Review: Lois Lane #6
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Mike Perkins
Colorist: Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Spinning out of the shocking last issues of Event Leviathan, Lois struggles to recover from a tragedy that shakes her to the core. Surrounded by her friends and family, the usually stoic reporter tries to rebound as she continues to chase a story that could alter the DC Universe forever.
Positives
Mike Perkins’ cover is great. The blue background is amazing. It conveys the sorrow Lois Lane but is also very striking and beautiful.
I also love Perkins’ interior art. The character are expressive which is important for a story like this. There’s no action or anything splashy. It’s a lot of characters talking and mourning so if the art doesn’t convey the emotion convincingly, the entire thing falls apart.
I appreciate that Greg Rucka takes the entire issue to allow Lois to deal with this and he doesn’t feel the need to add anything else to it. Obviously, it is connected to a different story but it’s a solid stand alone issue. I enjoyed Lois reminiscing about her troubles with her father. She’s not remembering the good times; she’s remembering the conflicts. The things that are tearing her apart are the regrets in that relationship. That’s very real but not depicted in fiction as often. There’s no real comfort in Sam Lane’s death at least not in this issue.
Negatives
While I do like the nature of this issue, it is weird. This isn’t ongoing it’s a 12 issue story and that story has been abruptly halted to deal with the aftermath of a completely different story. I understand that kind of corporate synergy is part of the appeal of comics for some people. Events in one book will naturally affect things in other books featuring the same characters. But the story has this strange interlude that I don’t think will add much to the future of the story. Rucka is a great writer so if anyone can make it work, it’s him.
Verdict
This is a great issue. Lois losing her father is heartbreaking; all of the emotion lands. I like this tragic sense of loss; Lois can’t make amends until his eventual resurrection because it was a comic book death after all. But that makes the issue even more impressive; I know this isn’t permanent and it still managed to resonate. The art is great as well. I don’t know well this fits into the overall story but it’s a wonderful stand alone piece.
