The conclusion Denny O’Neil’s attempt to modernize Superman. Since it barely got off the ground, will it manage to stick to landing?
Superman #237 (1971)
written by Denny O’Neil & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams
I will skip A LOT of minor plots as I go through this, since my objective is to concentrate on Sand Superman and on the attempt at revitalization.
So I should note that the covers, while they have good Neal Adams artwork (is there any other kind?), don’t exactly differentiate themselves from the 60s.
The main plot of the issue kicks off when Superman rescues the pilot of an experimental plane, who has been mutated by a space disease.
Good: Superman wondering if he’s been exposed to harmful germs.
Questionable: fixing this by irradiating himself.
I might have figured out the reason why I never felt that being a TV reporter truly fit Clark Kent.
Back when he worked for a newspaper, it was believable that the same journalist doing investigative reporting would then write the article.
But Clark is not just a TV reporter: he’s also the anchorman AND the camera operator.
So in order for this whole setup to work Clark would have to do the investigation, then go to the location, film himself (hopefully without ALSO needing to edit the footage), and then he would go on to present the story in the studio.
If was either JUST recording from the scene OR reading the news, I would buy it if it wasn’t for the need to also be his own cameraman.
But the anchorman reading the news from the studio doesn’t typically ALSO do the whole reporting, right?
Clark was feeling weak because Sand Superman was nearby, and their first interaction doesn’t go particularly well.
Turns out that a space disease that you can catch outside the atmosphere is not affected by radiation.
Who would’ve thought?
This means that Superman can’t help Lois in a South America mission, because he risks infecting her.
Don’t worry, he can endanger her life in other ways!
The family tradition of throwing anything into space is still alive.
However Sand Superman has followed him AGAIN, and he might be a way to get rid of the space disease.
And one Super-Hug later…
…Superman is back to his original powerset, now being unable to fly.
And FINALLY Sand Superman actually does something other than floating aimlessly.
Was the identity supposed to be a secret?
Superman #238 (1971)
written by Denny O’Neil & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams
He’s looking sandier on the cover than in the comic.
Despite the earlier reassurance that he would recover, Superman is still unable to fly. And his invulnerability has dropped so much that he’s almost inconvenienced by a regular torpedo.
Superman is trying to stop some criminals from using a nuke to cover the world in lava (just go with it), and he decides to get some help.
That went well.
Unable to solve the problem through sheer power, Superman gets creative and infiltrates the criminals.
You would expect Superman to take the lesson that he can still be a hero even with less power.
He definitely doesn’t.
A small digression about this issue’s letters page.
It contains a letter from soon-to-be Superman writer Elliot S. Maggin.
We also have a brief mention of black people on Krypton. We don’t see a lot them in comics.
Quite notable that the first connection went to “if Krypton had black people it must have had slavery”, which wasn’t even mentioned in the letter.
We also have a “World of Krypton” that reveals the pre-Crisis origin of the planet’s name.
It comes from the two aliens who first colonized it… “Kryp” and “Tonn”.
That was a Cary Bates story.
What is it with Superman bringing out the worst ideas out of him? Seriously, Cary Bates was a good writer… but whenever I see him on Superman, he tends to come up with the worst possible ideas.
Superman #240 (1971)
written by Denny O’Neil & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams
Issue #239 was an all-reprint issue, which goes to show that DC wasn’t exactly confident in this relaunch.
Not that Superman looks enthusiastic either.
So why IS the public angry at Superman? Because he fails to stop a burning building from collapsing.
Props to O’Neil for having the restrain to do a sequence without any dialogue of captions.
This REALLY sells the moment.
If only the REST of the story followed the example.
Sure, it sucks that the DC public is now as ingrate towards its heroes as the Marvel public…
…but is Superman any better if all it takes is the loss of public support to still be a hero?
I am, however, fully ready to accept this lapse in Superman considering lasts LITERALLY ONE PANEL.
Honestly, the fact that at least for one second he’s tempted to stop helping people who just insults him is making me appreciate him more: this is a very human reaction!
Had it lasted more, that would have ruined the character… but ONE intrusive thought? Come on, he’s earned it.
So in O’Neil’s defense, Superman’s human side IS getting noticeably more modern.
The problem? The superhero side just sucks.
But after BARELY saving the day, Superman receives a visitor… who requires a bit of a tangent.
In 1968, Denny O’Neil attempted a revamping of Wonder Woman that changed FAR more things than his attempt with Superman.
He completely removed ALL of her connection to the Amazons and went as far as completely removing her powers…
…and just left her as a martial artist, with the questionably named I-Ching as her mentor.
This period is commonly referred to as “Mod Wonder Woman”, and I think it’s fair to call it a failure… but that’s from a modern perspective.
Because it lasted a respectable 25 issues, from Wonder Woman #179 in 1968 to #204 in 1973, which is FAR more than you can say for the Superman relaunch.
Back to the Superman story, it already tells you everything you need to know about I-Ching:
1) he’s blind
2) he’s the sum of all the “wise Asian mentor” stereotypes you could possibly imagine
That’s not just what you need to know for THIS story… there really isn’t much to I-Ching beyond these two things, he’s BARELY a character.
On the pages of Wonder Woman, I-Ching is just a very good martial artist.
On Superman, he might as well be a wizard with his “psychic fingers”… although I can imagine Wonder Woman would not have reacted kindly to being asked to be probed with psychic fingers.
Superman has lost most of his powers by now: after waking up from the trance, he’s BARELY able to defeat two armed goons.
This is when O’Neil truly loses me. Up to this point I was giving him the benefit of the doubt of wanting to make Superman there’s more to him than his powers… but he goes overboard.
Leaving aside that Superman has temporarily lost his powers PLENTY of times and still be able to fight humans with his fists… should we believe that ALL of his fights have always been so easy that this is the first time he ever struggles!?
At the time this issue was published, Wonder Woman had been powerless for almost two years.
So I would have been VERY worried that O’Neil’s ultimate goal was to also leave Superman without powers.
Superman #241 (1971)
written by Denny O’Neil & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams
If you’re tired to see Superman lose, don’t worry: Sand Superman can also lose!
Superman loved winning a fight without powers SO much that now he pushes I-Ching to permanently remove them.
Take a moment to appreciate the absurdity of Superman… SUPERMAN… needing to have the concept of responsibility explained to him by a guy he basically just met.
And THIS is how Superman reacts to accepting the idea of regaining his powers for the greater good.
So how is Superman supposed to regain the powers he lost?
By having I-Ching remove his soul from his body (!!!) and sent to retrieve them from Sand Superman.
And that’s it!
Except this makes him go overboard with ALL his super-stunts.
So now we have a fully powered Superman… with brain damage.
Honestly, not that big of a difference from the Silver Age.
I was not kidding when I said that in THIS series, I-Ching is a wizard.
And OUT OF ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE, he also knows that Sand Superman isn’t a fractured part of his psyche made real, or something to that effect… no, nothing that silly!
He’s a being from another dimension.
Because the explosion at the very beginning of the O’Neil run didn’t just transmute all Kryptonite on Earth into iron… it also OPENED A GATE TO ANOTHER DIMENSION.
Sounds legit.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, is when the story turns completely bonkers.
Yes.
NOW.
Because that dimension releases another intangible demon, which possesses a Chinese statue.
This is, I remind you, all in an effort to make Superman more approachable and realistic.
Superman #242 (1971)
written by Denny O’Neil & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams
While this is not the last O’Neil story… he has another one a couple of issues later… this is effectively the end of the run.
Sand Superman is unable to defeat the monster, despite currently having 2/3 of Superman’s power.
Whatever that means.
I only have a casual knowledge of Lovecraftian mythology, but I’m calling it now: these the lamest creatures from the Cthulhu universe.
Wonder Woman, you already learned this LAST ISSUE!!! Pay attention!
The monster eventually makes its way to Superman, and as soon as they’re close the power is shared equally between them.
To break the stalemate, Sand Superman joins the fight. This evens the odds, and the monster is sent back to its dimension.
Speaking of Sand Superman, after spending a bunch of issues just floating around doing nothing, now he’s decided he’s going to take Superman’s place.
Well, obviously only ONE of these two can exist at the same time…
…unless you want multiple people carrying on the Superman legacy co-existing, but that would be ridiculous.
But how are Superman and Sand Superman even supposed to fight, if their powers cancel each other in a very destructive way?
Because wizard.
It’s a good thing that Superman has NEVER needed to use his brain, or this would be silly.
This turns into, what else, a Big Dumb Super Fight.
Sounds legit. It’s not like Superman has EVER battled someone as strong as him.
Time for a game of Guess The Stupid Disappointing Ending!
Why is the Earth not destroyed during the fight?
A) the scene never happened
B) Superman flies into the past and stops himself from fighting
C) Sand Superman uses his power to restore the Earth
D) I-Ching syphons the energy from Sand Superman to restore the Earth
E) DC Comics fires Denny O’Neil
And the answer is…
And so Sand Superman decides to return to his home dimension, which I guess was always an option. And Superman has a newfound appreciation for being weaker, so he ask I-Ching to keep things this way.
That is how the O’Neil run ends.
Historical significance: 4/10
DC stuck with the idea of all Kryptonite on Earth being inert for a bit. You’d think the easiest way to reverse the idea would have been to say that the effect was temporary, but by 1977 new pieces had started to fall on Earth. SOMEHOW.
Superman being weaker lasted way less… more on that below.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
The whole saga is playing fast and loose on its own rules, to the point I-Ching seems to be the only one who can figure out anything.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
Superman #240 is the only one of these that I would consider a good story, and it’s the only one to at least try examining Superman’s relationship with his powers, his responsibilities and the public.
Unfortunately, when the saga is taken as a whole… it’s a mess.
We’re jumping through a lot nonsense, powering and de-powering and re-powering Superman again and again; it gets old REALLY fast.
The story also does a disservice to Superman multiple times, as it makes him look like a guy who only manages to do hero work because he’s ridiculously strong.
I-Ching feels REALLY extraneous, and Wonder Woman doesn’t do anything! Even though her pre-Crisis version wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as Superman, you would think having a character who ALREADY went through her own de-powering storyline would have had SOMETHING to contribute! But no, she is effectively I-Ching’s sidekick.
So Superman is a dumb brawler, I-Ching is a walking deus-ex-machina, Sand Superman just meanders around for 90% of the story, the final monster is just added for no reason, Wonder Woman doesn’t do anything, and Lois Lane is only in 1 issue contributing next to nothing.
A real pity because Superman #240 gives us a glimpse of what COULD have been.
I did mention that Superman’s lower power didn’t stick around for long.
It was mentioned occasionally here and there (even on some World’s Finest issues I’ve reviewed), but it was largely ignored.
It’s my understanding that the fandom rationalized it with the idea that since Superman’s power was effectively infinite, reducing it in half would still give him infinite power.
But I did find when DC gave up keeping a limit to Superman’s power, and it wasn’t even hard.
Because it happened LITERALLY THE NEXT ISSUE.
Superman #243 (1971)
written by Cary Bates & Curt Swan
In fact, the FIRST issue not written by O’Neil opens with Superman surviving a point-blank supernova without a scratch.
DC Comics did a whole 6-issue saga to weaken Superman… and didn’t even stick to it FOR ONE ISSUE.