I plan on talking about a couple of topics this month, and the first character spotlight will be on, of course, Superman. Anyway, first off I will be speaking about DC One Million, the DCU crossover spanning every title in DC for 1998.

Before I talk about DC:1M, I want to express my point of view on the big annual DC crossovers. Every year, DC has a huge dilemma that causes a 3-5 part mini-series and every title has a tie in. This year it’s DC:1M, last year it was Genesis, the year before that Final Night, Underworld Unleashed, Zero Hour, so on and so on. I don’t really like these annual crossovers: I mean, the stories are cramped and confusing. Many times because you have to buy the other titles’ tie-ins to follow the story that you normally wouldn't get, and I think it’s just a ploy to raise sales and to get our money. But hey, some people like the crossovers, seeing the whole DCU going up against a common foe and seeing heroes work together that you normally wouldn’t see teamed up. Others just like buying the series and all the tie-ins. Also, some times the crossovers do have lasting effects. Zero Hour did iron out a couple of wrinkles left by the crisis, [NOTE: the crisis refers to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 12-part maxi series that in the mid eighties restarted most of DC’s titles and made DC’s cluttered continuity easier to under stand] and Final Night was where Hal Jordan (silver age GL) died. Yet in a lot of titles, the crossovers have no effect on the DC Universe and shouldn’t have a tie-in.

All right, having said that, on to DC One Million. DC:1M is called that because the future that is dealt with is the year 85,265, the year the DC titles would hit one million if it lasts that long. Written by Grant Morrison, (the regular JLA scribe, which is probably why this is centered around the JLA) penciled by Val Semeiks, and inked by Prentis Rollins, DC:1M looks great, very, very nice, yet the story can be kind of confusing. OK, let me try to give you the plot. A little back history first; during the JLA Rock of Ages story line (JLA #10-16), an android named Hourman from the future, was given the philosopher stone (a crystal Lex Luthor found and discovered it did just about any thing he wanted, and tried to destroy the JLA with it) by Metron (one of the New Gods) after the JLA stopped Luthor. OK, got that? Anyway, jump forward to about the year 85,265: the solar system has two suns, one being a evil computer sun (I told you it’s confusing) and the second sun is where Uranus used to be. The entire solar system has been colonized. A team of super heroes, the Justice Legion, protects the solar system. Each of these heroes is assigned one planet, and did I mention this future JLA is an almost parallel to the current JLA? It’s ranks include a Superman, a Batman, a Flash, a Wonder Woman, and an Aquaman. Also, there are two other heroes that present day counterparts are not in the JLA, Starman, and Hourman.

The Justice Legion came back in time to today to transport the JLA to the 853rd century to take part in a celebration. The festivities celebrate the return of the prime Superman (apparently Supes really is immortal) from the solar fortress of solitude (the sun) and heroes from many times are going to the celebration. As part of the celebration, the heroes from the past perform challenges to show off their powers. The challenges take place in each character’s own titles DC:1M tie-in. Well, the reprogrammed evil sun computer overcame it’s programming and teams with Vandal Savage (a long time JLA villain who is virtually immortal) and sends a techno virus that attacks both people and machines. While the Vandal Savage of the present launches nukes with Tempest(Aquaman’s son), Arsenal (Green Arrow’s old side kick), Jessie Quick, and Supergirl strapped to them. Ohhhhh sounds like fun! Anyway, that’s the plot. It’s an interesting look at the future and it is an OK mini. I suggest picking it up if you have some money left over.

DC:1M also seems to be a prelude to Titans #25 where the original 5 Titans come back to the team.

Now for the first Character Spotlight and of course, I have to start with THE hero...

SUPERMAN

Real Name:

[Earth name] Clark Kent
[Kryptonian name] Kal-el

Height:

6 feet, 3 inches

Weight:

225 pounds

Eyes:

Blue

Hair:

Black

Occupation:

Journalist with the Daily Planet, and Superhero.

Marital Status:

Married, to Lois Lane

Group Affiliation:

Justice League of America (leader)

Base of Operation:

Metropolis USA

First Appearance:

Action Comics #1 (June 1938) Man of Steel #1
[NOTE: Post-Crisis see above note] (July 1986)

Powers:

Strength, flight, invulnerability, super hearing, super breath, super speed, and vision (x-ray, microscope, telescope, and heat ray).

Source of Powers:

superman’s home planet of Krypton was under a red sun, when Clark grew up under earth's yellow sun the yellow solar energy affected his Kryptonian biology giving him special abilities.

Weaknesses:

Kryptonite, and magic.

Origin:

Kal-el’s father knew his home planet, Krypton, was doomed. Hoping to save his unborn child (Kyptonians didn’t have children like us, they were born in birthing chambers), he blasted him off into space as the planet Krypton exploded. Crash landing on Earth (a planet similar to Krypton), Kal-El was found by John and Martha Kent in their Kansas farm field. They took the child as their own. The day after finding Kal-El, there was a major blizzard, thus giving a very nice cover story that Martha was the boy’s mother, since they were snowed in for awhile. They named Kal-El Clark Kent. Here Clark grew up with good old fashioned country values. Around puberty, young Clark started developing amazing powers, and his adoptive parents told Clark how they found him.


When Clark was 18, he decided to leave Smallville and travel the world. He helped people with his powers in secret. After about four years of traveling around the world, he enrolled at Metropolis University, majoring in journalism. While in Metropolis, he had to save a NASA space plane forcing him to go public. Somehow, he managed to protect his identity during the incident, and the press (Lois Lane, actually) dubbed him Superman. After some major thinking, he decided to go into a life of super heroism, after his mom made the costume with the famous S symbol. He became Superman. To protect his identity, he developed different mannerisms and started wearing glasses. At age 28, he found a small electronic thingy in his space ship that revealed to him his origin and the truth about where he came from.

Recently:

Supes electric powers left him during the Millennium Giants story line and he returned to the classic look in Superman Forever.

Looking Ahead:

There is going to be a 48-page Superman Vs. Incredible Hulk coming soon, and a 10 issue Worlds Finest maxi-series chronicling the Superman-Batman team ups in 1999.

Special thanks go to Steven Younis the keeper of the Superman homepage at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/7771/index.html for a lot of the information.

Be here next month for the next installment of Judgment Calls (I don’t know what the topic will be yet), but the next character profile will be BATMAN.

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Copyright © 1998 Patrick Dunning

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