BLACK AIR DOSSIER ON: Superman: The Man of Steel #92

Even though this story has been a slow boat to disappointment, Toms Peyer, Grindberg and Palmer manage to pull off a more or less satisfactory conclusion in 'Secret Origins Part Four: Cognito Ergo Doom.' Let's join them, along with Saladino, Whitmore, Digital Chameleon and other as they wrap up this latest guest stint' on the triangle titles. But first: S P O I L A G E F R O M A N O T H E R S U N ...My biggest problem with 'Secret Origins' has been that it's basically a succession of not-very-original Elseworld pieces (what if Supes was Green Lantern...no, wait, Adam Stra-even better, Hawkman!). Even though Peyer (and before him Ron Marz) has teased us with glimpses of some Kirby wannabe named Cognito, and have hinted that what Clark is experiencing is a simulation orginally developed by Jor-El. But these were minor developments at best, and the Elseworld scenarios were king, making for a repetitive storyline.

Well, it finally does come to a head here, and what Peyer and Grinberg come up with is something that reminds me an awful lot of Superman stories from the 70's. It seems that Cognito has added the Superman Rescue Squad of Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Flash and Steel to his shipboard collection, and he's now putting Kal-El through a scenario where the Man of Steel lands on Mars. Except that J'onn J'onzz has figured out that they're prisoners of Cognito and manages to mentally contact Superman. The two heroes, using a novel method, break out of Cognito's brain drain and interrogate the bugger to find out what the Hell was going on.

What the Hell was going on was that Cognito's people are being subjugated by an militaristic alien force, and the alien hoped to learn enough through these simulations to convince Superman his homeworld is the one being invaded. What Supes does for this alien is definitely in character, and makes for a satisfying conclusion.

What 'Cognito Ergo Doom' does is set the segments that came before it into a coherent setting. It's almost refreshing in the fact that Peyer and Grindberg are telling a mildly clever, ultimately straightforward story. In fact, if you took out all the knowing winks of the Elseworlds, this would be a lot of fun, a story refreshingly divorced from the preponderence of sub- plots and portents of the next big event.

I mean, this story is not in any way going to change the way we look at Superman. It's a story which doesn't even pretend to give us a solemn message. It's a story-like many of the stories of Superman in the Silver Age-that are meant to entertain.

And that, to me, isn't too bad.

And your thoughts?

One note: It's Cogito, not 'Cognito.' The title is a play on the latin phrase 'Cogito, ergo sum' which means 'I think, therefore I am.'

I dont get it how come superman had to become that last person at the end. ~K-mare

If you care about the international icon 'Superman' at all, vist my 'People Against Jon Peters Page' at http://welcome.to/pajp

...because Cogito's culture had grown paranoid about letting outsiders know where their planet was located (and justifiably so, as they were a planet under seige), Superman *became* the last character so that he could help the aliens without their breaking their taboos.

If Superman was convinced he grew up on the planet in question, the aliens wouldn't have to tell him where to find their planet...

-**** Posted from RemarQ, http://www.remarq.com/?c ****- Search and Read Usenet Discussions in your Browser

But they had to tell him how to get home. and they had to tell his friends so they can pick him up. thats what i dont understand. ~K-mare

If you care about the international icon 'Superman' at all, vist my 'People Against Jon Peters Page' at http://welcome.to/pajp

My first thought is 'Finally! This is a real post!'

My real thought is that I'm glad that someone's reading the current Super-titles so I don't have to. That is, I pretty much assumed the latest fill-in would be a bit of a waste, and your reviews seem to have confirmed it while saving me the money it might have cost to confirm it. I'm just sitting here, saving up for the October return to sanity.

Simon DelMonte