Review: Superman American Alien #4 “Owl”

by Steven Brown
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The boy scout has finally made it to the big city! Clark Kent is now in Metropolis and although he can fly, he can’t stop looking up at the skyscrapers of the City of Tomorrow! Here for a competing internship at the Daily Planet, Clark will soon run across some familiar faces namely Lois Lane, Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne–and his future worst enemy Lex Luthor! Will Clark be able to navigate his way through the bustling city? Or will his best kept secret be finally found out?

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The Positives

In American Alien #4 titled “Owl”, written by Max Landis and penciled by Steve Dillon and Jae Lee we find Clark Kent adjusting to life in Metropolis. He’s finding it harder to adjust than he should as he gets carjacked while he’s upstairs taking in groceries. It’s a pretty hilarious moment in itself. Dillon and Lee give us great detail in their artwork as we see a beautiful Metropolis skyline–along with some of the DC universe’s greatest future heroes. Having already met Oliver Queen a few issues ago, Clark runs into him again and the two share more laughs. However this time Oliver has already been on the island–so now his ideals and beliefs have significantly changed. Although he hasn’t became the Green Arrow yet, you can tell that’s there’s a process going on in his mind. Landis does a great job of showcasing this through Clark’s interview with Oliver. Kent’s interview with Luthor was pretty intense as well as Clark meets his future enemy for the first time. As Clark interviews Luthor, Landis gives us a small look inside the mind of the Metropolis titan and it confirms what we already know–Luthor has some issues.

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The Negatives

The only complaint I have with this issue is the lack of action, however that’s clearly forgivable here. This is simply a coming of age story just like all of the other previous issues. Although there are a few action points here and there, overall this is just Clark meeting his future allies and his enemy all for the first time. It’s pretty simple and clear cut–however Landis does a great job of giving us a look into the ideals and beliefs of each of these characters that makes the book worth reading in itself.

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The Verdict

If you’ve been reading Superman: American Alien from the beginning then naturally you’ll want to pick this up. I only say this cause reading it by itself it’ll come across as a bit slow. However when read as part of the series it looks great. So far we’ve seen Clark as a kid, make mistakes as a teenager, and now he’s in college preparing for his future. It’s a completely different side of Superman that we’ve never seen before and I think that’s what makes this series so good.

4outof5

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