WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Action Comics #1000
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No DC icon misses out on Action Comics #1000, which leads to certified supervillains working with the Justice League and Titans to give Superman a much-deserved day-off. It’s just one story in the massive celebration issue, but the villains in question do their part to ensure Superman - a notorious workaholic easily embarrassed by praise - has no excuse to pass up the ceremony held in the city of Metropolis, honoring him with an official Superman Day celebration.
This sort of thing is par for the course in comic books, with big cities frequently setting up special events to honor their hometown heroes. Numerous classic comics have seen members of The Flash’s Rogues attempting to assassinate The Scarlet Speedster when Central City chose to honor him. Green Arrow and Black Canary had a superheroic honor guard watching over their exchanging vows, to insure there would be no surprises after their first wedding ceremony was crashed by super-villains.
And it seems more than likely that Batman’s Super-Friends will run interference during his upcoming wedding to Catwoman.
From The City That Has Everything continues this tradition, as writer/artist Dan Jurgens depicts a reluctant Clark Kent being dragged to the ceremony by Lois Lane and their son Jonathan, keeping one ear to the skies waiting for signs of an approaching alien war-fleet. After several false-warnings, Clark finally changes into his costume and is up, up and way to deal with the menace when he is intercepted by Wonder Woman and escorted back to the ceremony. It is here that she reveals that The Justice League - and a few other people besides - had all pitched in to make sure Superman could be there on his special day.
“We’re fans too, you know. We know that without you none of us would probably be here,” Diana explains, in a fourth-wall breaking statement that pays tribute to the fact that most modern superheroes would not exist were it not for Superman’s popularity establishing the superhero subgenre of science-fiction and fantasy.
The two-page spread which follows depicts most of DC Comics’ major superheroes, including Superman’s teammates from The Justice League, most of Earth’s Green Lanterns and several members of the Titans and Teen Titans. It also, curiously enough, includes the mercenary Deathstroke The Terminator and Harley Quinn, who is wearing a Superman baby-doll T-shirt under her trademark jacket.
It might seem incongruous for Slade Wilson to be numbered among DC Comics’ heroes, particularly given Deathstroke’s recent role in destroying a nation. Still, Slade has proven willing to help the world’s heroes in the past in the name of a noble cause, like when he joined with The Justice League in Dark Nights: Metal. What better cause could there be than helping out Superman?
If nothing else, maybe Batman saw him paid well for his time (after they sorted out the recent reveal that Deathstroke is the father of Batman’s son)? As for Harley Quinn helping out The Big Blue Boy Scout…. well, since when did a little thing like “making sense” ever stop Harley from doing what she wanted because it seemed like fun at the time?
More: DC Confirms Superman is Immortal in New Comic
Action Comics #1000 is available now at comic shops everywhere and DC Comics.
