By: James Robinson and Greg Rucka (writers), Pete Woods and Ron Randall (artists), Nei Ruffino and Blond (colorists)
The Story: Kal-El and Adam Strange investigate the mysterious assassin who has just struck at the council again.
What’s Good: A good old detective mystery is always fun as the reader races to put together the pieces before the heroes can. And watching the arrogant incompetence of the Kryptonians contrasting with the cool, occasionally snide detective work of Adam Strange, all refereed by Kal-El, was fun too. And speaking of characters, when we get to see Zod again, he sucks the reader’s attention away from Kal-El, like he always does. My theory is that Rucka and Robinson find Zod fascinating and the freedom they have to explore him, but feel more like stewards of Kal-El, a character who has calcified into an icon over the last seven decades.
Woods and Randall continue to show off some fine artwork. Faces are expressive, camera angles are dramatic and the level of detail is gorgeous. Check out the assassination, the shattering glass, the angle and the poses on the double splash page (pages 2-3). They bring Kandor and Kryptonian technology to life with great, panoramic scenes of new Krypton, but also by letting Ruffino and Blond get on with some great coloring work (take a look at the lighting of the buildings on page 12 and Zod’s physio equipment on page 13).
What’s Not So Good: Most of the councilors are still clichés, the typical clueless politicians and bureaucrats we see in a lot of stories. This makes them and the story a little less meaningful. Also, the mystery so far is pointing at a frame-up job on the labor leader (not really a spoiler), but why is everyone, especially Kal-El, so slow to pick up on it? This leads to a running problem I have with this series, which is that it isn’t really Kal-El’s story. In this issue and the last, the real mover and driver of the investigation is Adam Strange, making Kal-El a passenger. Strange drops the hints that it’s a frame-up, but Kal-El doesn’t seem to get it until Zod (who hasn’t been doing any investigating at all) tells him. It’s unfortunate that Rucka and Robinson have given DC’s greatest hero such a passive role in all this (his biggest functions in this book are to be a cultural translator and to express shock and indignation). It is an unfortunate diminishment of the character.
Conclusion: World of New Krypton has meandered through eleven issues so far without coming into focus. If you’re into complete collections and you’ve already got the other 10, you should really buy this issue. The series wraps up next issue and based on the cover of issue #12, it looks like it’s ending on another new development that makes this series episodic rather than surprising.
Grade: C
-DS Arsenault
Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | Adam Strange, Comic Book Reviews, comic books, comic reviews, Comics, DC, DC Comics, DS Arsenault, Greg Rucka, James Robinson, Kal-El, Nei Ruffino, Pete Woods, review, Ron Randall, Superman, Superman, Superman: World of New Krypton, Superman: World of New Krypton #11, SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #11 review, WCBR, Weekly Comic Book Review, weeklycomicbookreview.com
