Review: Superman Unlimited #18

Superman Unlimited #18 came out this week and established a new direction for the book, a father/son team-up book of supers. The El Caldero Kryptonite arc is over. So this book becomes another super-book on the rack. But gone are the days of Jon Kent being Superman or Son of Superman. He is Tomorrow Man. But a Tomorrow Man title won't sell books. So here we are.

I have bemoaned what has become of Jon Kent for too long. I miss the young Super Sons version. I miss the Legion version. I don't miss the Tom Taylor book. And now we have him as Tomorrow Man, living in the shadow of his parents, trying to find out who he is, and trying to find a purpose in life.

This issue tries to address all that. What is his relationship with his father as he tries to break away and secure his own identity? What is he trying to do in life? What does he want his non-superhero life to be like? This is an opening chapter to a new direction. Dan Slott does a good job showing us this big picture nicely in this book. But is this direction enough to sustain the book? As usual, there are a couple of funny moments in here that are classic Slott.

That said, Lucas Meyer is on art and continues to glitter. There is a great fight scene with the Royal Flush Gang that sings. But honestly an opening romantic scene between Clark and Lois is the one that truly glitters. Gorgeous stuff. I hope he stays here for a long time.

On to the details!

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.

Review: Superman Unlimited #12

Im trying to play catch up on reviews so a rare Thursday review of last week's Superman Unlimited #12.

I have been a bit up and down on this title with the underlying concept of 'lots of Kryptonite' one that I am struggling with. And I do feel that almost everything that is happening regarding that concept will be swept under the rug or forgotten in a year's time. 

But the current main plot of a time demon going after Jon, Jon plucking his younger self out of the volcano, and old Jon donning the 'Tomorrow Man' costume and going undercover is intriguing and making this book a bit more interesting to read. As someone who loved the young Jon/Damian dynamic, who has thought 'aged up Jon' has sort of lost his way in the DCU, and has been wondering if DC would recognize the mistake of aging up Jon and would find a way to put the genie back in the bottle, I am reading this closely and hope. This certainly could be the path to bring back young Jon.  Fingers crossed. Writer Dan Slott actually does a great job here showing how this is impacting old Jon, young Jon, but most importantly Lois. Heck, he even shows how it would impact Damian!

Adding to the mix of this is new fave Lucas Meyer who brings a wonderfully clean and vibrant feel to the art on the book. I love his work on the Lois scene here showing emotion both in expression and body language. Hope he stays on the book for a while. 

Am I hoping young Jon stays around for good? Yes I am. 

On to the book.