Consequences come home to roost in weird ways.
Creative Staff:
Story: Gene Luen Yang
Art: Viktor Bogdanovic, Richard Friend
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
“MADE IN CHINA” part four! It’s the Justice League of China vs. the Chinese Freedom Fighters! As the New Super-Man tests his power against the Flying Dragon General’s team, a shocking new revelation will stop our young hero dead in his tracks. And trust us, you won’t believe what Kenan Kong discovers! All this, plus the Chinese Freedom Fighters’ ultimate weapon arrives, and it’ll be the STAR of the show…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Like a number of other people reading New Super-Man, there’s certainly an odd feeling about the book in trying to get into it. I like what Gene Luen Yang is doing in that we get a Superman that’s similar to the original in that he’s kind of a jerk and he’s got to grow into the role. The problem is that in today’s comic book marketplace, taking the time for things to happen just doesn’t seem to happen as readers wants things quicker. I’m part of that as well because I know the arc that Kenan has to work through but he’s a problematic character in his jerkiness and that makes me want him to be better, and quick. Those steps are here and have been since the book kicked off but I know I want it to happen faster even as I complain that books skip too many things that should take time. It’s a tough position!
This issue focuses a good bit on the action side of things with General Flying Dragon and his Freedom Fighters having crashed the party. Their reasoning is strong enough as they believe the Minister of Self-Reliance is engaging in extralegal kidnappings and their comrades are disappearing among others. Taking Kenan out first and subduing the others goes about as well as you can imagine so we get some good fight material between them all with Kenan and the General going at it the most. While he gets away and the other two are captured, it reveals an interesting plan in motion that’s definitely appealing as Paper Man and Ghost Girl are using this to get into the Crab Shell prison to free someone else. It’s not the easiest or smartest plan, but it’s an ideal comic book/tv/movie plan and it expands things well with what the General and his group are up to.
The flip side to this issue is Kenan and the others having to pay the price with Dr. Omen for their sneaking out, even if they did add two more to the Crab Shell. She actually uses this to her advantage in a big way as Laney Lan has been snooping, giving her an opportunity to do a new public relations rollout for the team. It’s kind of comical with the back and forth we get from Kenan and his team as Omen rattles off things, but she’s reminding me more and more of classic Max Lord. As if I didn’t trust her enough. The book also shows some good growth for Kenan as he realizes his mistake in revealing his true identity previously as that has him going to try and check on his father, which leads to its own revelation. As if I didn’t like these characters enough already to get a twist like this that I’ll easily admit I didn’t see coming.
In Summary:
New Super-Man continues to have a lot to deal with and a decent chunk of that simply comes from reader expectations and desires that goes against the type of storytelling that’s being employed here. Storytelling I like, which means I have to shift my expectations to where they should be instead of where I want them to be. As we’ve seen before, Bogdanovic does some great stuff here with the flow of the action and the general impact of the bigger scenes, but he damn well wins book of the week for me for one of the best last pages I’ve seen in a bit, especially with some lush coloring from Hi-Fi that really shines even more through the digital installments I’m getting here as opposed to print.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 12th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
