Review: Superman #38

Superman #38 came out this week, the next chapter in the Superboy Prime arc in this book, and frankly another winner. As I have said almost every Prime issue I have reviewed, I am impressed at the creative team who somehow made a character I have loathed for a long time into one I am eager to read each month. This book, a redemption arc with more fourth wall breaking than a Byrne She-Hulk book, has crept to the top of the read pile. Kudos to the creative team who are firing on all cylinders together, writer Joshua Williamson and artist Dan Mora.

Williamson has been doing a fanastic job showing us how earnest Prime has been in trying to be a hero while also having him recognize Prime's unsavory past. I have read lots of 'villains become the hero' arcs in my comic career but few have had the murderous past or the eagerness to amend than here. This book reads like a standard teen hero book with our hero struggling with a job and romance and adventures which is refreshing all while layering in Prime's history. And I appreciate how Williamson is leaning into Prime's probable prime reading window, bringing in characters and villains from that era.

Meanwhile, Mora is just sublime here. From a Prime's day job to a rapid fire descent into hell to a goth club to a meta-look at comic art pages, Mora sings. His Witchfire is gorgeous. One could say she's hot! The outlandish demon fight pages sing especially when Witchfire exhibits some angelic (or evangelion) powers. But the pages at the end of actual art pages really cinches it.

The whole book is a fast-paced book propelling the story forward. I loved it.

On to details.

Earlier in the arc, we saw Witchfire talking about sacrificing CK, the innocent comic boy from ther comic shop. She lures him into action by running from some silly monsters only to fire some binding spell.

One thing new to me is that Prime does not have a magic vulnerability like regular Superman. He shrugs off the attack, revealing who he is in the process. And she realizes he isn't a shy, innocent guy. He's  a hero.

He talks about he is far from innocent, giving us some of his lowlights in a flashback panel.He is rather nonchalent in talking about killing 'rando GLs'. That doesn't sound repentant. But he says he is on a redemption arc. 

We are in 2026. Current readers might not know how far Prime when as a bad guy. 

Witchfire says she was hoping to use some innocent lure to bring out some demonic force she and her coven know is in Metropolis. Prime decides to join in on the adventure. Suddenly we are at a Goth Club.

Williamson uses the time well. We get some exposition about who Witchfire is (I didn't read Power Company so this helped me a lot). We see Jimmy is in the club. (I forget if the current Siobhan is a Goth girl. Maybe Jimmy was there on a date?)

And we even learn about Prime's 'real girlfriend' Laurie. Perhaps not having Laurie in his world is another reason why Prime is so keen on staying her. 

All this exposition and backstory was done organically and helped fill in some holes in my knowledge.

Williamson continues to scrape the corners of DC Comics.

The other witches in Witchfire's coven areearly 2000's buxom villainess Encantadora, a fave of mine. But also Mirabai, the sorceress in Sam Lane's employ in New Krypton! 

Really nice pulls! Love both of them getting a relaunch!

It turns out Blaza and Satanus are trying to take over Metropolis and our heroes descend into a hellish landscape to fight them.

We see Prime revert to his old form, ripping demons in half (although an editor's note says that it is fine because they are demons, too funny). Witchfire becomes drenched in fire and sprouts fire wings, forcing Blaze and Satanus back to Hell proper to be punished by Neron.

Luckily, Prime is there to stop Witchfire from being sucked there herself.

Again, one of the things I like in this issue is how there is some chemistry between Prime and Witchfire. So Mirabai and Encantadora taking off so the two can finish their date produced another chuckle.

The two get sooooo close to kissing but then Prime speaks backwards and disappears in a paper rip on the page.

I hope we get more of these two. And I would love to see just how 'new' Prime is as a boyfriend.

Check this out, the moment of the book.

The following page seems to be an add for the current Father of Tomorrow mini-series. It was only on second read that I saw Prime flying through the paper rip. Heck, the near kiss panel is peeking out from behind.

That is freaking brilliant, showing just how crazy Prime being in the comic world is.

At last, Prime comes face to face with Manchester Black but on true comic art pages with the blue borders and indicia on the bottom, another great touch.

Black wants to exist again. So he asks Prime to punch reality to presumably bring him back.

All the shenanigans we have seen - from crazy sketch deresolutions to jibberish language in this issue - have led us here.

Black decides the best way to convince Prime to punch the walls of the universe is to remind Prime where he came from. 

Again, Mora shows why he is a revelation. 

Check out this cliffhanger.

It is crazy that I am rooting for Prime so much. It is a testament to these creators and this story. I loved just about everything in this issue and hope we get more and more of this take on Prime.

Overall grade: A+