Has someone cocked up or is the cover blurb deliberately blurry? I get that Green Kryptonite radiation could have Superman squinting, but the lettering should be sharper. And not in the centre of the image, where the eye should be considering what’s behind the door. Overall, though, I like the effect of the cover by illustrator Rafael Albuquerque and colourist Marcelo Maiolo.
One reason could be that we’re seeing Superman from behind, so I don’t have to look at Albuquerque’s interpretation of the Man of Steel’s face, which is very much not to my taste. And inside there are also fewer Superman faces than usual… well, they’re there, but obscured by special armour.
The comic starts with Daily Planet editor Lois Lane chatting to staff members not by Zoom, but by hologram, just because she can. She can because new recruit Tee-Nah from Gorilla City has invented special tech.
The massive Green K meteor that crashed on Earth in the first issue of this new series continues to threaten Superman. And a new wrinkle is intelligence that a Kryptonian sunstone crystal looks set to be unearthed in El Caldero by the killer Kobra cult. Given it can create Kryptonian tech such as the Fortress of Solitude, Clark doesn’t want Kobra to get their hands on it. But how can Superman operate safely in the land where Green K abounds?
Five panels later, he’s out of the car… but he is wearing protective armour as he greets the Krypto-Knights who surround self-proclaimed Kryptonite King Castilho.
They’ve even thrown a parade, but reporter-on-the-spot Ron Troupe notes it was quickly cobbled together when the hero was spotted entering local airspace. Superman says he’s come for the sunstone, which is rightly his. Castilho disputes that, but the argument is cut short.
The presidential miner explains that he led the team that dragged Superman out from under the meteor when it flattened him into a coma. It seems Castilho is more than a power-mad dictator, and is genuinely keen to keep Superman safe. He leads Superman, Ron, a familiar-looking cameraperson and a couple of Krypto-Knights underground where, they find, someone has got to the crystal first…
I’ve not been the biggest fan of the ‘Green K everywhere’ business, but this issue is a very solid read. The new information about Castilho makes him a lot more interesting, Ron gets his biggest role in a story for at least 20 years and we see, direct from the Bronze Age, the Supermobile! OK, not for long, and Albuquerque doesn’t make it look great, but it’s there.
We have to accept that every other hero on Earth who could sub for Superman in El Caldero is off-planet, but heroes going it alone when they really shouldn’t is hardly new.
The ever-grinning Tee-Nah annoys me – she’s meant to be a young girl gorilla but looks like a middle-aged man… could someone please give her a glow-up?
What’s gossip gal Cat Grant doing working the crime beat in Star City? Perhaps she fancied a change.
We get an interesting nugget of info about El Caldero’s Emerald City.
Does that mean there’s not as much Green K in the country as is claimed? Or is it secreted away until it’s sold to bad guys?
Also on the Krypton relic front, since when are sun crystals – an import from the films I could do without – public knowledge? And who knew they gave Superman super-migraine?
Does anybody see the point of holo-conversations? Hovering drones are sinister.
And how safe is telling a drone not to listen in? What about lip readers?
Questions questions – at least I’m engaged. Slott’s script gets better as the issue progresses, taking us to a cliffhanger that recalls a certain recent big screen hit. The dialogue hits well, and I loved Ron calling Superman ‘Supes’, as all his buddies should.
Albuquerque’s art tells the story well enough, though I’d still prefer a slicker look. Maiolo’s colours add the finishing touch, with the flashback sequence particularly effective. Meanwhile, Dave Sharpe’s letters are attractive throughout.
Superman Unlimited #5 is an entertaining read, full of fun story points; if you’ve not been following this series, you could jump right in here – Slott is professional enough to provide everything you need in terms of characters and situation. If only more writers were so considerate.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I can’t take this series seriously. Kryptonite not only harms Superman, but it’s a cancer causing agent. No one should be wearing it as jewelry and definitely not lipstick (Superman Unlimited #4). Why is Batman storing it and not destroying it? There is enough Kryptonite in this issue to cause any human illness, and the only person wearing any protective gear is Superman? Oh, are we surprised that the suit was ruptured so easily? Slott can turn in a moment here and there, but thus far, this series is a lark, with the Macguffin of Kryptonite so Slott can manage Superman, a character he obviously isn’t up to writing without a crutch. Great review as always!
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Thanks for the kind words. There are definitely inconsistencies, the Green K issue should be at the forefront of Superman’s mind. I hope it’s not going to drag on and on.
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So besides the art it isn’t as atrocious as every previous issue? I guess I can change my mind abut getting it. Reading the last Flash by its current writer I will ever touch didn’t kill me so it could happen.
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Okay, it didn’t suck as hard as the previous four. The art remains the worst of the Superman titles but we do finally get at least a few panels of Clark. I did like that el presidente was shown as both heroic and villainous rather than the usual eeevil slant he’s been given. BTW, if next issue the last panel reveal comes as a surprise to Clark, I’ll probably be done with the series again. Clark should already know about it.
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Well, not quite as atrocious.
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I like Slott’s use of the Daily Planet staff and how this book for now is doing it’s own thing and not tied into the upcoming Darkseid event. I also like that it is just trying to be entertaining and fun.
And Martin, I share some of the questions you have, but then thought that it makes sense Superman would want to take responsiblity and not send other heroes to deal with the crystal. He would view it as his problem to address.
For me, though, it feels like Slott has a big idea – kryptonite everywhere – but maybe isn’t doing enough with it? Which on the one hand sounds weird because that has been the ongoing plot for 5 issues. But at the same time it doesn’t really feel like the threat it’s supposed to be. I get Superman isn’t gonna seclude himself in his fortress and hide. But it just doesn’t seem like Slott writes him as being all that concerned or pro-active under the circumstances.
In one issue he was surprised by armored car robbers carrying kryptonite weapons. In another he is caught off guard by an influencer wearing kryptonite jewelry and lipstick. In still another issue he mistakenly exposes Krypto to a kryptonite powered generator. I understand this is how Slott the writer is conveying to readers how prevalent the green substance now is on earth, with every issue revealing a new experience/problem. But I’d think Superman – not to mention Clark Kent as a journalist – would have known about and prepared for them. Why hasn’t he been wearing a protective suit and riding around in the Super-mobile from issue 2, for example? We’ve had “electric Superman.” And “mourning Superman” with the black “Kingdom Come” emblem. This could be the “protective armor/suit” Superman era.
But the way Slott is writing this doesn’t, for me, make Superman seem too smart or prepared, which kind of takes me out of the stories.
I’m also wondering about what to me seems like Superman’s inconsistent reactions to kryptonite exposure? Because if a bullet and lipstick give him issues, how exactly is he not floating dead in space from exposure to that initial meteor in issue 1? That’s something else that has been bugging me. If just a kryptonite kiss weakened him last issue, then trying to stop that giant green rock should have killed him before it even landed on him.
Lastly, the kryptonite kingdom… Even in a world where a man can be faster than a speeding bullet and fly, there’s no way a majestic green city can pop up like that in, what, three months? Yes, we learn in this issue that the buildings may just be painted or lit green for effect. But still, those are some high-tech looking structures, at least as rendered by the artist. We’re supposed to believe this modern (maybe even sci-fi?) city sprouted overnight from this previously very poor country? Maybe this is part of the overall mystery Slott is exploring, but none of the characters, from what I recall, seem to be bothered. The focus has been on the president and his motivations. I don’t think anyone, including Superman, has thought, “Where did this city come from?” And if many of the green structures are just for show – well, the Daily Planet has been on the scene for months. Why did it take Superman flying in to figure that out?
This may seem like niggling stuff. But when I find myself asking too many questions of a story – and perhaps not the questions the writer wants me to focus on – it hurts my enjoyment.
-Brian
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You left out Clark’s stupidest move (unless a blonde wig is enough to make him not recognize his wife. Maybe it’s hypnotic like his old glasses?) and mainly using very breakable glass for his faceplate. The super brain is very much off the table.
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Thanks for the great comments, there really is a lot going unexplained. The Green K-ish city, maybe they had help to put it up so speedily, perhaps the Demolition Crew has gone legit, and Quakemaster helped too. A wizard did it?
And it’s certainly true that the effects of Green K are being inconsistently portrayed… do they depend on Superman’s constitution that day? Are there different strengths of Green K?
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That’s a good point, Steve. It hadn’t even occurred to me. And maybe there will be a joke in the next issue about how no one can figure out Clark is Superman and Lois throwing on a wig fools her husband. That would be pretty amusing.
Writing is hard and, my issues aside, Slott is good at it. He’s made a living from it and has a very solid track record going back years at Marvel. And the reviews of this title online are generally very positive. So the issues I raise might seem to some like nitpicks that should not ruin a fun/interesting Superman storyline. But for me they are distractions.
-Brian
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It certainly is weird that Ron, right next to Lois and less distracted than her husband, didn’t recognise his colleague. Maybe he’s in on it?
And how did she get there? JLA transporter at Clinton Street? Stowed away in the Supermobile?
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Can’t comment on this issue yet, but I love that we’ll see a return of the Supermobile! I have to say, I’ve been enjoying these stories a lot. The single-issue stories have been a lot of fun, and the overarching ubiquity of Green K is a neat little throughline.
There are some similarities to the Sand Superman/Kryptonite Nevermore story of the 70s, with a change in the status quo requiring Superman to rethink how he operates, but not so much in a long story arc — it’s more like background noise for individual adventures until it comes to a head in its final issues. (I’ve been reading these in the recent DC Finest volume.)
And even if green K still causes cancer, that doesn’t seem like too big a hurdle to me. A lot of companies have made millions by selling carcinogens to people who wanted to look cool while using the product. If green K lipstick is in fashion, you can bet people will buy it. Cancer’s a problem for another day.
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Excellent point about the cancer and people accepting risk. There’s a TV show in the UK in which fitness expert Joe Wicks and medical scientist… actually, to the AI-Mobile: ‘Fitness coach Joe Wicks and doctor Chris van Tulleken have teamed up for a new Channel 4 documentary, Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill, to highlight the dangers of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The programme, which airs on October 6, 2025, features a provocative stunt where they created and marketed a “killer” protein bar to expose regulatory loopholes.’
I’m pretty sure people will have flocked to buy it
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Dan Slott brought back the Supermobile?!?
I’m generally a fan of Rafael Albuquerque but I agree his faces on this series seem a bit off. But I’ll probably still pick up the inevitable collected edition when it comes out.
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I’m really hoping for a new artist, and soon!
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