THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (UK) #8

It's two US issues from DC Comics reprinted in a fortnightly UK mag.

The first strip Terror On The Streets sets the jokey post-modern tone for the whole publication. The villains are a bit panto...


... the Daily Planet scenes are sitcommy...


... and everyone seems full of post-modern wisecracks.



And DC's UK editors? They seem to have had a laugh recaptioning this strip for the British audience too.


However if the first strip was light-hearted, then the second one was a positive farce.

Ignoring any progression from the first strip for Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, Speed Hills! sees Mr Mxyzptlk talk Superman into a running race around the world against the Flash. The whole world watches it on TV too, although I've no idea how you'd film a race that fast at 25 frames per second, let alone how Supes and Flash could hold a conversation using something as sluggish as soundwaves.

But hey - this strip is a bit panto, a bit sitcommy, and a bit post-modern as well.


(I must admit I'm intrigued by what has happened to the British Isles in the DC universe there) (global warming?)

Of course, the floating imp from the fifth dimension does his darndest to mix things up, making life tough for Supes – such as by making him run underwater at one point - even though he wants him to win. All of which flaws the end result, which pleasingly isn't a dead heat.

Serious stories (well all right then, just the one) in a fun, sitcommy way. I guess this is the version of Supes that I like best.

(Thanks again to Herschel)