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 Justin is taking a well-deserved break and weâre joined by guest columnist Armaan Babu to talk about Jon Kentâs big moment in Superman #31! Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, drawn by Scott Godlewski and Norm Rapmund, colored by Gabe Eltaeb, and lettered by Dave Sharpe finds the Supermen facing the Shadowbreed, and Jon Kent finds himself staring down his fatherâs legacy!
Tony Thornley: Hey Armaan! Welcome! This was quite an issue. Pretty simple plot but hell of a lot of character work.
Armaan Babu: Thanks for having me, Iâm happy to be here! With Justin currently covering Marvelâs terrible version of Superman, and me covering Earth-3âs, itâs refreshing to be able to talk about two of the best versions of Man of Steel – the original, and the son who will soon be taking his place.
Betrayal
TT: So this issue picks right off where we left off last issue. The Shadowbreed has returned, and theyâre incredibly different from what they were before. Considering we didnât see what they were like before, this opening scene doesnât quite have the emotional impact that Johnson is going for. However, that doesnât mean they arenât creepy.
Godlewski nails it here I think. He makes the Shadowbreed scary without making them something weâve seen before. And he leans into the shadow part of their name- theyâre all darkness and void. He could have done something similar to Venom, but he makes it a little more like living event horizons, surrounding the Thakkramites.
What did you think about this opening?
AB: I found that the emotional impact of this opening had a different effect on me. It was less the creepiness of the Shadowbreed – it was the tragedy of it. Philip Kennedy Johnsonâs inner monologue for Superman strongly captures a Comforting Dad voice. Despite the reveal at the end of the last issue, Superman somehow makes it feel like everythingâs going to be okay – and the pain in the eyes of the Thakkramite being transformed makes it tragically clear that things have gone horribly wrong.
TT: One thing I struggled with in this sequence is when guest penciller Norm Rapmund took over. I think Rapmund is a solid inker. However, his pencils here- particularly on the Kentsâ faces- just feel so generic.
Thankfully, the script remains strong throughout those scenes.
AB: I agree, as far as his faces go – itâs a step down from regular penciler Scott Godlewski. One thing I will give Rapmund credit for, though, is his handling of capes. His action scenes as a whole are fluid, but itâs the capes that really stand out, giving both Clark and Jon a certain sense of majesty, bringing that sense of wonder into the way they fly.
That combines well with some incredible panel layouts in this issue, which I believe are based on Godlewskiâs breakdowns, that are doing a lot to sell the impact of the story. The first double spread of this issue has its panels look like the page is looming towards the reader, the warped angles really selling how wrong the invasion of the Shadowbreed feels. The tilted panel angles are used extremely effectively later, making you feel the speed of Jonâs flight – I love it.
TT: Oh I agree there. The layouts are great throughout. Iâm really bummed that Godlewski isnât drawing Jonâs series starting in July, but I hope he sticks around on the Superman line. I think heâs a star in the making.
Sacrifice
TT: So with Clark, Jon and Prince Qarath O Bakkis away from the Shadowbreed, itâs time for a plan. This is where the issue is the strongest I think. While the plan is pretty standard- While Jon tries to build the gizmo that will shut down the Shadowbreed, Clark himself will try to save others before the Shadowbreed takes them.
This is where Jon and Qarath O Bakkis get to talk about the nature of Superman. Who he is, what he means to Jon and to Earth. Good grief this landed perfect for me.
AB: The feelings evoked here – itâs things like this that Johnsonâs run will most likely be remembered for. He does a great job of working with the idea of a child seeing their parent as a superhero – and in Jonâs case, his father actually is the worldâs greatest superhero. A good Superman story lives or dies by how inspiring it makes Superman feel – and I think itâs safe to say that weâre both feeling pretty inspired?
TT: For sure. I can forgive weak or barebone plots when we get excellent character development like this. The best part though is that the plot, while a little basic, is actually VERY interesting on top of it. I genuinely would like to see the Shadowbreed become a recurring threat, as they have a lot of potential for long-term antagonists; I mean, psychic parasites are cool!
So we get an interesting threat, FANTASTIC character development, and Jon Kent starting to stand on his own as a hero. Itâs just great.
But, that aside, after the heart to heart, we should have seen it coming⌠Qarath O Bakkis sells out Jon to the Shadowbreed. That sure wonât go well for the crown prince though, will it?
AB: With the entire planetâs personalities overshadowed, so to speak, there had to be at least one Thakkramite (sigh, I love these characters, but I will never remember all these names without having to look it up) who retained his own personality for the Kents to inspire – unfortunately, that means betrayal. Qarath O Bakkisâ story is an interesting divergence for the path Jon could take – Jon could easily harbor resentment for living in his fatherâs shadow, like Qarath has learned to, but Jonâs chosen a more heroic path instead.
Iâm curious as to how Qarathâs story will wrap up, and how much or how little his people and the Kents will choose to forgive him.
TT: Agreed. That seems to be as much a part of Jonâs journey to becoming Superman as anything else in this issue is.
Your Heartbeat
TT: And while Jon and Qarath O Bakkis do their thing, Clark finds his mission is hopeless. The Shadowbreed have already taken the Thakkramites. And as they flood him, Clarkâs only thoughts are about Jon in these moments. And they seriously hit me right in the heart.
AB: The way the panels are falling on this page do a lot to instill a feeling of dwindling hope, so when Clark hears his sonâs heartbeat, and that immediately makes everything okay despite how doomed the moment feels? That moment is pure gold. âYour heartbeat is my favorite sound, palâ is such a corny, Dad thing to say – and it absolutely lands here.
The moment that Clark is hearing, though? Itâs the moment Jon decides itâs his turn to save the day. How do you feel about the way Superman is setting Jon up to take on his fatherâs mantle?
TT: Oh itâs done so well on both an emotional and physical level. We get Clark setting up⌠itâs not quite a passing of the torch, because heâs still around⌠But itâs sharing the legacy. And as the Shadowbreed pummel him, it hits both the emotional note with Clarkâs thoughts and the âholy crap time to punch something!â note of the alien threat that only Jon can face.
As a dad though, the heartbeat line, that just hit me. One of my oldestâs favorite things to do is run up to me and ask âWant to check Dadâs heart?â I donât know why he started doing it but itâs become one of my favorite things he does. So the similarity between my own experience and that line⌠It just hits just right for this big softie.
The layers that this story works on just clicks so well.
AB: Another thing that really interests me – that I hope we see more of when Jon takes the title for his own – is new uses of capital âSâ Super powers. Last issue saw one of my favorite, underrated uses of heat vision, using it simply as a light source as the Kents descended into darkness. Here, we get explodo-vision – and Jon hints that this could just be the start of a whole range of new abilities.
Some may say Kryptonian heroes are overpowered, but I say the more weird variety they have, the better. Bring back Super-Ventriloquism!
TT: Amen to that! Armaan, thanks for joining me! This was a lot of fun this week!
Daily Planet Headlines
- The backup storyline features Loose Cannon and Gangbuster. Though it doesnât really do much with the characters, it does warn of dark days ahead for the Metropolis crowd!Â
- Lewis and Basri do another fun story though.
- Dare I say I actually LIKED Loose Cannon for once?
- Still loving the Legion of Super-Heroes adjacent stuff in the modern day. More of this please.
Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told. From video games to theater, TTRPGs to comics, he has written for, and about, them all. He will not stop, actually; believe us, we've tried.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. Heâs also very humble.
