THIS WEEK: The DC Round-Up team reconvenes for another roundtable discussion, this time taking on Superman #1, Superman: Space Age #3, and more!
Note: the reviews below contain spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of each discussion for our final verdicts.
Superman #1
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Jamal Campbell
Letterer: Ariana Maher
JOE GRUNENWALD: Hello, and welcome to this month’s DC Roundup Roundtable! It’s a Superman-centric discussion this month, so let’s get right into it. First up is the latest Dawn of DC entry, the debut issue of Joshua Williamson and Jamal Campbell’s Superman series. What’d you all think of this first issue?
ZACK QUAINTANCE: Can I just say blown away? I was blown away.
CORI MCCREERY: I really, really loved this book. We’ll have to see how the rest of this first arc goes, but this might be the new “Give this book to someone who wants to know what makes Superman super.” book.
JOE: I agree with you both: this was an incredibly strong launch. From the new status quo at the Daily Planet to the goings-on at LexCorp, it’s great to read a Superman book that feels both classic and entirely fresh at the same time.
CORI: I said the same over at WWAC in my longer review there, but I feel like this has the potential to be the Superman equivalent of Hush. Just a book you can give someone brand new and have them see what everyone in the Superman universe is about.
ZACK: I really liked everything about this book, but I think it all kind of stems from the book having a really strong core concept — after the knock down drag out in Action #1050, Lex is in prison, and he’s using Superman’s super hearing to communicate with him from there, whether Superman wants him to or not. That’s a fantastic high concept to start with here.
JOE: I love how ‘Lex in Superman’s head’ was handled. At first I thought maybe I’d missed something from Action #1050, so the reveal of what’s actually going on was really well-done. It’s such a smart idea and it feels so obvious that it’s hard to believe it’s never been done before.
ZACK: It also raises some uncomfortable questions about Jon’s super hearing as it relates to his parents very amorous relationship, but I think we can all agree not to speak and/or think about that.
CORI: Also, I want to shout out Campbell’s art. It’s so nice to see him get elevated to superstar artist status with work on a flagship book, and boy did it immediately pay dividends. That opening spread is something I could gush for hours about.
ZACK: Agreed. I am curious though, what did you all think of the ending?
JOE: I’m very interested to see who Lex’s ‘villains’ are. I admire any attempt to add new characters to Superman’s rogues gallery. Livewire’s presence in this issue feels like a nod to maybe the last really effective addition to the lineup.
CORI: It’s part of what make me compare it a bit to Hush. It seems like we’re going to see most of the rogue’s gallery with some new mastermind behind the scenes, and that’s exciting.
ZACK: I think every big new superhero run should have a person or even persons lurking in the shadows, so I was very pleased with how this one ended.
JOE: I was briefly confused about who was on the table on the last page before I realized it’s Bizarro. But that’s on me, not on Williamson and Campbell.
CORI: The backwards S wasn’t enough Joe?
JOE: Anything else anyone wants to say about this issue?
ZACK: Long live Lois Lane, editor-in-chief.
CORI: GOD. FINALLY.
JOE: I’m excited to read more of the Daily Planet staff from this creative team, too. I want to see them cut loose on Jimmy Olsen.
CORI: And just perfectly capturing her every emotion about it, from her predatory nature to her defeated resignation when Clark tells her that she’s the only person that could do it. Just perfect. WHO IS JIMMY’S NEW GIRLFRIEND? IS IT THE GORILLA LADY?
ZACK: The weirder the origin of Jimmy’s girlfriend, the better.
JOE: I think I know how this is going to go, but are we ready for verdicts?
CORI: BUY immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just go buy this comic book.
JOE: Agreed. This is a slam-dunk BUY.
ZACK: BUY from me as well. No hesitation.
Superman: Space Age #3
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Mike Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
JOE: From the debut of a new Superman book to the conclusion of another one, this week also has Superman: Space Age #3 from Mark Russell, Michael Allred, and Laura Allred. How satisfying a conclusion was this for you?
CORI: t was incredibly interesting, and not at all what I expected to happen in this book. As a love letter to the Silver and Bronze Age, I guess it only makes sense for it to end where it did, but it’s not what I expected going in.
ZACK: I thought the ending was fantastic. As Cori points out, I couldn’t have predicted it happening this way, but I thought the writing was absolutely wonderful. It was really moving and poignant, and it felt like one of those grand statements about what the characters — as well as superheroes more broadly –mean to these creators. Which tends to be my favorite type of superhero comic.
JOE: I feel like any other ending wouldn’t have felt true to the spirit of the series. I loved how it came together, at once heartbreaking and eternally hopeful.
ZACK: It had such a wonderful mix of heartfelt sentiment with pulpy sci-fi touches.
CORI: Having it end with the Crisis, and an all new, yet still the same Superman, just kind of felt right.
JOE: I also love the mirroring of a super-scientist saving whoever he can from a doomed planet by sending them to another world. That felt so appropriate.
ZACK: That was a really nice idea.
CORI: Also the twist with Batman and Joker is something I would have never seen coming.
JOE: Even knowing the world was doomed to destruction, I feel like there are a lot of fun ideas that I would love to see explored further. I want to see more of Russell’s Lex Luthor and his Justice League.
ZACK: I would LOVE a Russell Justice League riff.
JOE: What’d you think of the Allreds’ art on this book?
CORI: I thought it fit the tone of the story perfectly. If there’s a modern day artist that I think of as having some Silver Age trappings, he’s the first one that comes to mind.
ZACK: Yeah, no notes. The aesthetic was perfect. Also, some truly excellent mayhem cartooning as this one ended, with the chaos unfolding on Earth.
JOE: Their ’80s fashion was beautifully horrible. Or horribly beautiful. I can’t decide. Any final thoughts on this issue or the series as a whole before we get to verdicts?
CORI: Just that it’s another of the Black Label series I look forward to getting a hardcover of to put on my shelf.
JOE: Very much. If you’ve been reading this series all along this issue is an obvious BUY. If you haven’t been, pick up the collection when it comes out.
ZACK: Agreed. BUY, one way or another.
CORI: Hard BUY from me too.
JOE: We’ll close this week with an open forum. What other books out this week do you want to mention?
ZACK: My other strong recommendation is GCPD – Blue Wall #5. That series is really cooking, feeling an incredibly worthy update/successor to one of my favorite Batman comics of all time, Gotham Central. Check it out.
CORI: World’s Finest #12 satisfied my every single desire regarding seeing what actually happened on the very terrible first date between Kara and Dick.
JOE: For me, “One-Minute War” really picked up in this week’s The Flash #793. It’s felt very decompressed so far so I was glad to see the Flash Family finally getting into action against The Fraction (that was an unintentional rhyme).
CORI: Joe’s pick of the week is the Flash? What a shocking development. More on this at eleven.
JOE: That’s a stretch.
CORI: Just like Flash supporting character Elongated Man! I’m out!
JOE: And that’s a wrap for this week’s Roundtable! See you all again next month!
Miss any of our earlier reviews? Check out our full archive!
There’s every reason I should like Allred’s art, yet I can’t stand it. It’s too mannered, and everyone’s lips like they’ve been overfilled with super-collagen. It’s too disturbing in this context of a would-be Silver Age story. No more Superman or Batman from him, please.
World’s Finest was the first time I’ve laughed out loud at a comic since, probably, The Cowboy Wally Show, or the Baker/Helfer Shadow. Great issue.
Love reading this column every week! Curious what WWAC is. I would love to read your extended review, Cori. Thanks!
I found WWAC. I should have just googled it instead of asking. Sorry! Really enjoying the articles and reviews over there.
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