“Yesterday’s” Comic> Superman Adventures #62

Metallo started to wonder about this back-alley dance school.

Superman Adventures #62

DC Comics (December, 2001)

“Heart Of Stone”

WRITER: Michael Reaves

PENCILER: Neil Vokes

INKER: Terry Austin

COLORIST: Marie Severin

SEPARATIONS: Zylonol

LETTERER: Phil Felix

EDITOR: Joey Cavalieri

Luthor makes a deal with Metallo through their mutual hatred of Superman. Luthor’s scientists (old man moment: I remember when Luthor did his own mad science) has created a powerful synthetic Kryptonite, Kryptonite X, that can not only penetrate lead but allow Metallo to finally have artificial touch receptors. Superman barely escapes their first battle, but with the help of a scientist Luthor’s been blackmailing he comes up with a plan to fake his death, while Metallo has a countermeasure to Luthor’s inevitable betrayal. Superman exposes Luthor’s latest scheme and Metallo’s countermeasure only allows him to survive trapped in an frozen robotic body to face trial.

What they got right: The story itself is quite good. The fights were good, even if Superman’s only victory comes outside of the fights themselves. It’s a more believable Luthor/Metallo team-up that the whole “Superior Man” story from early in the run. While we aren’t given time to see Metallo really explore his restored ability to feel physical sensations (you know what I mean!) the fact that his body can be powered to have them is an idea worth exploring, even if they don’t have the time to properly do so.

What they got wrong: Punching through lead like see Metallo’s K-X powered Kryptonite Vision do seems less the result of a more powerful form of radiation (and you’d have to ask a scientist if the science is even there for that) and more “it superboosts your Kryptonite Vision into a laser”. I also don’t know why they don’t just find a new power source for Metallo’s body that isn’t Kryptonite and doesn’t give Metallo superstrength. Making him an invalid seems a bit cruel for Superman. Come to think of it, why did Metallo use a smaller Kryptonite X rock in their next meeting. If he thought he’d win that time wouldn’t he have had the back-up Kryptonite piece in there already preparing for Luthor’s betrayal?

Recommendation: A better story than I expected going into it. It’s worth giving a read.