ADVENTURES OF THE X-MEN #5 - August 1996

Back in the USSR Part 1: Armageddon in Red

Credits:  Ralph Macchio (writer), Ben Herrera (penciler), Gary Martin (inks), Matt Webb w/Malibu (colors), Ul Higgins (letters)

Summary:  Inside Asteroid M, Magneto prepares his recruits, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad, for war.  Their base is suddenly attacked, sending it crashing to the ground.  They land near Moscow and are quickly confronted by the Russian army.  Magneto and his followers dismantle the troops and head for a nearby nuclear missile base.  Nick Fury covertly contacts the X-Men and asks for their help.  The X-Men soon arrive in Russia, but are unable to stop Magneto from launching the missiles at America.  Magneto is confident he’s provoked a war between the two nations.  After the missiles launch, Apocalypse appears on the monitors, boasting that Magneto has fallen for his scheme.

Continuity Notes:  

• With the exceptions of Beast and Rogue, all of the standard X-Men from the cartoon appear this issue.  Jubilee isn’t allowed to go on the mission, however.
• Magneto calls his followers the “Brotherhood of Mutants,” leaving the “Evil” out.  No reference is made to Magneto being Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch’s father.
• Magneto doesn’t outright reference the Holocaust, following the example of the cartoon, but does state that he was imprisoned for being “different” and that Russian soldiers “were the liberators of my prison camp.”

“Um, Actually…”:  The story of Magneto and Asteroid M has already been told in the show’s “Sanctuary” two-parter.  And the “Family Ties” episode presents a contradictory view of Magneto’s first encounter with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.  Also, isn’t Mystique already leading a Brotherhood team in the show’s continuity?

Production Note:  This issue comes with a bound Dunston Checks In poster, which has coloring pages and puzzles printed on the back.  Clearly someone somewhere thought actual kids were buying these 99-cent books.

Review:  I’m willing to cut Ralph Macchio some slack in regards to continuity, considering that the show’s schedule was erratic by this point, and I doubt he was given access to scripts that weren’t being adapted for X-Men Adventures.  It’s not as if the show itself had perfect continuity, it couldn’t even keep the original team of X-Men straight, so I’m not going to judge the book too harshly for contradicting the later episodes of the series.  I will judge a story for reading like something straight out of the Silver Age, however, which is exactly what happens this issue.  For pity’s sake, Magneto’s so deeply ingrained in the Silver Age he even uses the term “Soviet” in 1996.  I’m half-convinced that this plot was sitting around the Marvel offices for years before getting dusted off for this issue; how else do you explain Magneto using his powers to brainwash the Russian Soviet scientists that are manning the missile base?  It’s crackpot loon Magneto, an interpretation that the cartoon thankfully ignored, behaving like a maniac and trying to provoke America and Russia into a nuclear war.  (Again, how Silver Age is this?!)  Had this been released as a retro project with Steve Rude pencils…well, the story would still be a joke, but at least it would’ve looked pretty.  

How did this end up as a tie-in to the ‘90s cartoon show?  How did Macchio totally miss Magneto’s previous characterization after adapting the first three seasons of the show?  The nuanced portrayal of Magneto as a reluctant villain is a hallmark of the series; an early indicator that this wasn’t going to be a dumbed down toy commercial for little kids.  The only redeeming aspect of the issue is the surprise appearance of Apocalypse at the end, which at least teases the potential of something interesting happening next issue.  Honestly, I’m not expecting much, but maybe we’ll move on past the Cold War.

ADVENTURES OF THE X-MEN #4 - July 1996

When the Dweller Awakes

Credits:  Ralph Macchio (writer), Mike Miller (penciler), Dan Panosian (inks), Matt Webb (colors), Ul Higgins (letters)

Summary:  Cyclops rides into Salem Center and discovers it’s been overrun with N’Garai demons.  He enters the only home immune to their attack and discovers Erich Zann inside.  Zann reveals that his family struck a deal to aid the N’Garai years ago in return for their safety, and that today is the day the N’Garai will summon the Dweller in Darkness, a beast that will destroy the Earth.  Cyclops tries to convince Erich to use the Book of R'lyeh to stop the invasion, but he refuses.  Annoyed, Cyclops locates the N’Garai leader Kierrok, who has imprisoned the X-Men.  Cyclops frees the team and takes the Book of R'lyeh from Kierrok.  Cyclops tries to use the Book to banish the N’Garai, but can’t read the language.  Erich enters and performs the ceremony, even though it means he’ll be banished with the N’Garai.  Erich bravely sacrifices his life, disappearing with the N’Garai.

Continuity Notes:  

• X-Men appearing this issue include Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, and Gambit.  
• This story is very loosely based on Uncanny X-Men #96.
• The N’Garai never appeared in the animated series, so this marks their Adventures debut.  
• Erich Zann is an established character from the H. P. Lovecraft mythos, taken from the short story “The Music of Erich Zann.”

“Um, Actually…”:  The N’Garai generate from a dimensional rift in this story, while in the mainstream universe they emerge from a cairn on the outskirts of the Xavier estate.

Production Note:  Not only does this issue include a card offering a discounted subscription to Spider-Man Magazine for Kids, but it also includes a polybagged packet of Kool-Aid!  Is there a collector’s market for unopened, twenty year old packets of Slammin’ Strawberry-Kiwi Kool-Aid?

Review:  Check out that Adam Warren cover…you’ve got to wonder now why Marvel didn’t heavily pursue Warren after Joe Madureira exploded in the mid-‘90s.  It’s great that Adventures gets a cover of this caliber, but it’s odd that he wasn’t used on more mainstream projects.  Anyway, that cover gives us the promise of a Bike-Riding Cyclops vs. Demons throwdown, and while I can’t say that the interiors quite live up to Warren’s work, there is a decent amount of action this issue.  Mike Miller seems to be having fun with the various demons, and the opening sequence featuring Cyclops riding an anime-style motorcycle through a horde of N’Garai is honestly more exciting than anything I was expecting out of an Adventures issue.  As a story, this is miles ahead of any of the animated series’ Cyclops episodes.  Not only is Cyclops portrayed as an inspirational hero, instead of a barely effective whiner with questionable voice acting, but he also gets to rescue the X-Men and play a critical role in stopping the villains.  Erich Zann’s character arc is noticeably rushed and not particularly fulfilling, but I do like the premise of someone making amends for his family’s mistake and sacrificing himself to save others.  The idea that Erich’s doing this against the wishes of Cyclops, who’s more than willing to be the hero and sacrifice his own life, is actually dramatized pretty well.  I’m not sure how AKOM would’ve pulled it off, but I would’ve loved to see this story take the place of any of the actual Cyclops spotlight episodes.

ADVENTURES OF THE X-MEN #3 - June 1996

Child’s Play

Credits:  Ralph Macchio (writer), Ben Herrera (penciler), Mike Miller (inks), Matt Webb (colors), Michael Higgins (letters)

Summary:  Gambit and Beast travel to an orphanage being protested by the Friends of Humanity.  One of the children, Adam, is a known mutant.  When Adam falls out of a window, he’s rescued by Spider-Man.  Gambit and Beast try to convince Spider-Man to turn Adam over to them, but he refuses.  Spider-Man’s solution is for all of them to visit his friend Dr. Curt Connors and let him examine Adam.  A disguised Mr. Sinister overhears their conversation and reaches out to Connors in his Dr. Essex identity.  Gambit visits the X-Men’s contact at the orphanage while Connors tests the limits of Adam’s pyrokinesis at his lab.  Beast is unnerved by the presence of Essex, who soon reveals himself as Mr. Sinister.  Sinister is able to easily defeat Beast and Spider-Man.  Suspecting Spider-Man is a mutant, he takes him captive with Adam.

Continuity Notes:  

• This story is continued in Adventures of Spider-Man.  Don’t ask which issue number, since no one bothered to include it in this chapter. (Okay, it's in issue #3. It's probably your only opportunity to ever see Alex Saviuk draw the Nasty Boys.)
• Philip, the X-Men’s contact at the orphanage, says he’s a member of Xavier’s Underground.  I’m sure Macchio meant the Mutant Underground, a concept from the mainstream universe that had ordinary humans secretly aiding Xavier’s cause.

“Um, Actually…”:  Spider-Man acts as if he’s never heard of the X-Men before, even though they guest starred in two episodes of his animated series.

Review:  Even the “reader-friendly” Adventures books had crossovers?  A crossover that’s not mentioned on the cover, and with no specific issue number given inside the comic for the next chapter?  That’s, as the kids would say in the ‘90s, lame.  I will say that the duo of Herrera and Miller have a nice handle on Spider-Man.  Not every panel is great, and the eyes are slightly too large, but overall he looks appropriately spidery.  The rest of the art is hit or miss; some pages simply look half-finished and those ultra-deformed kids in the opening are sure to turn off many readers.  I’ll also mention that colorist Matt Webb has vastly upgraded the color palette of this title, for the first few pages at least.  For some reason, the issue reverts to the boring pastels often seen in Marvel’s Adventures books as it progresses, even though the opening pages have a darker, more complex palette.

The story follows a broad pattern I’ve already noticed in Macchio’s work.  The plot hinges on a coincidence that’s just barely forgivable (maybe Sinister was outside of the orphanage because he already knew about Adam), the pace is brisk, and the dialogue is a good forty percent exposition.  All of the basics of a story are here, but it’s hard to find a reason to care about anything that happens.  And I’m not accepting the “it’s a kids comic” excuse, either.  DC produced hundreds of all-ages superhero stories for over a decade in their Adventures format, and the quality was consistently outstanding.  The X-Men, and Spider-Man, deserve no less.

ADVENTURES OF THE X-MEN #2 - May 1996

The Great Divide - The Green Revolution Part 2

Credits:  Ralph Macchio (writer), Mike Miller (penciler), Dan Panosian (inks), Adam Wallenta (colors), Ul Higgins (letters)

Summary:  The Leader’s Humanoids fight off Wolverine and remove Hulk from his restraints.  They escape, shortly before the X-Men arrive in the Blackbird.  X-Factor agrees to team up with the X-Men to find the Hulk.  At the Leader’s base, the Leader uses his Cognitive Dream Inducer to create a fantasy world for Bruce Banner within the Hulk’s mind.  When the Hulk calms down, Banner reemerges, and is promptly brainwashed by the Leader.   The Leader wants Banner’s expertise for his plot to expose major population centers to Gamma radiation.  Following the tracking device hidden on the Hulk, the X-Men and X-Factor find the Leader’s base.  Banner is freed from the Leader’s control and attempts to stop the Leader’s satellites, but his stress causes him to revert into the Hulk.  The Hulk escapes in the confusion, but Beast is able to finish Banner’s work.  X-Factor tries to pursue the Hulk, but the X-Men convince them not to, arguing that he should be left alone.

Continuity Notes:  

• The X-Men this issue consist of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, and Wolverine.
• Wolverine’s claws are unable to penetrate the Humanoid’s rubbery skin.
• For perhaps the first time in Adventures continuity, Wolverine smokes a cigar, something he could never do on the animated series.

“Um, Actually…”:  The X-Men are repeatedly referred to as an “outlaw” team of mutants, but the X-Men are actually friends with the President in the cartoon’s continuity.  The opening episodes did feature the X-Men breaking into the Mutant Control Center, but by the end of the first season, their status as outlaws was resolved.

How Did This Get Published?:  Beast’s inexplicable entrance line as the X-Men break into the Leader’s lair: “Well, well, well.  What have we here?  The Congressional Budget Committee looking for loopholes?  Or a clandestine confab of the Hair Club for Men?”  Later, during the climactic battle against the Humanoids, Beast unleashes this gem: “Pedal Power, gentlemen.  Remember that phrase as you lick your rubbery wounds on the morrow.”  (I guess this is because he’s supposed to be bicycle-kicking them at the moment, although it’s not clear.)  Wild Child’s line is even worse: “Even if you don’t need them to see -- I want to rip out your eyes!”

Review:  I knew that Macchio’s greatest weakness was dialogue, but the first issue gave me some hope that he could occasionally move past exposition-speak for at least a few pages.  This issue makes me much less hopeful.  Almost every page of this comic feels like someone is impulsively breaking into an origin recap, or a summary of the previous chapter, or a mind-numbingly obvious breakdown of what’s currently happening.  I understand that this series is supposed to be friendly towards younger readers, but that’s no excuse for writing the cast as robots.  And if younger readers are the target audience for this book, I question if they’re going to remain engaged for the rather dense plot Macchio’s constructed.  Some elements of the previous chapter aren’t even resolved (like the Leader’s mental command of Thunderbolt Ross), because Macchio has so much to cram into this issue.  Origin recaps for the Hulk and Leader, an elaborate fantasy sequence for Bruce Banner (very similar to the one seen in the Batman:TAS episode “Perchance to Dream”), details on the Leader’s scheme to irradiate the population just enough and not kill them, a philosophical debate between the X-Men and X-Factor, and an opening and closing fight scene.  In a way, it’s admirable that Macchio’s not padding the story, but it’s obvious that twenty-two pages is not enough space for this much material.  One moment that could’ve been a highlight of the issue -- Jean’s anguish over ending Bruce Banner’s fantasy world -- is rushed through in just a few panels, killing any impact.  

As for the art, who knew that this book would debut with two Savage Dragon spinoff artists in a row?  Mike Miller continues in the vaguely manga style of the first issue, with mixed results.  The Leader’s Humanoid soldiers do have a funky, alien design that I like, and there are a few scenes with the main cast that look okay.  For the majority of the issue, however, the art is overly reminiscent of Jeff Matsuda’s divisive X-Factor work.  If you have a low tolerance for exaggerated cartooning, stay away from this comic.  Looking back, it’s amazing to see that this arc actually predates Jeff Matsuda’s debut on X-Factor.  (Matsuda debuted on X-Factor with the May 1996 issue, meaning it was released simultaneously with this issue.) Did someone look at the manga-esque designs of X-Factor in the first issue and decide to bring them into the mainstream Marvel Universe?

ADVENTURES OF THE X-MEN #1 - April 1996

Bring Us a Leader - The Green Revolution Part 1

Credits:  Ralph Macchio (writer), Ben Herrera (penciler), Mike Christian (inks), Adam Wallenta (colors), Ul Higgins (letters)

Summary:  Wolverine goes camping in the Rockies, but his vacation ends when the Hulk suddenly appears.  Wolverine provokes him into a fight, which is interrupted by the arrival of X-Factor.  X-Factor takes Hulk and Wolverine captive and transports them to the Hulkbuster base.  Wolverine soon breaks free of captivity and sends a message to Storm.  He then searches for the Hulk.  When he discovers the Hulk is being experimented on by a group of scientists, an incensed Wolverine attempts to free him.  Suddenly, the Leader bursts through the wall, announcing he’s come for the Hulk.

Continuity Notes:  

• Adventures of the X-Men is not set in official Marvel continuity, but in the continuity of the ‘90s animated series.  
• Wolverine accuses X-Factor of being mutant hunters, which is a bizarre claim.  The very first incarnation of X-Factor pretended to be mutant hunters, but that’s the “original X-Men in disguise” team, not the government-sponsored superhero team.  And that gimmick only lasted for the first few issues of the X-Factor series, an era that ended almost ten years before this issue was written.
• General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Major Glenn Talbot appear this issue.  According to the Leader, General Ross is under his hypnotic control.
• Wolverine mentions that he’s previously “tangoed” with the Hulk.  A footnote says this event has yet to be shown in X-Men Adventures continuity.

“Um, Actually…”:  X-Factor consists of Havok, Polaris, and Wild Child.  Their government liaison is Val Cooper.  Wild Child never appeared with X-Factor in the cartoon, and their liaison was Forge during their one real appearance on the show.  Val Cooper ceased to be X-Factor’s government representative years earlier in the comics.  More importantly, Havok knows that Cyclops is his brother, information that neither character learned over the course of the TV series.

How Did This Get Published?:  Over half of Havok’s dialogue is simple exposition.  “I’m Havok, leader of the government-sanctioned organization called X-Factor.  We’ve come to the Rockies in search of that public menace standing next to you, Wolverine.  And we’re empowered by Congressional authority -- to take Hulk into custody.  Any interference will be deemed unlawful, and that perpetrator will be taken in as well.”  

I Love the ‘90s:  The computer-rendered logo created for this series hasn’t particularly aged well.

Review:  Having a network animated series based on one of your properties was still something of a big deal in 1992, which is why both Marvel and DC launched companion titles for X-Men and Batman: The Animated Series.  While DC immediately created new stories for its Batman Adventures tie-in, Marvel was content to leave X-Men Adventures as a straightforward adaptation of X-Men.  Attempting to do a full episode of X-Men in a twenty-two page monthly story was always problematic, however.  The plot of the average X-Men episode was often too dense to be crammed into the standard twenty-two page format, causing the comic to devote numerous issues to one episode of the series.  And that led to the comic falling months, often several months, behind the show’s continuity.  I purchased the first few issues of X-Men Adventures to get an idea of what the cartoon was going to be like, but after the series began airing, I quickly dropped it.  If you’ve already seen the episodes, I have no idea what the appeal of X-Men Adventures was supposed to be.

By early 1996, Marvel was experimenting with 99-cent comics, in an effort to pursue a younger and/or more casual readership.  X-Men Adventures amazingly still sold well enough to exist, but someone eventually realized that the format just wasn’t working.  Following the lead of Batman Adventures, Marvel commissioned new stories set in the animated universe’s continuity.  Marvel was desperate for X-material for the 99-cent line, so it isn’t too hard to see why someone thought a Marvel-ized version of Batman Adventures could be an easy sell to a more general audience.  

Batman Adventures was a critically acclaimed hit, however.  A book that followed the unique visual style of the animated series, and under artists like Mike Parobeck, produced work that even surpassed many episodes of the series.  X-Men was always designed to just look like the comics, an aesthetic that X-Men Adventures loyally followed.  Someone realized that the relaunch of the title as Adventures of the X-Men was an opportunity to update the look, which explains why Ben Herrera was hired as the initial artist.  I’m sure the editors wanted to go in a cartoonier style, but Herrera is “cartoony” in a way the show never was (except for those last six episodes, of course).  He leans more towards anime than Bruce Timm or Disney, so it’s hard to reconcile this comic with the standard action cartoon of the time.  While not every page is a beauty, Herrera is a welcome break from the early Image style that’s normally associated with the series.  Someone should’ve told whoever was in charge of the covers about the new look, however.  If Marvel was serious about a friendlier, cartoonier style that could attract a mainstream audience, hiring Dwayne Turner probably wasn’t the best way to go.

From the first issue, X-Men Adventures was scripted by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio, which I suppose was the genesis of Macchio becoming the routine last-minute fill-in guy for the main X-books in the ‘90s.  (At the very least, he had to know the characters’ names, right?)  Given his history with the animated universe, he would seem to be a natural choice to pen new adventures in the show’s continuity.  Which is why it’s a shame that he’s already getting so many facts wrong.  Perhaps it isn’t fair to judge a story based on the continuity it screws up, but if you’re going to go through the effort to debut a new series set in an alternate continuity, shouldn’t you get the details straight?  This is the first issue and already Macchio seems unaware of X-Factor’s place in the show’s reality.  He also seems to have transferred some very old continuity from the comics into the animated universe.  In fairness, the concept of X-Factor as government-sponsored mutant hunters could be a specific springboard for a plot point, but it reads as an outright screw-up this issue.  

I will say that the basic idea behind the story is fine, though.  For the most part, the plot does read as something that could’ve been an episode of the TV series.  Wolverine’s random run-in with the Hulk is of course an outrageous coincidence, but it feels excusable within the overall context of the story.  I think fans of the cartoon genuinely wanted a Wolverine/Hulk confrontation and if the show couldn’t deliver it, then doing the story here is a logical move.  (I believe either FOX or UPN wouldn’t allow the Hulk’s 1996 cartoon to cross over with X-Men.)  Macchio could’ve wasted the entire issue on their fight scene, but instead it serves as a catalyst for a much larger story.  X-Factor makes sense as the group assigned to take on the Hulk (let’s ignore that this is a streamlined version of the Howard Mackie X-Factor), which immediately puts them into conflict with Wolverine, who doesn’t want to see Hulk harassed even if he personally enjoys his own fights with the beast.  Introducing the Leader as the story’s villain on the final page is also a decent surprise, giving the audience a villain they haven’t seen a thousand times in the X-Men series, TV or comics.  And there are a few character moments that indicate Macchio has put some thought into selecting his cast.  Wolverine is driven over the edge when he sees the Hulk being experimented on, due to his own past, and Havok is facing an interpersonal crisis over X-Factor’s activities, in addition to his own insecurities over what his brother would think of him.  At times, the issue actually does manage to evoke some of the better elements of the cartoon.  The comic format also allows the story to be more violent than the series could ever be.  There’s nothing graphic, but it’s clear that no BS&P department is here cutting down the action scenes or dictating that no one make a closed fist.  The real failing, aside from the continuity problems, is Macchio’s dialogue.  Macchio’s tendency for cut-and-paste exposition is maddening, and it’s a shame because he seems to have a handle on the cast when they’re not spontaneously spelling out plot details or reciting their origin.  The wooden dialogue, and ‘90s style imitation manga, make the issue easy to dismiss, but I am curious enough to progress to the next issue.

SUPERMAN/DOOMSDAY: HUNTER-PREY #3 - June 1994

Credits:  Dan Jurgens (story & layouts), Brett Breeding (finishes), Bill Oakley (letterer), Greg Wright w/Android Images (colors)

Summary:  Mother Box generates a new costume, equipped with weapons, for Superman to use against Doomsday.  He travels to Calaton with Waverider and soon faces Doomsday.  After Waverider enters Doomsday’s consciousness, Superman realizes that Doomsday was created on Krypton and that he was specifically drawn to Superman while on Earth.  Superman holds his own against the ever-evolving Doomsday until Doomsday hurls him into an energy containment vessel.  The ensuing explosion apparently kills Waverider.  Superman uses Waverider’s time-travel band to send Doomsday out of time.  There, they discover Waverider, who has already pulled together his energy form.  Waverider leads Doomsday to the end of the universe, where the monster is crushed by entropy.  Superman thanks Waverider for his help and returns home to Lois.  Thinking of his mother, he reflects on the love that’s enabled him to overcome his fears.

Continuity Notes:  Superman is shocked to learn Doomsday has very basic speaking skills.  He can garble out “Metropolis,” which is a word we saw him learn on television during the original “Death of Superman” storyline.

Total N00B:  I’m a little confused by the revelation that Doomsday was engineered on Krypton.  The last chapter did have Bertron point out that the baby was not from the same planet as the scientists he was working with, which initially came across as a random bit of info.  I assume this was done to explain why Doomsday doesn’t resemble a Kryptonian, and perhaps more importantly, to allow Superman to remain the “Last Son of Krypton” (back when DC still cared about that).  So, why did Bertron feel the need to use a baby from another planet?  Also, what about Bertron?  Why is he clearly an alien, while all of the scientists who work with him look human?  They’re Kryptonian, yes, but where did Bertron come from?  Has anyone established that there are various bipedal races on Krypton and not all of them resemble attractive humans?

I Love the ‘90s:  That new costume Mother Box designs for Superman…who knew Mother Box did freelance work for Wildstorm?

Review:  Hunter-Prey had a strong opening, and while I had some plotting issues with the second chapter, I hoped the third chapter would give us the proper conclusion that “Return of Superman” didn’t quite deliver.  And while the issue does live up to the promise of a massive Superman vs. Doomsday rematch, I don’t really buy the emotional catharsis, nor did I appreciate the new details regarding Doomsday’s past.  

The fight is the major selling point of the issue, so I’ll begin there.  Jurgens deserves some credit for acknowledging fan complaints and having Superman himself comment that he relied far too heavily on his fists during his previous encounter with Doomsday.  Superman does of course spend numerous pages punching Doomsday (and like everything else in the issue, they’re beautifully rendered by Jurgens/Breeding), but he knows from the beginning that brute force won’t win the fight.  However, while Jurgens does have Superman use his heat vision creatively in a few scenes, for much of the fight he’s relying on the gimmicky weapons generated by Mother Box’s new costume.  That means that not only does he look like a WildC.A.T., he’s using their absurd faux-futuristic weapons as well.  And time certainly has not been kind to that Jim Lee makeover.  (Just as time will not be kind to the actual Jim Lee makeover he received a few years ago.)  In fairness, the headgear we now associate with Gambit actually has its roots in Kirby’s early Fourth World material, so that accessory is defensible within the context of the story.  But when you add the headgear with the pouches, the glowing sword, the shoulder pads, the arbitrary arm-armor, and the million other pointless details (why do his boots need belts?)…it’s a mess.  Having Superman rely on technology that’s been magically gifted to him also cheapens his fight with Doomsday.  I understand the idea that Superman must now use techniques he ordinarily doesn’t employ during this fight, but it would be nice if acquiring these weapons required some effort on his part.  Even better, what if Superman began to use all of his existing powers in unique, cunning ways against Doomsday?  That would be a nice apology for his unimaginative strategy during their original fight.

One advantage Superman has in this rematch is the presence of Waverider, who by this point has totally forgotten his non-interference pledge and is actively working as Superman’s sidekick.  Waverider’s presence in this story is a bit of a mystery to me.  For plot reasons, he clearly has a role.  His power enables Superman (and the reader) to discover Doomsday’s origin, and he provides the means for Doomsday’s ultimate defeat.  Given the way Doomsday’s been set up in his previous appearances, I don’t have a problem with a resolution that involves time-travel.  And I'm not totally opposed to Superman requiring another hero’s aid in defeating Doomsday.  As a character, though, I have no idea what to make of Waverider.  I never bought into his angst regarding his oath, and don’t see any moment in the story that presents a real consequence for his actions.  If anything, he’s a jerk for not doing something about Doomsday earlier.

Waverider enables Superman to learn even more about the origin of Doomsday, a revelation that feels utterly gratuitous.  I was fine with the information we had on Doomsday’s origin last issue; I quite enjoyed it, actually.  But now, we discover that he’s a product of Krypton’s genetic testing, and that his reason for targeting Superman all along was that he sensed the presence of a surviving Krytonian on Earth.  For this to work, the reader has to accept the vast coincidence that Doomsday’s floating hearse would one day land on the only planet in the entire galaxy with a Kryptonian living on it, which is just insane.  I’m sure dozens of Silver Age stories relied on the coincidence of someone or something from Krypton that just so happened to appear on Earth, but I thought this was a concept John Byrne killed off in the modern age.  Another annoyance is the idea that Doomsday hates Superman because he merely senses Superman’s Kryptonian -- Doomsday hates everybody.  Does he really need a specific reason to hate Superman?  Doomsday didn’t treat Superman any differently than he treated anyone else; Superman was simply the only person strong enough to fight back.

So, as a concluding chapter, we have Superman facing his fears but only finding victory after he’s provided with plot device weapons and a poorly developed supporting cast member tags along.  The sentiment in the final pages (with Superman reflecting on his mother and realizing how much Lois means to him today) is nice, but it doesn’t feel as if any real price has been paid during this story.  Whatever consequence Waverider has for breaking his oath remains unrevealed, and Superman doesn’t seem overly concerned about repaying the debt.  Superman himself didn’t have to make any sacrifices during the story, and the only decision that leaves him doubting himself (briefly) is allowing Doomsday to die after stranding him at the end of the universe.  For a story that began with such a conflicted hero, he’s allowed to get off pretty easily by the final chapter.