Reign of the Supermen #90: Superman-X

Source: Superman vol.1 #418 (1986)
Type: ReplacementYou know, sometimes I think the reason Superman so desperately needed to be rebooted in the mid-80s is because he never really got out of the Silver Age mold. Other series' narrative had been allowed to evolve (like Batman's), while new series were a touch Marvelized in their approach to the characters (New Teen Titans, Firestorm). Superman's writers frequently struggled with their "too-powerful" star, stranding him in a limbo of super-power malfunctions and imaginary stories. Nowhere is this more evident than in the year preceding the reboot, featuring the so-called "lameduck Superman" who "died" by Alan Moore's hand in the almost too famous "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" After all, if it's all going to be wiped from continuity, who cares what we do, right? And yet, nothing much of note happened except in the final story. Superman was still stuck in the Silver Age. Case in point, "The Replacement" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and Dave Hunt. What makes me say this? Oh, let me count the ways.

1. Curt Swan art. Sorry Mr. Swan, but you'll always be a Silver Age artist to me, even if you went on to do work for decades after it supposedly ended. It always seemed to me like his style never really evolved in all that time though, and remains "retro" to my eyes. His designs too, judging by the artificial creature called Superman-X, who doesn't look quite as slick as on the cover.
2. Generic aliens. The Silver Age was full of one-off alien races who came to Earth either to invade or befriend it. The guys in this issue request aid from Superman because a Sun-Eater is gnawing at their star. He agrees and they leave Superman-X behind so that Metropolis isn't left in a lurch.
3. Superman is as big a hero in outer space as he is on Earth. That guy really needs to reconnect with the common people by, I dunno, taking a walk across America or something.
4. An obsession with secret identity stories. Though no one even notices that Clark Kent is gone for a length of time, Supes IS initially worried his trousers will be recognized. I guess Bruce Banner has the same problem with his purple pants.
5. Science that makes no damn sense. Superman-X is quite the superhero. More powerful than Superman, not only can he "flatten" trucks and guns, as well as repair all his parts in the wink of an eye, but he also promptly (a) makes all weapons in Metropolis turn to dust, (b) turns all kryptonite in town into ordinary rock, (c) cure every disease and condition suffered from in the city, including making limbs grow back, (d) maintains energy cushions that appear every time an auto accident is about to occur, (e) gives senior citizens super-strength so they can defend themselves against thugs, and (f) installs a system that makes all the criminals in Metropolis turn themselves in.
And yet these aliens needed Superman to deal with their threat of the week. Supposedly because their science can only affect silicon-based matter (see S-X's faith healing for why I think this is stupid).
6. Lois, Lana and Jimmy - super-meddlers. Because they're afraid Superman-X is going too far, they try to convince him that he's disrupting a delicate balance (as expressed by the sudden influx of wannabe residents). He's about to be convinced, when they pull out their clincher: A doctored news report in which a kid is killed by a stampeding mob trying to get into the hospital where S-X did his miracles. Superman-X leaves the planet in anguish and never finds out it was all a (wholly unnecessary) hoax.
7. Reset button. Earth is without a defender for all of two seconds as Superman returns from deep space at that very moment. Superman-X's contributions were never mentioned again. Until this very moment.

For some, the Silver Age only ended in 1986.