Superman #233 (1971)
written by Denny O’Neil & Curt Swan
cover by Neal Adams
Deciding when exactly Superman leaves the Silver Age is a matter of debate, but there is no question that this one is VERY firmly beyond the Silver Age.
While the cover boosts that Superman is “the number 1 best-selling comics magazine”, we are now in the period when Julis Schwartz is the editor: there was a deliberate attempt to modernize several of the books under his line.
So it makes perfect sense to pick O’Neil for the job: at this point he had already modernized Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Batman. And except for Wonder Woman, those were pretty successful. But how did it go for Superman?
We begin with Superman guarding a project that intends to use Kryptonite to create cheap electricity for everyone.
Makes sense, since during the Silver Age it used to be the most abundant substance on the planet.
When the power plant explodes, Superman takes a MASSIVE dose of Kryptonite right in the face.
You would think this would kill him, but Superman is perfectly finecitation needed.
More importantly, the explosion transmuted the Kryptonite into iron.
And this applies to the ENTIRE world!
This is treated as Superman having no weakness anymore.
Jimmy does acknowledge that he’s still vulnerable to magic, stating that it’s “real rare”… which was already dumb in the 60s when there was PLENTY of magic in DC comics, but it’s even worse in the 70s when supernatural comics will see a resurgence.
Also, Superman’s weakness to red sun radiation goes COMPLETELY unmentioned, even though at this time it’s definitely public knowledge.
This is also when the Superman books fully catch up with Jimmy Olsen #133, where Morgan Edge purchased the Daily Planet.
It’s ironic that Morgan Edge is making the case for Superman being vulnerable to being corrupted by absolute power… considering that THIS is technically the Morgan Edge clone who works for Darkseid. So if anything he should relish in Superman becoming corruptible.
Either O’Neil wasn’t told by Kirby or didn’t care for that angle.
Morgan Edge also decides that Clark Kent is going to be a TV reporter from now on, instead of a newspaper journalist.
Which IS completely bonkers… and honestly realistic, unless you think it’s unrealistic to see a millionaire show up to a place he just bought and decide to whatever comes to his mind without consulting the people who actually do this job.
Unlike other changes to the status quo, this one WILL stick for the vast majority of the rest of the pre-Crisis continuity. Despite the fact that having Clark be a TV reporter makes his secret identity even LESS believable.
Also, honest question: would a TV reported in 1970 be required to bring and operate the camera completely on his own!?
Having Clark be the one to operate the camera is the only way this setup can work, considering he has to switch identities during the commercials.
During the commercials, Superman catches a criminal who is supposed to sabotage this rocket.
This is probably the most well-known sequence of the comic, and it is pretty funny.
Although in every reprint I have of this story, the “Kryptonite” is covered solid grey after it’s been turned into iron.
Which kind of ruins the moment, and makes the criminal even dumber for not noticing the Kryptonite is no longer green.
But keeping it green begs the question: if it’s been transmuted into iron, why is it steel green?
I highly doubt that a 1970 reporter would have been SO close to the rocket to be completely covered by the smoke.
Someone else is trying to shoot down the rocket, and Superman is QUITE confident he’s got this.
Maybe these are magic rockets!
Might have something to do with his heat vision being weaker than expected?
Naah, it probably has nothing to do with an upcoming saga.
Instead Superman goes for a different approach. Mostly because he’s bored.
You’re being WAY too dismissive about those power instabilities, Superman.
But that is a story for next time.
Historical significance: 10/10
This is the setup for the “Sandman saga” that I will cover separately. More importantly, it’s part of an attempt to weaken Superman and remove the overuse of Kryptonite… and the storyline will ultimately fail in both regards. Weirdly enough, the longest-lasting change is having Clark Kent become a TV reporter: he won’t be absent from the Daily Planet, but he will work primarily on TV until Crisis.
The finale of the saga WAS intended to have a bigger influence, but it will be lost along the way as we will discuss.
While I typically don’t consider real-life events for his category, in this case I believe it warrants an exception because this is the first of many attempts to modernize Superman; in many ways, it’s kind of a trial run for the post-Crisis Superman.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Definitely underplayed, but there is the ubiquity of Kryptonite.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
I’m holding an analysis for the ultimate failure of the O’Neil run to modernize Superman until we reach the end of the saga. Taken on its own, the story is fine. It’s also shorter than you’d expect, running just at 15 pages; as such it doesn’t really have time to properly analyze the new status quo.
It’s all setup at this point, and I have scored it a 8/10 if it wasn’t for two things that negatively stood out to me.
The first, as mentioned, is how Superman is uncharacteristically fine with his sudden weakness.
The second is that, while Curt Swan’s artwork is good as usual (and the final Sandman page is amazing)… I feel like he’s drawing Superman older than he’s ever done, and to me it comes off as very distracting.
Bonus: we have a “World of Krypton” story starring Jor-El, written by E. Nelso Bridwell with Murphy Anderson pencils.
It’s a flashback to his youth, showing that he first met his future wife while she was training to become an astronaut. This is a change from the Silver Age where she was his assistant (at least in a couple of stories, it’s possible this was inconsistent for a while).
It also has Jor-El build a spaceship out of gold (which is nearly worthless on Krypton).
It also has Jor-El do a bit of space exploration of his own, and Bridwell simply can’t resist forcing a reference to his future son.
It is worth briefly discussing the other O’Neil stories prior to the final saga.
In Superman #234, he has to save people from an erupting volcano… and doesn’t realize the reason why he’s feeling weak is that Sandman Superman now has a physical body and is nearby.
This happens AGAIN when he gathers a super-storm to stop the volcano.
In Superman #235, he fights a guy who found a magic evil harp…
…and dresses LIKE THIS.
So that should tell you how the “let’s make the stories less ridiculous” effort is going.
He also FINALLY notices Sandman Superman.
Just in time to start losing superpowers. I was willing to be charitable and consider the reason he didn’t notice Sandman Superman before is that the first power he lost was super-intelligence… but turns out that he was losing powers because the harp guy was taking them.
Superman #236 has him test a device from the Fortress of Solitude…
…that makes him hallucinate going to Heaven.
And to Hell, where he finds Jimmy, Lois and Batman.
This is how you know this is not a real story: Batman wouldn’t go to Hell.
But it turns out Superman was only being manipulated by aliens.
And if you’re wondering what was happening on Action Comics during these months… Leo Dorfman was the writer.
Say what you will about O’Neil attempting to revitalize Superman… at least he was TRYING to do something new with the character.
Dorfman feels like he’s stuck a decade earlier.
I mean, DC was trying to make big changes for Superman… and yet they went with THIS STORY for Action Comics #400.
