Friday, December 31, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 163
Clark Kent and Lois Lane are among the hundreds of thousands of people crowded into Times Square for the legendary New Year's Eve celebration. The event might not be as flashy as the one in Metropolis, but it certainly has its own charm. The couple is content to mingle with the crowd, listening to the live bands and enjoying the spectacle, hoping for a night where the excitement comes from the collective joy and anticipation of a huge gathering and not from supervillainous mayhem. Unfortunately, as the ball begins to drop, Clark notices that there's some foreign object inside of it, coated with lead. Fearing the worst, Superman stops the ball to investigate--but will he save New Year's, or ruin it?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 162
Habari gani, Superman? The Man of Steel arrives in New Orleans, where a one-time JSA member has formed a legacy team of his own! Markus Clay, the current Amazing-Man and the grandson of the original, has followed in that civil rights activist's pioneering footsteps, assembling Adili: a team of African-American heroes dedicated to promoting equality and providing a positive example. During this fifth day of Kwanzaa, the team is working to rebuild and improve the lower-class neighborhoods around Clay's home city, many of which are still devastated after Hurricane Katrina. Superman offers his assistance with the efforts, but not everyone perceives his presence as a positive. Adili member Muhammad X wants the Man of Steel to take a hike, and he's not the only one. Should Superman try to overcome the friction and work toward a common purpose, or does his very presence hurt their cause? This is one problem that superpowers won't solve!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 161
Superman makes a trip to San Diego, California, where he hopes to have a quiet day enjoying the sights and sounds, visiting the renovated zoo and dining in Little Italy. His plans are unfortunately disrupted when Soviet supervillains Hammer and Sickle show up, hoping to unearth a Cold War-era superweapon that sank just off the coast. But when the Man of Steel gives chase, he finds that he's not the only one in the sky! From the secret decks beneath the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum emerge the Barnstormers, the US Navy's superhuman special forces! Skyknight's flight of highly-trained metahumans join Superman in the fight against the renegade Russians, but will they be enough to stop the sunken superweapon from shattering San Diego?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 160
As he travels through Virginia, Superman is surprised to see donation boxes and solicitors for the Superman Foundation. The charity is dedicated to helping out those in need across the country, with specific emphasis on those towns that Superman is passing through on his journey. The Man of Steel himself dictates how the funds are distributed, taking a hands-on approach to helping people, even when he's not using his powers to do so. There's just one little problem: Superman has never heard of the group, and he hasn't seen any evidence of them following him around and helping the needy. He travels to the charity's headquarters in Alexandria, hoping to learn who has been using his name and what they've been doing with the money they've taken. What he finds is more sinister than he could have suspected. What corrupt criminals would besmirch Superman's reputation? Can the Superman Foundation be turned into a force for good? The answers will come from some unexpected sources!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 159
The artifact is written in song and legend, passed down through the ages. Like so many such devices, from the Starheart to the Helmet of Fate, it has taken many forms--usually some sort of scarf or helm. When it blows into Caribou, Maine, one of America's snowiest cities, it has taken on a fairly familiar, if antiquated form: a silk top hat. It lands lightly in a snow-covered park, where children had built a number of snowmen. And then, as with every other time the artifact had found its way to the frozen places, something was born. Something great and cold and powerful, birthed from the ice and snow and wind and hail with the force and violence of a blizzard. The birth of a new elemental is always a touchy situation, and Superman hopes to ensure that the powerful creature emerges as a benevolent force. Otherwise it will be a god of ice against a Man of Steel, and those odds are stacked against our hero!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 158
He's checking a list and making it twice! Phones have been ringing off the hook across the western United States and Canada in these dark hours of the morning after Christmas, with reports of strange burglaries--Christmas presents stolen and stockings emptied, with cookies and milk left in their place! NORAD contacts Superman as they track the Christmas crook's flight eastward, and the Man of Steel catches up to the figure over Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. What he finds is an interplanetary traveler, hailing from the South Pole of a cube-shaped world, traveling in a flying sleigh pushed by nine tiny white reindeer: Bizarro-Santa! It's up to Superman to send Bizarro Santa back to his playshop and prevent him from undoing Christmas, but Bizarro-Santa knows that he's been very, very nice this year, and he has a sack full of coal as punishment--green, glowing coal!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 157
Ho ho ho, it's a special jolly-sized 64-page issue of Walking with Superman! As the country sleeps through the night of Christmas Eve, the Man of Steel receives an alert on the Justice League communicator system, from a long-time JLA reservist. He may not spend much time at the Watchtower, but this hero has clocked more hours of monitor duty than the rest of the DCU combined--it's Kris Kringle, aka Santa Claus! He's watched Superman's journey, and since he's making a cross-country trip of his own tonight, he's decided to ask little Clark Kent along for the ride! Superman accompanies Santa to each of the fifty states in fifty pages, but it's not all sugarplums and candy canes--there are dark forces who would do anything to stop Santa's annual journey! It all ends in the early morning hours on Christmas Day, as Santa returns Superman to Metropolis, DE. After all, he's been awfully nice this year.
But that's not all! Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen take the spotlight in a shocking second feature: The Terror of Toyland! When the intrepid reporters investigate strange happenings at one of Toyman's old hideouts, they fall into a trap meant for Superman! How can this dynamic duo survive a snare meant for a Man of Steel?
But that's not all! Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen take the spotlight in a shocking second feature: The Terror of Toyland! When the intrepid reporters investigate strange happenings at one of Toyman's old hideouts, they fall into a trap meant for Superman! How can this dynamic duo survive a snare meant for a Man of Steel?
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Friday, December 24, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 156
Superman takes a break from his cross-country trek to fulfill a Christmas tradition. Every year, the Man of Steel spends Christmas Eve reading and answering the thousands of letters addressed to him over the year, piled up in a back room of the post office in Metropolis, DE. The task is a hard one, not because it taxes Superman's amazing abilities, but because it weighs so heavily on his mind. The letters send him crisscrossing around the country, helping people in need. A young girl in Minnesota has been denied a simple life-saving medical treatment by her religiously-motivated parents. A whistleblower in North Carolina finds himself blacklisted from his field for trying to do the right thing. A family in Missouri thinks they know who kidnapped their son, but can't get the police to investigate. A housewife in Connecticut thinks she's becoming an alien after contracting a Coluan virus while working with alien refugees. Hour after hour, Superman does his best to solve these intractable problems and put his skills to use where they're needed. Those letters are the easy ones. The really tough ones, like one from a bullied gay teen in Kentucky, are the ones where Superman is too late.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 155
Clark Kent spends a few quiet moments walking through Seneca Falls, New York, thinking to himself. Superman has been traveling the country, after spending nearly a year in space, and while there have been cover stories for Clark's whereabouts, it seems like no one outside of his immediate family really noticed he was gone. He is Clark Kent, and he's learned time and time again that nothing could change that, that he could never give up his civilian identity entirely. But as he walks across the bridge over the Seneca River, he can't help but wonder if he might be a more effective hero if he'd never been Clark Kent in the first place--and with the help of a very familiar angel, he need wonder no more! Strangely and suddenly, he finds himself in a world without Clark Kent, a world where his rocket was found by the military, where his counterpart was raised by government scientists, and where a super-soldier called Skyman leads America's peacekeeping force, the Justice Squadron! Now Clark Kent must find his way back to the world where he belongs, even if he has to fight himself to do it!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 154
Clark Kent has always been a thoughtful gift-giver, especially when it comes to his wife. Lois Lane is one of very few people on the planet whose Christmas presents include jewelry from the moon and music from the future. But she's made it a tradition in recent years to ask her husband of steel to get something a little more down-to-Earth, to spend a little time shopping at a store instead of crushing coals in a volcano. Clark has, naturally, indulged the request. If he's going to shop in a store, though, he might as well shop at the best, and so he's come to Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, the mecca of high-class shopping. And the devout capitalists seem to have all picked today to make their pilgrimage. Between the crowds and the price tags, the Man of Steel finds himself in over his head, and that's before he sees a strange necklace in the window at Tiffany'...a strange necklace with a familiar, glowing red jewel. And suddenly, it looks like Christmas shopping is a job for Superman--that is, Superman Red and Superman...Green?! In this case, two heads might not be better than one, and if the Red and Green Supermen don't pull themselves together, then they're going to have a very blue Christmas!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 153
With the holiday season well underway and one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, you might expect that the people of Yuma, AZ would be stressed and depressed. In truth, they're more satisfied than ever, and it's all because they're the test market for a brand new herbal remedy called Clementia! The supplement relieves stress, eases pain, and induces a feeling of calm, satisfied euphoria. Not everyone is so pleased with the substance, though, and a group of physicians and scientists contact Superman to voice their concerns. Clementia, they claim, has some serious side effects: lethargy, narcolepsy, hallucinations, a growing inability to distinguish reality from dreams, and a very high rate of psychological dependency. Perhaps most disturbingly, their analysis of the drug shows that it is indeed plant-derived, consisting mostly of spores and other fragments, but that the origins are almost certainly extraterrestrial. If that weren't enough to get Superman involved, then the identity and questionable ethics of the drug's proprietor would be. And when the Man of Steel confronts the sinister snake-oil salesman Funky Flashman, he learns the terrible, all-too-familiar secret behind Clementia...
Monday, December 20, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 152
Corvallis, Oregon is home to Holiday Tree Farms, one of the largest Christmas tree suppliers in America, providing evergreens to homes and businesses all over the nation. But after years of being chopped down, exploited, displayed, and left to dry on the curbside, the trees have decided to fight back--and they're not alone! Lovers gathered for a quick kiss under the mistletoe find themselves driven into murderous rages by the plant's strange pheromones, explosive holly berries cover innocent bystanders with caustic chemicals, and razor-sharp poinsettias prick people with poisoned petals! This floral revolt traces back to a single instigator: Poison Ivy has come to the Pacific Northwest, and she won't stop until the world is safe for firs! Only Superman stands between Corvallis and a pinecone apocalypse. But if Ivy can't liberate the trees, then she'll liquidate the humans, and even Superman might fall when she detonates...the Tannenbomb!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The Bells Are Ringing
Another post eaten by this Blogger scheduling problem. Just pretend this posted yesterday at 3:00.
Usually when I talk about my personal life on the blog here, it's to give excuses about late posts, or to share something geeky and funny that happened in meatspace. This post is a little different. See, when this posts, I'll be getting married. And shortly thereafter, I'll be going on my honeymoon. Hooray!
On the blog side of things, you need not fear. Walking with Superman will continue to post daily, unless there's a serious snafu. Posts are scheduled through a day or two after the Honeymoon, and I'll be using all that time on the plane to plan some more. I might not get to comments or questions much, though, and my Twitter feed will likely continue to gather cobwebs. Such is life.
As far as the ceremony goes, I've been prepared by years of reading comics, and I totally know what to expect. I think I'll consider the shindig a success if none of the following things happen:
Usually when I talk about my personal life on the blog here, it's to give excuses about late posts, or to share something geeky and funny that happened in meatspace. This post is a little different. See, when this posts, I'll be getting married. And shortly thereafter, I'll be going on my honeymoon. Hooray!
On the blog side of things, you need not fear. Walking with Superman will continue to post daily, unless there's a serious snafu. Posts are scheduled through a day or two after the Honeymoon, and I'll be using all that time on the plane to plan some more. I might not get to comments or questions much, though, and my Twitter feed will likely continue to gather cobwebs. Such is life.
As far as the ceremony goes, I've been prepared by years of reading comics, and I totally know what to expect. I think I'll consider the shindig a success if none of the following things happen:
- My fianceƩ being plucked out of the timestream and all memories of and references to her erased.
- An ex-girlfriend showing up in an outfit made of leather straps to wreak havoc, fry the pastor, and try to kill us.
- Electro and/or the Spider-Slayer showing up to disrupt proceedings.
- Stan Lee and Jack Kirby being turned away at the door.
- The event being rewritten at some future point due to a deal with the Devil.
- One of us turning out to be a zombie who has hypnotized the other into going through with the wedding.
- Changes to the timeline forcing one of us to go back to the past and distracting the other long enough for them to avoid being killed prematurely.
- Our technorganic alternate future child showing up.
- My father-in-law shooting my best man.
- Our deaths at the hands of the dude who has been killing us over and over through a variety of reincarnations.
- The wedding being a clever ploy by one of us to exploit the other's mental breakdown.
- One of us turning out to be a shapeshifter.
Walking with Superman: Day 151
Superman's investigation into the TechniPetTM fad has uncovered an electronic crime wave and a deadly robotic toy in desperate need of a recall--as well as the dastardly mastermind behind the whole ordeal: Winslow Schott, the terrible Toyman! Having leaked the plans for TechniPetTM to Pawtucket, Rhode Island's Jaguar Electronics, it was child's play for the criminal genius to program the robots to steal information from personal computers and funnel money into his own coffers. But his goal is far grander than a little larceny. His robotic servants are positioned in every corner of the nation, hooked into countless computer systems, able to access personal information from millions of people. The havoc he could wreak would be considerable, and if the United States doesn't capitulate to his demands, the detonation of millions of electromagnetic pulses all across the country will send it screaming back into the dark ages. Can Superman stop Schott's TechniPetsTM from destroying life as we know it? One thing's for sure--this never would have happened with hula hoops!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 150
"Name it! Tame it! Train it! It's TechniPetTM! TechniPetsTM are the electronic pets that respond to your commands! They can walk, they can talk, and they can interact with other TechniPetsTM! Connect your TechniPetTM online for access to dozens of games! Will your TechniPetTM be a lover...or a fighter? With TechniPetTM, it's up to you! And when you upgrade online, TechniPet'sTM incredible nanotechnology upgrades your pet in real life too! With TechniPetTM, the only limit is your imagination! Collect them all!"
TechniPetTM is the breakout toy of the year, selling millions of units and causing stampedes at toy stores across the country. There's not much that the Pawtucket, RI-based manufacturer, Jaguar Electronics, could do to make the TechniPetTM more popular--except possibly a publicity campaign and some charitable donations courtesy of the traveling Superman. The Man of Steel is thrilled to help them donate over a hundred of the units to various charities. But when Clark Kent does a little research on the popular product, he discovers an alarming number of reports of strange activities from new TechniPetTM owners. Identity theft, bank fraud, computer viruses, and other electronic crimes seem to follow the mechanical critters. He decides to take a closer look at the inner workings of one of the pets, but it's none too happy about being dissected! The TechniPetTM has gone rabid, and Superman's going to have to put it down!
TechniPetTM is the breakout toy of the year, selling millions of units and causing stampedes at toy stores across the country. There's not much that the Pawtucket, RI-based manufacturer, Jaguar Electronics, could do to make the TechniPetTM more popular--except possibly a publicity campaign and some charitable donations courtesy of the traveling Superman. The Man of Steel is thrilled to help them donate over a hundred of the units to various charities. But when Clark Kent does a little research on the popular product, he discovers an alarming number of reports of strange activities from new TechniPetTM owners. Identity theft, bank fraud, computer viruses, and other electronic crimes seem to follow the mechanical critters. He decides to take a closer look at the inner workings of one of the pets, but it's none too happy about being dissected! The TechniPetTM has gone rabid, and Superman's going to have to put it down!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 149
Santa Claus, Indiana bills itself as America's Christmas Hometown. The shops and attractions are all Christmas-themed, and a group of volunteers called Santa's Elves help to answer Kris Kringle's prodigious stacks of mail. It's safe to say that the town of Santa Claus really gets into the holiday spirit. Even so, what Superman finds when he arrives in the festive village is a little excessive. Everywhere he looks, he sees white beards and twinkling eyes, cherry-noses and jelly-bellies, as every man, woman, and child in the town is transforming into Kris Kringle! If Superman doesn't find the source of the strange Santafication soon, the skies on Christmas Eve will be filled with two thousand extra Santas--and one of them might be wearing a bright red cape! Ho ho hurry, Superman!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 148
Up on a housetop, some thing creeps,
Through the chimney, madness seeps.
Lights flash with colors that should not be
from non-Euclidean Christmas Trees.
Superman isn't the only alien visitor to Newburyport, Massachusetts this week. A bizarre creature fell out of the sky onto the Howard family's suburban house only a few days before he arrived, and it has since caused no end of strange problems. Witnesses report different, often conflicting descriptions of the creature, and those who look at it too long or too closely have had an unfortunate tendency to slip into psychosis. Reality around it seems to have warped; light no longer travels in a strictly straight line around the shapeless visitor, and houses sag into impossible angles. Neighbors have complained of motion sickness and abnormal dreams, and the Howards have not stepped outside since it landed. Phone calls to the house produce only strange music, and those who have caught glimpses through the sagging windows have said that the Howards no longer look entirely human. And as the thing begins to stir, apparently waking from unconsciousness, slipping its tendrils around nearby houses and digging them into the ground, Superman decides to attempt communication. What he learns of the entity's origins is more bizarre than even its affects on Newburyport, and makes the problem of sending it away much more urgent. What is the secret of the thing on the housetop?
Through the chimney, madness seeps.
Lights flash with colors that should not be
from non-Euclidean Christmas Trees.
Superman isn't the only alien visitor to Newburyport, Massachusetts this week. A bizarre creature fell out of the sky onto the Howard family's suburban house only a few days before he arrived, and it has since caused no end of strange problems. Witnesses report different, often conflicting descriptions of the creature, and those who look at it too long or too closely have had an unfortunate tendency to slip into psychosis. Reality around it seems to have warped; light no longer travels in a strictly straight line around the shapeless visitor, and houses sag into impossible angles. Neighbors have complained of motion sickness and abnormal dreams, and the Howards have not stepped outside since it landed. Phone calls to the house produce only strange music, and those who have caught glimpses through the sagging windows have said that the Howards no longer look entirely human. And as the thing begins to stir, apparently waking from unconsciousness, slipping its tendrils around nearby houses and digging them into the ground, Superman decides to attempt communication. What he learns of the entity's origins is more bizarre than even its affects on Newburyport, and makes the problem of sending it away much more urgent. What is the secret of the thing on the housetop?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 147
Central City, Missouri has a bit of a love affair with men in red suits who can travel the world very quickly, so it's no surprise that they go all out for Christmas. So when Superman visits, he expects to find decorated streets, festive shops, and a jolly speedster or two. But though it's snowing in Central City, there isn't much Christmas cheer to be found. In fact, there's not much city to be found, just a wide empty field where Central City used to be, and at the center of it, a souvenir snow globe. The thousands of tiny screams that Superman hears as he reaches for the sphere confirm his fears--Central City has been shrunk! Thankfully, Superman has some relevant experience in dealing with shrunken cities under glass, but will that be enough to trounce the treacherous trickster who turned the town into a tchotchke, Abra Kadabra?!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 146
There are parts of Europe where, stories say, Santa doesn't travel alone. His visits are accompanied by the Krampus, a horned demon who carries a basket that he uses to take naughty children to Hell. Of course, the Krampus is just a legend, a boogeyman used to frighten children into obeying the rules. It exists only in statues and pictures and the people who dress in Krampus costumes for European Christmas celebrations. So when Jim Morrison, curator of the museum at the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA, knocked over a two hundred-year-old covered wooden basket, decorated with images of the Krampus, his concern was only about damaging a priceless artifact. He was naturally shocked when the Krampus emerged, ready to begin once more its annual quest of punishment. It might not yet be Christmas, but he's got a lot of lost time to make up, and there are still so many naughty children for his basket. It's up to Superman to end this fiend's yuletide rampage before the children of Paradise are condemned to spend their Noel in Hell!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 145
David Yu is an extraordinary person. The Ohio native earned some local fame during his days at Findlay High School when he saved some classmates from a fire in his chemistry class. What his classmates never knew, and what the papers never printed, was how that incident triggered his meta-gene. Ever since, Yu has had superhuman strength and speed, and the ability to generate impenetrable localized force-fields. With such abilities, he could have put on a cape and become a superhero, but he opted for a different kind of uniform. Today, Sgt. David Yu is a soldier with the Army Rangers, where his unique abilities and expert training have allowed him to save the lives of his teammates and many civilians. But word of his undisclosed powers has reached his superiors, and now David Yu's career as an Army Ranger is in jeopardy. Failure to report metahuman abilities could earn him a dishonorable discharge; at best, he'd be moved to one of the military's special metahuman divisions, away from his friends and teammates, and in many cases, away from any place where he could be of use. As he waits, on leave, in Findlay for the orders that will determine his future, he seeks out Superman, whose travels have brought him close to Hancock County. The Man of Steel offers Yu his support, but wishes he could do more. After all, what can Superman do to change military regulations?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 144
For decades, Idaho's Salmon River canyon has been home to a colony of colorful loners, living off the land and making shelter in cavelike dwellings. They have cast off the trappings of modern society to live simply and deliberately, singing songs and gardening, taking nothing from civilization and asking for nothing in return. But when "Elk Sage Ed" Frey, the last of the original loner settlers, dies at the age of ninety-seven, the tribe's future begins to look bleak. Frey's family is seeking to have the whole cave-village shut down for health and safety concerns and sending the remaining residents back out into a world they've tried to escape. Superman steps in to help the loners retain their lifestyle and to assuage the community's fears by ensuring the safety of the dwellings, but what can he do when he finds himself rebuked and rebuffed by both sides?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 143
No blockade can stop them, no cop can catch them, and nothing can contain them but the open road. They are the Black Convoy, the criminal couriers, the exclusive freight service of the supervillain underworld. Their obsidian-black souped-up semis are piloted by the most treacherous truckers in the world, and while they specialize in transporting contraband, stolen goods, and doomsday devices, they'll haul anything--for a price! But as they carry their otherworldly cargo along I-40 through Oklahoma, the law will finally catch up to them! The Smokey of Steel is on their tails, flying shotgun alongside his partner in crimefighting: Capt. Chip Hammer, Oklahoma's hi-tech super-cop! These super-bears have their work cut out for them, though--ain't nothin' gonna get in Black Convoy's way!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 142
When a Boom Tube opens in the Ohio sky and sends an object crashing into Lake Erie, Superman is the first person on the scene. He dives to the bottom, fearing the worst--some Apokoliptian superweapon, launched as Darkseid's final posthumous revenge against the Earth, or worse, as a first volley to announce his resurrection. The Man of Steel expects a device designed to turn the midwest into a firepit or a biopsychological bomb that would unleash Anti-Life once more. Instead, he discovers a glowing capsule, pinging with the pained cries of a distraught Mother Box, and containing an infant boy. Now, with Intergang closing in, Superman must protect the precious cargo from the evil forces that would exploit or destroy it. Who can the Man of Tomorrow trust to raise the Last Son of New Genesis?
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 141
While Superman and the Anointed One duke it out over Washington, D.C., dark forces are congregating in nearby Seneca Creek State Park. The demon-mother Lilith has not lightly taken her humiliating defeat at Superman's hands, and she has found some powerful allies in her quest for revenge. Procuring Eclipso's black diamond was child's play; smuggling it into Asmodel's heavenly prison was considerably more difficult, but well worth the effort. And from Perdition, she summons the giant Amalek, to lead her demon hordes. As they march toward the capital, Superman realizes the true meaning of Dreamer's prophecy, but the Anointed One is in no mood to give up the fight. Now the Man of Steel must convince the ancient warrior to join forces against the queen of demons and her fallen angel consort, before they lay waste to Washington--and then, the world! Even with Dreamer, the Anointed One, and Shadowpact on his side, though, can Superman defeat an infernal army Hell-bent on his destruction?
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 140
Superman has an unexpected visitor during his trip to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, when the daring Dreamer accosts him in the Atlantean Artifacts exhibit. She tells him about an ominous vision she's had--evil forces rising out of the distant past, breaking free of their prisons, uniting to conquer the Earth, and waging a cataclysmic battle with Superman at the center. She believes that their only hope is to prevent the ancient evil from ever freeing itself and invading the present. Superman suspects that they'll require some magical assistance to ward off the danger, but he's scarcely sent the word to Oracle when a nearby Atlantean artifact begins to glow and tremble with arcane power, apparently responding to their presence. From out of the glowing rune-embossed urn, imprisoned since the Obsidian Age, emerges the Hebrew warrior called the Anointed One! Superman and Dreamer stand against the archaic alien, but can they keep the prophecy from coming true?
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 139
Superman visits Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to honor the lives lost in the infamous attack of December 7, 1941. Those soldiers aren't the only ghosts lingering about the naval base today, though. The Spectre pays the Man of Steel a visit and sends him back into the past, to experience first-hand the attacks and the response to them. Superman learns how the mystery men of the 1940s were involved in the aftermath of the assault, and how the first battles against the metahuman forces of the Axis were fought on American soil. But can the Man of Steel resist the temptation to join the war effort and change the course of history, or will his well-intentioned meddling bring the Spectre's wrath down on his head?
Monday, December 06, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 138
Superman and Ragman have caught up to the source of the attacks that have left a swath of destruction from Gotham City to Brooklyn, and the situation's more complicated than either of them expected. The fallen angel Asmodel is seeking a way out of his heavenly prison, and has seized upon the hollow, soulless form of Golem--one time ally of Ragman and member of the Leymen! Since his angelic spirit is too strong to be contained by the simple clay body, he has come to Brooklyn to lure out the Monolith and add its divinely-animated material to his own! But the Monolith won't go down without a fight, and he has Superman and Ragman at his side. Can the heroes defend the clay hero and free their possessed ally, or will the heavenly villain add their strength to his own?
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 137
The Ragman has been investigating a series of strange, brutal attacks that began near his neighborhood in Gotham City. He has carefully followed the trail up the Eastern Seaboard, gathering evidence and closing in on the assailant. He comes into Brooklyn, NY, knowing that the culprit will be found somewhere in the city. Fearing that he may not be able to take the criminal down alone, he contacts the visiting Superman for backup. He explains the evidence so far: innocents injured and buildings demolished by someone with superhuman strength and little regard for bystanders, a swath of targeted destruction all along the Atlantic coastline, and traces of strange dirt at each crime scene. The signs all point toward a single culprit: Brooklyn's resident golem, the Monolith! But why would the clay creature lash out like this? And if it has truly become such a remorseless monster, can even the combined might of the Man of Steel and the Tattered Tatterdemalion take it down?
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 136
The Demon Mother Lilith has returned from the underworld, and her first stop is Leesburg, VA, home of the young woman who consigned her to Perdition years ago: Linda Danvers, the former Supergirl! Unfortunately for anyone wearing an S-Shield, Linda is nowhere to be found, but that won't stop Lilith from taking her revenge on Supergirl! Now Superman's on the hunt for his missing cousin, before a case of mistaken identity leads to her demonic dismemberment. Meanwhile, Kara finally learns about the legacy of her mantle, and Linda's old allies aren't about to let Superman defend Leesburg on his own. In fact, with all the familiar faces cropping up, there's just one question remaining: whatever happened to the lost daughter of the Superman family?
Friday, December 03, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 135
Rachel Hecht has a secret. By day she works as the sous chef in a high-end restaurant, but when trouble strikes, she dons an strange cloak and wields a steel bo-staff as Dreamer, the precognitive heroine of Rockville, Maryland! Her abilities make her formidable in combat and invaluable to the greater Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, but few know that the source of her powers is her ancient coat, passed down along her family line since it belonged to the prophet Joseph! Unfortunately, rumors about the multicolored artifact have reached Egyptologist Victor Goodman, the villainous King Tut! The felonious pharaoh wants the garment all for himself, and he doesn't mind getting a little more blood on it if necessary. When Dreamer sees her inevitable fate, she realizes her only hope is to call for help from the hard-traveling Man of Steel, but once the future has been seen, can even Superman alter its course?
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Walking with Superman: Day 134
Winter in Wainwright, Alaska means long stretches of time where the sun never rises above the horizon. For some, such conditions can lead to depression or altered sleep cycles, but there's one being who would find it to be the perfect environment. And when a nearby team of climatologists dug up an ice core containing a strange black diamond, that entity was released. Now, Eclipso has taken over the small northern town, possessing nearly every one of the six hundred citizens. Superman has come to the North Shore to drive away the darkness, knowing intimately the dangerous consequences if he were to be possessed as well. So the Man of Steel has called in backup from a team with a little experience dealing with divine spirits of vengeance: the Shadowpact! It's eight heroes against six hundred innocents, each with the power of an evil god!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Just a quick note
I think the Absorbing Man might be my favorite villain in all of Marvel Comics.
Yes, even more than Swarm.
Yes, even more than Swarm.
Arrrgh.
I'm no longer taking the blame for the late posts. I don't know what's up with Blogger or the scheduling system, but two or three of the last several Walking with Superman posts have somehow gone from "scheduled" to "draft," missing their post times, and I don't know why. I mean, I'm checking after I hit "publish," and it was certainly working a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to spend some time tonight getting ahead and scheduling the posts for noon as usual, but I'll make sure they get up by 5:00 if they don't post on time. Hopefully this problem will clear up quickly.
Walking with Superman: Day 133
Circe has taken over Hawaii's Moloka'i island as her new home, changing the seven thousand residents into her savage slaves. The visiting Superman plans to stop her, but he's not the only one trying to defeat this mystical mythological menace. The Nazirite warrior Samson has returned from the distant past to challenge the Man of Tomorrow and prove his status as history's greatest hero. But when Samson's brash assault allows Circe to turn his hair into a tangle of poisonous snakes, it starts to look like he's bitten off more than he can chew. The constant snake-bites have crippled and blinded Samson, but cutting them off would mean losing all his powers--which are the only thing keeping him from dying of the venom! It falls to Superman to save the day, but will even he be able to stand against this wicked witch of the west?
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