DCU Comic Book Reviews

ADVENTURE COMICS SPECIAL

New Krypton, Part 3:  Worst Night Of His Life

January 2009

Written by James Robinson

Pencils by Pere Perez

Inks by Pere Perez

Covers by Aaron Lopresti and Victor Ibáñez

Synopsis

[continued from Superman #681]

Jimmy Olsen has found the location of Jim Harper (aka The Guardian), one of the greatest protectors of Metropolis.  Harper recognizes Olsen and wonders if he should tell him the truth or lie.  Olsen wants to know why Harper ran away.  Harper explains he is not Jim Harper, just a clone of the original Guardian thanks to Cadmus.  Haunted by memories of his “father,” Harper learned the truth, including the moment when he witness Codname: Assassin kill his “father” right in front of me.  Olsen tells Harper the name of the assassin, something Harper has been looking for years.  Harper tells Olsen that he investigated further and found a Cadmus facility in the twin cities.  There he found many, many clones of himself.  He killed them all and ran away.  There, he also learned of the plot to kill Superman.  Olsen thanks him for the information and leaves.  Harper then thinks about what Jim learned, the identity of his “father’s killer,” and decides he has unfinished business.  He also recalls that he didn’t kill all of the clones; one he saved, his “daughter,” Gwendoline.  Together, the two drive back to Metropolis. [continued in Action Comics #871]

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

The cover states that this is the third installment of an overall story; the title of the issue also confirms that this is the third part of the story.  Yet, this is anything but a continuation of the previous installment.  There is very little in terms of a continuous sequence of events.  In fact, the events in this book take place between specific pages of a different issue that is not even part of the numbering sequence.  So, given the seemingly weird timing of this issue, the question becomes:  was this really necessary.  The answer is both no and yes.  It is needed, because there is a lot of information that we as readers need to help flush out the main storyline, especially regarding the reappearance of Sam Lane as well as the attack by Atlas.  But frankly, did we really need a full-size comic to get all of this information?  Could this information have been provided by Jimmy, as told to Lois or something like that?  How important was it to hear it directly from the Guardian?  I suppose these were questions for DC editorial.  My answer is that, yes, I think this issue was important and, yes, I think hearing the tale from the Guardian and seeing him and who he is (and how he grapples with his own humanity and what he witnessed was being done based on his father’s genes) is vital to the overall storyline being crafted.  And, let’s face it, this was a good, solid read and if this is the beginning of a new book called Adventure Comics, then I think this was a good choice to help with sales.  But to call it the third part of the New Krypton story was not a wise choice. 

I would be curious to read some of Robinson’s first drafts or learn the creative process that led to the particular special.  Was this originally part of the Jimmy Olsen story?  Did that story run too long, forcing Robinson to split the story into two, or force him to add stuff to Jimmy’s story to make two complete issues?  Or was the Guardian story also envisioned as a stand-alone part of “New Krypton” and the Jimmy Olsen story was added to explain why he was there in the first place? Curious minds want to know.  

Comic Connection

The creature trapped at Cadmus is Tellus, a member of the original Legion of Super Heroes.  Tellus was a member of the Dark Circle, a criminal/religious organization.  He was last seen as a statue in the recent Final Crisis:  Legion of Three Worlds mini-series. 

Paul Kirk was the original Manhunter in the 1940s, appearing with frequency in Adventure Comics before being phased out just before the war.  In the 70s, Kirk returned and was retconned to have a healing factor devised by a geneticist.  Kirk was part of a cloning project, which he sabotaged and sacrificed his own life to destroy.  Later, various Kirk clones would take up the mantle of Manhunter, but few lasted very long. 

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