Review: Summer of Superman Special #1
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Mark Waid, Dan Slott and Joshua Williamson
Art: Jorge Jimenez with Belen Ortega and Dan Mora
Colors: ?
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
Validus is crashing through time into Clark Kent’s life at different points. It takes the help of Mr. Terrific to figure it out as Superman’s past is poised to impact his future!
Positives
There’s a great through line in Summer of Superman Special #1 that creates a lot of excitement for an old reader. Not longtime, you’ve probably got to be an old reader to be excited to see Clark Kent as Superboy with Krypto facing off against Validus from the Fatal Five. Clearly, this part of the story written by Mark Waid is a quick introduction to Waid’s upcoming run on Action Comics featuring the Adventures of Superman When He Was a Boy. Things move pretty quickly as Validus shows up on Lana Lang and John Henry Irons Wedding Day. While Validus is eventually rescued, what Omen and Mr. Terrific help Superman determine is that Validus was afraid and trying to run away from something. That something comes in the form of surprise cliffhanger from the future, but not THE future of the DC Universe. Let’s just say it’s what comes next after the final pages of the DC All In Special #1.
Seeing classic Superboy (Clark Kent as Superboy!) is a real joy. Clark and Lana as teens in Smallville is something we haven’t seen regularly and it’s exciting because for the first time in 40 years, Clark’s career as Superboy is back in continuity. This, as we see with the appearance of Validus, means the Legion of Super-Heroes, the CLASSIC Legion, is back in continuity as well, and Superboy’s history with the team. Geoff Johns used the classic Legion in his Justice Society series and Mark Waid used Mon-El in his recent “All In” run on Action Comics. Additionally, the most recent incarnation of the Legion’s nemesis, the Time Trapper showed up in Superman in recent issues.
There’s some nice work on the friendship between Clark and Lana. While I’m usually drawn to more character work than action and plot, the through line with Validus and what it promises for the upcoming Superboy stories overwhelms the other aspects of the Summer of Superman Special, as well as the story beats that don’t resonate.
Negatives
While Jorge Jimenez’s art is absolutely perfect for SuperSons, his style doesn’t fit the teenaged Clark and Lana. Instead of looking like teens they look like they are 11 or 12. That look is maintained on the adult Lana as she prepares to get married and it’s a bit unsettling. Summer of Superman Special may have benefitted from some different artists instead of one artist on the whole issue. It would’ve been nice to see Skylar Patridge do the Superboy chapter.
While the world of Superman has improved greatly since the Bendis era, it’s an incredibly low bar to pass over. As strong as the Validus through line is, it’s hard not to feel like there are too many capes in the Super-family right now. Lois and Lana feel quite forced as superpowered characters and using Omen just brings up thoughts of the terrible Power Girl series which ends next week. There’s too many problems with the current status quo in the Superman books that when everything is connected it ends up detracting from the overall usually.
Lastly, the Lana Lang/ John Henry Irons marriage is another forced element in the current Superman mythos. They’ve been an awkward couple since they were first brought together. There’s no chemistry and their pairing gives the sense that if Lana can’t have Superman, she’ll settle for a one-time stand in for the Man of Steel. It may not be portrayed this way on the page, but that’s how it looks as a longtime reader. Lana always worked better as a non-powered friend who wasn’t involved at all in the heroic life. This marriage can be retconned away easily, but it’s just one of those missteps like the whole SuperCorp fiasco that’s been going on in the books for the past couple years. It was always a bad idea, and the only one who thought Superman was stupid enough to trust Mercy Graves (and Luthor?) was writer Josh Williamson. Not all “different” and “out of the box” ideas are good.
Verdict
Despite the World of Superman being slightly above average in its status quo, the Summer of Superman Special benefits from a fantastic through line with Fatal Fiver, Validus. The connections to the Legion of Super-Heroes and Clark’s reinstated time as Superboy steamroll over the bits of Superman’s world that are not really working. It’s such a strong element that it’s hard to deny the fun and excitement this issue brings, even if the Lang/ Irons wedding is best forgotten and the centerpiece of this issue.
