THIS WEEK: The younger man of steel flies into his latest solo series in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1.

Note: the review below contains spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comic in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.


Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Clayton Henry
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Cover Artists: Clayton Henry & Marcelo Maiolo

When Clark Kent’s secret identity was restored during the events of Action Comics #1050, the original Man of Steel wasn’t the only Superman whose status quo changed. Jon Kent’s identity was also put back in the bottle, and Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1 picks up that thread while spinning the younger Superman off into an adventure for which he is uniquely suited.

Writer Tom Taylor spent the run of the Superman: Son of Kal-El series exploring Jon coming to terms with his private life being public. Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent finds the titular hero enjoying a degree of privacy for the first time since he returned from the 31st Century. It’s an interesting reversal from the previous series, but it also removes an element of what made Jon’s situation interesting. Now that his identity is a secret again, he’s basically just like any other superhero.

It’s no surprise, then, that the focus of this first issue is more on a big, multiversal threat than it is on Jon and his personal life. It’s a lot of table-setting for the rest of the series, but it works well. Characters are introduced seamlessly without feeling shoehorned in or like they’re there purely for exposition purposes, and it’s all couched within some entertaining superheroics. 

Artists Clayton Henry and Jordie Bellaire bring the story to life in exciting fashion. Henry’s linework is as sharp as ever, with all the clean linework, expressive characters, and kinetic action readers have come to expect. His highly-stylized artwork is complemented beautifully by Bellaire’s colors, which bring out the animated feel of the visuals while still grounding them. Her work is particularly impressive in differentiating between parallel Earths, with subtle differences in tone making it clear that one world is different from another.

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1 is a solid start to the new story arc for the younger man of steel. If you weren’t already invested in Jon as a character, there’s likely not much here that will change your mind, but as a continuation of his previous stories and a tease for what’s to come it’s a really entertaining comic.

Final Verdict: BROWSE.


Round-Up

  • Monkey Prince #12 concludes the origin series for DC‘s latest breakout superhero. Admittedly I fell away from this series after the end of its first storyline, but after MP’s appearances during Lazarus Planet I thought I’d jump back on, and I wasn’t disappointed by this issue, even if it is the series’ last. Gene Luen YangBernard ChangMarcelo Maiolo, and Janice Chiang present an exciting story that’s full of action and heart. Monkey Prince has come a long way from that first arc, and it’ll be exciting to see where he goes next.
  • Poison Ivy #10 sees Pam hit the road once again, this time down the west coast with her new friend Janet for a ‘wellness retreat’ that ends with Ivy taking on Gwyneth Paltrow (names changed for legal reasons, naturally). Every issue of this book from G. Willow WilsonMarcio TakaraArif Prianto, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is a reminder of why it was upgraded from miniseries to ongoing. It’s a joy to read, and Ivy has never been more interesting.
  • Batman #133 from Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Adriano Di Benedetto, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles continues the “Bat-Man of Gotham” arc, with Bruce Wayne donning a new makeshift Batsuit and getting closer to the secrets of what’s going on on this alternate Earth. DC’s really digging into the multiverse this week, and I for one am here for it. This has been a really entertaining arc, and I’m interested to see how it eventually ties back to what’s happening in the main DCU.

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