Freak Comics

What has gotten in to Superman as of late? One moment we’re reading the Camelot Falls story arc, in which Superman finds out he is the cause of mass destruction in the near future. The next thing you know, we’re reading pointless filler stories about minor characters.
First we follow around an old woman who thinks Supes is an angel in Superman #659, and then we’re forced to read a boring reintroduction to one of the lamest super villains in the DCU: The Prankster.

Thanks for nothing Busiek, this issue was horribly lame!

The Prankster (Oswald Loomis) is a man who used to have his own television series. When he got canceled, he went crazy and turned to a life of crime. He first appeared in Action Comics #51 way back in 1942.
He’s and idiot. His crimes involve prop gags and slapstick comedy. In Superman #660 he causes a ruckus by flooding the streets with banana peels just in time for a marathon to run over the peels and fall. He also entraps the police in glue squirted from giant flowers that are attached to his giant floating bubble.
This issue smacked of the 50’s and I suppose that some people will be happy to see this.

I actually wouldn’t have minded a lighthearted story such as this, but not in the pages of Superman. DC is on the right track, but they need to start a new title for these story lines.

Not only was the story lame, but the art was atrocious. Mike Manley and Bret Blevins were the guest artists on this issue. Their style simply doesn’t fit Superman… The Animated Adventure of Superman, perhaps. But not the main Superman title by any means.

In Superman #662 we’ll be thrust back in to the Camelot Falls story… that means one more filler issue. Wonderful!