Superman #4

First, Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite:

• S 49 –
  • Barrage from Superman Annual #2 (the one who shot that cop [Dan Turpin] that fell in love with Sawyer) is back in town.
  • Mr M gives L that red kryptonite he made, it takes away S’s powers on the condition that L not reveal M’s involvement. S & L brawl, L kicks S out to be dealt with by those who hate him too (L really does, can’t understand how anyone cannot be corrupt at their core).
  • Last scene: Lois hears her mom is dying, CK can support her even without super powers.
• AOS 472 – CK and Lois visit hospital. Hamilton can’t help S. Mammoth attacks cops. S call Starman…
• Starman #28 – Tries, fails to revitalize by receiving solar energy from Starman.
• AC 659 – Wearing a power suit by Hamilton, confronts Lex and takes the red Kr; Killgrave escapes. S’s friends help him (Starman, Gb, Guardian).
• S 50 – Tricks Mr M, by getting Lex to confess to CK, powers return. Also, CK proposes to Lois, and a sweet end scene where they put a ring on and kiss in a hospital carpark; I like the idea that mundane inbetween places can carry moments of so much intent and potency.

Read: Lex Luthor The Unauthorized Biography  (1989) = About a drunk down on his luck reporter, following the story of Lex, gets too much, put down, and the whole things as a way of controlling CK too. Stuff like how he was as a kid, incl. an insurance-murder of his parents.

Interim-a:

• AOS 473 – Jordan searching for himself in America, stumbles upon, is captured by a Psi Phon and Dreadnaught {remember when that UFO landed in S’v}, S and Gardener help. General Fisk. Help alien ship leave for home (after battle it asks for help), on the condition that it take PP and D too. Fin.
• AC 660 – LL is dying, inspired to fly new experimental plane around the world, crashes, looks a bit like intentional. So is he now dead. Strange emotions for S.
• S 51 – [Mr Z] Not read
• AOS 474 – When CK was kid, after party drunk driver drove them home, crashed, in coma till today when machine will be turned off, CK visits and tells story to parents. Emotional scars.
• AC 661 – [Plastic Man, Time Bomb]
• S 52 – [Terra man]
• AOS 475 – (S’s enemies build a themepark)
• AC 662 -[Silver Banshee, cf. AC595, S17, Blaze is involved, but SB fails (the old crone – who was responsible for SB’s original creation, and previous defeat – reminds S that no matter how powerful he becomes, there will always be someone more] (reveal secret to Lois, Lex’s will)
• S 53 – (Mission to Qurac, helping transfer prisoner, avoid Sons of Justice) Continue revelation. (Cat and Delagado are an item, in addition to him being paid to look after her). Lex named Kelly (that doctor he once took on, then dumped, then took back when he was sick) her/his son as his sole heir.

Time and Time Again:

• This might link into S 51, not sure though.
• AOS 476
• AC 663
• S 54
• AOS 477
• AC 664
• S 55
• AOS 478

Interim-b:

• AC 655 – [Baron Sunday]
• S 56 – Red Glass Trilogy part 1 – Everything is wrong, S is a killer, he bankrupted Lexcorp, etc.
  • Museum commemorating Day of Wrath, 3 weeks actually when S killed all his opponents.
• AOS 479 – Killed by Jimmy (for killing Lois), then dies, then wakes up in ruined Metro’, then fights Martian Manhunter and Gardener (GL); along with some weird random stuff.
• AC 666 – part 3
  • Opening page is full image of S holding MM he just killed, screaming NO!
  • p6 full page of mushroom cloud and barrage of army attacking grounded S
  • More superheroes attack.
  • p12 great – shouting, destroying a huge circle, a few awesome dark panels
  • It was all some advanced crystal pink creature on the moon. He helps it return home. And S is (mentally) stronger than ever thanks to the exp.
• The Man of Steel #1 – Cerberus (an anti-Lexcorp terrorist? not all clear. Keeps seeing visions of Kryp. (Hamilton is messing about with Mr Z’s gemstone, convinced that he can work out the “science” of its magic soul-stealing properties). Finally appears Eradicator-humanoid.
  • Revenge of the Krypton Man part 1
  • When did Foswell take over at the DP, when did White leave? (Ahh, he’s on a “leave of absence” he says). Anyway, there’s redundancies, incl. Olsen :(… suggestion economy going down due to death of Lex.
• S Annual #3 – Excellent. Waverider travels time to determine if S will become the evil despot Monarch. An Intergang nuke accidentally goes off killing most of CK’s friends, he begins with nuclear disarmament but becomes more and more extreme, butting heads with the US govt, until accidentally killing a few sailors, Batman is convinced to go after him, and use the ring he gave him to kill him. So S is not the Monarch, so Waverider wonders, is it Batman (i.e. the killer of the great S)?
  • Is entry no.2 in the Event “Armageddon 2001“
  • I’m reading the Event in it TPB. And collecting summaries below.
• S 57 – Revenge part 2 –
• AOS 480 – Revenge of the Krypton Man part 3 –
• AC 667 – Revenge part 4 – So far, Eradicator-person fought S, sent S into space, fought on Mercury, S played dead, then before asphyxiating hurtled back into Earth, where he was just now revived, found in the snow. Meanwhile crazy weather and earthquakes.
  • Lang and Ross are now in Washington. The Kents and the Whites are on some cruise ship. Cat’s boy is missing. Hamilton put on a Fortress war suit to try and fight it.
  • “I am Krypton’s last true son… My life is its final chapter!”
  • Hamilton uses Z’s soul-catching crystal to capture all 3, but the Erad’s programming starts to break up in there, and S has the advantage. And once again the crystal  explodes from too much energy, freeing S and H; E’s programming is destroyed.
• MOS 2 – [Cerberus]
• S 58 – [Watchdogs, Guardian]
• AOS 481 – [Parasite]
• AC 668 – [Lex] He’s still dead, and he’s not really returning from the dead, but he’s still all around, in nightmares, and in strikes, political maneuvers, economics, in tabloids, in discussion, in talk-back; S instigates a recovery and DNA test which seems (!) to positively confirm that it really was Lex who died.
• MOS 3 – War of the Gods part 3 (after War of the Gods #1)
• AOS 482 – [Parasite]
• Above: Interested in Parasite insofar as
• AC 669 [Intergang, Thorn]
• MOS 4 – [Angstrom]
• S 59 – (CK/LL relationship, sounds ok) …
• AOS 483 – [Blindspot, Delgado]
• AC 670 – (After Armageddon 2001 #2)
• MOS 5 – [Atomic Skull]
• S 60 [Intergang, Darkseid, Apokolips]
• I could go back and read S 51, and then Time and Time, and then read these…?
• AOS 484 – Blackout part 1 – [Mr Z]
• AC 671 – part 2
• MOS 6 – part 3
• S 61 – S and the Metal Men moving a quantum field generator that explodes, another time traveler takes S to “vanishing point”; [Hunter, Liri Lee, The Brotherhood; they are Linear Men – believe in time and history, without judging it, beyond good and evil]; WV removes the explosion from the timeline, thus saving his parents lives and creating an alternative timestream, in which Matt Ryder grows up to become a Linear Man; (secondary in passing: Olsen’s poverty; Mr Z sans-crystal). Part of ARMAGEDDON 2001 Event.
• S 62 – part 4
• AOS 485 – Blackout part 5
• AC 672 – [Lex II] Everyone’s loving the memory of his father, and now eating out of this new L’s hands. Incl. “Team Luthor” saving people from fires, superhero kinda work, etc. S was missing during the blackout, and even faces now some lashback. He’s even convinced Lois and S, incl. physical evidence of his upbringing in outback Australia, and the sad death of his parents… but it’s some sort of lie.
• MOS 7 – [Cerebrus]
• S 63 – [Aquaman, Atlantis]
• Above: Read re.: to be informed on post-Crisis Aq.
• AOS 486
• AC 673 – [Lex II, Hellgrammite] (and homeless Jimmy)
  • {Just trying to remember, Bibbo who is now with Jimmy, was interviewed by S when he was looking for Jerry’s kidnapper, and was with Lobbo, was met by Matrix once… here and there that I can’t recall}
  • A Lexcorp director hires H to kill Lex II.
  • Mannheim manages to Boom Tube out of prison, using some tech from the robot that attacked him recently (sent by other Intergang member to silence him). S comes across some of the robot/intergang machinery but too late to prevent the prison break even if he knew it was planned. M recovers his biosuit, and his nuke. But S there, having followed the energy (helped by Hamilton). S suspects killing him (he destroyed a Boom Tube he was trying to escape by).
• MOS 8 – [Cerebrus, Jolt, Blockhouse]
• S 64 – (Metropolis Mailbag, X-mas)
• AOS 487 – [Sons of Liberty, Pete Ross] (X-mas)

Panic in the Sky (1992):

• AC 674
  • Out in space, Matrix looks like a grey S, and is confused for by the Cellkeeper, and is being sought by Draaga and Maxima who want revenge.
  • Warworld arrives, under a new mysterious leader who controls (having conquered her planet) Maxima, and teleports Matrix and Draaga into the arena, and then takes control of Matrix who now looks like Supergirl. The myserious alien is… Brainiac.
  • S mops up some more Intergang bases.
  • Hellgrammite continues to plan to kill LexII.
• MOS 9 – Brainiac attacks with a skull ship Metro., but it was all a diversion while he brings the War World closer.
• S 65 – Part 3
  • Mr Metron discovers the destruction of Almerac (nb. Maxima’s planet), but is found out by Brainiac who takes control of him. But Metron has time to send his Mobius chair to signal S, and also Orion and Lightray (nb. they two + Metron are from New Genesis). O and L go to fight B, but fail.
  • S gets help from Lex II/Lexcorp to prepare to battle War World. And calls upon all heroes to help (e.g. Terminator, Wonder Woman, Cpt Marvel, Aquaman, etc).
  • And then Brainiac’s ship resurfaces from underwater (i.e the one that was a distraction, in the previous entry) and it’s captured Aquaman.
• AOS 488 – Part 4 – Heroes fight the ship to rescue Aq; use the ship to attack B; S frees Draaga and Sg from B’s control.
• AC 675 – Part 5
  • Dubbilex is using his powers augmented by the Mobius chair to create a (psychically) safe zone within the ship captured from B, within  which S, Sg and Draaga are planning. Meanwhile the others are directly attacking in War World, or on Earth defending against forces attacking there (a diversion really).
  • B is taking control of heroes one by one; Dubbilex teleports within War World, and starts trying to take away B’s control.
• MOS 10 – Part 6 – Heroes fighting etc; B becomes desperate, sets off explosion but Draaga sacrifices himself to save the heroes (and Sg takes his form in his honour).
• S 66 – Part 7
  • Awesome cover, with the normal pose of a host of heroes leaping out of the page, except their clothes are all torn, and they are just skeletal remains.
  • Heroes on War World move to attack B directly, incl. the New Genesis heroes who are now free. Maxima claims to want to help but is not trusted by S.
  • B surrounds himself with a fatal psychic shield. Earth is surrounded by hovering energy disks sent from WarW that will shrink cities to table-top size.
  • Maxima and Gardener are able to sever B’s link to WarW, and attack him. Maxima effectively lobotomizes B (tried to kill him but was interrupted by S)…
  • …but not before he could sent some (unknown) object out into space…
  • Heroes go to Earth to start destroying those disks.
• AOS 489 – Part 8.
  • B to be sent to New Genesis; Overseer of WarW to send it back from whence it came; Maxima and Orion seem to be staying behind, wanting to govern WarW; Lex organizes a parade for the superheroes; S mentions that the dissolution of the League has left a void that needs to be filled.
  • Matrix buries Draaga alongside the Cleric, and decides to return to Earth in the form of Sg.
  • Btw Olsen is now working for Newstime {during the attack he filled a need and got the job} but is enticed to return by White to the DP.
  • Hamilton recalls Husque {creature that traded places with Jimmy, right after he became stretchy, and that only traded back on the condition that Hamilton help his – no details – sister}. An accident swaps Hamilton for Husque.
  • Mokkari and Simyan are rulers in the dimension that Hamilton is sent to (“exile world”) {remember from the Fear Factory and Jimmy’s parents}.

Also read, Secret Origins v2:

• #1 – Golden Age Superman (i.e. that has now disappeared following CoIE).
• #10 – Read this, posted somewhere…
• #14 – Pretty sure posted this some…
• #49 – Read at the end of the Exile arc, filed under Superman #6 Note.

Armageddon 2001:

1. Armageddon 2001 #1 – Mathew Ryder in 2030 living under the oppressive Monarch regime, research into time travel so that the M may avert time travelling enemies, Ryder convinces participation, enters the timestream to become the Waverider. <3/5>
   1. Memory of lying under ruins, after some disaster, a hand reaching out to grasp him, couldn’t see who, this is a formative experience.
2. Superman Annual #3 – Summary above, within Interim-b. <5/5>
3. Batman Annual #15 – B sentenced to death after unintentionally killing Penguin. Also killed The Riddler and Killer Moth (so say rumours). It was all a plot by Joker (btw along the way Catwoman dies, trying to prove B’s innocence). So it’s not B, but I’m not clear whether WV’s exp prevents those events from happening, I mean, does B have insight into them as well? Not clear. <4/5>
4. Justice League America Annual #5 – Manhunter becomes a not-so-reverent guru on a mountain top; Gardener leads a narcissistic fan-movement, but the fans are ultimately fickle and turn on their leader; Blue Beetle ends up depressed, doing pathetic ads for bug spray, changes uniform to become the Stupendous Silverfish, but becomes fat and fails, apparently the League had “gone to pieces”; Ice (aka Tora?) (looks like a cat lady) sees that Gardener was hit on the head after a fan-meeting gone bad, she goes to console him, talk about love, his obnoxiousness, etc.; etc., the stories add up to a nice quirky narrative together.
5. Hawk and Dove Annual #2 – They die, their child becomes a unity of both their powers and teams up with Monarch
6. Flash Annual #4 –
7. Hawkworld Annual #2 – noted in Note “Hawkman #2”.
8. Action Comics Annual #3 – S becomes president, begins to fix problems of Earth. WV learns that he is (potentially) changing history each time he visits someone.
9. Legion Annual
10. Teen Titans Annual #7
11. Adventures of Superman Annual #3 – Lane dies when pregnant (perhaps because of the infant’s superpowers), feeling guilt S travels into space where is met by Maxima who pursues her desires for him.
12. Justice League Europe Annual #2
13. Armageddon 2001 #2 – WV suspects Captain Atom. Forecasts CA into 2001 to see, CA is an old man, impotent when his grandchildren are gunned down; CA has not been invoking his powers for 6 years since it was discovered that they are causing damage to the fabric of reality; it is a callous and cruel time; Monarch interrupts, he’s time travelling too now, fights the JL then leaves to abduct 1991 era Dove and Hawk, kills Dove, Hawk attacks… big reveal: Monarch was Hawk, and by killing Dove he drove himself/past-self to insanity and the path towards despotism, a deep need to bring order to a world whose chaos hurt him so much. He challenges all the heroes, they fight, but he’s got a bomb to kill them all, but CA absorbs its energies. CA is transported to another world. WV discovers that the “hand” that reached out to save him as a child when a building collapsed, was, in fact, his own. (Tbc in “Armageddon Alien Agenda”).
14. Superman #61 – Summarised above.