Superman #32 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Laura Martin (colors)

The Story: The last son of Krypton meets the last son of Earth.

The Review: Do you want to know the easiest way to tell if a writer/artist is in the top tier of comic book creators? Don’t answer; of course you do! All you have to do is see they have when attached to an already ongoing series. If they’re lower on the popularity scale, hardly anyone will take notice. If they’re big-time, it’s like the title just came out with a new #1 issue, like their creative energies have the power to transform the old into the young again.

As I never once picked up an issue of Superman until now, I can’t make any comparisons to what came before, but I can say that Johns makes me feel like I’m reading a brand-new series. You have to say this for the man: he knows how to write a good hook. Like a rapper sampling a famous guitar riff for his latest single, Johns takes a story we’ve heard so often before—a baby boy rocketed from a doomed setting by his loving parents—and tweaks it ever so slightly to make it fit his purposes yet also remind us why we love that story so much in the first place.

The similarities between Neil’s origin story and Clark’s are clear enough, but the differences are significant enough to be intriguing. Rather than a new world, Neil was sent to a new dimension altogether,* one his parents consider “a better world,” where the “populace seems completely devoid of violence towards one another.” Yet that seems plainly contradicted when Neil arrives on our world tussling with a far from pacifist alien creature. So exactly what kind of place did he end up in, and how will that affect his psychology?

More importantly, how will that affect the way he views his homeworld, now that he’s back? Unlike Clark, who’s gotten some rudimentary knowledge of Krypton’s language, history, and culture, Neil labored under the impression that Earth was destroyed, which means he knows nothing about it. Or he should, except he greets Clark in perfectly correct English when they’re formally introduced—another seeming contradiction, which makes you inclined to be suspicious of how this is all going to turn out.

But all this is the outer plot-work, the story that will keep the title moving forward. What’s more important is the stuff happening underneath, the long-term developments for Clark and his supporting cast. Right off the bat, Johns makes it clear he’s not making any major shake-ups here. We get your classic Daily Planet staff, with Perry, Jimmy, and Lois acting and sounding very much like themselves, but refreshed. Johns direct style of dialogue is in full force here, but it’s smartly used on Perry, whose journalistic gruffness makes it work to put both Jimmy and Clark in new light.

I’m sure we’ll have opportunity to talk about Jimmy’s family issues down the line, so let’s focus on our star. By calling attention to Clark’s standoffish attitude, Perry attacks a major flaw in Clark’s characterization post-relaunch. Superman loves society; hence his constant attempts to make friends out of enemies and his sterling relationship to the general public. But the last few years have seen him move closer to Batman and Wonder Woman in their firm distances from the rest of the world, and that’s just not how we see Superman. Johns implicitly recognizes that when we see Clark at home, trying to hit up Diana and Bruce and failing, thus left to go over old family albums alone. It’s a lonely life, and the wistfulness in his voice signals that a change is gonna come on that front.

A big deal was made over Romita’s participation on this series, and while I can see his appeal, I confess that I don’t quite see what the fuss is all about. His art, like Mark Buckingham’s, is faultlessly clean and straightforward, with pleasant linework that can be razor-straight or easily pliable as needed. He’s not the most expressive artist, but he’s capable of capturing a nice range of emotion, and he can definitely draw a mighty action scene when the script calls for it. But there’s also something a touch mechanical, perhaps schooled, in his overall style, which takes some getting used to.

Conclusion: No drastic or radical changes here, but very much your quintessential Superman issue, cleaned up to feel comfortably refurbished, if not sparkling new.

Grade: B+

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: * In this case, it’s probably an alternate universe. His parents call Neil’s destination “Dimension Four,” but they’re also destroyed by strange matter from “Dimension Two.”

– I don’t know who this Steve Lombard is, but already I have a bad impression of him. The man is a bit of a lech and he stinks up the bathroom when he’s done. Strikes one and two.

– Hm. A hooded man who knows Superman’s identity and claims to have taught him a formative lesson in getting up when knocked down. I suppose it’s too much to hope that this might be an inexplicably resurrected Jonathan Kent, right?

– I miss Clark’s unkempt hair, sloppy dress, and nerd vibe from Rags Morales’ time on Action Comics. Now that was a look that could convince you that Clark Kent and Superman were two different people.