Reading pre-Moore Supreme - Supreme #34

 

Supreme issue 34 came out in December 1995. Eric Stephenson was the writer. Layouts by someone called Zebra MacPherson. Pencils by Joe Bennett. Inked by Norm Rapmund and Eric Cannon. Lettered by Kurt Hathaway.  

We start the issue on other Earth with a radio show discussing the return of Supreme. As the callers discuss whether Supreme is heroic or not, we see Supreme stop a building from collapsing on a little girl. 

And Supreme being Supreme, he's pretty much an ass about it. Balthazar of the police force shows up, but Supreme isn't having it and leaps (since he still can't fly) off. 

We cut to a farm, like the one that Supreme's pod landed in a couple issues earlier and now there's a glowing orb. One of the scientists checking it out collapses and they bring him in for medical attention.

We cut back to Supreme, hanging out in a diner, when a man in a trench coat shows up saying that Supreme should remember him. (And it's obviously a big deal because his trench coat is given a double page spread.) 

 

I get the sense that Stephenson thought he was making his own Constantine, but this guy has no personality beyond the trench coat, and even the trench coat seems a little empty.

The guy, Tarryn Beckett, says that he's trapped on this world too and leads Supreme to a warehouse. They break in but find a giant robot, which I guess is called "The Wall" if the cover is to be taken at face value. 

As Supreme fights the robot, Old Bearded Supreme sneaks up from behind as Supreme gets knocked out.

Back on regular Earth, Kid Supreme is back to being a guy and returns to see Original Kid Supreme--also a guy--where he finds out that Probe has left. They talk about how she probably wants to stay a woman and not revert to Val-En's body. But then Probe shows up and she is still a woman (albeit she appears drawn by someone who has never seen a woman's body in real life). 

And that's where it ends. Okay, well one issue closer to the end of this run, I guess.

Reading pre-Moore Supreme - Supreme #33

 

Supreme issue 33 came out in November 1995. Eric Stephenson was the writer. Penciled by Joe Bennett and Karl Alstaetter. Inked by Norm Rapmund and Eric Cannon. Lettered by Kurt Hathaway. 

Oh yay... another company wide event. What's this one called? Oh. Right. Babewatch. 

Hang on a sec, I need to give myself a pep talk. Okay, Mike, you can do this. Yes, this is a stupid comic even in normal circumstances. Yes, it's terribly written, pretty badly illustrated and lacks any redeeming value. And yes, Babewatch is pretty much the bottom of the barrel in terms of immaturity. But you're only about 8 issues away from being done with this and then I never have to pretend there were any comics before Alan Moore's run. Now get out there and recap this issue! 

Okay, sorry about that. We start the issue with Kid Supreme staring at herself in the mirror and then pull out to see Amnesia Supreme shocked by her appearance as well. They get into a bit of a shoving match for the mirror before Amnesia Supreme gets mad and flies up through Kid Supreme's roof. At which point Kid Supreme thinks, "Great. A woman for all of five minutes and he's already got PMS."

 

Hooboy. This issue is a struggle. 

Amnesia Supreme flies off into space to ditch Kid Supreme while Kid Supreme goes off to check on Original Kid Supreme, who has also turned into a woman. Which is when Amnesia Supreme returns and says that the change has cleared her mind and she has figured out that she's not Supreme. 

She then tells about how Star Guard (the Supreme "children" from the future) fought some battle in our recent past and lost. Supreme went searching for an alien device that could defeat their foe. Probe, the telepath, refused to flee without her brother Val-En. She switched souls with his body and when an explosion killed everyone else, only his body remained. 

Probe/Val-En flew to Earth where people were fighting Hell Lord Chapel. Probe/Val-En pitched in, but he was obliterated and his atoms were blown across existence. But don't worry, they reformed over Tokyo back in issue 24.

Hang on. I need another second. This makes absolutely no sense and is such a stupid explanation for how we got Amnesia Supreme. But this nonsense is what passes for plot. Fine. Fine. Fine. Let's just finish this stupid thing.

So Probe/Val-En concludes that she is Probe and intends to stay that way. Thanks Babewatch for such an empowering tale of feminism!

But Kid Supreme wants to know where the real Supreme is and we cut to the alien "Earth" we saw last issue where two guys are talking about the Supreme we see there. Balthazar and Lord Ardath conclude that even though Supreme is sure this isn't Earth, he can't fly on this planet and is powerless to leave. 

Balthazar leaves and Lord Ardath goes and talks to Supreme. Ardath tells Supreme that he abandoned this Earth and much has changed since. But they're going to throw a parade in his honor, which sets Supreme off.

Ahh... there's that senseless rage that was missing from this comic!

As Ardath leaves, he thinks that he also hates Supreme and that one day Supreme will be dead!

Um... ok. So that's where it ends and thank god, we're one step closer to being done with this run. 

Reading pre-Moore Supreme - Supreme #32

Supreme issue 32 came out in October 1995. Eldon Asp (likely a pseudonym for Eric Stephenson and friends) was the writer. Penciled by Brian Denham and Jeff Johnson. Inked by Norm Rapmund and Eric Cannon. The framing sequence was written by Stephenson. Penciled by Karl Alstaetter and inked by Eric Cannon. Lettered by Kurt Hathaway.

In the 0 issue, we saw someone who looked like Supreme, smells like Supreme and is Probably Supreme shot into space in a tube. Well, the tube has landed on a planet that looks like Earth and Probably Supreme is investigating.

We cut to Chi on his world, last seen in the Supreme annual. Chi had hired an assassin to kill the Religious Fanatic Supreme and that Religious Fanatic Supreme had vowed revenge. Chi gets a message that says "Soon. -Supreme". Chi gets some girl named Tohreen and his armor. 

We then get a little recap of the annual story, before we see Religious Supreme show up at Chi's doorstep. 

Religious Fanatic Supreme shows up and he and Chi start fighting. As they're fighting, Religious Fanatic Supreme chases Chi into a tunnel inside a waterfall where he sees the mangled form of Father Beam, the priest Religious Fanatic Supreme killed in Legend of Supreme. 

 

Beam accuses Religious Fanatic Supreme of being a sinful murderer. Religious Fanatic Supreme realizes that Beam would never equate the sinner with the sin and that it must be Chi, who Religious Fanatic Supreme then incinerates. 

Religious Fanatic Supreme then flies off. How that links to the story of Probably Supreme on the planet like Earth, I have no idea. But I guess they wanted to finish off that subplot from the annual, which I guess I appreciate. That said, Religious Fanatic Supreme will still show up one more time. 

On not Earth, Probably Supreme gets a ride in a hover farm truck toward Capital City and the farmer tells him that it is Earth. 

 Meanwhile, Amnesia Supreme is flying around Washington, DC, when Kid Supreme shows up. Just as Amnesia Supreme is about to tell Kid Supreme that he is not Supreme, they both turn into women. 

 

Yeah, this whole Eric Stephenson run is really off to a great start.