SUPERMAN #234 Feb 1971

January 18, 2021

SUPERMAN #234 Feb 1971

"I can't fly!" shrieks Superman, dropping helplessly out of the sky, "That THING-- Draining me of my powers!" Above him soars a gold-coloured shape-- one that looks uncannily like the Man of Steel himself in full flight.

SUPERMAN #234, dated Feb 1971, is the second of Denny O'Neil's story arc in which the Man of Steel gradually loses his powers, following the previous issue's dramatic KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE. The cover art is by Neal Adams, while the story artists are the team of Swan and Anderson. The opening splash-page depicting a seemingly apathetic Superman idly watching while dozens of terrified islanders "flee in mortal terror" as a volcano erupts behind them would have been a strong enough idea to have been used on the cover--

It uses the shock-tactic of showing a superhero ignoring obvious menace, which as a cover would have compelled the reader to buy the issue to find out what's going on. But unlike various other covers from this period that might also play on this idea of the unconcerned hero, this one turns out not to be a cheat, fairly depicting a later scene in the story. Perhaps this was O'Neil's way of saying that you can tease the readers with things like this without then cheating them later.

The scenario refers to the fact that Superman finds himself unable to prevent the volcano exploding and also to set foot on the island. But the reason he cannot rescue the islanders is actually because of a legal loophole. Having caught a missile fired at him by a huge cannon, the Man of Steel mocks the weapon, calling it a "bean-shooter"--

Learning that the island and surrounding sea are owned by the greedy, cruel-hearted plantation owner, Boysie Harker, the man from Krypton is robbed of his power to save them because he will be trespassing if he sets foot on the island.

This might, at first glance seem quite an absurd situation. But when it's considered that this story sequence focuses on Superman's loss of physical powers (the previous issue he was unable to use his heat-vision), this inability to act turns out to be a symbolic underlining of that loss. The image of Superman sitting on the rock renders him as no more than an ordinary man. And then we see him circling vainly around, the size of the problem made all the more clear by the dramatic sight of him being dwarfed by the raging volcano.

And there's that "bean-shooter" again, Harker presented as a bullying figure who hides behind artillery--

We saw in #233 how a scientific experiment gone wrong seems to have resulted in the creation of a replica Superman made entirely of desert sand. Please check out my commentary on that issue here if you haven't already seen it. In this issue we find the doppelganger walking across the desert in the blistering sun--

Then we watch as it stretches its arms and, uncertainly at first, takes flight like its Kryptonian alter-ego. The artists use a trio of vertical frames to capture this moment, the 'camera' zooming out so that the figure becomes gradually smaller while it effectively becomes stronger. Then, the page is completed by a fourth vertical panel depicting the real Superman doing the exact opposite-- he is plunging downwards towards the sea.

Readers might at this point be minded to turn back to the Neal Adams cover, wondering whether this is the moment seen there, and question whether this is in fact one of those notorious cheat covers. Of course, it isn't-- instead it's a neat means of visually reinforcing the link between the two characters, and on the next page the principle is repeated this time with a pair of vertical panels--

Again this pairing has the real Superman travelling downwards (this time tunnelling beneath the sea-bed) while the double soars at an upwards angle above the sea's surface. Then, as in the previous issue, once again Superman feels weakened by his proximity to this mysterious creature and is forced to abandon his plan to burrow inside the volcano without actually treading on Harker's property.

Later, having worked out an ingenious way of cooling the volcano using a raincloud (I won't go into the science), Superman at last sights the creature flying above him, as once again he feels his strength being drained--

And so it is that the moment depicted on the cover, foreshadowed by those vertical panels on page 6, comes around, the Man of Steel losing his power of flight and falling unceremoniously out of the sky where he lands on and destroys that ubiquitous "bean-shooter" cannon on Harker's boat--

Regular readers will know how much I relish drawing comparisons between guns and penises as I comment on comic art (some have even called it an obsession). I can't, therefore, let the following image go by without pointing out how the artwork here very clearly suggests that the loudmouth plantation owner is symbolically emasculated by Superman, his big gun broken and hanging limply while Harker himself rages uncontrollably at the sight--

Following that there's a lovely satisfyingly good-humoured page in which Harker and his bully-boys try attacking our hero, who behaves as if he's completely oblivious to their attempts--

Anyway, the story comes to an end with Clark Kent pondering exactly what it was he saw flying above him and considering the shocking possibility that his powers might soon be waning--

And the final pair of panels are chillingly effective as the creature reclines within the bubbling lava of the volcano itself, transforming still more into a replica of our Kryptonian hero. What'll happen next? I can't to see!

You can see all my January posts here--

My thoughts on the first part of the SUPERMAN story arc KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE and on Kirby's JIMMY OLSEN #136 and FOREVER PEOPLE #1 can be found by clicking the covers below--