Review: Superman #24

 

Superman #24 came out last week, the second part in a brief 2  part story where Superman seeks mystical aid from Dr. Fate. Last issue we saw that Superman was reeling from all the personal upheaval in his life. It had left him feeling somewhat off kilter. Wondering if it was some magical attack, he asked for a check-up by Fate. 

Then a fight broke out. 

And then, this issue, the fight was over. Just like that, this 2 issue story is done.

One thing that I have discovered from my time reviewing comics on this site is that I am seldom satisfied and I often am contrary to myself.  I have oft bemoaned the fact that comics are 'written for the trade', stories stretched out over too many issues to pad an idea.

So here is a slick 2 parter and I think it was over too quickly. Writer Brian Michael Bendis sets up Xanadoth as an omega level magical baddie, someone so powerful the Lords of Order AND Chaos teamed up to defeat. And in the span of two pages, somehow, he is dispatched. Maybe just a bit too quickly for my taste.

That doesn't mean that the subplot in this 2 parter isn't fantastic. In fact, the idea that Superman is reeling a bit from the chaos in his life makes perfect sense. I think of him as just a guy trying to do his job and do it well. Certainly this year has been the most chaotic in my own life and I have felt a bit frazzled. So seeing my hero having to deal with 'stuff' humanizes him, makes me empathize.

And, no surprise, the art by John Timms and Kevin Maguire is great. In particular, seeing John Timms take on Supergirl makes me want to see more. But the mystical battle scenes by Maguire are top notch.

On to the book.

Back Issue Box: Supergirl #58

This week in Superman #23, the Man of Steel calls upon Dr. Fate for a mystical checkup.

With that guest spot happening, I thought I would take a look back at Supergirl's interactions with the good doctor. Now a comic with a version of Fate helping Kara with here psychiatric issues occurred in the excellent Superman/Batman Annual #5 from way back in 2011. But I covered that way back when!

So instead I thought I'd dip into the Peter David run on the title again and look at Supergirl #58 in which Linda calls upon Fate to help her with Buzz.

Okay, a little background. At this point in the book, Linda has been stripped of the Earth Angel aspect of Supergirl and basically has the powers of the 1938 Superman (jump far, relatively invulnerable, relatively superstrong). She is following a chaos stream to try and reunite with the angelic spirit. And Buzz, a demon who has vexed her throughout the book, is now human, mentally tethered to her, and her guide. He senses the stream and finds the path.

In the issue before, Buzz was poisoned by his daughter, also a demon. He is dying. And if Linda wants to become the Earth Angel Supergirl again, she needs Buzz to live. Enter Dr. Fate.

This is an interesting issue because it gives Buzz a sympathetic back story. Before, he was all Constantine-cool with his evil intentions. Here we see how he fell and became lost. In many ways, this second long arc in this volume is a redemption story not only for Linda (again) but for Buzz.

On to the book.

Review: Superman #23

Superman #23 came out last week and was another winner by writer Brian Michael Bendis. Once again we see just how hard it is to be Superman. And as a result, we are that much more impressed with the Man of Steel.

Perhaps most interesting for me is how this issue shows you just how crazy life is within the DC universe. We get a pretty specific timeline here letting us know just how compressed the insanity in Superman's life is.

But on top of that we get a follow-up to an off hand one panel line in Superman:Heroes. In that comic Dr. Fate says he needs to meet Superman in the Tower of Fate. And this issue picks up from that. It is hard to read the emotions of Dr. Fate at times given the blank helmet. Then I read it as an almost threat or order. Here we learn it is simply to help.

We also get a new villain, Xanadoth, a sort of Lords of Chaos version of the more Order-ly Dr. Fate. Fate having an opposite number makes sense. And I can't help but hear the word 'Thanatopsis' when I hear Xanadoth, making me feel all the more death-tinged dread.

As for the art, it is a joyous mix of John Timms' stylized action and Kevin Maguire's expressive mastery. Usually two artists on the same book can pull me out. But given Timms' work on flashback sequences and Maguire's present day material, it works beautifully.

Feels like the Superman books are firing on all cylinders these days. On to the book.