Smallville: Continuity #9 Review

Written by: Bryan Q. Miller
Art by: Ig Guara
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: October 24, 2014

Nightwing and Sundance

Maybe it's because Smallville has been canceled, but since the announcement, the book has really suffered.  It may not be anyone's fault, maybe it's just a "book has been canceled" hangover doing it.  Whatever the cause, a book that I loved for it's great characterizations suddenly has more out of character moments than you can shake a stick at. Don't get me started on the story.  For such a great book, this final arc has been less than lackluster.  It pains me to say it, but one of my favorite books is ending with a whimper instead of the roar it deserves.  I won't abandon ship though.  Nope, I will be here to the bitter end and I'm holding out hope that Bryan Q. Miller will right the ship, avoid the iceberg and get us all home safe and sound. After reading this issue, I still have a sliver of hope.



The book opens with Lex and Otis saying their final goodbyes.  Yes, if you didn't read last week's issue, Otis is in big trouble.  However, before he slips away, he gives Lex a bit of advice.  I have loved every moment of Lex in this series, but the last few issue he just seems off.  That continues here and I was a little confused over this brief scene.

Confusion is something I got familiar with while reading this issue.  The battle between our Heroes and the Monitors should be epic, but there are major parts that left me guessing what was going on.  Batman and Nightwing are busy fighting, but their dialogue just seems out of place.  It does lead to a major twist that is as awesome as it seemed forced and is a major turning point in this whole series.  Barbara's reaction to it is yet another head scratcher.

The bulk of the issue deals with Superman.  He is under attack by the blue bleed and we get to watch as his memories are taken from him as he is being rebooted.  It's a pretty cool scene, but again it's more confusing than it needed to be.  Superman declares that no one is taking away his reality and...it works?!?  So that's all you have to do?  The book ends with the Monitor's changing up their game plan.  I think. I'm not really sure.

Ig Guara's art is pretty good.  I really like his character models and he does a good job with the action scenes.  Things do get a bit hard to follow at certain points, but these are the exception, not the rule.

Bits and Pieces:

What happened to one of my favorite books?  This issue is a little better than the last two, but it still pales in comparison to the rest of this great series.  It's almost over and I hope we get something better in the last three issues.  This book and it's fans deserve it.

4.8/10