Back Issue Review: Superman #4

The wait is over and the season premiere of Supergirl Season 3 is airing tonight. The theme seems to be Kara trying to recover from the grief over losing Mon-El. But the main villain of the week is Bloodsport. Here is the link to the preview:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irH6gtcR4Dk

Given that Bloodsport isn't a well known villain, I thought I'd take a look at his original appearance in the comics and why he is actually a threat to our Kryptonian heroes.

Back in 1986, John Byrne completely rebooted the Superman mythos. Post-Crisis, Byrne was given the keys to the Superman kingdom. Everything was fresh. The decades of continuity was expunged. No Kandor. No Supergirl. No Superboy. No super-scientist Luthor. There are plenty of places you can read about this at length.

But it did mean that these Superman stories felt very new. We saw him meet Lois. We saw him give Jimmy the signal watch. We saw him meet all his villains again ... for the first time! And we saw him Kryptonite for the first times. He had fought Metallo in Superman #1. And here in Superman #4, he fights Bloodsport, also armed with some Green K.

On to the book ...

"Bloodsport!" was written and drawn by John Byrne with inks by Karl Kesel. The book opens up with Jimmy Olsen having coffee with Lucy Lane at a coffee shop in the mall. So Lucy and Jimmy being together is old, like 1950's old. But here it is new.

That tete-a-tete is interrupted by violence.

Bloodsport arrives with an Iron Fist mask, camouflage pants, and major weapons. And he sprays the mall with bullets and death.

He screams that he and Mickey didn't get injured in 'Nam so that America could live a life of leisure and excess. After stating his manifesto, Bloodsport jumps onto a motorcycle and seems to teleport away.

Jimmy triggers his signal watch and Superman arrives after Bloodsport has fled.

It seems Jimmy used his signal watch one time before when he had a flat tire. So at first Superman gives a little jab to Jimmy, making sure it was a true emergency. Then he hears from Maggie Sawyer, also on scene, that this is a disaster scene.

Superman walks into the mall and sees the carnage.

I know that Byrne's lack of backgrounds can be labeled as lazy. But I thought this was a nice set of panels. Superman in silhouette in the first panel conveys a sort of funereal feel. We don't need primary colors in this carnage.

And the last panel of Superman's shock at the scene is made that much more jarring by that lack of background and his being off to one side. Something is off and we get that sense with the visuals.

With his infra-red vision, Superman is able to see Bloodsport's trail and realizing this attack was only the beginning, Superman vows to bring the shooter in. Infra-red vision!!! I wish we would see these more esoteric powers more in the current DCU.

The Man of Steel finds Bloodsport shooting up a bowling alley of all places. You would think there would be bigger crowds to target.

Again, I think the art on this page is well done. Bloodsport holds a hostage at bay with a gun to her head. That opening panel, narrow and horizontal, shows the space between. And then we get close-ups of the faces of those involved, including the panicked look of the potential victim. And then some panels showing the action close up ... Superman's foot lifting off the ground, Bloodsport pulling the trigger. And then Superman lifting the gun out of the way. Superman crossed that space in time.

The panels play out in a mirror pattern split down the horizontal middle. But the taller bottom panel shows the action.

The whole page plays out very cinematically.

But we get a sense of Bloodsport's powers. He can manifest weapons in his hand from nowhere.

He suddenly has a dart gun in his hand that shoots a Kryptonite needle into Superman. And even a small amount of that Green K can incapacitate this Superman. Superman collapses in pain.

Thankfully, Jimmy had followed. Mr. Action grabs a gun and chases Bloodsport off before another Kryptonite needle can be fired.

We then get a nice little scene at the hospital where we get a good sense of what Kryptonite is going to mean in this new Superman universe.

This surgeon had to remove the needle. He was able to stitch up Superman's skin only with K nearby. But even this exposure could have lasting effects on Superman's physiology. Indeed, Superman is able to get up but he is clearly weakened and staggered. He can barely stand.

There isn't a lot of Kryptonite in this world (yet) but it packs a punch. And space alone isn't enough to simply reverse the effects.

And then we discover who is behind Bloodsport's rampage. Of course, it's Luthor.

Luthor had picked out Bloodsport to be an assassin with the sole job of killing Superman. This rampage on the citizens of Metropolis isn't part of the deal. Lex wants Bloodsport shut down.

It is interesting. Would the Lex today mind collateral damage if it meant the death of Superman? Is it just that this Lex feels like he is the ruler of Metropolis and he doesn't want his people killed?

The wounded Superman finds Bloodsport. Despite a hand from an early version of Team Luthor,  Bloodsport keeps the upper hand. In fact, Superman is so injured that Bloodsport kicks him around a bit with his fancy weapons. But 'battered and bruised', Superman won't give up.

I like seeing this Superman remaining hurt but unbroken.

With a bit of sleuthing, Superman realizes that Bloodsport isn't 'creating' the weapons, he is simply teleporting them in. And so a bath of mild heat vision fries the teleportation tech. The weapons that materialize turn to dust.

Again, this is an early Superman story for this continuity. I don't mind seeing Superman use his brains as much as his brawn, even if super-intelligence isn't on his list of powers.

But Bloodsport isn't done. That isn't a bandelero around his chest; it is the power source of his teleportation mecha. And he has set it to a deadman's switch, ready to blow if he is taken in.

The book ends rather poignantly. Jimmy proves he is an investigative reporter. He heard the rant about Mickey and Vietnam. He gets a fingerprint from the gun at the bowling alley. And he learns that Bloodsport is Robert DuBois. 'Bobby' was drafted but fled to Canada. Meanwhile, Mickey, his brother, went to war and lost his arms and legs. Bloodsport, overwhelmed by guilt over his brother's injury and his not being there,  was committed until he dropped off the grid (presumably by Lex).

Faced with Mickey, Bloodsport breaks down. The fight and fire is over.

So, the idea of a well-trained mercenary who can teleport in weapons armed with Kryptonite sounds like a great Superman (and Supergirl) villain. I doubt the Supergirl show will include this Vietnam thread (although perhaps a Gulf war reference will happen?).

But overall, I think this was a good early issue for this new history. While Bloodsport might be a bit forgettable overall, this look at Kryptonite and how it effects Superman was key. And seeing Jimmy and Superman interact was great too.

I have to say, I don't mind Byrne's run. It has its warts. But it reinvigorated the franchise. And much of what he took away came back in time. If any of these early issues are in the cheap bins, I'd grab them.

Overall grade: B+