Action 553 – the Forgotten Heroes vs Superman

Wolfman and Kane conclude the Forgotten Heroes story in Action 553 (March 1984).

Immortal Man relates his origin, finding a glowing meteor back in caveman times, which endowed him with the ability to reborn with the same consciousness each time he dies, as well as gaining new powers with each body.  This is somewhat similar to the origin of Vandal Savage – who gained immortality back in caveman times after being exposed to a glowing meteor.  This story weaves the two origins together, which would remain the case from now on.

Superman struggles to destroy the plants that he gives off, a pointless task.  Immortal Man is not so determined to kill Superman as he sounded at the end of the previous issue.  The plan is to send the Forgotten Heroes back to all the different golden temples and destroy them, which will undo Vandal Savage’s spore scheme.

Savage takes to the air to announce that Superman is behind the situation with the plants, and further blacken his name.

We follow Animal Man, Dane Dorrance, Rick Flag, Dolphin, Cave Carson and Congo Bill and Congorilla as they each fulfill their part of the plan, and demolish one of the temples.  Immortal Man has psychic powers in this body, and monitors it all.

Superman joins Rip Hunter as they attack the temple far back in the past.  They succeed, although Superman gets lost in the destruction.

Vandal Savage loses his great power source with the destruction of the pyramids, but Rip Hunter gets young again.

This was a very popular story, and the Forgotten Heroes return the following year in DC Comics Presents.

 

 

Action 552 – the Forgotten Heroes gather

Wolfman and Kane begin a two-part story in Action 552 (Feb. 84) which sees the formation of an unusual grouping, the Forgotten Heroes.  Much of this issue simply re-introduces the various characters.  In case readers had, you know, forgotten them.

Vandal Savage has had Superman infected with a disease that causes him to emit spores of deadly prehistoric plant life.  It takes Superman a long time to figure this out.

As he does, we get to meet the members of this new group.  Each one has had an encounter with one of a number of mysterious golden pyramids.  Cave Carson starts off with his story, followed by Animal Man, making his first appearance since showing up in Wonder Woman a couple of years earlier.

Rick Flagg speaks on behalf of the Suicide Squad, who came across a pyramid while hunting the Yeti. Flagg had not appeared since the early 60s. Dane Dorrance returns, talking about the pyramid the Sea Devils found, and also his encounter with the mysterious Dolphin.  This marks Dolphin’s third appearance, following her introduction in Showcase in the late 60s, and a small role in Showcase 100 in the mid 70s.

Congo Bill and Congorilla return to the pages of Action as well, as the ape came across a pyramid in Africa.  Both had last been seen a few years earlier in DC Comics Presents.

Rip Hunter is the last to tell his story, of how he and his crew went in the very distant past, and found a pyramid in the time before even the dinosaurs.

Superman finally twigs in that he is creating the killer plant life.

And Immortal Man, not seen since his last story in Strange Adventures in the mid 60s, announces that the only way the Forgotten Heroes can save the world is to kill Superman.

The story concludes in the next issue.

 

 

Action 545 – Superman in the headship

Wolfman and Kane continue with the new Brainiac storyline in Action 545 (July 1983).

Much of this story really just shows how extensive Brainiac’s control is within his ship.  Superman first tries to simply attack the robotic body of Brainics, but that does nothing.  The central control is his next target, but Brainiac is not limited to that either.

Even working his way out of the ship is a battle, as Brainiacs is in direct control of every part of the headship.

The story interjects a scene, as Rip Hunter and Cave Carson meet up with Dane Dorrance of the Sea Devils.  For the first time, the name Forgotten Heroes is used by them to refer to their new team, and mention is made of Rick Flagg and Dolphin.  No indication at all really of what they are up to.

Dane Dorrance was last seen in the late 70s in a Human Target story in the pages of Detective Comics, in which Christopher Chance impersonated Dane.

The story concludes as Brainiac prepares to assault Earth with the armies of two worlds he has conquered and destroyed, as Superman decides he needs to summon help.

Action 540 – Rip Hunter aids Superman, and Aquaman ends

Wolfman and Kane present the penultimate chapter in the split Superman story in Action 540 (Feb. 83).

Clark recovers, just as knife is going in for the autopsy.  But he can tell his other self is severely weakened, and he will die if the other Superman does.  Perry and Jimmy are happy that Clark is alive, but Lana is hugely affected.  When she thought he had died, she realizes how much Clark had meant to her throughout the years.  Lois, on the other hand, just takes the opportunity to challenge him again about being Superman.

Back int he past, Syrene and the merged Satanis/Superman continue their battle throughout the issue, the dynamic segments neatly spaced through the tale.

Lois talks about a series she is doing on Forgotten Heroes.  She references Cave Carson, as well as the Sea Devils and Suicide Squad, Ragman, Bwana Beast and Vigilante.  But the one that grabs Superman’s attention is Rip Hunter, Time Master, and he seeks out Rip and his team, finding them all unusually aged.  This is Rip’s first appearance since appearing in DC Comics Presents a couple of years earlier.

Perhaps because it is not expected, the magical defenses that have kept Superman and his friends from the past are no barrier to Rip Hunter, and he delivers Superman to his merged double just as Satanis/Superman defeats Syrene.

The story concludes in the next issue.

Aquaman’s series comes to an end in this story by Bob Rozakis, Alex Saviuk and Joe Giella.

Ironically, Aquaman himself winds up sidelined, as Mera and V’lanna battle over him.  Mera wins, and V’lanna kills herself, rather than be executed for treason.  Mera is expected to stay in Xebel as queen, but chooses to return to Earth with Aquaman.

So a nice happy ending for these two, and the final back-up story Aquaman will have.  It takes three more years before he gets his own mini-series, and a few of those before he gains his own book again.

 

Action 536 – the Omega Men rescue Superman, and Aquaman dreams of Mera

Marv Wolfman is joined by Paul Kupperberg on scripting the concluding half to the Superman/Omega Men team-up in Action 536 (Oct. 82), while Sal Trapani joins doing the inks on Joe Staton pencils.

The Omega Men make a valiant effort to pummel down into the ground and follow the Mole after he steals the injured and weakened Superman, but have little success.

The Mole intends to auction off Superman for the privilege of killing him.  Disappointingly, none of the villains seen at the auction are anyone we recognize.

Lois Lane hunts down Cave Carson, an underground explorer not seen since his last Showcase try-out appearance in the mid-60s.  He is old and cranky now,  but gets persuaded to use his “mighty mole” to follow the Mole’s trail, bringing the Omega Men to the underground auction site.

The Omega Men rescue Superman, and in exchange he brings them up to the JLA satellite, to help them find a way home.  This gets interrupted by the emergency signal, and Superman retrieves Raven’s soul-self, hovering outside the satellite.  Inside, Raven releases the other New Teen Titans, Robin,Kid Flash, Cyborg, Changeling and Wonder Girl.

The story continues in the next issue of New Teen Titans.

Aquaman dreams of Mera in this story by Rozakis, Saviuk and McLaughlin.  Mera had vanished back to Xebel, her home dimension, during the battle with Atlanna, and not returned.

Aquaman wonders if the dreams are actual messages, and has some tests done to try to figure that out.

The tests don’t really answer his questions, but he does find a Mera lookalike as the issue ends.

The story continues in the next issue.