Review: Superman #12

Superman #12 came out last week, the ending of a yearlong battle Superman has had with Pharm and Graft and their Lex Luthor Revenge Squad. For the most part writer Joshua Williamson has weaved a fun and interesting story. Pharm and Graft have been sending out villains to fight Superman. Superman has been forging an odd alliance with Lex. And then, the Chained and others joined in the fray. Heck, there was even an old West fun story.

But what about this issue?

We have waited a year for the culmination and this issue rushes us there. The whole Pharm and Graft arc ends here, with a sprint and a lot quick explanations to get us there. I don't like decompressed stories, often complaining about glacial pacing. This is the reverse. The story Williamson has been building deserved a chance to unfold at a more deliberate pace to give us a satisfactory ending. I guess DC wanted to get to that House of Brainiac story sooner rather than later.

The art is again by David Baldeon and his style works for me. It is a little stylized, sort of classic, and highly energized. I think it lifts the story here, giving it some pizzazz. I wouldn't mind seeing him other places.

On to the book.

Last issue ended with Leticia Luthor, Lex's mother, wearing his battle suit and spraying Kryptonite poison gas on Metropolis, a potent version that can kill even humans. That's the immediate threat.

But what about the other members of the Revenge Squad? Well, they are dispatched and kept out of the battle. So here Graft gets punched out by Lex and remains unconscious. Pharm and The Chained are also said to be defeated and captured. It seems a little too quick to get them off the board. But I suppose the story needs to move forward.

I do like that Lex gets a hit in, wearing his 'super-armor' from the early days of Rebirth! Not a bad callback.

I do love an inspirational Superman.

Here he rallies the people of SuperCorp to figure out how to disperse or inactivate the gas.

Great panel here by Baldeon, Superman floating and angelic while people are literally looking up to him. Nice.

Given the K-gas, it is Lex who is out and about to defeat his mother in a physical bout.

And it is Superman staying back in the lab to try and use science to rid the city of the gas. That is an interesting reversal of roles. 

While it is happening, Superman demands Lex tell of the origins of Pharm, Graft, and Luthor back in the day.

It starts with Lex discovering Kryptonite in Smallville, a sign of something bigger out there than cornfields.

I love the flowing hair of Lex. And Clark feeling ill around the Kryptonite must have been a new sensation for him. Baldeon makes them look younger and leaner.

But then we learn that while trying to be a hero, Lex ran into the even-then villainous Graft and Pharm. They had Kryptonite and Lex needed it for research. So an uneasy alliance came to be, until Lex betrayed them to get their rock and research.

I suppose it wonderfully shows Lex's true motives. He doesn't want to be a hero; he wants to increase his own knowledge and power.

One backstab years ago and these two still want revenge so badly as to bide their time and slowly unleash hell on Lex now? Why haven't we heard of these two before? Talk about a slow burn.

But then we get some comic book science. Graft and Pharm could create new forms of K by bombarding regular green K with solar radiations. Back in SuperCorp, utilizing the Parasite, Superman and the team figure out a way to neutralize the new Kryptonite. And just like that they send the info to Lex's armor so he can rid the city of the poison. Whew ... that's an easy and quick answer.

What about Leticia, flying around in Lex's battle armor? Lena realizes that it can be shut down. Just like that Leticia is defeated too.

It's all over. The entire Revenge Squad is defeated and jailed. Their big plot undone by comic book science.

It's over.

Nothing left but the wrap-up. 

Lex is back in jail. And when Superman asks if Lex has more lies he wants to confess to, Lex denies it.

This remains an uneasy partnership ... if it can be called that. 

Like this widescreen panel. A sort of STAS floating outside the window, 'General care to step outside' moment. Superman with the high ground here.

Then Lobo shows up.

And then Superman asks the question I have been asking. Why did Pharm and Graft come out of hiding now? It seems to be hinted at that Brainiac had something to do with it.

On to the next big arc.

You know, as a reader, this has been a decent run of stories. I wouldn't say a slow burn because the issues have been snappy, semi-self-contained all while the main plot has been pushing forward monthly. So this finale seems more like a sprint to the finish line than the steady pace I felt it needed. I suppose that Williamson deserves some praise; I wanted more story. 

Still, despite the action, this felt like an ending with a loud whimper rather than a thunderous bang.

Overall grade: B-