Superman #31 Review and *SPOILERS*

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!

Written By: James Bonny

Art By: Tyler Kirkham, Arif Prianto, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 20, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let's jump back into Superman, where we've spent most of the summer going with little two-part arcs, while patiently waiting for Tomasi and Gleason to jump back on with their next Superman Family story and while I haven't been a fan of anything that we've gotten from the fill in creative teams, this issue has really peaked my interest because we have James Bonny and Tyler Kirkham rocking the big blue boy scout and I was a big fan of their days on Deathstroke back in the New 52, which makes sense for this story because we have ourselves a Lois Lane tale, where she intends on interviewing the Terminator himself and after Superman's confrontation with Slade Wilson in the Deathstroke series, I'm thinking that he's going to have a few problems with Lois going after her story.  Let's jump into this issue and see what this creative team has for us.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Superman saving the day at Star Labs, where a scientist has taken hostages and intends on blowing up the lab with a new energy that he helped create because the shit heels that he works for intend on turning it into a weapon instead of the original clean energy concept, but nothing from this really plays into the issue besides for Superman feeling a connection with the man, who just wanted to be a good husband and father, but had it all taken away from him by his work.  It's weird though because this issue kind of makes it seem like Star Labs isn't on the up and up at the beginning, yet Superman has a homing stun device that he gives Lois later on in the issue from Star Labs so I don't know if Star Labs is handing out presents to the Man of Steel to keep his mouth shut or what, but hopefully this connection plays out more in the next issue.

Anyway, our story really gets started after Lois finds the drug lord she intends on interviewing dead and from a video camera discovers that the man behind the murders was Deathstroke. which leads her to want to interview the world's deadliest assassin and gives Superman premature gray hair from worrying about it.  It's kind of cool though because when Lois goes on the hunt to find Deathstroke so that she can get her interview, we have ourselves an issue of Superman, which is predominately focused on Lois Lane and her love for her career and even though I usually want Superman coming out big arms a swingin', this low key issue actually hits all the right notes in setting up the tension about what will happen when Lois actually finds Slade.......... especially since this takes place before all his super heroics with his team Defiance.  

In the end, Lois finds herself mixed up with a group called The Throng, who want to find Deathstroke as well and this leads Slade to come out of hiding so that he can use Lois Lane as a way for the Throng to find him at his time of choosing, which also gives Lois the chance she needs to get some answers out of Slade about who he is and what he does........ and boy does she ever get a story when The Throng show up and she watches Deathstroke take them on all on his own, but the highs of writing a kick ass story don't last long........ especially when you have a gun in your face because our issue closes with Lois leaving the Daily Planet after getting a job well done from Perry, but before she can get home, she's met by Deathstroke, who apparently has taken a contract out on the reporter.

That's it for this issue of Superman and while Superman isn't very present in this book, I love the Clark Kent that we get here, who is presented more as worrying husband than world's greatest superhero.  Yeah, it's a Lois Lane story, but it's also a Deathstroke story and because of my love of James Bonny's Deathstroke run of the New 52, this issue just reminded me of how well he can write the character, but even with that, it's the portrayal of Lois in this issue that shines more than anything because James Bonny just makes her so real in all of the aspects of her life and the worries she has over them.  If that wasn't enough, Tyler Kirkham has come along to rock his artistic talents and while I love Kirkham's take on the Superman characters, I really love his Deathstroke........... So yeah, the art is phenomenal.  My biggest problem with the issue is probably something that will be cleared up in the following one, but the whole deal with Star Labs in the beginning seemed to be thrown out there only to be forgotten.......... or just to have Superman doing something in a Superman title, but nonetheless, it also puts Star Labs in a dark light for what they're doing and our Man of Steel doesn't seem all that concerned about it.

Bits and Pieces:

We have ourselves an awesome creative team stepping into Superman for this arc with James Bonny and Tyler Kirkham, who switch it up this issue and give us a Lois Lane/Deathstroke story....... and boy, do they deliver.  The characters are well thought out, act on point and the art is just amazing all the way through.  I can't wait to get to the next issue so I can get more of this in my life and hopefully, so my only gripe in this issue can be explored further.  

8/10