NFL SuperPro #1: Kickoff Return

NFL SuperPro #1
“You Bet Your Life”
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Jose Delbo
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Letterers: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Cover: Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott*
Editor: Bob Budiansky
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Released: Aug. 6, 1991

The NFL season is back, so this weekend I'm kicking off a read-through of “NFL SuperPro,” the early '90s Marvel title featuring a football-player-turned-sports-reporter-turned superhero.

Issue 1 of the series was the only one I bought when it came out, and I still don't know why. But over the years, I acquired the second printing of his origin issue – which I went over here – and nine of the 11 remaining issues in the series.

While discussing the classic Thor/Eternals saga over on the Magazines and Monsters podcast, I mentioned to fellow guest Ed Moore that SuperPro was one of the titles I was trying to get a complete run of, for blogging purposes and because it's a football-themed superhero from the '90s. The esteemed Mr. Moore discovered both issues and was kind enough to mail them to me. Whatever favor he calls in, I'm probably going to have to grant. But maybe he'll be satisfied if I direct you to his various comics podcasts via his Twitter handle, @TealProductions.

So with a full roster of SuperPro comics in hand, let's start with the issue I read first and... barely remembered. The creative team is largely intact, including Nicieza, a longtime favorite of mine.

In case anyone doubted that SuperPro is a full-fledged Marvel hero, Spider-Man is right there on the cover. It's fitting that he's out of the star's line of sight, because 'Pro never (knowingly) lays eyes on him in the issue.

Neither of these characters is on the opening splash page though. It's John Murtaugh, a guy in a suit who the narration tells us is a financial wizard working for an organized criminal gambling outfit. He's about to turn state's evidence on his employers, which is why we're looking at him through a gun sight.

But the would-be assassin's field of view is soon filled by the NFL logo on SuperPro's costume, which you may recall is a cutting edge football uniform designed to protect players from all sorts of injuries and bullets.*** 'Pro slaps around the assassin and explains that he's involved because Los Angeles Raiders offensive tackle Tim Pressman has been implicated in the gambling scheme and Murtaugh's testimony can clear his name.

Unfortunately, the bad guys dispatched a second killer to deal with Murtagh, this one disguised as a valet. He does the deed, and SuperPro leaps onto his car to try and stop him. But there's another superhero in town, even though this particular town is Los Angeles. Spider-Man, in from New York to cover the Pressman case for the Daily Bugle, tags the getaway car with a spider tracer, while SuperPro, aka Phil Grayfield, meets up with his cameraman Ken to regroup.

After chatting about the case by phone with newscaster Jane Dixon, who he describes as his “part-time gal pal,” Phil treats readers to a flashback recap of his origin, in which he was granted enhanced physical abilities by exposure to burning chemicals and gifted the ultimate football suit by an eccentric inventor for saving his collection.

The villain of the piece, crime boss Marco Sanzionare, orders his assassin to take out Pressman next. He tries to do that as the player is speaking to the media the next day outside the courthouse, but Spider-Man intervenes and the killer falls to his death while trying to flee.

That night, Spidey follows his tracer to Sanzionare's place, then puts another one on a car leaving with a load of armed and stealthily clad gunmen. They're headed for Pressman's place, where SuperPro is on a stakeout. He saves Pressman and delivers punches and quips to Sanzionare's men. Spider-Man arrives late and snaps pictures of the aftermath, while SuperPro tells Pressman the attack should help clear his name, even though the tape Murtagh had proving his innocence is gone.

The story itself is pretty standard but enjoyable. SuperPro is fighting football-related crime and kicking butt. It's a good enough first issue, although with the origin taken care of in the special, it feels like more could have been done. That probably would have necessitated leaving Spider-Man out, though.

I presume he was included to get more attention for the book, and a guest appearance by Spider-Man in an early issue is a rite of passage for Marvel characters. I'm not even sure you're canon until the wall-crawler graces your book. But other than Peter Parker and Phil Grayfield crossing paths at the press conference, their costumed identities never meet. Maybe the point was to show 'Pro got Spider-Man's seal of approval, but it feels a little anti-climactic.

I did get a chuckle out of SuperPro's dismay at the gunman's profuse swearing, musing that he should wash his mouth out with his fist. Spider-Man offers to do the same with a web, and even Sanzionare admonishes his henchman to watch his language.

The next-issue blurb teases the introduction of Quick Kick, so it looks like 'Pro will have a super-villain – and a thematically compatible one at that – on his hands the next time out.

1* - Per Mike's Amazing World, link in the date, but the cover has “Romita” next to their names...

2* - Which seems strange because, of course, Bullets was the name of an NBA franchise at this point in time.