Review: Son Of Superman; Part 3

I begin the last week of 2021 by completing my review of the 1991 Elseworld's OGN Son of Superman.  As I have said before, I find it interesting that 30 years ago, a Jon Kent, left-leaning and politically active, picks up the mantle of Superman. That story is playing out in comics now. 

This was a 100 page giant so the review was split in three, Part 1 and Part 2 are up earlier this month.

The thing is after rereading this, I wonder if this should have been something more. Who knows if DC was interested in trying a longer mini-series back in 1991. But some of the bigger topics here - the differences between Jon and Clark's views of the world, the role of media and influence, a corporate run America - they're all just scratched at here. I would have liked to read more.

But give writers Howard Chaykin and Dave Tischman some credit here. They sprint to the finish line but in an impressive way. They introduce a lot of concepts and character beats here so most of the characters feel fully formed. If I want more, that is a good sign.

The art is detailed and slick by JH Williams. I like his take on Jon's costume and the new-look JLA suits. The action is energetic. And the page layouts are innovative and engaging.

Hope you liked this book as much as I liked reviewing it.

Back Issue Box: Son Of Superman; Part 2

Last week I presented the first part of Son of Superman, an Elseworlds super-sized trade from 1991.

I bought this off the shelf but haven't read it in forever so it has felt very new to me. In fact, I specifically split the book into thirds and have each section separately. So I haven't finished it yet! It will all be a surprise. 

I decided to review this Chaykin, Tischman, William, Loughridge product because it echoed what is happening in comics now. In it, Jon Kent, the son of Superman, has taken on the mantle and is much more of a social conscious here than his father. 

Chaykin and Tischman never shied away from controversy or pushing boundaries. Chaykin in particular writes complicated characters. No one here comes across as completely pure. So seeing Jon skew left and even linking himself to some questionable characters is no surprise. Having Superman skew a little right is no surprise either.

What is interesting is how the writers make lots of other characters be varying shades of gray for the political sides operating on Earth in this 'future world' from 1991.

JH Williams art is gorgeous throughout. Again, this is a mix of moments of personal reflection as well as high action. Williams brings it all together beautifully. There is one scene with the Justice League that really shines. 

On to the middle section of the book. It is interesting to me that this 100 page story has very obvious story breaks on page 33 and 66, making this breakdown easy for me. But almost too easy ... I wonder if this was meant to be a 3 issue mini-series instead of being packaged like this.

Back Issue Box: Son Of Superman; Part 1

It's been a while since I combed the back issue box to review an issue which echoes current books.

With Jon currently acting as Superman in his own title, Superman Son of Kal-El, I thought it would be interesting to look at Son of Superman, an Elseworlds from 1999. 1999! This is a story where Jon Kent, son of Clark and Lois, becomes Superman and decides to fight for social justice! Sound familiar?

This Elseworlds one-shot was written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. These two collaborated a lot in the late 90's so no surprise to see both names here. But this is clearly a Chaykin book. Now I understand that Chaykin is an acquired taste but I love his books. The plots are intelligent and complicated. (Yes, they occasionally wallow in sleaze but not here.) Chaykin's politics skew left but he also understands that neither political side are 100% perfect. We see that here. There is also a sort of Frank Miller style of story-telling here with frequent plot advancement made by news reports, many seeming more like entertainment reports. 

The art is luscious by J.H. Williams. As this is set in the future, Williams gets to give us some updated costumes and fashions. I have always been a fan of his work. Really beautiful stuff.

Finally, even though this was a one-shot, it was a thick 100 pages. So I'll be covering this in three parts.