Action Comics #665 (May 1991)

Writer – Roger Stern

Artist – Tom Grummett

“Wake The Dead”

I decided to take a deep dive into the dollar bin at Eide’s Entertainment one weekend to get some comics to review and I came upon this issue of Action Comics . The cover art of this issue really stuck with me the first time I saw it on the spinner rack all the way back in 1991. I didn’t purchase it back then so I added it to my buy pile now.

Superman returns home after the events of Time and Time Again. As Clark Kent, he investigates a puzzling mystery at Stryker’s Island for the Daily Planet. Six men, all fit, strong, and in seemingly good heath, all keel over and die at the same exact time. An aide to the coroner is shocked when the men all sit up at the same time, get up off their slabs, and bust out of the prison. This is all the work of Baron Sunday, master of black magic and voodoo. Can Superman stop Baron Sunday’s plan or will the Man of Steel fall victim to Sunday’s arcane arts?

This issue was definitely a breather after the Time and Time Again event that took place in all of the ongoing Superman titles at the time but its definitely not a “filler” issue. The ramifications of Lex Luthor’s death are still reverberating through Metropolis as his last will and testament is found and the search for his beneficiaries are the next order of business. While Clark handles the issues at Stryker’s Island, Lois takes charge of the Lex Luthor story.

We don’t see a lot of tinges of horror in mainstream superhero comics but Baron Sunday and his band of zombies are worthy adversaries for Superman. A lot of people forget that Supes is susceptible to magic. Baron Sunday puts Superman through the wringer before our intrepid hero is able to find a way to end the fight before it gets out of hand and innocent bystanders are put in harm’s way.

I may have said it before in another review but this era of Superman is by far my favorite. Late 80s/early 90s comics were my first foray into the world of comic collecting. There are a bunch of stories I missed out on and finding them for cheap takes me back to my youth. The comic ads are still my favorite when reading these “old” comics. Remember Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal and the hype for The Rocketeer? I sure do and these ads make me feel like a kid again.

This issue’s cover was also a nice tease of things to come for Superman. People probably saw it and thought, “there’s no way Superman can die, can he?” They would get their answer much later in Superman #75.

This issue of Action Comics gets 3 out of 5 S – Shields. The recap of Superman’s journey through time makes me want to read Time and Time Again. This issue does a great job of balancing both Clark’s work at the Daily Planet and his heroics as Superman and its always nice to see what’s going on at the newspaper. Mr. Foswell is in charge of things as Perry and his wife take a cruise together and enjoy well -deserved time off. Baron Sunday was a great addition to Superman’s Rogues Gallery but I feel like he didn’t get his time to shine. He was very underrated and underutilized and you’ll find out why I’m a little disappointed with his character arc when you read this issue.