“Yesterday’s” Comic> Super Soldier

I take this guy over the Sentinels.

Super-Soldier

Amalgam (DC; April, 1996)

Years after he disappeared, Super-Soldier was found in the ice by the Judgement League Avengers. Now under the guise of reporter Clark Kent, working for Jimmy Olsen, the reporter who followed him in World War II, he finds his power weakening. However, the Green Skull, Lex Luthor, has discovered that his robot, the Ultra-Metallo, is better than he thought. Now powered by a green rock he found in Kansas that he dubs Green K (or “Kansas Lode”), the robot continues on its mission to blow up the White House, and Luthor is willing to reveal his connection to Hydra to do it. However, Super-Soldier discovers lead blocks the Green K’s energy that weakens his alien cells (more on that in the amalgamation reviews below) and is able to both defeat Ultra-Metallo and Lex Luthor.

What they got right: I wouldn’t have expected Superman and Captain America would merge this smoothly, but it works as well as Dark Claw’s merger. It does make sense, as I’ll get into. It’s a good story overall and some great artwork.

What they got wrong: There’s some more evidence that there wasn’t as much communication as there should be. Sure, Luthor is still green-headed and connected to Hydra, but it questions when this story took part versus Bruce Wayne: Agent Of SHIELD. He’s also not called “Green Skull” here but he was in the comic that isn’t a merger of Superman and Captain America’s world. Also, the story feels like Superman with bits of Captain America. I love Superman, but there is a bit more lean towards it here that might put off some Captain America fans.

• Super-Soldier (Superman/Captain America): In this reality, Clark was born on Earth, and he is the 4f soldier, not Steve Rogers, who becomes the super soldier thanks to a special serum. Only this serum has traces of an alien corpse found in a crashed space rocket. Yep, Super-Soldier got his powers from a dead space baby. (They don’t say it’s a baby but following the source and the size of the rocket it’s easy to assume.) He carries the “S” shield in place of Steve’s round shield which he hides in his briefcase. He otherwise has all the best aspects of both character and he may be my favorite of the Amalgam characters thus far.
• Lex Luthor/Green Skull (Lex Luthor/Red Skull): Something about messing with the K-Bombs turned him green, in case you wondered why he looked that way in Bruce Wayne. Like Super-Soldier he has the best aspects of his character even if this Skull isn’t talking about bringing back the Third Reich. He makes more sense here than in the Batman/Nick Fury merger.
• Daily Planet Staff: Jimmy Olsen stumbled upon Super-Soldier’s secret back in World War II and became his personal chronicler, which earned him great rewards and in the modern day the role of Editor-In-Chief. Sharon Carter seems to be taking the place of Lois Lane. Jimmy has a connection to the plot and Sharon is just there to be Lois.
• Ultra-Metallo: I don’t know where the Ultra part comes from (Ultron is taken and Ultimo is coming in the next series) but Metallo is obviously…Metallo. Cool design for a WW2 Nazi robot bomb.

Would I get the series: Possibly. It would be interesting to see if Super-Soldier can find a way to restore his powers or clear out the Green K fallout. He’s a good character with a good supporting cast (what we see of Sharon, anyway).

Recommendation: This is one of the Amalgams I most recommend to see how good the concept can be, especially for fans of both or either Superman and/or Captain America.