DC Comics
Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson and Roger Stern, writers
Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Dan Jurgens, Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke and Denis Rodier, artists
Last time, we talked about the Superman: Exile trade collection -- one I read recently for the first time and very much enjoyed. A large part of that story involves Superman running into Warworld, being forced to take part in its gladiatorial-style contests to the death, and the Man of Steel's attempts to change that system. In Exile, Warworld is under the control of the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Mongul.
In this trade collection from a few years later, Warworld, now under the control of Brainiac, is headed for Earth to enslave the populace. Unlike Exile, I read this story arc in the Superman titles of the time -- Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Superman and Superman: The Man of Steel. I was drawn to "Panic In the Sky" because Superman assembles a large team of heroes to assist him in fighting off the Warworld invasion. Several of my favorites at the time play roles in the story. The group Superman assembles is a hodge-podge of heroes and anti-heroes because there is no current Justice League team in DC continuity at the time of this story.
One of the nicer things about this trade collection, which I purchased along with the Exile trade, is the inclusion before each chapter of the various writers' and the editor's thoughts on the story and how it came about. Turns out "Panic In the Sky" was initially envisioned as one of those all-consuming crossover stories DC did every year at that time. Only later was that notion turned down and the story moved to being told solely in the various Superman titles for a few months.
I very much enjoyed "Panic In the Sky" when it first appeared in single issues, and it isn't a bad story as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Fire, Ice, Flash, Captain Marvel, Booster Gold, several of the New Gods and more battle to save Earth from the schemes of Brainiac and the forces of Warworld. But honestly, rereading it now in trade format 20 years after I first experienced it, the story doesn't hold up quite as well as I remembered.
In one of his text pieces, writer Dan Jurgens wrote about superheroes -- especially Superman -- merely reacting to threats after someone has been hurt or some crime has been committed. One of the goals of this story was to depict the heroes -- again, especially Superman -- being more proactive. But the Superman depicted here is just as reactive as usual. Sure he assembles a team of heroes to come together and go into space to fight Warworld before it reaches Earth, but only after Brainiac sends his robotic Head-Ship to attack Metropolis, wreaking a great deal of destruction, and announcing to the Man of Steel that Brainiac is now in control of Warworld and bringing the artificial planet to Earth. Superman has no knowledge of the threat before this initial attack, so he's still reacting. To make matters worse, some of the character interaction among the many heroes in this story makes Superman seem like kind of a weak leader. He's constantly being challenged by Guy Gardner and Orion, to name just two examples, and he's also shown as uncertain several times and uneasy leading all of these various heroes.
Another problem in hindsight is the inclusion of Deathstroke the Terminator among Superman's assembled team. Deathstroke had his own comic in the mid-1990s, and while he was still an anti-hero, his strong moral code was emphasized in his own title. The character became a bit more heroic than he was initially depicted and would be written in later comics. In another text piece by Jurgens, the writer expressed his initial concern about including Deathstroke; why would someone like Superman seek out such an individual for help? But Jurgens said he later came to see the value of Deathstroke's tactical contributions. Except, wasn't Batman known as the master strategist of the DCU heroes? With some of the things the character has been used for since "Panic In the Sky," Deathstroke really seems out of place in this story now.
Several other characters are barely used. Wonder Woman is among the heroes Superman assembles, but her role is limited to appearing in a few backgrounds and exposition scenes. She plays no real role in the battle against Warworld. Other heroes get the same treatment, showing up but contributing little. I was happy when these books debuted to see two of my favorites, Aquaman and Nightwing, included in the story. Happily, they get much more panel time and much more dialogue than Wonder Woman in the story, but sadly, neither contributes a vital role to the proceedings, I discovered upon rereading these issues.
That isn't to say that there is nothing of value here; Draaga's story in this trade continues from what was begun for him in Exile. His is a pretty compelling story and easily provides much of the heart of these issues. Supergirl/Matrix also has some interesting developments in this arc. And finally, events at the end of "Panic In the Sky" were directly used to help re-launch the Justice League title for this era. But all of these things also seem to make Superman a supporting character in his own titles for two months. That's really kind of sad for the hero known for inspiring all others.
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