Superman #51 Review and *SPOILERS*

Get Your Affairs In Order

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Art By: Mikel Janin, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 6, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

We're finally over the hump that was the Truth/Savage Dawn story lines which means we're finally in new territory now and I'm excited as hell.  It's been so long and it's all new and all fresh............ IT BETTER BE ALL NEW AND ALL FRESH!  Anyway, there really isn't anything to catch you up on besides that Superman has his powers back, his identity is still out in the open and our hero is back in action........... and from what I've already read of this issue, possibly happening after the Darkseid War.  It's very odd, but let's quit the pre-jibber jabber and get to the actual jibber jabber.  Let's check it out................. SUPERMAN!  

Explain It!

Our issue begins with Superman giving himself a physical, but instead of some super turn your head and cough scenarios, we're left with the way less sexy version, where Superman is being scanned by a Kryptonian machine within the Fortress of Solitude.  Yeah, after all we went through in the previous arc over the past ten months, here we find out that Superman is dying.  Which is weird because he says it's because of all the things that have happened to him lately and he says the energy he absorbed from the fire pits of Apokolips, his fight with Rao and getting the Kryptonite power from Savage Dawn....... only problem is, I was under the impression that the Justice League Darkseid War story took place the furthest in our current timeline of books and the Rao thing in my mind took place awhile ago before Forever Evil even.  I don't know, maybe this is all nit picky or maybe it all makes sense, but it just comes off as odd............ especially since all of this means that Superman went through hell to get his powers back and now he's going to die. 

So yeah, our main story starts with us finding out that our Man of Steel isn't long for this world and he begins getting his affairs in order by visiting his friends and reminiscing and we start that out with Lana Lang............ and even though I don't like the idea of Superman dying after all we've gone through as of late, I have to tell you that this issue is chock full of emotion and I started feeling like tearing up when Clark told Lana what was up with him and that he wanted her to make sure that he was buried next to his parents.  

In between Lana and me crying we also see that there's more to this story than death, pain and loss though because we have a mysterious character trying to hack her way into the Fortress of Solitude and even has some kind of monster brewing in a thing that looks like a clone tube and if that wasn't enough, we also have a man who's violating his parole getting struck by some kind of lighting and becoming a fiery/energy looking Superman........... and when I say Superman I mean Superman because the dude is rocking the S shield and even calling himself by that name. 

In the end, Superman goes to visit Lois Lane because he's over that whole attitude he had before, where he was blaming Lois for ruining his life and we see that the two really miss one another and considered each other best friends.  It's a really nice scene to end with because the two go classic and we finish this issue off with Superman and Lois Lane just going for a fly........... I'm sure shit is going to get sad real soon when he tells her about his upcoming death, but for now it's just a nice moment washing the bad taste of the Truth out of our mouths.  

That's it for this issue of Superman and even though not a lot went down in this issue, I have to say that I really found myself digging it because Superman was finally acting like Superman again and even though he found out he was going to die, he spent the majority of the issue wondering how many more people he could save until his time was up.  It's what I've been wanting for close to a year and now that I've gotten it, I'm not disappointed in the slightest.  I just really wish it wasn't surrounded by the fact that Superman is dying is all, but that's just my personal hangup.  For as low key as this issue is, I had a great time reading it because it's full of heart and even though I'm a huge fan of Howard Porter, Mikel Janin's Superman is probably the best I've seen from this title.  Yeah, I would have like to know a definitive timeline because I'm a lunatic like that, but even with the rest of those stories mentioned that currently have Superman getting fucked up, I'm okay with just going with this because this title is so much better than it's been lately......... Yeah, that might be a cop out, but I'm pretty sure that the rest of you will too after reading this.

Bits and Pieces:

While this issue of Superman mostly offers us a ton of heart, it also adds a few items to add to the mystery of this new arc and man, that was enough because after dealing with the Truth/Savage Dawn for so long, I was just happy as hell to get that heart back.  If having a Superman back who truly inspires hope wasn't enough for you, we also have Mikel Janin on art this issue and this is one of the best looking issues of Superman I've seen.  

8.5/10