Review: Superman #682

We’re powerful, you’re not.  What’s the problem?

The sixth installment of the New Krypton saga came out this week, and the story becomes even more interesting as the Kandorians decide it’s time to flex their muscles a little, and do something for Kal-El.  It’s just too bad those flimsy frail humans keep getting in the way.  Oh, and Mon-El and Bizarro make an appearance too!

I’ve always liked the concept of Superman (heck, my son is named after his father), but for some reason the tales have always been rather tepid, and have never been anywhere near the top of my stack.  For the last couple of years, Superman has become interesting again – be it the return of the original Legion of Super-Heroes, the events after Up, Up, and Away, or the recent reappearance of Kandor, these stories have something that I’m really digging.  I wonder if it has to do with the lack of Superman as the central character?

I’ve been all over another title for including Superman in the title, but save for a few panels here and there, he’s been pretty much absent.  In the case of Superman #682, Superman, the caped hero, only appears in two pages of the issue.  The rest of the time, we get to see what is happening in the rest of the world.

Clark and his mother visit Jonathan’s grave only to discover Bizarro is there, morning the loss of his “father”.  It’s kind of nice to see something so twisted have a heart and feel sorrow for the loss of someone he considers his Jor-El.  Since I don’t read Superman titles religiously, it would have been nice to have an editor’s note telling us to check out Action Comics #855-#857.  Clark lets Bizarro go, but he’s soon taken down by a bunch of Kandorians.

This isn’t the only incident, as Kandorians (and Kara) led by Zor-El flood the country side, absconding with some of Superman’s greatest villains; Bizarro, Prankster, Silver Banshee, and Toyman.  Unfortunately, when the Kandorians attempt to take the Parasite, the Science Police fight back, not knowing what is going on, and the Kryptonians kill them in the process – collateral damage as Zor-El later calls it.

When the word of the killings and abductions reaches the Daily Planet, it’s the point where Superman decides it’s time for him to intercede.  Superman can’t believe the Kandorians would kill, and while it shocks Kara and Zor-El as well, Zor-El and his wife Alura believe what they’ve done is right.  And instead of killing Superman’s enemies, they’ve sent them all into the Phantom Zone, where the final page reveals a nice splash of Mon-El surrounded by the newly impounded villains.

There’s also something going on with the Guardian, but it seems so pushed aside, that little time needs to be spent thinking about it.

While I would like to say that everything in the New Krypton story is something we’ve never seen before, it is exactly that – an old story wrapped in new paper.  It reads incredibly well, and this issue by James Robinson is particularly well paced.

I’m loving the Connect-A-Cover covers by Alex Ross, and can’t wait to lay these all out in one giant image when this story concludes.  I wish I could say the same for the interior art by Renato Guedes.  I still don’t understand why he insists on drawing the DCU US President to look like President Dubya, when that is clearly who is not running things in the DCU.  I do like Guedes’ pencils, as he brings a style that reminds me of European comics (Guedes is from Brazil), so the only thing I can think of that is ruining the art is the coloring. The shading looks almost like someone tried to lavish a heaping helping of Photoshop watercolor brushes across the art, which knocks everything down a peg.

Superman #684 will feature the epilogue to the New Krypton story, so there are still several more chapters to be told in this tale.  I’m sticking around for everyone of them, as I’m now fully invested in this tale.  Superman #682 does well enough to earn a 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

53/53