The book had a decent pitch, Jon finally dealing directly with Ultraman who is working his way through the multiverse killing Kals. I thought getting some closure on the Ultraman story was a pretty good idea. But it turned out that was a feint.
Writer Tom Taylor gives us 2 issues of that story until Ultraman is killed by the Injustice Superman, snipping that plot thread before Jon can get closure. It irked me for a couple of reasons. One, this is a 6 issue mini-series and 1/3 of it was, in a sense, wasted by setting up a story that is ended abruptly. Two, I wanted Jon to face Ultraman. There is great character conflict with them; that is a story I want. But it was taken away.
Instead, and perhaps slyly, Taylor sends the series to the Injustice universe. I know there are those who tout that Son of Superman was a success. I can't imagine DC would have ended it if it was flourishing. Injustice was a success for Taylor. So maybe he was thinking that if I send my version of Jon to a universe with a dedicated fandom I might upgrade sales. But I don't follow Injustice and now I have to get caught up on that universe. This issue is basically a primer of that world catching me up. But because this issue is mostly exposition on the versions of the DC characters there, it seems like we will be 50% through the series before we will reach the story that is being told. Now, just like with Ultraman there is some juice in Jon facing Injustice Superman. The book ends with a decent hook. Still, I can only think that I wasn't given the story I wanted and sent to a universe I don't care about. And because I am going in a little sour, things I think I might usually like are falling flat.
All that blather aside, Clayton Henry continues to give us a smooth, beautiful book. His art flows well. He gives us a lot of characters and a lot of action here and it all works. This is a more of a team book right now given all the heroes we meet and he handles them all very well. The art definitely elevates the book.
On to the details.
Last issue, Jon exploded in blue electric energy but then was weakened.
Here he awakens in the Injustice universe being care for by Lex Luthor. Luthor knows about other universes and what he is like there. Here he seems pretty upstanding, caring for Jon and explaining Jon's new power.
To me it reads like the Solar Flare power Superman used in the Geoff Johns/John Romita run. Massive energy output but depletes all stored energy. At least Lex here says it can be honed for more controlled bursts. Jon is going to become the blue electric Superman, it is just a matter of time.
Meanwhile, Superman is talking to Wonder Woman about how Jon is the son he wasn't allowed to have when Lois got killed. Diana is a bit concerned about Jon's presence and Kal's emotions perhaps blinding Superman to the potential threat Jon might be.
We get a bit of Superman's backstory. He lost Lois and Jon. (We know that event led him down the path of fascism that he is on.) He couldn't hold back given when he recognized who Jon was.
Nice POV here by Henry. We are looking up at Injustice Supes, a classic heroic upshot, even though he is talking about killing Ultraman. Like Jon, perhaps here we are supposed to be thinking the best.
But this is just the first 'let me fill you in on the Injustice Universe for anyone new' moments in the book.
The Flash roars in to talk about two uprisings on the planet.
Now usually these moments, Flash wondering who Jon is, would get a chuckle out of me. This is like a Bendis side quip.
But when I read this, perhaps already calculating pages that have been devoted to non-plots, I kind of eye-rolled.
Jon joins Injustice Superman in the Gotham uprising where an older, apparently super-powered Damian is trying to bring in the rogue Batman.
I suppose Batman is the rebel against despot Superman. We get more panels of Superman giving us the history of the Injustice world.
Since I don't know the Injustice universe I appreciated this in a sense. But I also know that because I need all this exposition, I am being denied 'new story'. And since I don't know Injustice, I don't know why Batman, who is usually all about destroying crime and wanting order, would fight this Superman.
For anyone out there who knows, is Damian powered?
Now one of my absolute, most disliked scene in the Son of Superman book was Jon taking his father to task for not doing enough ... as if Superman hasn't done enough for the world. It also fed into the over-simplified politics of that book.
I am glad Taylor revisited it here. Because Injustice Superman says that Jon is right. It was when Injustice Superman decided to do more that peace came to the world. Perhaps this will inform Jon that his imposing his will on political issues because of his powers is basically his being a dictator, whether that is left or right leaning. It is why constantly inserting real life issues directly into books where there are super-beings always reads false.
Maybe, should he return to the main Earth, Jon will apologize to his dad.
Because he learns pretty quickly that the Injustice Earth isn't as perfect as it seems. Sure there doesn't seem to be crime or gunfire or perpetual threats. But it is because everyone is afraid. When Jon saves a baby from falling to their death, the relieved mother apologizes for the inconvenience.
People are scared of a Superman who imposes his will and way of thinking on everyone.
Okay, that is a decent hook and should be a good kernel of a story to grow. But technically, we are half way done with this book when we seemed to have reached the actual plot.
Lovely book. The pages are well designed out by Henry, pulling in and out of closeups and using negative space well.
Overall grade: B-
3 comments:
I enjoyed this well enough but agree with your PoV. I’ve read about four of the five Injustice trades and can’t remember what the deal is with Damian… I think this story takes place in Year Two or Three, maybe. Anyway, it was great to see a good Luthor, one with qualms about his Superman. As was so often the case with the previous Jon book, though, it doesn’t feel like he’s the star of the show… but, at least Jon pretty quickly picks up on the fact that this world of order isn’t such a paradise. That’s somewhere interesting he can go.
Really, DC should have changed the title with this issue to Jon Kent: Injustice or something, really go for the Injustice fanbase and lower our expectations for this to be a Jon showcase. I don’t doubt this adventure will affect him, but while he’s a part of the picture, he doesn’t look to be the main event.
You have figured out most of what you need too Anj! Just remenner that this Superman will certainly spin things his way and never, ever trust this wonder woman!
Damian, like most of the non-powered characters in the Injustice world have taken a kryptonian super pill to give them powers. Legit, it was just there to explain how these characters could fight each other in the video game and not die, but Taylor did some cool setup with it.
Having read all of Injustice, I have the same but opposite issue as you - for me, we are wasting time with things I already know, plus, I was looking forward to Jon “working things out” with Ultraman. This story seems set up to redeem or fix Injustice Superman, and while you could look at that as the power of a wholesome Jon fixing the multiverse, it was not the Jon story I signed up for here.
While I haven't read issue 3 yet -- I'm reading this on DCUI -- I had the opposite reaction to the end of issue 2. For me, it was the Ultraman story I had no interest in. It seemed like old ground to me. I didn't need to see Jon defeat him or get closure. Ultraman is transparently, cartoonishly evil; he really doesn't interest me as a character at all. Injustice Superman, from what I know about him, is different. Seeing Jon interact with a Superman who was like his father, but made a dramatically different choice in the face of tragedy? To me, that has a lot more story potential than fighting the cartoon bad guy who looks like dad...even if he has a history with him.
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