Review: Absolute Superman #24

Absolute Superman #24 came out this week and was another interesting, world-building issue. As I have said many times before, this book has, for the most part, been a bit of a potboiler, slowly building who Superman is over the initial skirmish with Ra's Al Ghul. But now we know who he is. 

While this is the middle of the 'Find Brainiac' arc, this really would be a perfect jumping on point for this title. If you want to know this world and this Superman, you could pick this up and get a great idea of both those things. And what I like about this issue is that it is told through the view of John Henry Irons. Steel is witnessing Superman up close and he comes out impressed and inspired. There could have been a 'Great Jumping On Point' cover dress here.

Writer Jason Aaron is showing us an interesting take on this Darkseid-fueled world. Yes, it is a darker world. But Superman is able to inspire and change this world. He is still Superman. Moreover, we see it in this issue three times over. This is the first appearance of Absolute Chemo, Atomic Skull, and Bloodsport. All of them are turned by Superman and Steel towards kindness. 

Superman is also shown to be the shy kid who is overworked and too busy thinking about others to think about himself. I wonder if we will eventually see him get to a point where he feels he can take a night off.

Juan Ferreyra is on art and his art here is less color pencil-y than I am used to but it is still gorgeous. I love the designs of the villains. And his Superman is a specimen.

On to the issue.

Supergirl Episode 301:

The season premiere of Supergirl Season 3 aired earlier this week. It was incredible. It nailed it. I was floored. This was just the sort of strong start that you want a show to have.

The episode was aptly named 'Girl of Steel' as it dealt with Kara dealing with her grief over losing Mon-El by becoming hardened and denying herself any feeling at all. She forsakes her humanity. She embraces her 'alien' nature. But she seems to be protesting too much as every so often Kara shows she is hurting. I probably sound like a broken record but Melissa Benoist is incredible. From subtle intonations of lines to facial expressions to body language, you know just what her characters are feeling. Remember, Kara sent Mon-El to possible oblivion. This was her decision. And she is hurting.

We get to see most of the supporting cast interacting with Kara, trying to help her in any way they can, but mostly worrying about her. They see she is hurting. They are giving her space. But eventually, they have to intercede.

And while, for me, these character moments were the high points of 'Girl of Steel', the episode also does a great job of setting up the season. We hear about Cat and Snapper. We see Alex and Maggie together again. We get to see how James and Lena have grown in prominence. We meet one of the big bads in Morgan Edge. We get a hint of the bigger bad Reign. And, as usual, we get action sequences and great effects.

Overall, this was a brilliant episode, especially with showing just how Kara has to work her way through her feelings. Incredible.

Back Issue Review: Superman #4

The wait is over and the season premiere of Supergirl Season 3 is airing tonight. The theme seems to be Kara trying to recover from the grief over losing Mon-El. But the main villain of the week is Bloodsport. Here is the link to the preview:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irH6gtcR4Dk

Given that Bloodsport isn't a well known villain, I thought I'd take a look at his original appearance in the comics and why he is actually a threat to our Kryptonian heroes.

Back in 1986, John Byrne completely rebooted the Superman mythos. Post-Crisis, Byrne was given the keys to the Superman kingdom. Everything was fresh. The decades of continuity was expunged. No Kandor. No Supergirl. No Superboy. No super-scientist Luthor. There are plenty of places you can read about this at length.

But it did mean that these Superman stories felt very new. We saw him meet Lois. We saw him give Jimmy the signal watch. We saw him meet all his villains again ... for the first time! And we saw him Kryptonite for the first times. He had fought Metallo in Superman #1. And here in Superman #4, he fights Bloodsport, also armed with some Green K.

On to the book ...