny maid uniform. The young woman looking a bit hungrily at Superman when he arrives. This shows the megalomania of Lex.
Superman arriving, cloaked in shadows. He clearly doesn't want to be here asking Lex for assistance.
Just a perfect page to show us who Lex is.
Surprisingly, Lex says he can and will help.
We have scenes of Superman scouring the planet for what must be ingredients Lex needs ... a flower in a tropical setting, some salts from the ocean.
But it is Luthor's hubris that gets me. He basically says he can recreate anything in the universe simply because of who he is. To him, failure is inconceivable.
And then, the turnaround.
Lex says he has recreated Element X. He has made the antidote. But he won't give it to Superman. The only way he'll turn it over is if Superman exposes himself to a lethal dose of Kryptonite, killing himself.
As I have said while reading Joshua Williamson's Superman, you can't trust Lex.
Next, Lex is basically asking Superman to commit suicide in order to save Supergirl.
Most amazing, Superman agrees to do it.
Before leaving to meet Metallo, Superman stops one last time to say goodbye to Kara who is minutes from death. In what I think is a touching moment, he cries on her, asking her to be a hero and make him proud! Now that is a super-cousin and a mentor.
His tears fall on Kara and they are found to have Element X. Of course Superman's system would have alien material in it. With the 'simple salt' obtained, S.T.A.R. can make the cure.
Look at that panel of Professor Hamilton collecting Superman's tears. Has to be an homage to Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #125.
In his office, Lex feels shadow looming out his window. I assume he thinks it's Superman coming to angrily confront him about Kara's death.
But it turns out to be Supergirl, hearty and healthy. I love her bright look and jaunty body position. Even her sass, calling him baldy!
It reminded me of the famous scene in the earliest Superman: The Animated series where Superman is floating outside of Lex's office.
And then, the ultimate twist.
Lex never made the cure. He never recreated Element X. He was going to trick Superman into committing suicide.
But Supergirl lives and Lex can only think that it happened because Superman used his intelligence to create Element X, something even Lex couldn't do. Lex is crestfallen because he think Superman has outsmarted him.
If there is one thing Lex has always counted on, it is that he is smarter. Now he doesn't know.
And he'll never know that it was dumb luck that led to Element X.
I really enjoyed this issue. From a Supergirl view, we got some info about this version of Kara. Plus, that great semi-splash outside Lex's office. But then the rest of it. The homages. Lex being a jerk through and through. The fun art. They are called all ages books because people of all ages can enjoy them.
Overall grade: A
6 comments:
Millar was tiptoeing the "all ages" line there with that pool scene. Not surprising he'd want to push the boundaries a little bit.
Nice review, I'll admit the Superman crying and of course it has the element needed for the cure feels VERY Silver Age, but do like that they show how much Superman cared for Supergirl here. Also, couldn't help but read Element-X each time and think of the Powerpuff Girls narrator as he goes "CHEMICAL-X.' So, each time its mentioned I just go straight to hearing that in my head lol
Virus X actually goes right back to the Silver Age, 1962’s Superman #156, the classic Last Days of Superman ‘novel’. I wouldn’t be at all surprised were Millar not knowingly using plot elements he’d grown up with for a story emphasising the importance of vaccinating children - this issue came out in 2001, a couple of years into the MMR controversy, with people wrongly linking the measles/mumps/rubella preventative jab with cases of autism.
I’ve not read this issue, thanks for covering it.
(I honestly don’t see what’s potentially dodgy about that Lex and his ladies page, PT, it’s a rich guy surrounded by subjectively beautiful women, that’s not going to corrupt a kid.)
Mark Millar does well when he works within set boundaries, so it makes sense to me that his Superman Adventures run was solid (and one of the best Superman titles of the 90’s as far as I’m concerned). If nothing else, it’s clear that he knows what’s come before (even if he doesn’t respect it always). His later, more hyped up work tends to overshadow that.
I forgot Millar wrote this....
Thanks for comments.
Millar can subvert the genre - Wanted, KickAss, etc. But when he wants to lean into the characters, like here, he shines.
I really liked this issue!
Thanks for all the comments.
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