The Man of Steel is back! Superman thanks to the sacrifice of Metallo has his powers returned back to him! Now a fully powered Superman is all that stands in the way of Vandal Savage’s plans of conquest! Can Superman stop Vandal’s plans of domination?
The Positives
Superman #50 “Savage Dawn” written by Gene Luen Yang and penciled by Howard Porter was a good read and a great conclusion to the Savage Dawn series. If you’ve been following my reviews on this particular series then you’d know how much of a fan I’ve become of Vandal Savage. Now that the comet that gave Vandal his immortality is approaching Earth, he’s becoming stronger and stronger with each moment–able to hold his own against Superman–while trying to convince him to join his side. Through showing Superman a bunch of visual images–well made images at that, Vandal tries to convince Superman to join his side. I loved how much Vandal is such a puppetmaster here in that respect. Throughout the entire book he’s standing near the point of victory and he still makes a play for Superman to be a general in his army. Of course Superman refuses and the two have a showdown in space as the comet approaches.
The Negatives
My only negative about the issue is the ending here but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Keep in mind that the whole world now knows that Superman is Clark Kent thanks to Lois Lane and I’m still not a real fan of hers after all of that. At the conclusion of the book we see Clark, Lois, and Jimmy at a diner talking about the events of Vandal Savage. Here we see people in the diner who are taking pictures of Clark while he’s eating breakfast with his friends. For the most part everything appears to be normal but my question is where does Clark go from here? His identity is still exposed because of Lois. I think her exposing his identity really stuck with me as an ultimate betrayal. I am eager to see another issue examining just how exactly this plays out between the two.
The Verdict
I thought that Superman #50 was a great read. The “Savage Dawn” series was a great read period! If you’re a fan of Vandal Savage I definitely suggest reading this series! Throughout the entire book we have action packed fight scenes and the storyline was great as well. I’m looking forward to see how exactly Lois and Clark rebuild their relationship in future books.
