Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Illustrated by: Eddy BarrowsThe “Grounded” storyline continues right here as Superman visits Mt. Prospect – a suburb just southeast of Chicago. In this issue, Superman discovers that there is a darkness even more immense than outer space… One buried deep inside the human heart!
J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Superman continues, with a stop near Chicago. With such an ambiguous cover, you’re not EXACTLY sure what’s going on. Who hit this kid? Are there bullies? Is it his parents? Who knows! Just check the review after the cut to find out!
Oh me oh my, was this a “good” issue? I’ve had my problems with the run before, with its preachiness and it’s out of character interactions run amok, not to mention the complete lack of the things that keep Superman anchored to humanity (that would be his secret identity and family, which ironic considering he’s rediscovering humanity in this run). But this time around, I actually sympathized with Clark more than I have in the past few issues.
First of all, there seems to be a hook forming. Instead of one-off issues where Superman goes somewhere, gets on his ridiculously high soapbox, tells people (whether they be human or alien) what they should do, has a quick fight, and leave; we have someone who might be manipulating Clark into doing what he’s doing. But why? We have an inkling on why she’s doing it too, we’re just not entirely sure! She could be on the side of the angels or the side of Lex Luthor, for all we know at this point.
What I think worked the best about this story is FINALLY the main plot of this book. That kid on the cover? His dad is an abusive father who beats him and throws him in the basement only to call for Superman’s help. Superman of course obliges and saves the kid.
You do then have your preachiness at the end, which is more of a “you don’t necessarily need ME to combat this, just decent people” kind of speech; which in this case, works.
The subplot was a little strange however, as our aforementioned mystery woman implants a dream into Clark’s head about a great disaster coming to Metropolis, and because he’s not there, he can’t defend them. This was an inception style mind trip, guys. I’m not sure how successful it was, because I do think this is a lead-in to the next issue which is a “pitstop in Metropolis.” What it didn’t really explain, was the fact this dream physically affected Clark, and gave him a black eye conveniently in the same eye where our little cover child has his black eye. Is this telling? Only we can find out for sure I suppose.
And now onto the art: Eddy Barrows has had a pretty good, if not uneven, run on Superman. Sometimes he’s really outstanding, other times his faces are cartoony and overly exaggerated, even for comics. This book was even more of an example of that, with some rather impressive visuals, but then a poorly rendered black eye on Clark’s face. It didn’t even look like he had a black eye; it simply looked like he was making funny faces in the mirror. How is that showing any sort of damage on a person’s face, even if it is Superman?
Overall, I think the book is finally ramping up, and telling a cohesive story. I’m just worried that it might have been too little, too late. Especially for the people that were excited for this months before the book even started. For the people that stuck it out, however, it’s rewarding their patience with a worthwhile story.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Buy
