My Adventures with Superman #5 came out this week, the penultimate issue of this mini-series bridging the two seasons of the show. It is interesting to see just how much Kryptonian tech and concern for a Kryptonian invasion permeates the whole IP.
Writer Sophia Campbell continues to create a sort of three-dimensional universe for this take on Superman. First and foremost, she writes an inspirational Superman and inspirational Lois. These are both heroes in their own right. This is a Superman who lifts people up by telling them that acts are more important than words. That there is no fate save that what we make. And that you can shake off expectations if we want. It is clear that Amazo, a now sentient robot with a nefarious reason for existing, is going to be a full hero, someone who sacrifices himself to save others. Some of that is because he has been befriended and supported by Superman. I'm okay with it.
Pablo Collar continues to do a great job on art. There is that cartoony/anime style that jibes with the cartoon. But he has to do serious action here. He also has to bring in mecha, hand beams, airplanes, and brawling. Again, that makes this feel like a true separate universe.
I know we are getting a 3rd season of the show. So I hope we get another bridging mini.
On to the book.
The programming that is happening where Amazo is draining energy, exuding heat and ready to destroy the world? Or his will to be something better.
Last issue ended with Amazo getting blasted through the chest. We open with this pieta style page of Superman cradling the grievously wounded robot.
I have been reading comics forever and have seen many takes on this sort of scene and this sort of art. I also know I come at this from a particular Supergirl-centric view. But this immediately reminded me of Kara holding onto her father in Supergirl #35 from way back in 2008!
You might also remember that this book usually opens with Clark whimsically remembering snow as a gateway to fun. Here, snow seems more ominous, as if everything is dying. We'll get more of that later.
But Amazo isn't dead. Instead, he activates some mechanism which traps him, Superman, and Agent Dubois within a forcefield shell.
He also starts talking in Kryptonian speech.
It is an 'out of nowhere' ability where we hear he is absorbing the matter and energy around him. It serves it's purpose. Within the dome, Amazo is able to show us his true backstory.
Inside the dome, Dubois continues to try to destroy Amazo and Superman continues to run interference.
And then Amazo is able to broadcast.
Nice art here. Nice effects. And Superman blocking Dubois's shots are drawn powerfully.
This is a heavier issue than most. This book and this take on Superman always seems to be able to walk that fine line between silly and heavy.
Dubois calls in an airstrike to help him take out Amazo and from within The Brain's HQ, Pa Kent is able to identify all the planes and their destructive capabilities.
It is one quick side line but I like that we learn that Pa watches The History Channel. Gives him a little extra characterization and leans into that whimsy I like.
It turns out that Amazo is a Kryptonian tech that terra-forms the planets that he (and others like him) land on. He broadcasts what he has done on other worlds. It seems like with his damage that his terra-forming powers have kicked in ... perhaps to get energy to heal? But he is fusing with the ground. It is snowing. Plants are dying. He is a threat.
I love Superman in that second panel. Amazo can be whatever he wants to be. He can shake off his programming and be better. Even Amazo saying 'I would not hurt others' is fascinating here.
Because this is basically a prelude to the Kara story from Season Two. Kara wouldn't want to hurt others. Kara doesn't want to destroy. Kara has to shake off the Brainiac programming. Perhaps Campbell is showing how Superman learned to help her overcome.
I will say Campbell uses a sort of variant of the classic Kryptonian alphabet and some things I don't know if I am translating correctly.
In order of panels with Kryptonian dialect the translations (as far as I can tell) are:
Panels 1 and 2: Aktivigi mondrompa protoklo (which seems to be activating some protocol and most wonky translation)
Panel 3:Terra forming sequence activate
Panel 4: World absorption 27%
Panel 5: World absorption 83%
Panel 6: World absorption full
Panel 7: Competition in sector eliminated
Panel 8: Prepare
We then see the Amazo's juice up a cannon which razes the planet they are on.
So what will win?
The programming that is happening where Amazo is draining energy, exuding heat and ready to destroy the world? Or his will to be something better.
Nice panel giving Amazo some angelic feel, the steam like wings. And the cracks over him show the damage done.
Dubois is having none of it. He wants the threat over. But he also wants the glory of being the hero.
Suddenly a new weapon is in the sky. Not standard Air Force planes but what looks like ... again ... repurposed Kryptonian tech. This cannon (Project Orion) fires.
Obviously, this doomsday style gun won't destroy this area. My guess is Amazo absorbs all that energy, overloading him. Rather than emit it as a laser to destroy the Earth, he will then fly into space and explode, sacrificing himself to save the planet. Thus a lesson learned and a hero made.
This issue didn't have the usual fun ups and downs the series has had up to know but we needed to push this plot forward to get there. And much like the Supergirl season, we go dark for a bit to add to the eventual bright turn.
Overall grade: B
Good review. I think this is one of D.C.'s most underrated titles at the moment, mostly because it seems as though a lot of people dismiss this as either a marketing gimmick for the show or a way of recycling a rejected pitch for one of the show's episodes. Realistically, that might be what D.C.'s management thinks of this, but regardless of that this has genuinely turned out to be one of the better Superman focused miniseries in a very long time. The series up until now has had a marvelous sense of the optimism and imaginativeness that's been lacking in a lot of the more recent Superman related titles, and this issue in its own way was no exception.
ReplyDeleteWhat's particularly worthy of appreciation here is the portrayal of Amazo and Clark's concern for them. Most media featuring sapient AI generally portrays them as a threat or servants. Thinking of them instead as beings in their own right who can have a non-hostile peer to peer relationship with biological sapient beings is a fairly rare phenomenon. I love that in this series Clark saw Amazo first and foremost as a person, in no small part because he essentially thought of Amazo as if they were a member of another alien species rather than as a machine. That feels particularly notable in this issue where the temptation to view Amazo as a straightforward threat to humanity is probably stronger than in any previous issue of the series. Clark's continued faith in Amazo's personhood and ability to choose to be good along with his defense of them from hostile forces comes across as a declaration of his broader belief that ultimately, it's more worthwhile to believe in and fight for the best in people than to fear and react against the worst in them. The comic thus manages to make an excellent statement about Clark's fundamental capacity for tolerance and acceptance that works as a counter to the cynicism of the world around him and an inspiration to his friends, while also advancing its novel approach to AI. In many ways this is exactly what a Superman related book should be at its best. It should offer up new characters or details about the universe its set in are engaging in their own right and offer compelling, original thoughts on a concept that's being examined in the story (in this case the personhood and place in society of sapient AI as well as humanity's response to an encounter with an advanced alien civilization), while showing how Superman's core virtues enlighten the world around him.
The only significant criticism I have of this series so far is that it would have been better if it was actually released in between the first and second seasons of My Adventures with Superman. Returning to the MAWS universe without Kara after her debut in the show feels like a definite step backward. In line with that, your point that a second mini-series in this universe set between the second and third seasons of this show would be welcome. In particular, it would be quite interesting to get a glimpse of how the MAWS version of Kara acts and thinks in this universe without being burdened by mind control or a sense that she has to be a conqueror for the Kryptonian Empire, while also getting some insight into how successfully she's adapting to life on Earth and where her relationship with Jimmy is going.
Thanks for the review, and I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the final issue of this series next month.