Superman 670

[Erebus]

Great issue. Busiek knows his stuff. Art could have been better, though. At one point, I thought Lois was a man.
Hope we get to see Amalak again. He's a cool villain. Intergalactic pirate hunting down Kryptonians is awesome by itself.

[Spamotron]

Superman seems awfully mellow about the potential deaths of millions (thousands? Hundreds? How many people lived in Kandor ?). He basically shruged off Amalak smashing it by saying there is an astronomically small chance they survived.

[marshal99]

Amalak ?

Busiek is resurrecting old pre-crisis villains. First , blackstarr and now amalak ?! When is Cap'n Strong going to appear in post crisis ? ;)

[cedardryad]

Posting through the wife's screenname again.

Karsta change of heart was predictable, but the story as a whole was okay. It felt just right to include the rest of the Kryptonians in the climax of the story. And having a reason to add Batman is always a plus.

I was okay with Supes's reaction to Kandor getting smashed- he, along with his cousins, were busy getting their butts kicked to have him worry too much at that time. Before that, the way he was thinking gave me the impression that he was looking for a reason to hope that the city and its inhabitants aren't gone. A nice moment of desperation. At least he still had them in mind at the end of the story.

I don't know much about Amalak from his Pre-Crisis days, but having an alien Ahab hunting Kryptonians could make for a potentialy cool villain. I do have a question or two about him if anyone might know, assuming that he still shares some similarities to his older incarnation:

At first I thought that he was just an alien using high tech weaponry to off Kryptonians. However, we find out that his species are decently strong themselves, adding that he's strengthened by his planet's deceased spirits. Was he being literal here, or was he simply being symbolic in that his dead race is giving him the drive to do what he does?

Also, the red hands. Powered alien bracelets, surgival modification, or innate ability?

Trivial questions, I know, but I'm too curious at times.

[lovefist911]

I liked this issue as well, to me having chapters the way this issue did reminded me of the old days. i didn't care for the art as well, Pacheco would've made this saga really good.

[Infra-Man]

Pretty good issue, but Supes' (heck everyone's) subdued reaction to what happened to Kandor seemed really weird. Getting your butt kicked or not, you'd figure there'd be a greater, more emotional reaction to what happened rather than just some narration about how things might be all right.

[botch]

pretty ordinary issue and story. Liked batman in the mech suit.

[jade_nova]

I'm surprised this came out. Didn't the solits say it would be released in the annual?

[dreyga2000]

I was under the impression Kandor was not destoryed but the portal to it was... Clarification please??

[botch]

I was under the impression Kandor was not destoryed but the portal to it was... Clarification please??

The portal was. and supes doesn't know if kandor is ok or destroyed.

[saintsaucey]

camalot falls will be finished up in the annual not the third kryptonian storyline

and incase no one has mentioned it pacheco would have made this issue really good

[marshal99]

Amalak the space pirate has been around for ages. Pre-crisis , he was also going after all the kryptonians.
http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/83754703976.195.gif

[ThunderKat]

does anyone know wats happened to the final camelot falls issue??
did it even come out?

[cedardryad]

It's supposed to come out in two weeks. I hope they were accurate with that.

[Froggy]

Amalak post crisis? shweeeet

[Kurt Busiek]

It's supposed to come out in two weeks. I hope they were accurate with that.

It's at the printer, so it should be fine.

kdb

[david r]

Superman meets the Power Company.

That would be a great crossover!

[cedardryad]

At the printer? Sweet. I've been looking forward to that one for some time. Pacheco and Medino's art is something to look forward to, though I think Leonardi did a good job with The Third Kryptonian, too. His style reminds me a bit of García López's, which is far from a bad thing.


One small detail did bug me: Superman can be flying at high speeds and, from hundred of miles away, bounce heat vision off a satellite, to a metal railing, and finally on a wall to write Lois a message, but yet he doesn't consider using it on the k-guns a dozen or so feet away? :P

Yeah, just nitpicking. I understand the story needed him to get to his other Fortress and be weakened enough for that submission helmet.

[Ilash]

All in all it was a pretty good story. The problem is though that I simply hate the idea of having this many Kryptonians running around. A big part of Superman's character is that he is the lone survivor of Krypton, not the lone survivor of Krypton... except for all those other ones. I much preferred the status quo from a few years ago where he was the only Kryptonian and the "Superman family" consisted basically of earth-based heroes ((Linda Danvers) Supergirl, (Kon El) Superboy and Steel) who also wore the 'S'. This played perfectly into the idea of the "lonely immigrant" Superman making a family from people of his adopted planet.

[dreyga2000]

Another thing I just realized Kryptonite has no effect on Kara because she's from another universe. So exaclty was it able to pierce her skin? In addition don't her and Supergirls powers go bezerk whenever they are close to one and other or did they work this out in Supergirl?

[Syphre Zero]

All in all it was a pretty good story. The problem is though that I simply hate the idea of having this many Kryptonians running around. A big part of Superman's character is that he is the lone survivor of Krypton, not the lone survivor of Krypton... except for all those other ones. I much preferred the status quo from a few years ago where he was the only Kryptonian and the "Superman family" consisted basically of earth-based heroes ((Linda Danvers) Supergirl, (Kon El) Superboy and Steel) who also wore the 'S'. This played perfectly into the idea of the "lonely immigrant" Superman making a family from people of his adopted planet.

In the end it all comes down to semantics. The Phantom Zone criminals will always exist, even though they're locked safely away until Richard Donner gets writing duties on Action Comics again. (Hating on Richard Donner is turning into my default move, I should get a grip on that.) Supergirl counts, but not so much for Power Girl (alternate universe origin plus the fact she doesn't wear the S). Krypto's a dog, so meh; Chris is a relatively new element in an old argument, so that's open to interpretation. Does it matter that he was born in the Phantom Zone to villainous parents? That's probably on the reader to decide.

Superman will always be the Last Son of Krypton in spirit; unless some of the others have had their origins retconned, he still bears the symbolic distinction of being the only person sent off-planet in Krypton's final hours. (Supergirl's ship left under different circumstances.) Jor-El and Lara used their dying moments to send him away believing he would be the last Kryptonian. That has to count for something.

In addition don't her and Supergirls powers go bezerk whenever they are close to one and other or did they work this out in Supergirl?

The first issues of Supergirl relied woefully on the old formula of "let's have our heroes fight other heroes;" colloquially, this is referred to as "bad writing." At the time, Mr. Terrific speculated that Supergirl and Power Girl were driven to fight when near each other because they were essentially (but not in reality) two of the same person trying to occupy the same space. This was never proven or disproven; indeed, it was completely left by the wayside and was not revisited after that issue. A more plausible explanation at this point would be to attribute it to other complications Power Girl was experiencing with her own powers at the time.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Power Girl and Supergirl have to physically touch one another for the zanny stuff to happen.

[MaxofSteel]

Power Girl and Supergirl have to physically touch one another for the zanny stuff to happen.

*Rimshot*

:D

[Ilash]

In the end it all comes down to semantics. The Phantom Zone criminals will always exist, even though they're locked safely away until Richard Donner gets writing duties on Action Comics again. (Hating on Richard Donner is turning into my default move, I should get a grip on that.) Supergirl counts, but not so much for Power Girl (alternate universe origin plus the fact she doesn't wear the S). Krypto's a dog, so meh; Chris is a relatively new element in an old argument, so that's open to interpretation. Does it matter that he was born in the Phantom Zone to villainous parents? That's probably on the reader to decide.

I give you the Phantom Criminals because there is something interesting about having the only other surviving Kryptonians being hardened criminals. Otherwise, my problem still stands.

Does Power Girl really need to be so closely affiliated with Superman? Nope, she was a fine character for years without being part of the Superman family.

Supergirl is very problematic - not only Kryptonian but his cousin too? Ech. Gimme Linda Danvers over Kara Zor-El any day of the week.

I cannot stand Krypto! I swear we're only a few steps from having Supercats, Superhorses and Supersquids. Super-pets are lame Silver Age throwbacks that just feel really out of place (to me) in modern day comics.

Chris? Actually I don't have much of an opinion on him yet but that may not reflect well on the character.

Superman will always be the Last Son of Krypton in spirit; unless some of the others have had their origins retconned, he still bears the symbolic distinction of being the only person sent off-planet in Krypton's final hours. (Supergirl's ship left under different circumstances.) Jor-El and Lara used their dying moments to send him away believing he would be the last Kryptonian. That has to count for something.


Not much really. The importance of his being the Last Son of Krypton is all about the character of Superman, not his biological parents.

And wow, after reading what I just wrote, guess which version of Superman I grew up on!

[NotSuper]

I prefer multiple Kryptonians being around. Trying to force Superman to fit into the "sole survivor" role only leads to problems when an old character is brought back into continuity. That's why we got Matrix Supergirl (who wasn't actually a girl), a Zod from a pocket universe and later a metahuman (both bad ideas), a krypto from an alternate universe (more with the alternate universes?), Kandor as an alien ghetto, and I could go on. I prefer the origins that are simple, not the needlessly complicated ones. Not that this matters, as there ARE other Kryptonians now. Arguing whether there should be more or not is pointless now.

Anyway, awesome issue. Each member of the Superman Family really shone.

[lovefist911]

Since Kandor was "Smashed" I guess Ultraman, Saturn Queen and maybe even Preus may be gone for awhile, or for good.

[lovefist911]

Was there mention in the Supergirl series of a lunar Kandor as well? And the another Kryptonian city, I forgot the name, wouldn't alien dude in this issue know about it too, or maybe the Auctioneer?

[King Krypton]

I prefer multiple Kryptonians being around. Trying to force Superman to fit into the "sole survivor" role only leads to problems when an old character is brought back into continuity. That's why we got Matrix Supergirl (who wasn't actually a girl), a Zod from a pocket universe and later a metahuman (both bad ideas), a krypto from an alternate universe (more with the alternate universes?), Kandor as an alien ghetto, and I could go on. I prefer the origins that are simple, not the needlessly complicated ones.

Agreed. There should be a small number of surviving Kryptonians (six or seven out of billions isn't implausible or unrealistic). The problem is when you have whole cities surviving or entire polualtions when just a small handful is enough. "Last Son of Krypton" was always a symbolic title more than anything else. However, there should never be so many survivors that Krypton's destruction is rendered moot.