Messiah or menace indeed.
What They Say:
Superman finds himself beset as a TV reporter at the new Daily Planet makes a case that Superman brings Metropolis more harm than good, while a vicious new foe attacks those nearest and dearest to Clark Kent! Who are all these new villains attacking Metropolis lately, and what deadly secret connects them? Superman’s not going to like the answer!
The Review:
The dual track of the two main Superman books definitely have been working some interesting ideas as it reworks who Superman is, both in the past and in the recent present. While it may be an info dump, the first seven pages here do a rather good job of catching us up on some of the events of Action Comics as well as material between then and now. It’s done as a documentary special that’s being pitched to Lois at the network, going with the idea of how Superman could be a messiah or a menace, showcasing how he’s brought a lot of danger to Metropolis but was also a key part to the revival of the city and how he saved it and the world many times. Lois of course sees it as a hit piece based on what she knows, which is still sketchy for the audience so far after the first two issues, but it does show that she has a definite slant and bias going on here.
The amount of time spent here at the Daily Planet is pretty significant, especially as the documentary also includes some bits on Glen Glenmorgan, and this is actually a lot of fun to read. I’ve long enjoyed the whole Daily Planet angle, going back to my earliest encounters pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths when he was an anchor, so seeing how the Daily Planet is being integrated into the bigger company and the issues personnel wise there gives it a bit of room to maneuver for some different kinds of stories and character tweaks that can be done. Especially when it comes to Clark as there are definite issues there that goes back to how he views himself as a reporter for the underdog and those with no voice. Which in turn becomes part of the focus here as his recent distractions with the Krypton-ish creatures have caused him to forget a piece he was working on with another reporter named Kelley.
With there being a connective theme between the creatures, it’s not a surprise that a third shows up and this one is a snow and ice based one. Superman’s got a bit of a better handle on how to deal with it, or at least he hopes so. I rather like the less than fully certain Superman that we’ve grown accustomed to, though he does at least present himself as completely confident. There’s some good action to it, but since it gives over a good chunk of the book to the Daily Planet segment, it doesn’t get as much room to maneuver as the previous two issues did. But it conveys the basics of it and doesn’t overextend either, which is a definite plus since it would start to get repetitive. And knowing that, more of what’s going on is slid in at the end that at least that hopefully starts moving things forward more clearly and on to the next bit.
Release Notes:
This comiXology edition of Superman comes with the main cover as released with the print edition and no other extras.
In Summary:
While I’m hoping that things start to move forward a bit more clearly soon, I’m still quite enjoying watching this version of Superman deal with some threats that have a Krypton flavor to them. There’s an uncertainty about him that’s enjoyable to read and I like the younger feel about him that’s plainly evident with a lot of his facial expressions. He’s good at what he does, but as we see from the documentary piece, he’s still struggling to be accepted and has a pretty mixed reaction from residents of Metropolis about his presence there. Clark himself is on the slim side here unfortunately, which is an area I want to see more of since I’m enjoying the version of him in Action Comics as well. But getting a lot of title material here with Superman himself, as well as all the back story, I rather liked this issue though it’s getting to the point where I definitely want a little more meat now.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
