Superman #18 review

Superman hates magic. That’s the point that’s being rammed home again and again as he searches for the Map of Mordru with Justice League friend Zatanna. And now the heroes have found the demonic document, but it’s in the hands of someone who very much isn’t a friend. Neron. The devil from the depths of Hell will give them the map, but at what cost? Their souls?

Ouch.

So what does the trickster devil want in exchange for the mystical map? He asks Superman to betray his values and tell a lie.

You saw what he did there.

Elsewhere, the Metropolis gang reach the Fortress of Solitude, where they expect to find the superheroes who haven’t been captured by Amanda Waller’s Amazo squadron.

Superman and Zatanna have found the backroads of Earth opened up to them, shadow paths that demand powerful magic.

This leads to the best scene in the issue, an insight into Zatanna I’ve never seen, and it fits beautifully.

I think this is the final Absolute Power tie-in for the Superman series and while it really should have been scheduled before Absolute Power #3, it’s an absolute joy. Writer Joshua Williamson is adding to the main story without Superman being lost in the grasses of a very busy event. The Man of Steel is very much the star of the show, his smarts and emotional empathy to the fore. Zatanna is a splendid guest, a heroine who’s been around since the early Silver Age but rarely interacted with Superman outside of Justice League adventures; it’s lovely to see them get to know one another better. And there’s a splendid payoff to the ‘I hate magic’ thread.

Jamal Campbell’s full-colour art has an almost 3D feel, vividly demonstrated in a spread which shows our heroes traversing the Dark Roads. The icy wastes around the Fortress (he wrote, being too lazy to check yet again whether we’re talking Arctic or Antarctic) have a delightful fairyland quality, while Neron’s booth in the Oblivion Bar is richly seductive. As for the demon himself, he’s never looked as horribly intense as under Campbell’s stylus.

I do wish this issue’s cover didn’t feel so similar to Campbell’s work last month, though – so much purple!

Ariana Maher’s letters sit nicely on the art, even when the script gets pretty wordy.

Talking about the script, there’s just one thing I don’t get – Zatanna’s insistence at Neron’s table that she and Superman do as he wishes and take a drink. Whatever demonic shots were quaffed don’t come back to haunt them here, but surely they will, eventually. Or did I miss something?

This issue also features a new lackey of Waller’s from Earth 3 with connections to Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s World’s Finest run, the return of one of DC’s most underserved heroines, and a lovely compliment for Jimmy Olsen from Mercy Graves.

What more could you ask for?