Welcome back to SuperChat! Spinning out from the pages of BatChat, Super Boys Justin Partridge and Tony Thornley commit themselves to a new never ending battle, diving into the mighty deeds of Superman. This week the Man of Steel’s new direction continues out into the galaxy with Superman #30. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, drawn by Scott Godlewski, colored by Gabe Eltaeb and lettered by Dave Sharpe finds the Kent boys returning to a planet from Kal-El’s past. A planet where an old enemy stalks the populace. One determined to destroy the myth of Superman!
Justin Partridge: The Kent Boys! On some Space Adventures! With a dollop of body horror on top! WHO could ask for more?!
Tony Thornley: It’s like Doctor Who but with Superman! Sounds like our kinda book!
A Perfect Day
TT: I would be willing to bet this opening scene struck us the same way. After a one page teaser of Superman being attacked by… something, we flash back about a day. And this opening scene is just fantastic. While Clark narrates, we get to see the Kents on a day off. It’s the most normal thing I think we’ve seen the family do since… Maybe the carnival issue of the Rebirth volume of Superman? And I love it.
This narration is so “dad” that it hit me right in the heart. I love what Clark was thinking because it was so real and relatable.
JP: OH ABSOLUTELY.
And I think these patches of connection scenes we are seeing between the Kent family are some canny and much needed move from PKJ.
Like Clark even says himself, we basically blinked and Jon was now eligible for the Teen Titans. We, just as an audience, have missed out on SO much narrative and character development from Jon, so it’s nice to see that Johnson and company are committed to making Jon a real presence in this era of the titles.
And it’s genuinely sweet too! After, yeah, the frankly pretty spooky cold open, we essentially just get family day with the Kents as they putt-putt and rib each other a bit. It’s small stuff in terms of narrative, but it’s really sweet to see as a set up for the galaxy hopping we do in the back half of the issue.
TT: One thing I really love about this scene is how Godlewski depicts Jon. He’s still obviously grown up, a la the Bendis run. However, I feel like Godlewski is the first artist since they’ve aged Jon up to depict him close to the age he actually is- around 16- than as a young adult. He gives Jon this youthful energy that the character needs in order to feel relatable.
He also draws an obvious bond between mother and son. This sequence doesn’t feel like a couple comic book characters interacting. It feels like a real life parent and child.
Sorry, but this opening scene really just works for me.
JP: I GET IT ABSOLUTELY.
And again, like you said, this seems a much more personal and organic feeling version of this than we got in the Bendis volume. Hell, even in the Rebirth book, I would say.
Instead of them just being “depicted” as a family or us being told of this kinda stuff happening off panel, we actually SEE it. We SEE and FEEL how close they are just in the first few panels of the sequence.
Is it crazy bombastic or groundbreaking stuff? No, not really. But I would absolutely take heartfelt and genuine over pomp and flash any day of the week for sure.
TT: Yeah, and it even continues as Clark and Jon hear a distress call from an old friend. Does Clark run off and find a phonebooth? Nope. He tells Lois “This has been a perfect day, love you.”
Damn, it’s kinda dusty here for me.
Untold Tales
TT: When we see Clark and Jon jump into action (and even in costume Godlewski gives us a more authentic feeling Jon), the story kicks into high gear. I really like this sequence, because we get this sort of story often with Batman, Spider-Man, even the X-Men, but seldom with Superman. The entire basis of the rest of the story is an untold tale of Superman.
I love these sorts of stories. I mean, they could always take a bit of almost-forgotten continuity, but instead taking something that happened but we never saw… I don’t know, it makes the story feel more real to me.
JP: Oh, big time.
And I am really glad that PKJ and the creative team are opening this book up to more galactically scaled stories and moving beyond Earth stuff for the opening issues. And it totally fits too! We are often told that Superman’s “jurisdiction” is often a lot wider than some of his peers, who are confined largely to their own cities of operations.
Superman, however, doesn’t really have such limits and while Metropolis is his home, the planet at large and it’s sector space also fall under his eye and hand. So naturally, he has some contact with the other solar systems within his reach. Further still, he’s been there before! It adds a neat level of “mythologization” to Superman that I am enjoying seeing farmed out for the story’s sake here.
TT: I totally agree. It makes Superman feel incredibly grand. I also like that it makes the story feel fresh, even if it’s relying on Clark’s past.
I loved the actual mythology here too! There’s this grand herculean myth on Thakkram about defeating the Shadowbreed. But I adore that Superman isn’t at the center of it. Instead he’s the guy who helped the Hercules figure. He’s the Iolaus here.
Johnson is just winning us over like crazy.
The Shadowbreed
TT: And speaking of the Shadowbreed. So Clark previously defeated a terrifying alien race on Thakkram, alongside two others. Well, one of those two- the one to SEND the distress call- has died under mysterious circumstances, yet the Thakkramites claim to not need help. It’s all good, the shapechanging, planet consuming Shadowbreed haven’t returned.
Naturally that sets off Clark’s bullshit detector.
JP: I have to say. I genuinely didn’t expect the first proper Superman arc of this era to be about him and Jon fighting John Carpenter’s The Thing, but I am, like, genuinely hyped as all hell for that to be the case.
TT: No kidding. I dig Clark going into detective mode here. It’s a character trait of his I really like, that many writers forget about. He’s an INVESTIGATIVE reporter. That means that he’s just as good at trying to find out the truth as J’onn or Bruce. Not enough writers use that. But thank goodness Clark does dig into it, because he and Jon have been deceived. The Shadowbreed are back!
Daily Planet Headlines
- TALES OF METROPOLIS! It’s getting to be really fun. I truly love the idea of Jimmy Olsen building out a team of Metropolis Misfits to take on the stuff the Supers don’t notice.
- Uuuuuuuuuh… Did Sean Lewis and Sami Basri create the first Ambush Bug story I actually liked?
- Are we actually getting a Loose Cannon story next month?
- Ambush Bug wearing clothes is really funny. Doubly so when those clothes are like an obvious pulp detective costume.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
