3 out of 5

Some background on this here.

So as DC wrapped up its DC Comics Presents series to pave way for Mr. Byrne’s reinvention of Superman post-Crisis, Steve Gerber was tapped to pen the final tale, which – he or the editors decided – was to be ‘the final chapter of the phantom zone criminals.’  Gerber had touched on the P.Zone before in a mini-series, but interestingly, at a compressed one issue (but over-sized at near 40 pages), you can tell he was after something greater, and more encompassing.  It’s a confusing story, especially for a casual reader like m’self who’s unfamiliar with Aethyr, an entity living in the Zone, and Gerber really makes no attempt at explaining any of it – which makes it sort of a cool ultimate fanboy goodbye, and one directed very much so at the Superman / DC audience… but I still think the narration style – which starts from a human (or Kryptonian) point of view and then immediately jumps to Aethyr – is quite jarring.

The link I posted mentions how this was published the same month as Moore’s “Whatever Happened To…” tale, and I find it interesting to compare these, and ponder the two universes these creators inhabit/ed.  Moore’s work is, of course, widely praised, though much of his writing is insular.  The Superman tale is a great one, but in a way, I would say it’s less daring than Steve’s attempt… and Steve’s work is generally praised, but I think he rates as something of an underdog, noted for some 70s runs on Man-Thing and Howard and then not as frequently referenced thereafter, though his mad creativity was absolutely in play up to his death.

Anyhow, the ish starts with showing us the genesis of Jor-El’s Phantom Zone machine creation, and then transitions to an ‘executioner’ reviewing the big name criminals he recalls putting away, both pieces of this prologue focusing on the emotional cost to the jailers.  Rick Veith – whose art I always find a little stiff, frankly – delivers some amazing layouts in the book, and these early pages build in some great visual themes of shackles… which don’t end up coming back into play, unfortunately.  Which is the problem with the remainder of the issue, which tries to indirectly explain to us how the Zone criminals break free (by, uh, channeling their ‘self’ through Mr. Mxyzptlk, oddly enough) and then totally fucking Supes shit up by having him shatter Argo City all over Metropolis… spreading Kryptonite and carcasses everywhere!… and the ending with a very Gerbery Mxy f-you when he wrestles back control of Aethyr and the criminals and says so long to a confused Supes, who says, “I still don’t understand–!  And it looks like I’m never going to!” before the wonderful closing, “The Ultimate End.”  It’s a rather abrupt and almost disgruntled seeming closer, with Gerb’s dialogue and captions perhaps poking fun at or capturing the death-a-moment reversals and shoulder shrug of bigass events like Crisis.  Who knows?

So it starts with the somber, grand tone of Gerber’s Superman elseworlds tales – there’s definitely a fascination with the character for him – but spirals out into something larger than the book can handle.  Steve’s not new to the sudden ending, however this doesn’t feel as random as usual.  You can sense a plan ticking under the hood, he just wasn’t (maybe) granted the two book space of Moore to lay it all out.  The last issue of DC Comics Presents is a memorable one.  In part because yeah, it’s something of a mess, but also because it seemed to be a pretty good representation of the creativity (according to the letter pages) the book encouraged.