NFL SuperPro #4: Unsportsmanlike Conduct

NFL SuperPro #4
“The Sanctioning”
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Breakdowns: Jose Delbo
Finishes: Mike DeCarlo
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Evelyn Stein
Cover: Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott (and Tokar?)
Editors: Dave Wohl, Bob Budiansky
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Published by: Marvel
Released: Nov. 5, 1991

SuperPro comes face to face and suit to suit with the arch-nemesis he never knew he had.

Picking up on his vow from last issue to deal with the meddling ex-football player personally, crime boss Marco Sanzionare kidnaps Jane Dixon, the girlfriend of Phil Grayfield* while she's covering an anti-tax rally staged by Republicans in New Jersey. The political affiliation of the organizers has no bearing on the story, but it does threaten the sacred state of “no politics in comics” some people seem to fondly remember despite it not really happening.

Sanzionare is decked out in a clunky suit of armor that probably never would have caused Tony Stark to lose any sleep in the Armor Wars days. Meanwhile, Phil is across the country in Los Angeles, interviewing actual New York Giants Phil Simms and Carl Banks about their work with the United Way ahead of their game against the Los Angeles Raiders. Fictional Raider Tim Pressman, who you might remember from issue 1, stops by to thank Phil for helping, along with SuperPro,** to clear his name when he was accused of throwing games on behalf of Sanzionare. And yet nobody comments on the fact that both the Giants and Raiders are wearing their full-color jerseys when one team should be wearing white and probably neither of them would be in full uniform at practice.

Yes, I'm aware this is a comic book about a super-powered former football player in a bulletproof costume. Why do you ask?

Later, cameraman Ken Reid is working on upgrading SuperPro's suit with the NFL's helmetcam technology when Phil comes in and says he called Jane and the voice on the answering machine*** wasn't hers. Apparently it was Sanzionare (he's not utilizing a lot of henchmen here) telling him where to go if he ever wants to see Jane again.

That destination is Sanzionare's penthouse, which he has outfitted with a custom death trap football field that I'm going to say was built by a disgruntled former employee of Arcade. Jane wants to know why Sanzionare is out to get Phil, so he spills the beans that her boyfriend is SuperPro.

Phil enters Sanzionare's building and changes into his costume in the elevator. But when it arrives at the penthouse and Sanzionare riddles it with bullets, it's empty. Phil climbed out the emergency hatch, but Sanzionare soon tracks him down and unveils his villain name: Sanction.

SuperPro drops through a trap door – of course, Sanzionare, er, Sanction sprung for a trap door – and lands on the customized field, where Jane is tied to the goalpost. Phil dodges all but one football-shaped projectile before getting clocked by Sanction. Luckily, Ken has sized their foe up via the helmet cam and quickly determined Phil needs to “go for the shoulder couplings” since “they have to supply a major network feed for his armament couplings on his arms.” Having read stories featuring lots of battlesuits but never studied their schematics in much detail, I can only assume that Ken, and by extension Nicieza, is correct.

The results speak for themselves as Sanction's armor starts short-circuiting. This forces him to resort to more traditional death traps, which Phil muses are ridiculous but not as challenging as the 49ers' offensive line. I immediately wondered when he played the 49ers, since all his injuries took place in the preseason. I suppose he could have faced them in a preseason game – yes, I know it's a comic book. Why do you keep asking?

Anyway, 'Pro dodges the traps and manages to untie Jane and engage in banter. They flee to the roof, followed by Sanction who... emerges from the door. At first this seemed odd and anticlimactic, but his armor is on the fritz, so this more pedestrian approach makes sense.

He manages to snag SuperPro's leg and dangles the hero off the roof. For his part, Phil is still wondering why the guy's so mad at him, leading to this bit of dialogue:

Sanction reveals he was behind not only the crime 'Pro fought in issue 1, but also 2 and 3, then drops the hero. SuperPro somehow snags Sanction's arm, sending them both over the edge.

Since Sanzionare and/or his armor designer had both watched Tim Burton's Batman, his suit is equipped with a grappling hook that, credit to Nicieza and/or his editor, works independent of the malfunctioning weapon systems. Unfortunately, the armor wasn't designed to support itself and a superhuman, armored football player. The suit breaks, SuperPro slows his fall with a convenient flag pole, and Sanction does not.

The armor does keep him alive though, as relayed in the quick wrap-up dialogue in which SuperPro reasons either Sanzionare will keep quiet about his secret identity because of pride or “we'll deal with it.” Jane decides she's cool with her boyfriend being a superhero and says she'll help him too.

The highlight of this issue for me is easy: the cover. Although I still don't get the three signatures on the cover art. I see them credited online to Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott, but there's always a third surname printed on the cover – Romita (John Sr.?), Romita (Jr.?), Budiansky (the editor?), and this one says Tokar. Rather than research the name, I'm assuming it's a reference to a mashed-up version of the Tokka and Rahzar from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel released earlier that year.

Anyway, the battle inside is not as exciting as that image promised. Like previous issues, there's nothing horrifically bad here, but not much stands out. Except maybe for Sanzionare's clunky armor. Maybe if he'd spent more money on it instead of the custom football arena, he would have had more success.

Jane gets her most page time so far here, but she's reduced to a damsel in distress. Still, she's got the attitude to be more than a plot device, so maybe now that she's in on the secret, we'll see more of her in future issues.

I don't like to peek ahead when reading thing for the first time, but I think I remember Nicieza doesn't stay long after this issue. Tagging this issue with “The Beginning” instead of “The End” makes me wonder if this wasn't his last issue and we'll be getting some sort of bold new direction next time.

* - SuperPro himself, in case you're starting with this post.

** - Pressman doesn't know his secret identity, but readers of this blog, or at least the previous footnote, do.

*** - Like voicemail, kids, but in a separate device.