Just Imagine: Stan Lee and John Buscema's Superman

Just Imagine Stan Lee with John Buscema Creating Superman
Writer: Stan Lee
Pencils and inks: John Buscema
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colorist: Chris Chuckry
Cover: Buscema

“On the Street”
Plot: Michael Uslan
Dialogue: Lee and Uslan
Pencils, inks and colors: Kyle Baker
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Mike Carlin
Released: Sept. 19, 2001

The third installment of “Just Imagine” features the character I thought would have come first: Superman, as conceived by Stan Lee and John Buscema, with a design by Adam Hughes.

While the Batman and Wonder Woman issues used elements of the original characters here and there, this one is a direct riff on the Man of Steel – a strange visitor from another planet who uses the extraordinary powers he gains here to fight for truth, justice and the American way. Ish.

Instead of a baby rocketed to Earth from a doomed planet, this Superman is an adult, a law bringer named Salden. Unlike the rest of his squad, he hasn't been genetically altered to enhance his physical attributes. But he does have a burning desire to be the best, an immense chip on his shoulder and an intergalactic Bowflex to build his muscles the old-fashioned way.

He doesn't have to go to Earth to find a self-absorbed, alliteratively-named, balding arch-nemesis, however. Gundor Gorrok escapes from prison, intent on getting revenge on Salden, the man who apprehended him. But Salden is out taking down terrorists his bigger, stronger, faster peers can't, so Gorrok takes his enemy's loving wife, Lyella, hostage. With the authorities closing in, he kills Lyella and heads for an experimental space/time-bending rocket. Salden manages to board the ship, and the two battle it out as the vessel heads toward an oxygen-rich planet: Earth.

Gorrok gains the upper hand and leaves Salden to die as the ship crashes into the ocean. But Salden is able to force open the door and swim rapidly to the surface and on to shore. Eventually, he figures out that the gravity on his home planet is so much stronger than Earth's that he's faster and stronger than any of its native inhabitants. He can also see great distances because of … the thin... atmosphere?*

After picking up our simple language with its measly 26-letter alphabet, Salden decides to earn some money by – what else? – performing in a circus. The ringmaster is impressed, believing Salden's law enforcement uniform (complete with a cape!) hides machinery that grants him his abilities. Salden lets him believe it and comes up with an earthly alias – Clark Kent – but declines an offer to join up full time, using the money he earned to rent an apartment and buy a computer.

Earth doesn't have the space/time-bending technology that could get him back home, and Salden thinks he knows why: too much time and too many resources are devoted to dealing with crime and preparing for and fighting wars. So rather than fight for what's right because of the solid values instilled in him by human adoptive parents, this Superman sets out to make the world a better place so science can advance to the point that he can go home.

But first he's got to find Gorrok, and fortunately he's got Lois Lane to help. Not Lois Lane the reporter but Lois Lane the agent, who caught his circus act and thinks he can be a star. Salden doesn't much care about fame and fortune, but he figures if his name and face get out there, Gorrok will come looking for him.

As it turns out, someone has already been looking for Gorrok: the wrong Rev. Dominic Darrk, the mysterious figure from the first two issues. At Darrk's instruction, Gorrok kidnaps the president of China as he's visiting the United States. The incident puts the world on the brink of war, and that's something Superman can't have while the space program is still so far behind. He offers his help to the military, who accepts because that was one heck of a circus act.

This sets up a showdown between the two foes from Planet Whatever,** with Gorrok having abducted Lois Lane for simplicity's sake. Superman eventually emerges triumphant, and Gorrok is buried under an avalanche of debris thanks to his lousy aim with a bazooka. Superman is left wondering who was pulling Gorrok's strings and where he'll turn up next, while Lois is plotting his rise to superstardom.

The backup story features the unscrupulous editor of Fly By Night Comics, who publishes an unauthorized Superman comic until Lois Lane arrives to set him straight. She then attempts to license her client's adventures to another company, DC.

This version tweaks the Superman story in interesting ways. Instead of a kind hero whose humble nature sometimes seems at odds with his overwhelming power, we have a gruff, perpetual underdog who is suspicious of others. Instead of a brilliant businessman who challenges the hero with his mind, Gorrok is able to trade blows with Superman, though the bigger threat remains on the horizon. And instead of being a magnanimous benefactor inspired to protect humanity by both his adoptive and birth parents, Salden sees fighting crime as a practical means of getting what he wants – returning to his home planet. He's still a hero and cares about doing the right thing, but he's much rougher around the edges.

Buscema's classic art is perfectly suited to the story, particularly with a few Kirby-esque elements and flourishes on Salden's homeworld, though the action on Earth is strong as well.

Other than some inconsistencies (can he fly or not? It isn't a natural power and the harness that gave him the ability on his homeworld is broken on Earth, until it isn't) and rushed details, the only complaint I had with this issue is that it seems too focused on the existing Superman mythos and subverting it than doing its own thing. Then again, I'm not sure any “rules” are being broken here. It is an enjoyable story, and I'm not sure a generic riff on the name Superman would have been better, or as much fun. The scene in which Salden randomly picks the name Clark Kent is even more amusing once you realize the moniker he could have come up with from the same sources.

I appreciated this one more the second time around. We'll see if the same holds true next time, when Stan and Dave Gibbons deliver their spin on Green Lantern.

* - I'm not going to argue convenient super pseudo-science with Stan Lee.

** - It's never named in the issue, nor is the mysterious green substance that powered the experimental rocket...