Thirty years, and it feels like yesterday. Happily, like Clark and Lois, I’ve barely aged a day. I remember the original Wedding Album, but someone who doesn’t is their son Jon Kent, who’s wiling way an afternoon looking at family photos.
Jon realises he doesn’t even know his parents’ anniversary and is aghast to find it’s a week away. Do Lois and Clark have plans?
So it’s up to their boy to do his bit and plan a surprise party. And he’s going to have some secret help – you likely guessed who the unseen voice behind those purple-tinged thought balloons was.
Not knowing where to start when it comes to arranging a big shindig for family and friends Jon calls his Aunt Lucy, but she’s tied up with work in Paris. Silent partner Mxy, though, agrees with Jon that an auntie can be an asset.
Lucy agrees to help Jon, while her ex-husband Ron Troupe and ex-boyfriend Jimmy Olsen tag along to Jon’s chosen venue – Bibbo’s Ace of Clubs.
Well, the party happens and Mxy reveals himself, but no one’s pleased to see him.
Shenanigans ensue, and things get serious when Mxy magics Clark and Lois cake toppers into giant forces of destruction who crash through the city streets, toppling buildings.
Help is at hand, and calm is eventually restored, giving the real happy couple a chance to party with their pals.
This is a wonderful comic book, a terrific tribute to the original Wedding Album and the Triangle Era of Superman comics it sat in. As with the 1996 comic we have a giant-sized issue with a number of creative teams. The difference is that while the earlier book was an artistic jam, with different groupings every couple of pages, here we have four teams of writers and artists handling four (unannounced) chapters. And what’s truly remarkable is that three of the writer/artist combos were on that first Album – and they’re still producing superb work.
The newbies are Rainbow Rowell and Cian Tormey, both of whom have done good work on recent Super books. Here they give us a nice look at the Kent-Lane family dynamics while setting up the Mxy business.
Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanov reteam for the Ace of Clubs sequence and bring back a Bronze Age Jack Kirby beastie. They top this off with a lovely moment between Lois and Lucy which bridges the latter’s Triangle Era history with her much later New Krypton time as Superwoman, perhaps even wiping out the latter while keeping some of the character beats. I dunno, but I like the scene and hope Lucy sticks around. And who knows, that may even make Ron Troupe smile – it’s been about 30 years since that happened too.
I am surprised John Henry Irons aka Steel isn’t at the party, given he was created by Simonson and Bogdanov, and is married to Lana Lang, who’s also absent. I guess the melee meant Jon couldn’t let his recent mentors know in time. Steel does turn up in the final chapter, but just in a group shot.
While I liked the whole issue, I loved Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett’s chapter, which after an animated-style Mxy spotlight is pretty much a Jimmy Olsen story, showcasing the red-headed reporter’s cockiness, but also his competence and resilience.
We even get a brand new Strange Transformation for Jimmy, along with a sharp haircut.
If DC is thinking of giving Jimmy a mini-series any time soon they really should enlist Kesel and Grummett. Or even give them a Daily Planet/Metropolis ongoing – like this week’s Superman #43, this comic reminds us what a fantastic supporting cast the Man of Steel has.
Finally, Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway handle the big battle and wrap-up, the highlight of which is one of the greatest instances of tricking Mxy back to the Fifth Dimension I’ve ever come across – it’s just a shame who gets to do it.
Overthinking-wise, I did wonder if this plot nugget…
… with a magical character wiping out a hero’s marriage was a pop at Marvel’s One More Day story in Spider-Man, but probably not, Jurgens and Ordway aren’t that mean.
While writers and artists are passing the creative baton, the whole book is lettered by Dave Sharpe and mostly coloured by Jon Kalisz – Romulo Farjardo Jr looks after the first chapter – and it’s great work all round.
Jurgens and Ordway, meanwhile, draw and ink the big cover image, which Laura Martin colours. It’s great, and we even get an appearance by Lana. Sadly, there’s no Pete Ross, who was at the wedding with then wife Lana.
With a fun story, spot-on characterisations and excellent visual storytelling, Superman: The Wedding Annual 30th Anniversary Special is a glorious celebration of comics’ favourite couple.
Maybe I’ll read this. Back then I stopped reading the Superman books during the triangle books era and have never read the wedding album. I mostly only read them now if I like the writer, the current run of Superman being an exception.
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