Monday, June 30, 2008  Superman: Distant Fires--Has Anyone Else
Read This?  In 1998, DC released a 64-page Elseworlds comic
written by Howard Chaykin and illustrated by Gil Kane (with inks
by Kevin Nowlan). Have you read this thing? You should. Because
it's CRAZY!  Yes, that is Superman riding a giant mutatated cat
as the Earth burns beneath him. And all his superhero pals are
following his lead. Well, the ones that can fly anyway. The rest
are screwed. But before I get into the horrible deaths of the
many non-flying heroes, let me tell you a little bit about the
premise of this Elseworlds marvel.  It begins with a global
nuclear war. Everyone and everything is destroyed. Superman
cries (because, being Superman, he survives, even if his shirt
does not).  The nuclear armageddon really didn't do too much
more than cause a lot of really big tidal waves. No nuclear
winter. No gigantic radiation-filled zones. Just a lot of
rubble. Rubble that's good for makeshift gravestones, thinks
Superman. Oh, yeah, and Superma