Review: Superman and the Authority #3
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Grant Morrison
Colors:Â Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Steve Wands
Artist: Mikel Janin
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
Superman and the Authority #3 – Superman has put the Authority back together, but why? What threat is out there that only this group can contend with?
The Ultra-Humanite, of course! This fearsome foe is forming a team of his own, one designed to go fist-to-fist with the Authority. It will be their baptism in battle to prove if Superman is right that regardless of who we are, there is a hero lurking inside even the worst of us.
This penultimate issue is an important chapter in the new Superman mythos, helping to set up where Clark Kent goes next…and who he goes there with.
This new limited series helps launch an all-new Superman status quo, setting up story elements that reverberate across both Action Comics and Superman: Son of Kal-El in the months to come.
And not only is Superman putting together a superstar team, but it takes superstars to tell the tale: Grant Morrison (The Green Lantern, All-Star Superman) and Mikel JanĂn (Batman, Future State: Superman: Worlds of War)!
Positives
Grant Morrison provides a story that really is based on a story from long ago where Superman lost his powers and he had to combat Amazo. Older Superman fans will love the Easter Egg of a certain Supermobile that is integral to the storyline. I love that DC is going in that direction in “repurposing” some old pieces (See Tom Taylor’s Ragman in the DCeased series). Seeing an unveiling of the Supermobile took me back to the fourth grade…ahem..1970sh.
This book screams Oakland A’s baseball as it is Superman assembling a group that can eventually replace him…the sum of the parts equals Superman. Morrison shines in this foreshadowing…Clark recognizes that the world will need him, but how do you replace a Superman?
This team is almost assembled with the acquisition of June Moone aka The Enchantress. There has to be a method in Grant Morrison’s madness as we have suddenly been teleported to a time with an older Superman whose powers are fading and he is assembling a team to go on an arguable suicide mission (Where is Harley Quinn in all of this?)
Brian Bendis fried the Superman timeline (See anything with Jonathan Kent in it) and Future State has arguably not done it any favors. We saw a glimpse of Superman being killed over and over again by Mongul on War World as Superman is there to fight to release Kryptonian slaves. We have been shown a glimpse of this story in Future State.
However, in the current timeline, Clark has not bid adieu to his family and we do see where he is gearing up to go on this mission. However, Clark is fully brunette coiffed in the Superman comic. Here we have a greying “Reed Richards” Clark assembling his band of arguably bad guys turned good.
Positives 2.0
The switching of art gears is amazing in this book as you get the clean and pristine Fortress scenes where Superman’s costume stands out. The art is ice clear and the characters stand out. it is arguably the most graphic appealing comic now in terms of clean art.
Negatives Â
The timeline throws me in how it is going to intersect with Clark’s mission to War World. Is this Future State…why are Lois and Jonathan not a part of this endeavor? Why do we need a replacement team if the world has Jon and Kara? Some things are not adding up. I am giving a lot of leash here to the comic as the art is phenomenal and the writing is strong. As I am with the Batman titles…am I current or in the future? Future State scrambled a lot of eggs at DC, but I am willing to wait!
Verdict
Buy this book. I mean…I have a lot of OPEN questions posed here in this review. However, the art is worth the price of admission. We get the Ultra-Humanite that can now inhabit Solomon Grundy as well as a plan to inhabit the Man of Steel himself. That Supermobile though….in the words of Jack Nicholson as the Joker…”Where does he get all those wonderful toys?”
