Chip Off The Old Block
Written By: Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick GleasonArt By: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, John Kalisz, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 7, 2016
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
It's time to see the Eradicator get his ass kicked and boy is it about time. Yeah, I loved seeing all the father/son stuff with Superman and Jon, but everything with the Eradicator came off weird as hell and I've really just been waiting for the whole ass kicking thing so we could get back to seeing more of the Superman family.......... Yeah, I know we need some kind of drama to keep the story going, but from reading Superman: Lois and Clark and the first two issues of this story arc, I found that I really just love seeing the family element....... which is the most interesting part of this series so far in my mind. Before we hopefully get back to all that heart and whatnot, let's head back to the moon, where Superman has just stolen Eradicator's power by absorbing all the souls of Krypton into himself. Let's check it out.
Explain It!:
Our issue spends a lot of time showing that ass kicking I was talking about, while Lois and Jon watch from the Bat-Moon Cave because this big ass fight has gotten the attention of the entire world and everyone is scrambling to get a decent picture of what initially comes off to them as just a shit ton of explosions on the moon.......... and I don't care what Batman and Wonder Woman say at the end of this issue........ the moon is fucked.
So yeah, like we've seen a lot throughout this story arc, Superman and Eradicator beat the hell out of one another, but unlike every other time, I can finally find some relief in my constant worry of Krypto. That's right, after it looks like Eradicator has the upper hand, when Superman releases the souls of Krypton, we see that Krypto is well trained in every universe and with a simple call, he comes to his master............ and oh my god, this issue seemed like it became John Carpenter's The Thing out of nowhere when he did because he just ripped out of Eradicator's chest and horrified the shit out of me . With no more power within him, Eradicator is quickly beaten by our Man of Steel and Man's Best Friend... of Steel. Let's just hope that Superman did more with the body than simply leave it on the moon like it appears here.
In the end, the world is ecstatic to have Superman back and apparently all they needed to believe that our current Man of Steel is the genuine article was him standing in front of a still functioning moon rover, which captured him righting the fallen American flag on the moon's surface........... well that and a very adamant Bibbo singing Superman's praises for bringing him a moon rock back as a souvenir. After the excitement dies down though we get back to the heart of the story and that's Clark's interactions with his son. As our issue closes, we see Clark introduce Jon to his new glasses, since he's going to need a secret identity and after Lois goes to sleep, he takes him to the Justice League Watchtower so he can introduce Batman and Wonder Woman to the new Superboy.
That's it for this issue of Superman and while the whole Eradicator bit to this story seemed a bit overblown, I have to say that I enjoyed this finale to our arc a lot because it got us back to the heart that we began this series with. I love that this series has become all about the Superman family and I really hope that with Jon having his introduction into this world that this series doesn't deviate from this kind of storytelling because the ending to this issue is what I truly want to see more of from this title........ and since I was relieved to see that Krypto is alive and well, hopefully he gets incorporated into future stories. So yeah, while I could do without all the Eradicator stuff, this issue was really enjoyable and gave me everything that I wanted from this initial arc and the art that conveyed it was just great.
Bits and Pieces:
This issue does right by all of us by bringing the heart back into this series by having more than just Superman punching something, while saying that he's protecting his family. We've got real interactions here that open up this series to all kinds of things in the future, while giving us some excellent art throughout........ I just wasn't that into the whole Eradicator thing, but thankfully this issue delivers more than that and gets me excited for what's to come.
8/10
I like jon and what and i am interested in what they do with him going forward but still cant hrlp but wonder whst happened to kon el
ReplyDeleteI love Jon...I think we are supposed to just forget about Kon-El
DeleteI'm really glad the Eradicator story is done. It was way too close the what we got in Action Comics with the overly long and drawn out Doomsday fight. The conclusion we got made me forget most of that. They didn't forget about Krypto either. Like you said Eric, it's got a ton of heart. This is the Superman that I know and love. I especially liked where Clark tells Jon the best part about the glasses is what happens when you take them off. It just feels like Superman and not a young jerk. I hope the momentum keeps going.
ReplyDeleteagree 100% This Eradicator story felt like the Parliament of the Owls in Nightwing...I'm glad it's over, liked the character stuff, but let's move on the the better stuff!!!
DeleteKrypto went all Cujo on Eradicators ass ... then he turned into a burn victim which I'm sure thrilled Eric
ReplyDeletei thought the same thing right away!!!
DeleteI'm loving the hell put of the super titles these days, but can we just pause for a second and reflect a bit on the fact that BATMAN HAS A FRIGGIN MOON BASE!
ReplyDeleteAlways prepared...with a Moon Base!!!
DeleteThat's what Batman does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he built one on Apokolips when we was trying to get Damian back.
DeleteI may be in the minority here, but the Eradicator did not annoy me because it served a very important purpose to the story.
ReplyDeleteGleason and Tomasi realize the greatest threat to Superman is the safety of his family. The reason the Eradicator was the perfect antagonist for the first arc is it repeatedly made Jon's identity a focus. Is he going to be a human child or a Kryptonian protector of Earth? Will he be just Jonathan Kent or Superboy? The Eradicator sees everything about Jon's human side as bad. On the other hand Clark has wanted to delay the progress of his son's powers. These ideas are at conflict while the Eradicator slug fest goes on...and on and on.
I admit that the Eradicator is a little "one-note" in his dialogue and mission, but that's kinda what robots are like, right? He outstays his welcome by about one issue, but it did not detract much from my enjoyment of the series.
By the end of issue six Lois tells Jon he won't be just like his dad, but could be better by being himself. Clark learns Jon needs to train to be Superboy and introduces him to Batman and Wonder Woman. I believe the Eradicator was simultaneously a good physical threat as well as a good thematic antagonist for the story. It's all about Jon and his identity moving forward.
This is such a perfect return to classic Superman I just love it. I got excited when he posed with the American flag. To me Superman is a very patriotic and American figure, and it tugged at my heart strings to see this book embrace that aspect of the character. So excited for future issues.
Great review here, but I'd go a notch higher with a score of 9/10 because it's such a perfect mission statement for what Superman should be.
Keep it dirty
Drew
I am with you and will Keep it Dirty!
DeleteI’m glad Krypto made it out alive. When he wasn’t around while Superman was inside the Eradicator I started to think he might have died. I liked that Superman revealed his son to the League. Doing so will force Superman to train Jon and hold him responsible for any damages to property or animals.
ReplyDelete