The fight rages on as a new twist surfaces.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Josh Reed
What They Say:
It’s the moment you never thought you’d see—Superman must team with General Zod to defeat Rogol Zaar or risk banishment for all three in the cold prison of the Phantom Zone forever. Whatever you do, do not skip to the last page—the end of this issue changes the lives of Superman and his family forever as the Unity Saga continues!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ve been enjoying Bendis’ run overall on the Superman books with their different approaches and intentions. The main series continues to feel more like something bigger and action-oriented than I expected but it mixes in a good bit of character material in order to explore how Superman views the world. Ivan Reis and Joe Prado definitely give it a great sense of power and this installment in particular has a lot of that with so many gorgeous splash pages in order to set the tone right. While I’m typically not a fan of when a book is just extended fight scenes like this it works well with the scale of what’s going on here and the artists really capture it beautifully.
The fight in the Phantom Zone is largely between Zaar and Zod at this point, though Zod has largely teamed with Superman. For Superman, the narration focuses on his dialogue about the way that he has to move with his super speed at times, tying it into a story with Lois. But it reflects on how this fight will take place in the space of seconds when you really get down to it and so much rides on it and he hasn’t made a choice as to how to participate. But when he does subconsciously make the decision, calling out “For Kandor!” that will inspire Zod more than anything else, it turns into something even more intense as the three fight across multiple pages with some really impactful scenes. I love the details, the movements, and just the kind of absolute craziness of the scale of it.
Of course, something has to slow up the fight a bit and having the Atom and Adam Strange pull him out of the Phantom Zone is just the thing. He’s not exactly eager to get back into the fight in the Zone but knows he has to go there – yet the needs of Earth as it recovers from being brought back into reality may be the greater need. I do like that you get the Atom saying a couple of times that the bad guys are in the Zone and they’re fine there as the reason to ignore it for now, but there really is a lot at stake with it. Superman’s time being the world’s hero is given a few pages with some big things to help with – while still zeroing in on the needs of the individuals – comes across well. But knowing that fight is unfolding and the future of Kryptonian history riding on what happens looms large.
In Summary:
The Superman book continues to deliver in terms of the action with some beautiful pages that showcase some amazing pieces. I’ve enjoyed the larger tale and I’ve enjoyed Zod’s turn with him finally looking at a big picture view of what needs to be done to deal with all of this for his people. Bendis does some solid stuff in giving us a little more insight into how he views Zod and Zaar but also expands on his time with Lois and how their relationship works and her worries about it. Combine that with the great artwork we get throughout, the real impact of the fights themselves, and it’s a solidly engaging work that I do wish would get to the point just a bit quicker than it has so far.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 12th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
