Superman #9 review

Superman is sick, poisoned by green kryptonite in the latest twist in the vendetta against Lex Luthor by Dr Pharm and Mr Graft. Lois Lane sits by her unconscious husband’s floating bedside, trying to get through to him with get well messages. She’s putting on a brave face but it’s tough.

The Man of Steel does wake, though he’s at far from peak capacity. Happily, evil Lexcorp turned good (fingers crossed) Supercorp wants to help. Chief Mercy Graves offers an old Luthor super-suit to boost his power and protect him from further green K attacks.

Pharm and Graft have been recruiting, upgrading and siccing foes of both Lex and Superman on them, and Superman reckons he knows which Metropolis figure will be targeted next.

It’s Marilyn Moonlight, whose middle name must surely be Mysterious. She’s come to Superman’s attention only recently but has supposedly been haunting Metropolis since its earliest days. She reminds me of the current Crimson Avenger, the one whose haunted guns take her where she’s needed. Anyway, Marilyn is having none of Graft’s rubbish and they look set to rumble until, from up, up in the sky, a figure descends.

Now that’s how to make an entrance, courtesy of guest artist Bruno Redondo. His visuals are a pleasure throughout, whether it’s the background characters at the Daily Planet going about their business or the occasional Joe Shuster vibe when he draws the Super-physiog.

There’s also a wee bit of Keith Giffen/Kevin Maguire in Lena Luthor’s face, which I rather like – and Redondo’s new outfit for her is pure win, if annoyingly asymmetrical for those of us who aren’t at all anal, oh no sirree.

Then there’s the terrific opening splash, which seems to nod to Dave Gibbons’ cover for one of the most famous Superman tales of all time.

Whether Redondo is deliberately saluting his artistic predecessors, or is fortuitously on a similar wavelength, the result is the same – glorious gobbets of storytelling. Add in the inarguably original moments, such as that power-packed arrival above, and a fantastically well-composed page as we check in with Perry White, and the argument for a regular Superman assignment for Redondo is unassailable.

And who knew a cast-off Lex suit could look sexy?

Partnering Redondo is his Nightwing colleague Adriano Lucas, who goes against the grain of modern colouring by giving us plenty of eye popping hues. Even the night-time palette features attractive blues rather than inky Gotham tones. A shout-out, too, to Ariana Maher for another attractive job of lettering.

While Williamson’s story has been going on since the start of this latest volume, it’s nowhere near wearing out its welcome, with plenty of twists and turns – I’ve not mentioned where this issue goes in the final pages, suffice to say we get guest stars and another very good look for Superman.

And the new, more cordial relationship between Superman and Lex is fascinating. The addition of Lex’s mother Letitia and aforementioned daughter Lena adds even more shades to Luthor, while it’s good to see that as tough as she is, even Lois Lane isn’t always stoic when her man is hurt.

The only bump in the script is Superman’s insistence he get out of his hospital bed to find Pharm and Graft…the current Metropolis set-up has him usually accompanied by Supergirl, Superman II, Superboy, the Super-(not really) Twins, the Super-Man of China and, occasionally, Steel John and Steel Natasha. Also, Krypto is but a whistle away. He could have had any or all of the Lt Supermen fill in… we should’ve at least had a line explaining they were away on a mission in space or whatever.

One little thing I’m wondering about…

… why is the Supercorp boffin trying to avoid using Stryker’s actual name? It’s not like The Chained isn’t singularly uncatchy.

Jamal Campbell’s cover reflects the action inside, previewing Graft’s freaky fresh look, though Superman’s head looks a tad awkwardly placed. Still, I’m not an artist, what do I know?

At $4.99 for 22 story pages this is one of DC’s priciest books – you’re getting just two more story pages for a dollar above the normal price point – but it’s also one of DC’s best. It’s definitely worth following, but if day and date aren’t important to you, DC Infinite is the place to be in one month’s time.