Superwoman! Strange visitor from another neighborhood who, disguised as Daily Planet Editor Lois Lane, fights a never-ending battle… but HOW did she get those powers in the first place? Your Major Spoilers review of Superwoman Special #1 from DC Comics awaits!

SUPERWOMAN SPECIAL #1

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Edwin Galmon/Laura Braga/Nikola Cizmesija
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Paul Kaminski
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: December 11, 2024

Previously in Superwoman: The amazing story of how Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Lois Lane got superpowers and became Superwoman is finally told. What does it mean for the matriarch of the Super family to fly alongside her family and friends? How long will these powers last?

And who wants these powers for themselves?!

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES

For a few issues now, Lois Lane has been active with the Superman Family as Superwoman, a fully-powered hero with the standard Kryptonian power suite, after the events of Absolute Power. As this issue opens, we see her trying (and failing) to write the story of how she got those powers. Her writer’s block is interrupted by the arrival of Kara (Supergirl) Zor-El and Lana (the other Superwoman) Lang, who reminds her that even she gets to clock out once in a while. Lois refuses their invitation until they find the right bait, inviting Lois to go out fighting crime. The threesome takes to the skies of Metropolis, and finally, Lois lets down her guard enough to talk about how she got her powers. During the final battle against Amanda Waller’s android power-sappers, Lois stole a battle armor from Lex Luthor’s arsenal, taking to the skies to help her husband and the Justice League fight them off. She awoke on the roof of the Daily Planet, her armor gone, with no idea how she got home, but finding herself fully super-powered without it. When her husband returned, he began training her, allowing Lois Lane to join the rest of her family in the skies.

Of course, since Kryptonian-level powers are statistically rare, the Justice League worries about the unspoken question: WHOSE powers are they? And… what happens when they discover that Lois has them?

A GOOD-LOOKING COMIC BOOK

The biggest thing that this issue has going for it is that the multiple artists’ styles mesh so well that I never noticed the switch between them. Although I prefer a slightly more photo-realistic style, each artist gives Lois, Lana, and Kara expressive faces and body language, with Lois’ teasing reveal to Clark calling back to when he first told her in the early ’90s. It’s a cute moment, followed by a montage of power training that is equally cute. It’s also an example of the issue’s biggest weakness, as it glosses over a great deal of information, giving us instead an abstract of it all. The promised origin ends up feeling more like coming attractions, which is a little frustrating, given that Superwoman just… showed up, with a vague idea that she got powers. This issue explains that, yep… She got powers, and she doesn’t know why or whose they are.

Of course, we, the readers, find out on the final page, and it’s pretty clear that the owner is gonna want them back, and he’s perfectly willing to (Terence) Stamp out whoever stole them if you catch my drift.

BOTTOM LINE: WELL-DRAWN, A LITTLE LACKING IN FOCUS

All in all, Superwoman Special #1 doesn’t feel like a story that needed its own six-dollar issue, as so much of the story is recap or montage, but the lovely art helps to make up for a little of that, with charming character work throughout, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. If nothing else, it’s fun to see Lana and Lois joking about being Superwoman Red and Superwoman Blue, and the promise of a villain before whom heroes might kneel is a nice little tease for what’s coming down the pike.

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