Superman #233
Cover date: January 1971

Writer: Denny O’ Neil
Penciller: Curt Swan
Inker: Murphy Anderson
Cover: Neal Adams

“Kryptonite Nevermore!”

The cover date on the book is January of 1971, but back then the books would usually arrive on the stands 2 to 3 months before the actual cover date, so this book probably was out in October of 1970. This was in the days of the old “spinner” racks and if you waited too long the books would be at the least dog-eared and at the most torn or crumpled by the time you got to them, so I made sure I went to the 7-11 store near my home on the day new comics arrived. When I walked over to the corner where the rack was kept, the cover to Superman #233 practically leaped out at me.

Superman was (and is) my favorite comic book superhero. In addition, at the time I was still harboring the hope of being a comic book artist some day and Neal Adams was one of my “idols” that I copied in an attempt to replace with diligent work the natural talent I did not possess. His photo-realistic illustrations were like a breath of fresh air and his ability to break out of the standard 6 panel page in his story-telling was revolutionizing the business, as far as artists went.

When I plucked this issue out of the rack I was mesmerized by the sight of Superman flexing his chest and arms to break out of chains forged from Kryptonite and the words “The NEW Adventures of Superman” with the title “Kryptonite Nevermore!” I could barely wait to look over the remainder of new arrivals, buy what I wanted and get home to read this latest issue.

This was the issue that kicked off DC Comics’ first major re-working of the Superman mythology. Superman had originally been conceived as a character who was “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…” but over the years his powers had increased until he was almost godlike. His speed eventually reached then surpassed the speed of light, allowing him to travel through time. No longer content to leap tall buildings, he could now fly, not only in our atmosphere, but into the vacuum of space. If he wanted, he could toss planets around like billiard balls, fly into the nuclear heart of the sun and be in at least 2 places at once in 2 different guises through the use of his super-speed. Writers could find no believable challenges for the Man of Steel unless they involved one of his 2 weaknesses; Kryptonite, which consisted of portions of his home planet that had landed on earth and were deadly to him, and magic, which for some inexplicable reason he had no defense against. So it became increasingly difficult for writers to build credible foes for Superman, and thus for any kind of conflict to interest an ever-decreasing fan base who felt like Superman could never lose, or even break a sweat. This story was the kickoff of a NEW Superman.

Writer Denny O’Neil, along with artist Curt Swan and inker Murphy Anderson, crafted a tale in which scientists, attempting to create a new energy source through the use of Kryptonite’s radiation, find their experiment going awry at their desert lab and the Man of Steel arriving to save them just as the reactor explodes. The blast knocks Superman unconscious into the desert sand, which is unprecedented, but even more surprises are in store. Superman regains consciousness and seems to be fine. Below, on the sandy desert floor, an impression of Superman’s form has been left in the soft sand, but no one notices. The biggest news seems to be that all of the Kryptonite the scientists have been using for their experiment has been transformed into harmless iron ore. Very quickly Superman discovers that not only the Kryptonite in the experiment, but all the Kryptonite in the world has made the same amazing transformation. Superman’s greatest weakness has been eliminated and he is more powerful than ever.

One of the funniest scenes is when Superman is stopping a criminal who produces an apple-sized chunk of Kryptonite, expecting it to stop the Man of Steel. Instead he calmly removes the now harmless rock from the hand of the crook and nonchalantly pops it into his mouth, chews and swallows it with the comment, “Hmmm, not bad. A trifle stale and it could use some salt, but all in all a nice little snack” and then lightly taps the jaw of the bad guy and delivers him to the police.

In his alter ego of newspaper reporter Clark Kent, he is introduced to Morgan Edge, the new owner of the Daily Planet’s parent company, Galaxy Broadcasting. Edge tells Kent that he is no longer a newspaper reporter, but is instead going to be reporting for the parent company’s TV news broadcast and sends him to do live on-location coverage of the launch of a new mail rocket designed to speed worldwide mail delivery. To regular readers an even more obvious change has taken place as Clark’s trademark blue suit, white shirt and red tie are nowhere in sight, having been replaced by a more ’70′s styled brown suit with wide lapels, striped shirt and white tie.

When a problem arises with the mail rocket launch, Clark switches to Superman and in the course of halting the problem finds that his heat vision won’t penetrate the surface. After coming up with other means to solve the problem, he finds himself flying over the very area of the desert where the explosion took place and suddenly a weakness even worse than he ever experienced with Kryptonite washes over him. His momentum carries him beyond the area and he shrugs it off as simple after-effects. As he flies out of view in the panel, we pan down to the desert floor and see the impression he left in the sand earlier begin to gain substance and form. Soon a sand figure of Superman arises from the ground and staggers off and the story ends.

I read that story 3 or 4 times that night and must have copied (or tried to) that cover by Neal Adams dozens of times. As the story progressed over the following issues, Superman’s powers were effectively halved so that the result was more stories of outcomes that weren’t always so cut and dried. There have been comic book stories that I have liked more, but to this day, of all the comic book covers I have ever seen, this one has been my absolute favorite. I don’t have the original comic anymore, but I do have a nice reprint in a trade paperback format that allows me to revisit an enjoyable memory.

Filed under: Retro Comic Book Review
Tags: « Superman »
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