“Truth, Justice …Family”
Well, folks! We’re finally here! The conclusion to the superbly fun Son of Superman arc comes to a close. I have to say, I love the amount of attention to character and detail that Peter J Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke have executed superbly in this issue of Superman. It’s the 6th issue and The writers really understand what makes Superman click. Allow me to get to the point in this current issue.
The story continues where the last issue left off as Superman (with the help from the Freed souls of Krypton that were trapped within Eradicator ) faces off against Eradicator. The battle heats up within the confines of Batman’s Moon Base where Superman is beating the crap out of Eradicator as His son Jon and his wife Lois find any means to assist in the fight. Superman’s punches are so powerful that it catches the attention of NASA and other Media outlets as they try to make sense of the strange ruckus that is erupting from the Moon. Superman manages to do his job when he manages to defeat Eradicator, and not only frees the souls of Krypton, but also Krypto! I was worried for a minute that the writers were gonna forget that detail, but thankfully they don’t. But that’s not what makes this current issue let alone, the Son of Superman arc so great. What makes it great as that we see the development of Jon who’s started out sorta meek, and is now becoming a confident young kid, and most definitely a worthy successor to Superman since Pre-FlashPoint Superboy (Connor Kent). As mentioned before, I love the chemistry between the Superman Family. What really makes this issue and arc are the strong heart to heart moments where Clark and Lois raise, and advise their son Jon on not how to be a successor to Superman, but to be a good young man, and mainly, to be his own person and his own path.
Tomasi, Gleason, and Mahnke all do a great job in this issue. There are a lot of parts I liked written in this issue that I haven’t mentioned, but scenes where Lois states to Jon “Isn’t it enough to have a super mom who’s got your back” only for Jon to respond “Don’t you mean Bat Mom” is just pure gold. What makes this book so great among the many Rebirth Ongoing series so far is that it’s more focused on the characters and their development rather than the bombastic action. Not that action isn’t great, it’s a must in a superhero comic series, but it’s the character moments and development that makes the book. It reminds me of the old Spider-Man comics from the early runs by Stan and Ditko/ Romita and Straczynski (minus One More Day) in terms of focusing on the essence of the character. If a writer can get the voice and motivations of a character right, then they are doing their job right as much they are getting the story right.
The art by Patrick Gleason is superb! I didn’t realize it was Patrick Gleason since his art style and Mahnke’s art style are very similar . Which isn’t a bad thing, it’s a very good thing because it keeps the aesthetic momentum of the prior issues from breaking the concentration of the narrative. That kind of stuff can take the reader out of a book sometimes, even when it’s a strong story, sometimes the change in art can be jarring. But that’s not a problem here since Gleason keeps the artistic flow and style going. It didn’t dawn on me until now that his style kind of has a Manga aesthetic which helps provide the fun aspect of the series. Everyone from the inker Mick Grey to colorist John Kalisz , and letterer Rob Leigh do a fantastic job in their own right helping solidify the vocal tones and weight between the characters and story within this book. A superb job, and I hope this team continues throughout their run on this series. They really make this Superman title a standout title than any other Superman title prior to this one.
Newsdesk