Superman and The Authority #3

Alaska.

Stop Dreaming

It's Not Good For You

Okay, June.

Breathe Deeply.

Where Did She Dump Me This Time?

June Moone

You're Awake.

Excellenti

Follow Me, Please...

The Others Are This Way--

I Hope You'll Find Your Stay With Us A Pleasant One, Ms. Moone.

I... Ah...

I Sure Hope So Too.

Your Host Has Asked Me To Assure You That Any Lingering Trauma Will Fade After Some Brisk Exercise And Fervent Prayer.

Is This Like A Museum--an Expo, Or--that Ice Hotel--

...How Did I Get Here Again...?

...What Is That Sound, Like Angels Counting Their Change...?

That's Lyri Zor-em's Infinite Dodecahedral Metasymphony--retrieved From A Data-sump During Excavations In The Bottle City Of Kandor.

Your Host Is Waiting With His Associates...

It's This Way--

My Host--?

Superman, Of Course.

...'ere It Comes...

None The Bleedin' Wiser.

June!

Good To See You Back In The Land Of The Living!

You Look Well Rested.

Fort Superman.

Feeling A Whole Lot Better After Your Recent Ordeal, I Hope.

...Superman.

I Was In Hell--and You Were There... And...

All Of You.

It Wasn't A Dream

...The More We Burst, The More There Are, Midnighter!

Respawning Demon Sprites!

How Great Is This?

I'm Bored Already!

Is There Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

Give Me Your Hand, June Moone!

We're Getting You Out Of This Fix!

Thim.

I Can't, I Can't--

I Don't Deserve To Be Saved!

I Belong Here!

She's My Wife Now!

They'll Never Get Her Out--the Purple Plateau Is Flattening Back To Oblivion.

And Now That I'm Free Again--

--what Should I Do To You?

Go For It, Luv.

Turn Me Into A Frog Or A Caterpillar Or A Cancer!

I'd Be Better Off Given What I've Had To Put Up With, Seriously.

I'm Reading A Zone Of Flattened Space-time.

An Inescapable Sheet Of Dark Energy With Gravity Acting Like Cosmic Flypaper--

We Can't Reach Her, Superman, Not Unless She Lets Go...

Inescapable?

Nat, We Don't Use Words Like That!

June Moone!

Your Power Is Creating This!

We're In A Region Of Mind Made Real, A Place Of Torment And Regret.

This Is What Happens When You Try To Convince Yourself That You And Your Alter Ego, The Enchantress, Are Different People.

We Can Only Survive Here A Little Longer.

After That, Without You, Even We Can't Escape.

We'll Stay With You As Long As We Can, June--but You Have To Promise To Get Us Out!

June, Can You Promise?

I Can't--can't Promise Anything...

Can't You See?

I'm Too Weak--too Muddled Up--

I've Done Everything Wrong--

Testify!

The Frailty Of Humankind Is Its Downfall!

We All Make Mistakes.

Every Moment's A Fresh Opportunity To Do Something You Can Be Proud Of!

We're Still Here For You, June!

D'z'amor Won't Ever Set Me Free!

Not Now!

I Am The Bride Of D'z'amor!

June Moone!

"D'z'amor" Is A Part Of You Trying To Prevent Reintegration!

You And The Enchantress Are One And The Same Person!

...Black, I Can't Reach Her.

This Psychic World Is Where I Yield To Your Talents.

We Only Have Moments Before Laws Of Gravity And Consciousness Trap Us Here In A Never-ending Instant Of Third-rate Cosmic Horror!

"Yield"--he Says!

You Might Be Trapped, Mate. I'm Just A Mental Projection!

Which Gives You The Edge We Need!

She Don't Need A Self-help Lecture, She Wants A Good Kick Up The Arse!

You Divert "D'z'amor",--i'll Man The Suicide Hotline In My Inimitable Fashion...

D'z'amor. Let Her Go Or We'll Make You Regret It!

You Know This Can't Go Well For You!

Good Will Always Prevail Against Your Bargain-basement Brand Of Evil.

"Good"?

I Am D'z'amor!

When My Cult Spreads, The Very Concept Of "Good" Will Be Obliterated From Creation.

Is That So?

And When You've Eliminated The Very Concept Of Good--

--how's That Going To Make You Feel?

I Will Taste Final, Bleak Triumph!

I Will Know Satisfaction At Last!

Okay, Let Me Get This Straight.

When You've Entirely Eliminated All Good In The Universe...

You'll Feel Good. Wow.

...I Didn't Mean It Like That...

His Grip On You Is Weakening!

Now, June!

What If I Can't?

If I Give In To Her, I'm Giving In To Evil--

...I'm Not Strong Enough--

"What If I'm Just Like Everybody Else And I'm Not Perfect? How Will I Cope?"

Boo Hoo Hoo!

Get Over Yourself, Love.

You're Just Like All The Rest!

Telling Me What To Do!

Do This, June! Do That, June!

This Place Is The Best!

But We Need To Leave Immediately...

Agreed.

...I Feel A Bit Sick...

I Say Embrace Your Darkness--it'll Make You Strong!

It Won't Take Crap From Anyone!

It's On Your Side!

You Hear That, D'z'amor, Darling?

Wouldn't You Love To See Us Embrace?

Uh!

No, Enchantress, No!

Enchantress!

Enchantress!

I Need Her.

She Needs Me.

Together We're Unstoppable!

Enchantress. No!

You'll Destroy This Private Hell You Worked So Hard To Build!

...We Made It With Seconds To Spare!

But June Moone Needs Immediate Medical Attention...

...At Fort Superman...!

...Now I Remember...I Woke Up Feeling Different--

Something's Not Missing...

Not Anymore.

When The Bubble Collapsed, It Released All That Heavy Energy It Took To Separate You And Her.

I'm Natasha, By The Way... I'm The One With All The Theories.

Welcome To The Party.

Way I See It. You And The Enchantress Can Blend Into One Anytime You Want...

Like Now, For Instance.

Are You Sure It's Okay?

To Just--to Just----be Me!

To Be... Enchantress!

...Well, That Was A Close Call!

Feast Your Eyes On The Glory Of Babalon Incarnate Before I Finish My Coffee And Bid You Lovely People All Adieu...

What Are You Looking At?

You Don't Exactly Come With A Spotless Rap Sheet, Luv.

Might Be The Wrong Time To Get All Hoity-toity And Turn Down A Once-in-a-lifetime Golden Opportunity.

This Gig's A "Get Out Of Jail Free" Card.

It's Like That, Is It?

Okay--i Owe You One At Least.

What Can I Do For All You Precious Super-muggles Or Whatever It Is I'm Supposed To Call You?

As A Matter Of Fact, We're Looking To Recruit One More Loser.

Her Name Is Lia Nelson.

Goes By Lightray--

Don't Ask Me Why...

Join Us, June.

Here's Where I Hope You Can Help, Enchantress.

Me?

You. Superman, Want Me To Help You?

Your Magical Abilities Recognize No Scientific Limits, June--

Well, Now I'm Hooked...!

...No, Seriously, It's The Actual Round Table...

Hands Up, Who Agrees Superman Should Return This Colonial Plunder Of The Ages To Its Rightful Mythical Owners?

It's A Conversation Worth Having, But Right Now That Would Leave Us With Nowhere To Sit.

So. You're Assembling Some Kind Of Covert-operations Team...Ah... Superman...

Canit Get Used To Saying It

These Will Be Overt Operations, Midnighter.

When I Explain The Bigger Picture, I Hope You'll Understand...

In The Meantime, A Word About Use Of Force And Our Preferred No-kill Policy...

Here We Go--"Blah Blah Better Back In The Bleedin Silver Age Blah Blah!

"Kids Today Blah Blah Irresponsible!

"Someone Has To Make A Blah For The Old Values Against Blah Blah Generational Anarchy--yyyawn.

Not At All.

As Far As I Can See, Young People Like My Son Are More Responsible And Serious About Social Issues Than We Ever Were.

I'm Encouraging You To Use Your Powers In Conjunction With Your Imaginations To Avoid Casualties. That's All.

Opponents Can't Learn Lessons When They're Dead.

Your Magical Abilities Recognize no scientific limits june. 

That Makes You Invaluable.

I Need You To Get Us Through Lightray's Formidable Home Defenses--

Got It.

"Lightray."

She Looks Like A Pain In The Neck.

Never Mind That!

Why Don't You Just Click Your Fingers And Wish Up A Better World. Sabrina!

Spare Us All A Lot Of Posturing.

Effects Of My Spells Don't Last Long Enough To Topple The System, English...

Sorry To Burst Your Pretty Balloon, But I Didn't Make The Rules.

Point Noted.

Apollo, Go With June.

You'll Be Immune To Lightray's Powers, And I'm Relying On Your Strength If Her Bodyguard Shows Up.

Understood, Superman!

Begs The Question--

What Makes This Lia Nelson So Important?

Lia Has Significant Connections To The Bigger Picture Ι Mentioned.

Black, Midnighter, Steel--i Need You Three On Standby.

I'm Expecting Trouble And I Believe I Know Where It's Likely To Arise...

What About You?

Directing The Action From The Rear, I Shouldn't Wonder?

I'm Bait, Mr. Black.

Maybe It's Time I Told All Of You Exactly What's Going On.

And How You Can Play A Part In My Toughest-ever Challenge...

Earth Orbit.

...Our Team Is In Position--we've Hacked His Justice League Teleport Connection. Urrk--

While His Pawns Are Distracted In Dubai--my Grundy Form Stands Ready To Infiltrate--hrronff--

...Superman Won't Suspect A Thing--nurrf--

He's Famous For His Pecs And His Biceps, Not His Iq--hrunnf--

It Never Pays To Underestimate His Brute Cunning

You Must Be As Aware Of That As I.

His Reputation Is Tarnished--snorff--he's Making Mistakes.

His Superpowers--runff--are In Decline.

His Son Is An Altogether Less Troubling Prospect--at Least For Now--

Snurrt--compared To Me, He's A Brute, An Ape-man Trailing His Knuckles Behind Me In The Evolutionary Parade.

That May Be True.

Nevertheless....

Underestimate Him At Your Peril.

I'll Be Doing Humankind A Favor By Killing Him.

Now That He's Been Replaced, He No Longer Needs To Live Up To The Image Of The Paragon They Imposed.

A Free Agent, Answerable To No Authority But His Own.

Stranded On This World, Where Inequality Still Prevails, Where Resources Are Consumed At A Suicidal Rate, Where Factions War Over The Ownership Of Precious Dirt?

It Was Inevitable He Would Reassess The Effectiveness Of His Methods.

Superman Was Quite A Firebrand In His Younger Days, When We First--snrrt--clashed.

But At Heart He's A Science Nerd, An Anthropologist--gronff--a Non-intervention-ist.

I'm Way Ahead Of Him, In More Ways Than One.

We Are So Far Ahead.

Brain Implant Commencing--

Assuming Atomo-form.

I, The Next Stage In Evolution Beyond The Superman--snoorth--

The Human Of Tomorrow.

And You--runtt--the Endgame Of Invention.

We are humanity! 

Who Better To Bring This World To Heel?

We Are Woken!

Fort Superman.

...Is That What I Think It Is, Superman?

You Have An Alien Shrink Ray--

'course You Do.

Hah!

I Forget How Much Of The Electromagnetic Spectrum You Can Read, Nat!

My Own Eyes Aren't What They Used To Be...I've Had To Install Drone Cameras To Patrol The Bottle City Of Kandor.

Superman, I Have Reservations About Manchester Black, About All Of This.

But I Trust You, And My Uncle John Trusts You.

You Talk About The Biggest Mission Of Your Career, You Know I'm First In Line... But There's Something Else, Right?

Something You Left Out...

Superman!

Kandor Predict-o-scope Suggests Dubai... The G7 Climate Summit...

Dubai?

Thanks For The Heads-up, Kelex.

Excuse Me, Nat, I Anticipated Something Like This, I Just Wasn't Sure When.

...I Hoped We'd Have A Little More Time To Prepare. Still...

...Everyone Knows What They're Doing.

Thanks To Apollo And Midnighter, We Have Access To Dark Doort™ Tech, Encrypted Instantaneous Teleport Capability.

I Realize None Of You Have Worked Together Before, But All Of You Have Team Experience.

Consider This A Baptism Of Fire If You Like.

After The Suicide Squad In My Underwear, This Crew Is The Brady Bunch.

Ready To Get Acquainted, Bad Boi?

Good Luck With That, Sister.

Let's Roll.

All Right, Leave It Out!

We Can Bond On The Job.

Door.

Shall We?

Go Toward The Light, Granddad!

Mars. August 2001.

Lightray In

"Light Of Our Lives!"

Everyone Get To A Shielded Area! Cosmic Storm Incoming!

...It's Coming, Honey--it's Almost Here--

Push, My Darling!

Push!

The First Baby Born On Mars--we'll Be So Famous!

Oww!

Celeste, You're Hurting--

Hurting?

I'm Having A Baby, You #&$#*@!

And You--

You've Been Having An Affair!

So Lemme Tell You, Terrence Kelly...

I Promise This Miracle Child Will Repair Our Relationship, Celeste!

Think Of The Endorsements, The Spin-offs...

Say You Can Forgive My Serial Indiscretions!

Don't You Get It, You @&#$%@&?

It's Not &%$%@£ Yours!

Rocketed To Earth From A Parallel World...

...With All The Powers Of The Rainbow!

The First Girl Born On Mars!

Lia Nelson Is The Light Of Our Lives!

Four-time Winner Of Celebrity Crisis!

Lia Nelson, Who Illuminates The Darkness, Who Elevates The Spirit And Brings The Dazzling Young Dawn...!

As Lightray!

"The Power Of Positivity! The Potency Of Hope!"

Lightray

-lightray

22 Million Followers Relying On My Optimistic Updates In A World That's Falling Apart--

--all Looking Up Το Με.

The Girl Who Makes The Sunshine.

All On Her Own In The Dark.

Why Is It? 

Why Am 1 So Sad All The Time? 

Sad Is Real.

Dark Is Good.

Dark Rules.

Mac?

Let Me Show You.

You're Not Mac...

No

Eclipso.

...This Is Apollo.

Houston--

--we Have A Problem--

You Don't Know The Half Of It, Golden Boy!

What Have You Done With Lia?!

...Um--

"Formidable Home Defense"?

Really?

Dubai.

...What's With The "Ugh" Face?

It's A Name With Pedigree!

What's Wrong With Calling Us The Elite?

I Can't Believe You Even Have To Ask That.

Mass-produced Missile-men.

If You Want My Opinion, These Are Covering Fire.

We Should Stick To The Shadows And Wait For The Real Threat To Show.

You See This Weird Fog...?

It Feels Alive--organized.

Oh, Is That What We Should Do?

Don't Let Me Interrupt. Maestro--

I Get It, You're A Hard Man, That's What You're Selling.

Me, I'm The Leader Of This Gang.

As I Recall, Superman Laid Out Our Whole Strategy.

Superman Calls The Shots, Black.

The World's Greatest Superhero?

Not In The Field--not On The Front Line.

In The Field, I'm Leading The Authority.

Are We Clear On That?

Understood.

But For The Record, Steel Seems Way More Qualified Than You.

I Don't Think Any Of This Is Relevant Right Now.

Let's Do Something About The Rain Of Robots!

I Won't Argue.

Why Do We Need A Name, Anyway? We're Not A Rock Band.

Take It Up With Superman!

It's His Weird Idea Of A Joke.

Bottom Line, Hands Up Anyone Else Here Who's Led A Super-team Against The Toughest Man On Earth!

Exactly.

I'm The Leader!

Black, You're Exposing Yourself To Enemy Fire...

...I'm Reading Μετα Signatures--

Here's How This Is Done By Profes-sionals!

Watch And Learn...

We Are The Authority!

No--

We're The Authority!

Fort Superman.

...Predict-o-scope Forecasts Come With Complex Stochastic Interference, But The Broad Outlines Are Consistent...

We're Facing An Unwelcome Attempt To Get My Attention.

What Form It Might Take Remains To Be Seen.

All We Can Be Certain Of Is Its Imminent Likelihood.

Curious...

I've Created Lifelike Effigies Of Several Of My Persistent Enemies.

Luthor, Brainiac, Parasite. Metallo. Mongul...

But I Don't Recall A Statue Of Solomon Grundy...

Born On a Monday!

Solomon Grundy!

Strong, Fast--

All But Mindless--

Mindless?

Quite The Reverse!

Now--

--gurrt!

Unnghff!

Your Speech Patterns...

Familiar..

I Know You!

Then You Know The End Has Come!

We've Clashed Many Times, You And I. But This...

This Will Be Our Last Encounter!

If I Have Anything To Say About It.

Ultra-humanite!

Meet Super-mobile!

Ukkt!

Urrrff!

I Thought You Were Dead...

Should Have Known.

Dead? 

All These Years, You've Grown Slow, Superman...

Long Ago I Schemed To Swap Your Brain For Mine--the Ultimate Mind In The Ultimate Imperishable Body!

As Revenge Goes, There's An Agreeable Symmetry, Eh?

Now You're Weak--you're Worthless Το Με.

So It's Important You Understand...

What I Do Next, I Do For All The Times You Hindered Με...

...Won't...

...Won't Let Youuu...

I'll Wear Your Face To Murder Your Wife And Friends.

I'll Burn You Out, Before I Cast Aside Your Spent Carcass...

...And Take Your Son's Body As My Prize!

But First, To A Place Where The Surgical Equipment Is As Indestructible As You!

A Place Where I Can Exchange This Lifeless Mass Of Lumbering Vegetation For Your Alien Anatomy.

The Last Relic Of The Lost World Of Krypton Will Be Your Final Resting Place!

The Bottle City Of Kandor Awaits.

Imagine My Brain In Your Skull!

Together We Will Remake The World!

To Be Concluded