Review: Superman Unlimited #13

Superman Unlimited #13 came out last week, continuing the saga of a young Jon Kent being plunked back into our time while the current Jon masks himself as Tomorrow Man. As someone who has always thought the aging up of Jon was a stinker of a move, I was hoping this might be some way to undo the mistake. 

Perhaps it was that hope that made me not see some warning signs about this young Jon last issue. To all the people who pointed them out to me, congratulations! It looks like this time you were right. This issue shows us pretty clearly this isn't the young, happy-go-lucky Jon we knew back in the Tomasi/Gleason days. I am now all on board on a theory that was floated out there about who this Jon is. But more on that later.

Dan Slott concentrates on the Jon/Jon story here, weaving in a new version of Beppo as a sort of anchoring plot thread. Nary a mention of El Caldero here although we know that K-land is the focal point of the Kingdom of Zod upcoming event. Slott amps up the mystery of this Jon. I wouldn't mind Slott being given a sort of Superman Confidential style book where he is allowed to just tell fun stories without leaning too much into current continuity. 

Lucas Meyer continues to be brilliant on art and I hope he stays here for a while. His clean and detailed work shines. I love the Beppo pages. And page construction and action sequences also feed the narrative. Yes, there is action here but there is a small panel with Lois that was my favorite of the issue, showing how the art crackles.

On to the book.

Last issue Beppo escaped a clandestine Kryptonite experimentation lab in Metropolis. The issue starts with Dabney Donovan clones, the workers in the lab, trying to track down the escaped monkey. 

I have always liked the addled 'mad scientist' Donovan. Slott has a good turn of the phrase calling these clones 'Donoman' with a Greek letter designation. That sounds like something Dabney would do. Pretty fun.

In one of those 'weirdness magnet' moments, street level crooks decide to rob the Bibbo's pierogi stand where Beppo is enjoying a meal with his new friend. 

The Dono-Men watch the robbers shoot Bibbo in the chest, enraging Beppo who thrashes the robbers with Kryptonian level strength. 

A couple of things here. First off, who would rob a pierogi stand where a talking chimp is sitting in a chair eating pierogi? Maybe time to knock off a different truck?

But also, Bibbo is shot square in the chest. Of course he is fine by the end of the issue. But maybe next time have it hit his shoulder or some place less crucial?

Love the sequence where we see Beppo's anger followed by the broken knife. Nice sort of quick cut take on the action by Meyer.

After beating up the robbers, Beppo's super-senses kick in and he knows the Dono-Men are there. 

I really loved this page by Meyer using the chains  around Beppo's neck as sort of panel borders showing the atrocities done to the chimp. Really solid construction.

Elsewhere, young Jon is having a nightmare about his time in the volcano and Ultraman's screaming about how this torture will either toughen up Jon or kill him. 

Of course, Kryptonian strength and nightmare thrashing could lead to a building falling down. So Lois has to figure out how to stop it without getting killed herself. 

Hard to believe that aging of Jon story is around 8 years ago. Insanity! 

This memory initially made me think that this HAS to be the real young Jon. But ...

Lois' solution to calming down the scared Jon is to call in Krypto (and ultimately Tomorrow Man).

Last issue, Krypto was growling and I thought it was that he understood that Tomorrow Man was also Jon. Others told me that he was growling at Jon, perhaps recognizing this isn't 'our' Jon.

Another interaction with more growling.

The writing is on the wall. This can't be our Jon but somehow this Jon has also been in a volcano. 

Last month, some people thought this might be Ultraman's son. Could Ultraman have had his own Jon, tried to warp his own son in the same way? But wouldn't this Jon also know that and not recognize this Lois as his mother? 

I like the idea of this being Ultraman's kid ... but the pieces all don't line up.

It is a small moment but I absolutely love this panel.

The older Jon shows up as well.

"Tomorrow Man' is talking to Lois about Jon's mental state.

Look at the side-eye. She points out that Tomorrow Man knows a lot about.

She knows Tomorrow Man is Jon. I mean, she's Lois Lane. You can't con her. 

Meyer just nails that expression. 

And then a funny moment.

The moment between Lois and Tomorrow Man is interrupted by the news that Beppo is tearing through Metropolis. Jon and Tomorrow Man take off to stop the threat. 

Lois puts together the Planet crew and wonders if Tee-Nah can help communicate to the monkey. Tee-Nah cracks a joke about how that could be considered insulting. I mean, should an orangutan be able to speak chimp?

Slott can be funny.

Beppo is in the illegal Donovan lab and is beating up all the Donovan clones. 

Our heroes discover that a Kryptonian-powered big monkey could be even more powerful than them. 

Tomorrow Man gets bitten and tossed around.

Then Young Jon loses his mind and pummels Beppo. Like beats the snot out of him. It is only when Tomorrow Man talks about how Beppo is lashing out because he was tortured that young Jon calms down, recognizing a bit of himself in the ape's predicament. That's a nice plot point.

And Beppo calms when he gets a hologram of Beppo walking around in a johnny and an IV pole. He survived a gunshot to the chest, lying in his own blood until the Planet crew found him, underwent surgery, and then is already up and walking around and talking? Just have him shot in the shoulder next time.

But this is a shocking page. Brutal and tangibly powerful. This Jon is scary.

 

But now even the real Jon knows that maybe this kid isn't him either. 

So who is he?

Any guesses?

This was a fun issue. Love the art. Love the Lois moment. Love the mystery.

Overall grade: B+