Superman #8

by Ian B on October 05, 2016

Written by: Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

Art by: Doug Mahnke

Coloured by: Wil Quintana

Lettered by: Rob Leigh

 

 

In the previous issue, the super family takes some time out from saving the world to attend the county fair, Clark wanting them to get more involved in the community. In an effort to have a nice family trip, Lois makes him promise; no heroics while they're there, to which Clark agrees. They proceed to the fair and enjoy themselves, playing games, riding rides and talking to the other people in their town in an attempt to make friends when Clark hears a few people talking about robbing the entrance cash register when people are distracted by the fireworks, excusing himself to deal with it. The issue ends with Lois discovering why Clark had left and being comically mad at him while he and Jon enjoy a roller coaster. The issue was a great cap to a good story and really allowed us to breathe and see the family behind the heroics for a little while.

 

 

This issue starts with a thread left from the last issue; Jon has to complete a science project for school. He chooses a flying saucer, essentially making a drone from some scrap in the fortress of solitude, when the drone suddenly flies off, opening a portal and sucking Jon, Superman and Krypto in. They all end up finding themselves in the land of dinosaurs, attempting to track down the drone and get home. Along the way, they bump into the skeletons of American and Japanese soldiers from World War 2, Superman wondering how they could have gotten there, when they find a heavily fortified cave with writing on the wall, explaining who the American's are and what they were doing there, it being partially hidden from the reader. As the first issue to a new arc, it wasn't amazing, but it was enjoyable just seeing Superman interacting with his son, as well as having Krypto around as something for Jon to worry about in this odd environment.

 

 

The artwork, I think, may have taken a bit of a hit from previous issues. The backgrounds are great and lively, the dinosaurs and other giant creatures look detailed and ferocious, the problem is in the odd expressions on the characters faces. A joking Superman looks smug and cocky, Jon always looks like he is in shock, and Krypto sometimes jumps from realistic to cartoony. This isn't always the case, some panels are beautifully made, specifically fight scenes, the odd ones just stick out when surrounded by the better backgrounds and creatures.

 

 

Ultimately, I enjoyed this issue, but it was a pretty stock beginning of an arc issue, and certainly pales in comparison to the previous one. I'm interested in seeing why the soldiers were on this island, and seeing how Superman and son get off themselves, assuming this island isn't on our world or our time period. It just seems like an odd choice to me to drop one third of the family dynamic for the second arc, considering that this is what the book is pushing, but I am looking forward to seeing some father son bonding.

Our Score:

7/10

A Look Inside