Superman #35 – Review

 One of Superman’s most frustrating habits is the way he always manage to skirt tough questions. There’s no end to the stories that place him in a difficult moral dilemma; it’s just that somehow, he uses his powers to save the day and eventually the dilemma and its consequences slip away. It’s why his (involuntary) murder of Dr. Light has received scant mention since Forever Evil took over, and why you can already feel his Doomsday period fading in everyone’s memories.

If that doesn’t happen, the writers can usually manage to trick their way out of putting Clark in a dicey situation in the first place. Last issue, when Neil lost his cool, killing a mind-controlled innocent used as the Machinist’s decoy, it seemed like Clark had some sweaty decisions to make. He’s spared by the concededly good point that a device that can crack into Neil’s skull will pretty much kill your average human, meaning Neil only blasted the walking dead. It’s stuff like this that removes the tension from Superman stories.

In this case, Johns doesn’t let go of the issue quite so easily as Clark scolds Neil for the murderous intent behind the act. “You can’t ever use your powers like that against someone,” he says firmly.

“I thought he was going to hurt you.”

“It doesn’t matter. You have to find another way. It’s important you understand that.”

That’s another frustrating habit of Clark’s: sticking to his guns even if it means cutting off the moral discussion. Essentially what he’s saying to Neil is there’s no room for mistakes made in the heat of the moment. At the same time, he has few misgivings about the consequences of inaction. In response to Neil’s appalled reaction to the world’s massive stockpile of weapons, Clark insists the way forward is to change people by example than force. He may be right, ultimately, but he also gets to avoid answering Neil’s perfectly reasonable follow-up: “But how many have laid down their guns?”

“Some.”

“And they join the others that suffer at the hands of those who refuse?” Neil doesn’t wait for an answer; he simply barrels on about how hopeless the situation seems. But you have to wonder what Clark’s response would be if the question wasn’t rhetorical. How would he rationalize the innocent lives lost as he waits on the world to change?

Instead of facing that old quandary, Johns introduces another, one possibly even more compelling. Rather than push Clark’s buttons, Neil maneuvers around him by offering an escape from the violent world. As a narrative left-turn, it’s almost perfect. It’s actually a bigger challenge to Clark’s philosophy because as far as I know, there’s no reason to stop Neil or the six million people his ship can carry from their exodus to the Fourth Dimension. I’m sure Clark will find some way to get the last word, but he won’t preach his way out of this one so easily.

The Machinist almost gets lost in all this, but a couple scintillating discoveries pop up. There’s nothing to say about his gender ambiguity (“…I’m a bit of both.”), but the circumstances may provide the depth s/he needs: “Two brilliant people sewn into one. I didn’t choose this. Though I’ve long since accepted it.” His muttered comment about a “Mr. Oz” also sounds like a thread that will come back later (maybe revealed as the hooded man watching Clark all this time), so we haven’t seen the last of Machinist yet.

I’ve never been exactly thrilled with Romita’s art, but this is the first issue where it’s blatantly dissatisfying. Clark and Neil’s action sequences are rather hackneyed, almost bland, as you don’t get a very clear view of the mechanical birds sent to attack them nor the tactics used to dispatch them. The panel where the two superheroes finish them off with respective energy visions looks nothing more than varicolored blotches against a shaggy, black mess.

– Minhquan Nguyen