Writer – Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas
Artist – Jerry Ordway
Inker – Al Gordon
Colours – Anthony Tollin
Letters – David Cody Weiss
It all begins straight off from the last issue which finds Nuklon being crushed by a construct created by Green Lantern, the latter being infected by the Stream of Ruthlessness. With a little teamwork, the Infinitors manage to free their friend whose powers have started to get a little wonky. Back in Metropolis, Power Girl confronts Superman about the strange dome over the city which leads to a strange revelation, the outcome of which will hopefully take place in the next issue while elsewhere, Robin who is also infected is looking to kill Boss Zucco for actions he committed in the past. It is almost successful and would have been if not for the Huntress who cannot stand by and let Robin become a murderer. Finally, Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway close out the book with the Ultra-Humanite who simply cannot stop talking to the Star-Spangled Kid and Brainwave Jr. The villain reveals himself and instead of battling, at least at first, he and the two heroes decide to have a conversation about his origin and his plans and every little thing that he is going to do and it goes on for a good portion of the book. As most comic readers know, villains like to talk and they like to let everyone know just what their dastardly doings entail and are comprised of. The Ultra-Humanite takes it to another level and it is almost with relief that there is some action towards the end of it all. While Thomas and company pepper the book with some good sequences and a fair bit of drama, the last half bogs it all down making this the poorest issue in the series thus far. There is still much to love but one cannot help but think how many other things could have taken place within the pages had the Ultra-Humanite simply defeated those who stood against him without the monologue. All in all, it was a decent affair but it could have been better and is a rare misfire for the author of this tale.
3 out of 5
Categories: Comics, Issue by Issue
The Telltale Mind 
The Bronze Age was ending, but Roy and Jerry didn’t know it yet. They were trying to perfect a formula with a freshness date that already expired. Jerry’s art reached it’s peak on this ad his late 80’s Superman/Action Comics. He took his naturalistic style as far as he could before it just got static & overdone. His figures were fundamentally perfect, but static, less dynamic than other artists with less anatomically sound work. While the costume designs had all the flaws, excesses, and weaknesses of the previous decade, and expanded on them. And like the costumes, the writing unwittingly followed the same “more will equal less” approach. Increased exposition doesn’t always mean improvement. Roy was my first favorite comics writer. But by the mid 80s he dropped far back in the pack, and by their close, his style seemed sadly obsolete.
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Roy is still a favourite of mine. I just finished Arak and thought it was very well done. Here though, he is just packing each issue full of dialogue and script, sometimes way too much which really hampers the enjoyment felt.
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Yeah. I read his Invaders “prologue” issue that Jerry drew earlier this year. Roy had characters thinking a lot to themselves, or exposing to others, about what they were going to do, how they would do it, why, and what they hoped to get out of it. It just bogged me down.
“It’s a good thing I’ve worn my costume under this seaman’s uniform, which I hope my Army bodies don’t catch me in.! Say, that sailor on that upper deck looks strangely familiar, but I’ve got no time to waste musing!
I’ve got to get this briefcase to the bridge, to expose these enemy plans to the captain!”
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