Previously: Superman desperately fought Doomsday, and in doing so, saved a 90s kid who thought Guy Gardner was cool, and even managed to blow up part of a small town. Doomsday, our angsty teenage monster looking for love, has moved onto the next issue after Maxima decided to screw the rules and blow some stuff up. It resulted in explosions and then the Guardian showed up. The final showdown approaches. Superman vs. Doomsday, Boy-Scout versus Alien Teenage Grey man! Dun-dun-duuuunnn!!!
I was surprised by the amount of plot we got last time, I recalled it being more fighting than anything else. And while it was majority action, there was actually some fun scenes mixed into the two issues. This time, though, expect far less of that.
If there is a real plot, it can mostly be just considered foreshadowing about Cadmus, and the mysteries that are going on there, as well as how they may relate to the Guardian. I mean, there's progression of events (this is sequential art), but it mostly results from where Superman/ Doomsday lands from the other's punches, as well as Superman constantly trying to keep Doomsday away from Metropolis.
And in that regard, this issue does work very well. Better than most, or at least, since the Justice League was easily dispatched by Doomsday. We've, of course, seen how truly destructive he is prior to that, and after that, but in the early stages of his brawl with Superman, the fighting was fairly level. Remember: the very first punch that Doomsday delivered onto Superman did absolutely nothing to him. Superman took it like a champ.
The second punch launched him through a house.
But that's the brilliance, that's not the optimal word but I'm going with it anyway, in Doomsday and his fight against Superman. Doomsday adapts. I joke that he's like a teenager, and in a very stretched way, he is. He adapts to his environment, he learns throughout his life. It was how he was created and how he has learned to fight. There's a clear difference in strength from the first punch and the second punch. Was Doomsday holding back? Doubtful. But it was a glimpse into what we see here.
Our cover this time is much better than last time.
We now get to see Doomsday with his ripped up jumpsuit, and he is pretty much even with Superman in their brawl. But the focus is on them and there is a solid blend of blues in the background to allow our centerpieces to stand out. Not to mention what's behind them: a one-way sign to Metropolis...
We open with Superman's final decision: to act alone in the fight against Doomsday. That's right: from here on our, it is straight Superman versus Doomsday, the Justice League has been finished at this point. Supes remarks that he was horrified at what Doomsday did to Guy Gardner, but I have to think that a little part of him was just jealous he didn't get to land that punch.
He flies off and manages to find Doomsday where their fight restarts...and does not stop for the rest of the issue. Yes, from now on we will get almost nothing but non-stop action. And it is very exciting. You can feel the hits these guys are landing on each other. Sure, it gets a little grating to see Superman and Doomsday flying away on every other panel, but there is a progression in the fight, and a natural one at that.
And it isn't like there's a lack of super-heroing in this issue. First, Doomsday decides to try and burn his bridges with the Village of Graffitti (seriously, that was what the town Maxima decimated was called, what the heck) but ends up destroying it instead.
Dang it, Doomsday, what'v we told you about burning bridges? How do you expect to make friends at this rate?
Superman saves a falling man who seems to not know who he is. How do you...
Never mind, I'm not even going to bother with it.
Doomsday then attacks Lex-Mart, but Superman reaches it just as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen do in a Daily Planet copter, to record the throw-down. However, before they can, we finally see what sets Doomsday on his final path of destruction...what really sends him off...
A PRO WRESTLING EVENT!
I'm not sure if I should take this seriously or not. I mean I'm really starting to think that Doomsday is just a teenage boy. What's next, we actually get a comic about that?
I need to play lotto...
So, after his big decision has been made--rather silent, though Doomsday hasn't really been taught to kindly use his words yet--Superman arrives to stop him from watching pro-wrestling because it's violent and teaches kids bad lessons.
And so he punches him out of the market, probably costing Lex Luthor hundreds of dollars in property damage he'll never make back!
Lois's broadcast is noticed by Lex and Supergirl, who we learned from last time are actually Lex Luthor Jr. and Matrix-Supergirl. So, not the ones you're probably familiar with, and this is actually made mention of by Superman.
Supergirl feels a desire to go out and help Superman, as Doomsday is closing in on Metropolis and with her help Superman may be able to defeat him. Lex, though, points out that she needs to stay still, as if Superman falls, the Girl of Steel is the only one left to stand a chance against Doomsday. It's a fair point, but I rather like to think that Lex doesn't send her out on good faith for Superman. Much as the two are enemies, they do have a commendable respect for one another. It's a great hero-villain relationship that we don't get to see much of in comics anymore. There are some examples, sure, where a hero doesn't just take a villain lightly, but there are so few relationships that can compare to Superman and Lex Luthor, even Lex's son.
Doomsday decides to throw Superman under the bus (he also hasn't really been working on getting our modern lingo), but luckily there are no people in the bus. Superman, still dazed, wakes up as he sees Doomsday notice the Metropolis sign from the cover, and realizes that he's made a connection between the wrestler from Metropolis and the city's name. Remembering that Doomsday watched wrestling without his permission, Superman punches Doomsday in the face.
At least he isn't paying for the pay-per-views yet...
And yet, here we do get to see that Doomsday is adapting, and adapting fast. Not only has Superman barely even scratched him, if even at all, but Doomsday is gaining more and more intelligence. When we first saw him, he was destroying things at an incremental rate, from a bird to a deer to a person to a super-person. Now? Well now he's working on other connections. He saw Metropolis on television and can now register that Metropolis is where he needs to be, able to read.
It's a rather terrifying concept that this absolute monster, who has killed hundreds of people in the span of maybe an hour, is just getting started, and the comic illustrates this very well. For every punch Superman lands, Doomsday's strength increases that much. It's Superman's ultimate test, and it's almost like an age-old question: Can Superman defeat himself? Doomsday is, really, Superman if he were to lose all control.
Sure, you could make the argument that General Zod in Man of Steel was like that, as have countless other Kryptonians. But, no. This is the big test for Superman. Is he capable of defeating destruction itself? Darkseid doesn't necessarily want destruction, he just wants an end. Brainiac wants knowledge. Lex Luthor wants conquest. Doomsday?
Just wants to run and shred up whatever's in his path.
Superman realizes this, and it really shines in this fight.
One of the biggest arguments against Superman is that he is bland. His fighting style is just to swing his fists, to use his muscles to solve all of his problems. That's not true. Superman is incredibly intelligent. He isn't as good a fighter in hand-to-hand combat as someone like Oliver Queen or Bruce Wayne, but he combines the power of the mind with the might of his fist. He uses his environments to try and soften up Doomsday. Even when he's at his most desperate, Superman is thinking to both keep the fight away from civilization as well as find some way he can get an advantage over Doomsday. In what way does that provoke stupidity, or a lack of knowing how to fight? He's doing exactly what he needs to do!
Superman, punching Doomsday into isolated hills where nobody is around for dozens of leagues, wonders just what's up with Lex Jr., and even shoots a low-blow at Lex Sr. that he would be the type of guy that would make Doomsday.
But that would never happen, right?
Please...
Lois and company ditch the fight, and Superman and Doomsday reignite their brawl, basically right on top of the Cadmus Project. Don't know what that is?
Doesn't even matter!
They fight in the remnants of an old Superman issue, the fight relatively leveled out as Superman flings Doomsday around various wooden structures. Cadmus calls up the Guardian, because everyone knew the Guardian back in the 90s, and send him on his merry way over to the brawl.
When he arrives, Superman tries to play off the fact that he's running out of ideas when Doomsday comes in like a wrecking ball and demolishes the Guardian, bounces away like Sonic on a spring toward Metropolis.
And thus, our comic ends with the sign of Metropolis, only to be crushed symbolically by Doomsday as a radio reporter proclaims, "We have to warn the people--Doomsday is coming!"
Oh, but it already has.
Anyway, this issue is still a ton of fun. Though a lot of it is dedicated to fighting, it really culminates what type of villain Doomsday has evolved into. While not at all methodical, he now has an agenda and will stop at nothing to reach it. Along the way, it almost feels as if he's absorbing Superman's punches. Superman, too, is running low on what to do and how to stop Doomsday.
There's a real feeling of fear evident in this issue as well. As Doomsday draws ever closer to Metropolis, every character grows more and more worried. They know what might happen if Doomsday does indeed reach Metropolis, even with Supergirl there to try and fight him.
Sadly, there are only two more issues of the Doomsday story left to go--and both are relatively quick, since, like I keep saying, just a ton of fighting...but I'll over-analyze like usual. Next time, though, to round out the year for comic book reviews, we'll be looking at the one thing that is truly fitting for the month of December in 2015;
A "Star Wars" comic. See you then.
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