Super Powers Trilogy Volume 3: Because One Red Tornado Wasn't Enough

Continuing in the tradition of forgotten information in previous issues of comics, I also neglected to mention one VERY important fact about the second "Super Powers" miniseries.  The Jack "King" Kirby-helmed run is the ONLY one you can find traded in any format!  It's available in the second "Jack Kirby Omnibus" volume, along with various odds and ends of his from DC that didn't immediately involve the "Fourth World".  If you're curious about a previously unknown corner of the Kirby DC creations, I'd recommend checking it out!

So, we find ourselves in the final leg of our journey in 1986.  Tom Cruise took our breaths away in "Top Gun"... or maybe it was Barbara Crampton in her tight outfits in "From Beyond".  And Kenner decided... maybe due to less-than-spectacular returns for the second line... to offer up a very "unusual" third "Super Powers" line of figures.  Repping for the Justice League of America, we have:

• Cyborg: HEY!  Remember that current JLA member I was teasing, yesterday?  Well, back in his New Teen Titans days, Kenner was trying to shoehorn Victor Stone into the world's greatest superheroes!  But to Vic's credit, he was the rarest figure to find!
• Plastic Man: Y'know, he could also count as a JLA prediction nomination, since Grant Morrison made him part of the team in the 90's.
• Captain Marvel: None of this "Shazam" malarkey, thank you DC...  And yet AGAIN, they predicted his involvement in at least 2 iterations of the JLA!
• Mr. Miracle: New Genesis represents!
• Orion: AKA the Man-E-Faces version I mentioned in another posting.
• Samurai: Eh... Okay, to be fair, he did have some representation in "Super Friends", but a JLA membership that does not make.
• Golden Pharaoh: Er... What?  I highly doubt even the Inferior Five were itching to include him in their ranks.
• Cyclotron: As today's title suggests, having one android on the team with tornado powers wasn't enough... even if Red Tornado had MUCH more tenure as a JLA figurehead... so we have to give the robotic losers some sympathy.

You may be thinking, "Hey!  That's a lot of heroes!  I wonder if the villain line additions can stack up!".  You may now hang your head in depression, because the answer is: No.  Not at all.

• Mr. Freeze: I do admit to liking this goofy costume version of Victor Frieze, but this was in an era where the character had ZILCH past, so he was a disposable Batman villain at best.  Oh yeah, and a return to the Batman well...
• Tyr: Another "Huh?" addition with a character that if you weren't following "The Legion of Superheroes", you had NO IDEA who this mohawked guy with a robo-gun arm was. 

This may be a rather unusual action figure assortment to go out on, but what does this mean for the DC Comics miniseries that comes in the wake of this toy series launch?  Read on and find out!

 

I also neglected to mention Paul Kupperberg as a hero of yesterday's posting, and today's... because HE was the writer of the second AND third "Super Powers" miniseries.  Thus making another boneheaded mistake on my part.  (Or hell... I wrote yesterday's entry on five hours of sleep, so a lapse in scholarly research is expected...)  But somewhat spoiler alert for the end of the last series: How is it that Darkseid is a prisoner in the Tower of Darkness in this series, when I SWORE he was accidently destroyed by Desaad at the conclusion?  Oh well, he's currently a prisoner in the tower, Apokolips is not doing so hot even WITHOUT a tyrant to lord over them, and it's up to the super-escape artist and Man-E-Faces to pay... a congenial visit?  Which is unusual, because Darkseid's buddies and family plan on hiring a random Legion of Superheroes villain that just shows up to help with their cause.  My mind blanks as to whether it's meant to be a rescue operation they plan, or an assassination plot.  All I know for sure is on Earth, Mr. Freeze gets to take on the ENTIRE JLA, with the brainwashed assistance of our three lame-duck characters, Samurai, Golden Pharaoh, and Cyclotron.

The second issue involves the team investigating the background of the Trio of Tepid Titans, and Darkseid schemes further to escape his prison.  And the villains generally scheme... period.  I also forgot to mention another mystery the JLA has to attempt to solve.  Y'see, the reason why the entire team had to dogpile on Mr. Freeze was that he increased greatly in power.  And yes... this DOES tie back into Darkseid, because when he was blasted in the last series' conclusion, his power essence does travel to Earth, and Mr. Freeze ends up with a portion of said power.

The third issue actually involves Darkseid SUCCESSFULLY making it to Earth to track down his missing power.  Which does lead to a small bit of hilarity when he gets roughed up by muggers.  You would think if he still possessed the Frank Welker cartoon voice, that ALONE would cause any street thug to crap their pants.  I guess the rough streets around the Hall of Justice create a more jaded breed of criminal.  And the Super Powers team are assaulted by... some super-powered bad guys I can't remember a thing about, and they really don't matter because they never appeared in comics... ever again.  What does save the JLA is the timely intervention of a new hero by the name of Janus.  Odd that Janus happens to show up around the same time Darkseid does on the face of the Earth...  Hmm...

The fourth issue involves Darkseid's quest to recover his power, in the guise of Janus.  The JLA take a road trip back to Apokolips to help restore order to a planetary civil war.  Darkseid does manage to snag back his power, but for the life of me, I don't recall if we're left with Darkseid in control of the whole shebang again.  Eh, what matters is civil war is averted... even on a dungheap of a planet like Apokolips... the JLA arrives back on Earth, and we as readers are left confused.

If you paid close attention, even with such pathetic sleep, yesterday's entry was pretty exact about
events in individual issues.  That's because Kupperberg and Kirby did craft a fun story.  Not exactly epoch-making, but a fun series that COULD be memorable.  This time out, I would bet not even Paul Kupperberg even remembers writing this, and the art chores are handled by Carmine Infantino.  ... Carmine was a true icon of comics art in the 50's and 60's, and while his style changed in odd directions in the 70's, it was still quality.  Sadly, that REALLY couldn't be said for his 80's production, and this mini-series is another example of that.

But it's not like we got another chance to see if we could get the "Super Powers" storyline right.  Kenner stopped production at the third series, and thus the DC Comics run ended on it's third miniseries.  If you look up information on the Kenner "Super Powers" line, you can find information about figures planned for a fourth line, which would've made it TRULY awesome!  (Think about it: a Man-Bat figure in the 80's.  HOLY COW!)  Still, we did have some fun while the good times rolled, and the figure line remained in fond favor with collectors.  Heck, this Fall, Mattel is issuing a 30th anniversary "Super Powers" run of figures for their regular DC Collector's line.  What more could a person want?

... Unless you're me, and would literally have a heart attack of joy if I were able to find at a VERY reasonable price, or was gifted with, an original Super Powers Superman figure.  Hell, it wouldn't even have to be in card!  But it wouldn't hurt!