I have been reading comics for almost 50 years. I have seen a lot of things. So when I see something surprising, something creatively fascinating, I have to compliment it. I have to admire.
Absolute Superman #11 was one of the most brutal, horrific books I have read in a long time. It was firmly entrenched in this Darkseid-fueled universe. Skin was flayed. Blood was spilled. Throats were crushed. Chests were stabbed.
So how does writer Jason Aaron follow-up this grand guignol in Absolute Superman #12? By slowing everything down. By giving us an issue filled with flashbacks of how this Kal was raised by a gentle, loving AI program named Sol. It is the exact opposite of the prior issue. It really struck me. Just brilliant to put this issue on the heels of that one.
One thing I have said about this book is that Aaron has really built up this world. From Krypton to Kansas, this feels like a three-dimensional world. These scenes with Sol, which cover years, add to that depth.
It helps that Rafa Sandoval is back on art. His style is a little more polished than the cruder, rougher stuff that Carmine Digiandomenico. This feels more calm and more peaceful, reinforcing that thematic change as well.
We are heading to a big confrontation. But this issue was just the sort of deep cleansing breath I needed.
She sees a red dust storm and knows it is Superman back in Kansas. But then she forgets what she was just thinking.
Said to see Ma struggling.
But interesting that Sol, which leveled the Lazarus HQ last issue decided Smallville was the safest place to bring Superman ... and Lois and Jimmy.
The issue then proceeds mostly with flashbacks of how Sol basically raised Kal. So many of these scenes sound like a parent talking to their adolescent child.
When Kal just wants to disappear, Sol reminds him that interacting with humans will help him form a life. Like a parent telling their kid to go out and make friends.
Sol even tells Kal that he stinks and should take a bath.
Kal indeed enters humanity, working on a sugar plantation. But his powers get the best of him, first burning a friend accidentally and then literally disarming a Peacemaker who shows up.
He is still learning what he can and can't do. This is horrifying to Kal.
But it is what happens next that matters.
First Kal feels guilty. Then he feels angry that he was pushed into accidentally ripping off the arm. After all the interactions with Lazarus, including the Kents, Kal wonders if he should kill them all.
This Kal has suffered a lot in his years. I can understand why he might explode in this way. Even lashing out at Sol who reminds him who he is and what his parents stood for.
It is like an adolescent struggling and having an emotional meltdown. And again, Sol is that voice of reason, that 'grown-up' talking him down.
Hell, the scene ends with Kal just wanting to be alone and Sol making a mini-Fortress of Solitude.
But if you think about it, this is really a giant hug.
Suddenly in the present, Jimmy and Lois walk into a Smallville diner to get some food.
There they meet the grateful Smallville folks, who know that Superman was an angel in their town, who know that Lois and Jimmy saved Superman, and who know that any friend of Superman is a friend of theirs.
You know you are in a different universe when Lana Lang is a diner waitress who keeps a shotgun and bat under the bar.
It comes to this scene, this realization by Kal that Sol is a family member, is a brother worthy of the name El, is someone who saved him.
After the horror show of last issue, after the temptations to break Kal's spirit, to see Superman acknowledge what Sol has meant to him was touching, almost oddly touching.
But that time is over.
The Al Ghul's are bringing the Lazarus army to Smallville and are willing to kill everyone in the town to make Superman unleash his 'alien fury'.
Such a great issue.
I'll just say again. Last issue was a bloodbath. What better reverse gut-punch than a love letter. And then let's remind everyone that we are still in the Absolute Universe by closing the issue with splash of troop ships and mechas closing in? Brilliant long term storytelling by Aaron and Sandoval.
Overall grade: A+
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