DC’s Superman Leviathan Rising #1 is a big $10 tee-off issue. That’s ‘golf speak’. It means that this issue is prepping us, the reader, for a couple of new titles.
Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane will soon have their own books.
And thank goodness for that bit of information, for it unravels a bit of the complicated yarn of this story. You see, there is quite a bit of staggering away from straight narrative in this issue. Lois has her moments. Jimmy has his. Okay, I get it now.
Here are the basics: There are those who plot the downfall of Superman, therefore associating this title with the Leviathan storyline. So, a sneaky little plan is hatched to endanger those close to Superman. That way, Supes will come running. Yikes, we are alarmed at this!
But there is also a wacky Jimmy Olsen parallel plot. Inside this comic, it appears that Jimmy is appearing in a fictional 1960’s style comic book. Sort of as if the Dial H for Hero comic had mated with the Superman comic in the Bizarro world, and had produced little offbeat comic babies. What?? See where I’m going with this? Wacky, groovy and way out.
But with four (count ’em) writers working on this 72-page comic, plus five artists, three colourists, five letterers, and three editors, it’s no wonder this book has a Leviathan-shaped narrative.
On the plus side, there are some truly ingenious ideas in the intro part of Leviathan Rising, as our principle evil plot is being constructed. The use of timing, dialogue and characters really is brilliant in this sci-fi scene. And amazing artwork sequences, particularly inside the Daily Planet newsroom. Love it, love it.
The artwork style changes from artist to artist, scene to scene, the lettering style too. And as we see the individual storylines stitched together in the form of a finished book, there are some puzzling seamy situations emerging from time to time. But I’ll skip over that information in order to guard your enjoyment of this issue, for it surely will lead you in many divergent directions. And in the words of the Talking Heads, you may ask yourself, “how did I get here”?
DC Superman Leviathan Rising #1, $9.99 for 72 pages of content. Rated Teen.
Newsdesk