Current Affairs - Hector Hammond

From reading the solicitations of what's being released today, it looks like things with Hector Hammond are going to be heating up in Superman #20.

Hector Hammond is a character that is so closely associated with the Green Lantern family of books, that it got me thinking about if he has ever shown up in a Superman book before.  Nothing sprung immediately to mind, but luckily google knows all.

It turns out that he made one solitary appearance (aside from a cameo in a Green Lantern serial when Action Comics was Action Comics Weekly) in the pages of Action Comics #799!

This was during the time period where the art took a decidedly non-traditional look.  Very stylized and cartoony, with a definite nod towards the manga sensibility.  I'm a big fan of Joe Kelly's run, so I've learned to like the art from this period, but it does take some getting used to.

In fact, if Superman hadn't said his name in this panel, I wouldn't even have recognized good old Hector.

But there he is, in all of his big head glory, in his sole solitary appearance in the Superman books before the current storyline started.  He doesn't do much in this story, as he's basically being taken advantage of by another doctor at the prison where he's held.  There, he's being forced to mind-control Gorilla Grodd, who naturally gets in a fight with Superman.

All in all, it's a nice stand-alone story, with some interesting layouts and visuals.

Script by Joe Kelly
Pencils by Carlos Meglia
Inks by Carlos Meglia
Colors by Carlos Meglia
Letters by Comicraft

Action Comics #799
The Cage
March 2003
 Copyright (c) DC Comics