Superman finally comes face to face with Hordr and even has a mirror match against himself! As the Man of Steel fights a super powered copy of himself an ally races to save Superman’s friend, Jimmy Olsen. However we find out that Hordr_Root is actually being manipulated by someone else–and it’s someone who not only has plans for the Man of Steel–but the world as well!!
The Positives
“At the Mercy of Hordr_Root”, written by Gene Luen Yang and penciled by Howard Porter and John Romita Jr. was a good read. If you’re a follower of my posts you’d know I’m primarily an action person when it comes to my reading and this issue gives you that. Here we see Superman fight a construct of himself, engage in battle with Hordr_Root’s minions and finally he confronts Hordr_Root himself with the help of his new allies from Mythbrawl. Each page seems like it has someone getting punched in it and that was awesome. Now for those of you saying “another slugfest issue”, its actually more than that. Not to give away too much but there’s quite a few scenes where we see Superman use his mind and some brilliant tactics to defeat his foes–especially when confronting his doppelganger. I like when Superman’s mind gets put on display and Yang makes sure it shines along with his fights in this issue.
The Negatives
My only complaint is the introduction of Condesa  who was under Hordr’s control in previous issues. My only real issue is that her character really wasn’t all that crucial to this particular story. Here, in this issue you find out that after being free of Hordr’s control she has the ability to talk to machines in a binary code. It seems pretty neat, but overall it was pretty useless to me in the overall scheme of the story. However I believe Yang included this to show us the influence Clark has on people. People who stand with Superman– human or otherwise always believe in themselves and fight harder when they are on his side. I think Yang wants to show us the impact Superman–even a depowered one–has on the enviroment around him. Although Condesa wasn’t crucial to the story, I believe it was important for Clark to believe he can still make a difference in people’s lives–her character demonstrated that perfectly.
The Verdict
This issue of Superman was a great and enjoyable read. The more issues I read from Yang on Superman the more I like. I’ve said from the beginning of my coverage of this issue I wasn’t a fan of the depowered Superman but Yang makes us actually appreciate this particular Superman. I like that although he’s gone through his identity being tossed out the window, his powers have been drained, and his allies few–Superman still remains in his character. Its a great storytelling concept that makes you actually want more. You want my advice? Pick up Superman #47–its something you’ll want to finish.
