“This is our home and maybe it’s times we started living like it.”
“Remember kid, every action doesn’t deserve a reaction”
Two tag lines for the price of one? What are ya doing man!? I know , I know, I couldn’t resist putting two good tag lines that help give a good solid idea of what this stand-alone issue is about without giving much away. After everything that happened in the first issue of the Son of Superman arc, post battle with Eradicator , it seems that much like Tom King’s Batman #7, this is very much a quiet standalone issue. This issue focuses more on Clark and his family having R&R time with each other.
With all the superhero-Ing that Superman tends to do, there are moments where even he needs some much-needed downtime. To the disbelief of Lois and his son Jon, they actually head to the Hamilton County Fair to have some much-needed family time. I love page 5 when Clark tells Lois, convincing her that he’ll even give her his cape to prove that there won’t be any crime fighting. Seeing the look on Lois face not really believing Clark with a sarcastic ” Mmmm” comment was very humorous. There is a cute moment when Jon sees his friend and romantic interest Kathy interacting with each other and without Jon knowing, Lois sorta acts as a wing man for him. Lois props him to say something polite instead of unintentionally turning down Kathy’s offer to see her Cow enter a Blue Ribbon contest. It’s a cute little moment that I think almost anyone and everyone at some point in life has experienced when it concerns someone of romantic interests during their adolescents aside from adulthood. Another thing I like to add is seeing Clark and Lois slowly return to what they’re former careers were by displaying interest to write for the local Hamilton newspaper. A nice nod to former occupations that they were very well known for throughout the 20th and 21st century. You can take the writer out of reporting news stories, but you can’t take reporting news stories out of the writer.
We get to see Clark and family interact with Jon’s school teacher and see little moments of people at the fair enjoying the scenery. Yet despite all the allure and glow, there are some sinister deeds going down caused by three men trying to make a quick heist for cash at the fair. Without spoiling the issue , I just want to say that this harkens back to Joe Kelly’s Superman stuff in the early 2000’s in terms of good one shot stories that deal with community and family. It just feels so right, and even better it’s humorous. Not a lot of action, but a lot of genuine character interaction. It’s just great to see Superman as a father and his responsibility to his family. I love page the way page 20 is dialogued and illustrated with a hint of a Batman reference.
Peter J Tomasi and Patrick Gleason are doing a tremendous job with this Superman series so far. It keeps me enthusiastic for what they write next for the Super Family. The dialogue is so organic and flows really well, and every character interaction feels genuine and convincing you as the reader that these are possibly real people when in all reality are just fictional characters on printed paper. That’s the beauty of this issue, it’s a good issue focused on family and community bonding. Tomasi and Gleason continue to write a great Superman series , and I hope the momentum does not let up.
The art, on the other hand, is gorgeous! I mean, I love Doug Mahnke’s artwork ( which he provided cover art for this issue), but good lord, I enjoyed Jorge Jimenez’s artwork. It’s beautiful, it’s fluid, it’s lively, and feels so energetic despite that it’s a comic that’s just about a family enjoying family time at a fair. He really does a great job, and I love his art style which matches this book greatly. Aside from Doug Mahnke, I hope to see Jiminez return to this book later down the road in this series since he did a superb job providing the art for this issue. While the art is fantastic, the inks and colors by Alejandro Sanchez is the cherry on top of the cake. Sanchez colors this book with such a flair that if makes you feel as though you’re at the fair, no different than Coney Island or a country fair. Sanchez manages to provide beautiful color work that seamlessly adds more to the experience. This whole Superman team along with letterer Rob Leigh are knocking it out of the park with this series. Definitely get this issue , whether you’re a Superman fan or just a genuine comic book fan that likes slow, downtime issues about the individual, not the superhero persona.
Newsdesk