Superman #10 review

Yee-haw! Or maybe Yee-FWOAR! Who knew Superman would suit cowboy cosplay so well? Our hero is as smokin’ as the barrel of a Colt 45 on Jamal Campbell’s instant classic cover. And that’s a brilliant tagline, too!

But can the interiors live up to this image? Yes they can. Writer Joshua Williamson and artists Bruno Redondo and Ciao Filipe give us a rootin’ tootin’ all-action extravaganza as Superman and Marilyn Moonlight face off against a classic foe in pioneer country.

And ah’m sure you kin guess who thet is…

Yep, it’s that futuristic varmint Terra-Man, who’s having a holiday in the 19th century, unlike the good guys, who have been flung into the past by the insidious Dr Pharm’s claws of chaos. Superman and Marilyn are out to get back to present-day Metropolis, where Pharm is running a vendetta against Lex Luthor. Currently trying to be a good guy, Lex is looking for a way to bring the heroes back.

Can Superman and Marilyn save the town from being terrorised by Terra-Man? Why does the saloon maid look so familiar? And will we even learn the origin of Marilyn Moonlight, our spooky Madame Zorro?

You’ll find all the answers in this issue, which manages to be a change of pace tale while tying into the storyline that’s been running through this book since its debut.

You know what else it ties into?

Pre-Crisis Superman! Forget the New 52 fella, somehow this is the original Terra-Man who fought the Man of Steel while riding a glorious Pegasus.

Colour me intrigued. I don’t know if Williamson has a plan to expand on the situation or whether it’s just a bit of fun – the DC Multiverse is alive and well so who’s to say a vintage villain couldn’t cross over from one version of Earth to another while time travelling? If original Terra-Man shows up again I hope it’s in the original, classic costume so nicely drawn here, Benday dots effect and all. And on the winged horse who, if memory serves, goes by Nova.

Last issue ended with Superman, suddenly more than a century in the past, declaring he was going to rob a train. This time we learn that the people he picked on were Pharm and brother Graft when they were beastly boys, and their gruesome mother.

It turns out that the suitcase Superman has now, he grabbed from them, but we don’t find out what’s in there. Hopefully all will be revealed soon.

How about that art? Last issue’s illustrator Bruno Redondo is back, drawing the issue digitally, with inks supplied by Caio Filipe and the work is simply beautiful. Whether we’re looking at a sad moment in the sunset, a duel on Main Street or a beefy Superman, every panel is a beautiful nugget of storytelling.

Heck, there’s an early spread of Superman and Marilyn riding the range that’s hauntingly lovely thanks to the way colour artist Adriano Lucas interprets Redondo’s nigh key-line free composition. Ariana Maher’s sympathetic lettering adds to the success of the issue, too – in this case she lays out Clark’s letter to Lois in a friendly font set against desert tones.

Whether or not you’ve been following the current storyline, don’t miss this issue, it’s a Western winner.