THIS WEEK: Superman and Batman take on Eclipso in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #31 while Jon Kent deals with recent events in Absolute Power: Super Son #1.
Note the reviews below contain very mild spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #31
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Adrián Gutiérrez
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Steve Bonds
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over two years since there was a proper Justice League comic. The last proper Justice League comic ended with the team dying before the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event (spoiler: they all got better). There are rumors that a new Justice League will spin out of Absolute Power. For now though, the Justice League is a thing of the past. Which suits a series like Batman/Superman: World’s Finest just fine.
This issue starts a new storyline telling an untold battle against the cosmic menace Eclipso. The Satellite era Justice League gather to watch a solar eclipse. Once the it ends, members of the League have to fellow members mind controlled by Eclipso’s power. Meanwhile a city designed to be a solar battery to solve energy issues, surprise might also be a weapon. Chaos ensues.
Reading Batman/Superman: World’s Finest is the platonic ideal of what one should want out of reading a superhero comic. It is brave heroes tackling an impossible task. The series is idealistic without being sappy or overly sentimental. And it’s fun in a time where the idea of superhero seems to be more and more fascist. Superhero comics should be an ideal not a nightmare.
The visuals by Adrián Gutiérrez and colorist Tamra Bonvillain are bright and poppy. Previous regular artist Dan Mora is a hard act to follow but Gutiérrez is a good fit for the tone of the series and aided by Bonvillain’s colors keeping the look of the series consistent. They have a great grasp on character acting selling the jokes with an exasperated expression or nailing the attitude of a character with body language. They’re also really good at panel to panel moments, whether that’s ratcheting up tension with a .
As collaborative as this series has been, this is truly the book Mark Waid was born to write. While Waid has written good to great superhero books in contemporary times, his best work plays with the past history of superhero myths. He likes to build on existing scaffolding to create new facades. There’s no telling what this story with Eclipso will explore but it’s certain to be a fun ride.
Verdict: BUY
Round Up
- Sina Grace and Nicole Maines script for Absolute Power: Super Son explores the aftermath of Jon Kent being freed from Brainiac Queen’s control in Absolute Power #3. It also seems to be a way for Maines, who played Nia Nal aka Dreamer, to say goodbye to the character who “died” (no one ever dies in comics) back in Absolute Power #2. The issue tackles PTSD, and grief through some clever dream sequences. John Timms and Travis Mercer use double page spreads to convey Kent’s internal struggle as he tries to shake off the cyborg’s influence over him. It’s a lot for one issue and it doesn’t totally land the emotional arc because of the limited space. Still for a tie in comic to a massive event, it’s way more ambitious than other comics spinning out of Absolute Power.
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“There are rumors that a new Justice League will spin out of Absolute Power.” is a weird way to say “solicited for November and written about a fair bit all over the comics internet”.
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