Reading pre-Moore Supreme - Supreme #38

 

Supreme issue 38 came out in April 1996. Jim Valentino did the writing and layouts. Pencils by Joe Bennett. Inked by Norm Rapmund. Lettered by Kurt Hathaway. Eric Stephenson was the editor but did not co-plot. And I have to admit, I kind of am enjoying these silly, energetic covers by Dan Fraga. 

The issue starts with Lord Ardath watching the news coverage of the Supremes/Loki fight and tells Balthazar it is time to strike. His plan is to drain Probe's powers the same way he did the other two Supremes' powers so that he's strong enough to fight back against his sister and fix his deformed body or something. 

Really, this whole subplot is a subplot too many. Can't we just deal with the Loki nonsense and move on?

Back at the fight, Loki makes Star Guard (including another Probe and Val-En) appear. Enigma wraps the area in an energy bubble to stop anyone else from getting in and Probe tries to explain to Other Probe but as is to be expected with this series, they start fighting. 

Ardath and Balthazar show up and walk through the energy bubble (really effective, Enigma). They knock out Val-En and Ardath tells Balthazar says that this is his body. That when Probe took over Val-En's body, Val-En's mind was transported to Other Earth by Loki and given his twisted body. Loki then had him drain Supreme's powers.

Ardath goes to merge with Val-En but something goes wrong and burns up in a shock of blue energy. In a rage, Balthazar blames Probe and goes to attack her, but she instinctively attacks back and mortally wounds Balthazar. Well, that subplot was tied up quickly.

The Supremes beat up on Star Guard until it's just them versus Loki, who transforms into a giant. 

Two issues left! And I guess I should touch on the Kid Supreme and Lady Supreme series. Okay, so a little more to go!

Reading pre-Moore Supreme - Supreme #37

 

 

Supreme issue 37 came out in March  1996. Jim Valentino did the script and layouts. Pencils by Joe Bennett. Inked by Norm Rapmund. Lettered by Kurt Hathaway. Eric Stephenson was the editor and did the co-plot. There were two covers, both by Dan Fraga.

We pick up with Supreme, now in the body of Old Bearded Supreme with the constantly smoking Trenchcoat Constantine. He asks where the other Supreme went and the Wannabe Constantine says he's off doing some good deed with his boy scout mentality, and I can't tell if he's being ironic or just has never read this comic before.

New Supreme in Old Bearded Supreme's Body says he wants to kill Old Bearded Supreme in New Supreme's Body and Trenchcoat Constantine offers to help. Why? Because he is wily and plays by his own rules. And it's really annoyingly dumb.

In outer space, Probe is flying to find Supreme when she's stopped by Enigma, some cosmic mysterious character, that apparently existed before this random cameo. They have a conversation about how Probe knows Enigma from the future before Enigma says that he's going to teach Probe how to use her powers.

On Other Earth, Old Bearded Supreme in New Supreme's Body rescues a runaway commuter train. 

And as he flies off (I guess we've forgotten that Supreme can't fly on this planet) New Supreme in Old Bearded Supreme's Body blasts him with some high-tech weaponry.

Enigma renames Probe as Lady Supreme and teaches her how to use her Supreme powers. Her real Supreme power is keeping her torn-apart costume to remain exactly in place. 

Back on Other Earth, some woman named Mrs. Spencer tells someone named Louis to go get footage of the Supremes fight for their TV channel. And to take Bartholomew. I guess that's someone named Jamie, because he grabs her and takes a flying car to the fight. 

He starts reporting and tells us how the Shepherd and the Keep took this Earth's superpowered beings and the non-powered villains went wild. Then Supreme showed up. But as his beard grew, his powers started to fade. This makes almost no sense, since the Keep stuff happened like two issues ago. Whatever.

In space, Enigma says Probe is ready and teleports them to the Supreme fight. Probe puts a stop to the fighting and they decide to try to figure out who is the real Supreme. 

They call out Wannabe Constantine, but he reveals that he's actually Loki!

 

Three more issues to go! 

Reading pre-Moore Supreme - Supreme #36

 

Supreme issue 36 came out in February 1996. Eric Stephenson did the story. Jim Valentino did the script and layouts. Pencils by Joe Bennett. Inked by Norm Rapmund. Lettered by Kurt Hathaway. 

Eric Stephenson's run sure didn't last too long did it before Valentino stepped in, did it? I know Valentino was part of the effort to bring Moore onto Supreme, reportedly telling Moore that they wanted him to do whatever DC wouldn't let Moore do with Superman. So I think Valentino is trying to tie up all the loose threads on Supreme to make way for Moore to take over with a clean slate. And boy does this comic need it, because it's become a mess.

We start with Probe in outer space, her costume in tatters but somehow magically covering the necessary tiny bits. Recovering from the fight with Shepherd, she was able to telepathically get the location for where he last saw Supreme in outer space.

 

Also, she's coming to the realization that she doesn't feel pain the way she did before taking over Val-En's body, and coming to the conclusion that maybe the pain has only been psychosomatic. So, hoping to get some training on using her Supreme-like powers, she flies off toward Supreme. 

Back on Earth, Kid Supreme is in the middle of a student and teacher brawl. He's wondering why everyone seems so enraged and fighting each other. 

 

We then cut to Sith, one of the Keep, who is doing something with the former Youngblood member Psi-Fire to make the whole world brim with hatred. 

Kid Supreme discovers some Latina girl with shock powers who is killing one of the teachers at his school. 

He's too late to save the teacher and after knocking out the girl, feels really guilty. As he's walking away, she wakes up and vows to kill him.

On other Earth, Old Bearded Supreme and Trench Coat Constantine are examining Supreme. They think he might be a clone or something, but we find out Old Bearded Supreme no longer has his super powers. He says that his captor made this world into a perfect prison for him. But that Supreme offers Old Bearded Supreme the means to defeat his mysterious captor.

He proceeds to put his personality into Supreme's body, giving himself his powers back.

 

I will say Valentino's characters do go on and on, talking/thinking a lot but not saying much. And rather than tying things up, it seems like they're just getting more complicated.

Oh well. Only a few more issues left.