NFL SuperPro #12
“Compulsion and Repulsion”
Writer: Evan Skolnick
Breakdowns: Jose Delbo
Finishes: Donald Hudson
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colors: Daniel Kratochvil
Cover: not credited
Editor: David Wohl
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Published by: Marvel
Released: July 7, 1992
The clock runs out on NFL SuperPro in a showdown with a foe who might face copyright lawsuits from Iron Man and Chance*, but who 'Pro and his readers have met before.
The story opens with an armored figure wreaking havoc in Macapa, Brazil. His internal monologue lets us know he's enraged about crimes against the environment, as well as technology, scientists and “too many problems (and) too many people creating them.” I'm not sure if he's misquoting Genesis** due to a language barrier or what, but his complaints, at least at first, seem pretty broad and generalized.
We learn that the person wearing the armor, which wasn't originally supposed to be him, was to be called the Repulsor. And he's come to this particular building for a guy named Matias, who I thought I recognized from SuperPro #7 (also written by Skolnick). Sure enough, it's the rain forest-abusing exec who hired Ripsaw to get the environmentalists to cut out their protests. He leaves him alive to experience the ramifications of his deal with Roxxon – who you might remember from a plethora of Marvel storylines that called for an evil corporation – falling apart.
From there we jump to the offices of “Sports Inside,” where Phil Grayfield and Ken Reed are failing to impress their boss with footage of SuperPro foiling a bank robbery. “It has nothing to do with sports,” he says, before asking if they have any information on the Repulsor,*** “who's been attacking logging and oil interests around the country.” Because that has something to do with sports?
Just then, someone in the office pulls up live footage of the Repulsor attacking a TV station in Newark, New Jersey, taking hostages on the air before demanding that heroes and superheroes join his cause to “save the people of this planet … from themselves.” And the first guy on his list: SuperPro.
Naturally, Phil, Ken and their boss decide it's time to... cover opening day for a minor league baseball team whose new stadium is near the bank where SuperPro foiled the robbery.
Meanwhile, Roxxon officials are giving tickets to that same game to a group of international guests in New York to close a deal that was supposed to include Brazilian Logging Enterprises, of whom Mr. Matias is CEO. Repulsor overhears the plans and decides to strike at the game.
At the game, Ken is filming when Repulsor swoops in and snatches one of the Middle Eastern oil barons Roxxon was treating to the game. Flying high over the stadium, he drops the “petroleum-spewing opportunist,” who is caught by SuperPro. Rather than reenact the cover by picking up a bat, 'Pro slings a baseball at Repulsor.
It kind of reminds me how, in video games, I would use objects in the environment as weapons whenever I could, not because it was necessarily more effective, but just because it seemed cool.
After exchanging energy blasts and a well-placed punch, Claudio calls SuperPro “Phil,” then pulls off his helmet to reveal his identity. Enraged, he blasts 'Pro some more, but then, in the same universe, more or less, that Spider-Man once punched Captain America for letting Flash Thompson as Venom join the Avengers, SuperPro … just talks to Claudio.
He points out that claiming to value life like trees while killing people is more than a little hypocritical. Claudio tells SuperPro he should be doing more to spread the message about protecting the planet, and 'Pro says he will – on the condition that Claudio surrender. The young man agrees and SuperPro speaks into Ken's camera, saying that Repulsor's methods were wrong but his goal is right. Then we get a pinup-worthy page of SuperPro striking a pose... and that's it.
“The End” is printed in the bottom corner, but other than that, there's no acknowledgment that this is the last time Phil Grayfield will take the field for Marvel. I expected an editor's note or a farewell in the letters page just highlighted last issue, but nope. Nothing.
As for the issue itself, it was a nice callback to bring in Claudio rather than a random, generic villain. And as much as I enjoy costumed heroes and villains pummeling each other in action-packed panels, the way SuperPro resolved the conflict was nicely done, a moment of de-escalation and empathy that would have made Squirrel Girl proud, though not in keeping with Buzz Dixon's portrayal of SuperPro as a well-meaning lunkhead.
Claudio's “villain” origin was unusual and compelling. I didn't need anything too complicated but a little more on the specifics of the Roxxon deal beyond "oil and timbering bad" would have been nice. SuperPro and Repulsor's coincidental collision at the baseball game was unnecessarily complicated, but otherwise, it was a decent enough story.
It also felt like a story that was at least mostly written before the time it was determined this would be the last issue. Other than Claudio's return, there wasn't much to make it stand out. Last issue's blurb promise of a blast from the past was fulfilled, but we got no Mercy, Coach Buck, Instant Replay or any sort of SuperPro Revenge Squad. And alas, no Happy Campers. Also, no Jane Dixon doing anything. I figured maybe Repulsor would show up at her TV station. Then again, Phil did call her, back in the first issue, his “part-time gal pal.”
And so we've reached the end. According to the Marvel Fandom wiki, these issues constitute the only 13 appearances of SuperPro, though the page lists a couple of mentions of him elsewhere.
NFL SuperPro has a reputation as a punchline and a bad comic. I certainly get the former: It's a forced concept that apparently exists not because someone thought there was a compelling story to tell but because Marvel and the NFL made a business deal. As for bad? I mean, this isn't going to win any Eisners, but most of the issues were at least enjoyable, some, admittedly, in more of an ironic way.
But in addition to thunder gods, super-soldiers and cosmic adventurers, the Marvel Universe is inhabited by anthropomorphic ducks, space-surfing heralds, swamp monsters that set things that are scared of them on fire and protect all of reality, friendly neighborhood heroes who teach cosmic entities to use the bathroom and superspies who find powerful cosmic MacGuffins in toilet tanks. It's certainly big enough for an ex-football-player-turned-superhero. And with the way some concepts return after years in obscurity or ridicule, I would never say never on Phil Grayfield taking the field once again in the hands of the right creative team.
* - The D-list Spider-Man villain, not the Rapper.
** - The band, not the book of the Bible.
*** - The high-tech thug, not the ray.
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