Review: Absolute Superman #22

In what feels like a fast turnaround, Absolute Superman #22 came out this week, a mere 2 weeks after the last issue came out. It also starts a new arc for the book with Superman trying to track down Brainiac and, it seems, running into new villains on the way. 

The last arc with Superman fighting Black Adam alongside Hawkman and Steel was a beautiful brawl spanning the world and the moon. This issue, writer Jason Aaron continues to keep the action at a high level with Superman fighting Metallo, the mutated and tortured Christopher Smith Peacemaker. Indeed, the bulk of the issue are these two going at it, blood-soaked and brutal.

But much like the Black Adam story, throughout the brawl, Superman is hoping to make a connection, the de-escalate, and to help Metallo. I think that this is Absolute Superman's biggest strength. In this dark world where Metallo is a mentally addled young man tortured by Brainiac into being a weapon ... a sort of poster boy for the Absolute universe ... here is Superman trying to lift up, not punch down. 

Juan Ferreyra is back on art and brings it. Yes, the violence is gloriously rendered. But the character design is great too. And there is a page layout in the middle of the book that really reminded me of the power of comics, where words and images can mesh. Ferreyra is the perfect partner for a 1-2 punch art combo with Rafa Sandoval for this book. Sandolval does a great job on the cover with the looming Brainiac staring over the impending battle.

This almost felt like a rest issue rather than an opening chapter and was a bit of an exhale after the intensity of the Adam story. On to the book.

Review: Supergirl Survive #3

Supergirl Survive #3 came out this week and was another interesting chapter in this Elseworlds where Kara Zor-El has survived the nuclear destruction of Krypton and is trying to safely raise her baby cousin Kal-El.

I can't help but feel that writers Ethan Park and Griffin Sheridan got the idea for this issue from the famous Swamp Thing #55 'My Blue Heaven' issue by Alan Moore and Rick Veitch. In that issue, as in this issue, the hero is lost in space, living on a blue world of their own design, trying to forget their emotional trauma, until someone lifts them out of their fugue. In Swamp Thing, it was a flower John Constantine. In this, it is Ms. Mxyzptlk.

But here, Kara is burying her own issues under the surface in hopes of giving Kal a better life. Mxy shows our hero that it isn't sustainable. Is Mxyzptlk a good catalyst for the story? Or the right one? We have to get Kara off this planet for her story to continue and there is no way she would leave on her own without a nudge. But this felt a little out of the blue ... pun intended.

Still, the story is showing how responsible Kara feels towards her legacy and her charge.

Rod Reis continues to impress me with his art on the book. Here he has to bring a sort of painterly approach to things given the sheer amount of blue in the book. 

On to the book.

Review: My Adventures With Superman S3E8 - It's Reigning (Super)Men

My Adventures With Superman Season 3 Episode 8, It's Reigning (Super) Men, came out last weekend and it was superb. It was jaw-dropping. It was gob-smacking. It was insane. It was perfect.

I am running out of superlatives for this show this season, walking a tight rope of silliness, comic homages, character growth, and epic action. How can it be all things and do them all well? How ?!? 

Three weeks ago, we had a brutal action episode, Superman and his allies fighting the Cyborg Superman. The action was huge in scope and destruction. I did not think it could be topped.

This week we have a similar high action episode but this one even bigger in scope and destruction and emotion. Our heroes and some new allies fight an all-powerful Eradicator, a mix of Superman' powers, Lex's evil mind, and (I assume) some Doomsday evolution powers. This Eradicator is like Doomsday in that he is seemingly unstoppable, violent, murderous, and always gaining new abilities. But it is also like Lex, devious in the end. Like episode 5, this is Dragon Ball Z meets Zach Snyder.

And yet, in all this brawling is intense character development. Lois worried about her future as a mother, wondering if she'll be any good at the role. Clark still suffering from his lack of powers and watching his family being injured, obviously pained by his helplessness. The future children of Lois and Clark are cold and focused, lacking any of the love their parents should give them and willing to kill.

The character that steals this episode is Supergirl. I bristled at her last season being a weapon for Brainiac. But her growth this season, loving Earth, loving Superman, realizing she can decide her future has been brilliant. Her fierceness and hope are pure classic Supergirl. And what she does in this episode, stepping up as a hero, defending her family and her future, and sacrificing herself is just perfect. This is Supergirl. 

Enough intro. On to some moments worth savoring.

Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest Annual 2026

Batman/Superman World's Finest Annual 2026 came out last week and was a fun sort of diversion issue. We have seen in this book a World's Finest duo of Supergirl and Robin. We saw Jimmy Olsen and Batgirl. So why not Pa Kent and Alfred.

Writer Mark Russell and artist Clayton Henry handle this main story where Pa and Alfred share their take on being a father to these heroes. In fact, part of this is story is Alfred wondering is he a butler or is he a father figure when he at times he feels like both. But what I like here is how these two have to save the World's Finest heroes. Funny.

Henry has such a polished look. I have enjoyed his stuff whenever he is on the super-books. But here, he sort of ratchets up the emotion and the humor.

There is a back-up story by Mark Waid and Tyrone Finch with art by Pat Boutin. In this short story, Superman is jealous of Batman when Bruce Wayne has to take Lois Lane out on date to keep an eye on her. It is silly, seeing Superman use super-breath to stymie Bruce's efforts to impress Lois at a carnival. And it is amusing to think of Batman as wanting to rile up Superman by play-flirting. The art by Boutin is close enough to Adrian Gutierrez to feel right at home.

Not a bad 5th week book, a summer annual of breezy fun.

Review: Superman Father Of Tomorrow #3

Superman Father of Tomorrow #3 came out last week, meaning we are halfway through this Elseworlds look at what would happen if Jor-El was the lone survivor who made it to Earth. 

This Jor-El is trying to be Superman combining his super-powers with his super-science to try make Earth a cleaner, safer place. And his heart seems to be in the right place. But the way this book is playing out, it seems like the people of the planet think he is more of a benevolent dictator.

Last issue, I complained a bit about the time jump between the first two issues and how it made some plot twists lack any power. I can't be surprised by Luthor's turn if I haven't seen him be an ally. This issue suffers from the same problem. We have clearly jumped some time ahead, an unclear amount but long, and so it is hard for me to be too invested in the plot. Last issue ended with Jor-El stating he was going to make free energy for everyone in the world to end conflicts. Did he do that? Who knows. 

As a result, I am just not immeresed in this story by Kenny Porter which I think has some decent ideas in it.

The art by Danny Earls is a sort of thick-lined, blocky style which doesn't really mirror the new future Jor-El has envisioned. Perhaps that is the point. I do like his take on the Elseworld's magical characters.

On to the issue.

Review: Superman Annual 2026

Last week in Action Comics #1100, we saw Superman drained of his King Omega power and rescued from the time stream by Superman. This week in the Superman Annual 2026, we get the story of what happened to him between the end of D.C.K.O. and the rescue.

I'll start out by saying I liked this annual a lot. Writer Joshua Williamson and artist Eddy Barrows give us a pretty wild story, bouncing from the time stream to a desolate future to a villain's headquarters. We get plenty of Legions, an old Legion villain, a hero I haven't seen in a long time, and a character I thought forever in the dustbin of DC's limbo.

Barrows' art is it's usual graceful beauty. When the stakes get big, his art get big as well. But lately I have found his quiet moments, Clark talking to Lois in their apartment, where his art really sings. Yasmine Putri is on art for the back end of the book, introducing us to a new villain and showcasing the upcoming LSH book.

But what is this annual? The epilogue of D.C.K.O.? A backdoor prologue to the new Legion of Super-Heroes? The beginning of Kingdom of Zod? All of those things?  One thing that I like is that DC, at least the super-books, seem to be going from mini-event from mini-event. And yet, there hasn't been any event fatigue because while there is a thread through all of them, each book has been able to stand alone.

Whatever this book is, it works. As an long long long time Legion fan, I was pretty thrilled with the end of the story. On to the details.

Review: My Adventures With Superman S3E7: The Ex Games

My Adventures With Superman S3E7, The Ex Games, was another fun diversion after the brutal Cyborg Superman episode back in E5. But this wasn't just about the humor and another breath of fresh air. This episode pushed forward the underlying theme of this season. Who are you and who can you become?

Clark is powerless and has been struggling greatly with who he is if he isn't Superman. Can he even like his life.

Kara has been trying to distance herself from the Brainiac trauma, wondering if she can ever put that violent past behind her, even if she has embraced Earth as a home, a place she loves.

Lois is trying to figure out her future and who she will be if she marries Clark. Will she still be able to be a Lois she is proud of, happy with. 

And Jimmy is Jimmy.

These storylines have been front and center for most of this season, just under the surface of the threat of the Cyborg Superman, the simmering evil of Lex, and the dystopian futures we have seen. It is that seamless mix of character growth and action plot that has made this Superman content one of the best I have seen recently. Toss in humor and deep cut comic references, and you have a winner.

So seeing our main characters in a Squid Game styles tournament against other versions of themselves is a good way to showcase differences. Of course, the tournament is a plot by Mr. Mxyzptlk so everything isn't as it seems.

On to some details that stood out. But seriously, I hope everyone is watching this.