Chaos Reigns
Written By: Brian Michael Bendis
Art By: Kevin Maguire, John Timms, Alex Sinclair, Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 7, 2020
The Truth is over and it's time to move on to those thousands of stories that Bendis has promised us could come from Superman revealing his identity to the world........ again. With that, it seems like we're about to get magical as our Man of Steel is pitted against the Lord of the Lords of Chaos, Xanadoth. Let's jump into this issue and see what the hub-bub is with this new threat and if the Superman is able to take it on, with everything that's going on in his life. Let's check it out.
Our story begins right when Leviathan started attacking the secret organizations within the DC Universe, where Agent Veronica Bissette for the DEO was bringing in a strange artifact that was radiating energy. It's too bad she wasn't able to get containment on this artifact though because when the weird teleportation energy took out the DEO headquarters, this object seemed to not only save Agent Bissette but make her its new host and with that, the possibility for a new age of chaos is at hand as the Lord of the Lords of Chaos plans on not only establishing its superiority but taking out those within the Lords of Order who may get in its way. I'll tell you, this aspect of the story is actually pretty interesting and I want to see how this plays out and it's a real shame that this wasn't our full story because it could have been a really great issue if that was the case........... sadly, we had to have Superman be here because...... Well, it's his title
As you should know, Superman has revealed his identity to the world and in this issue fellow Justice Leaguers want our Man of Steel to get checked out by Doctor Fate to make sure he's not being controlled magically in any way since revealing himself to the world was a nitwit move and in this interaction, all we get is Superman recapping what's been going on with him since Bendis took over. Now it is played off as more of a therapy session that is supposed to reveal a more sensitive side to Superman and what he's been going through, but it is essentially just a recap issue besides for the stuff going on with Xanadoth and it feels more like simple padding to make this issue's page count.
All in all, I enjoyed the art in this issue, even if things are a little blocky and cartoony, but I think that this works for this title, but as far as the story goes I was disappointed in Superman because once again, he is the least interesting thing going on in his title. Hopefully, that changes now that Xanadoth as been set up and established and brought the fight to not only our Man of Steel but to Doctor Fate as well because I need Superman to be the best part of his book and that hasn't happened in a long time.
Bits and Pieces:
While you do get an interesting new villain for our Man of Steel to go up against in this arc, a large portion of this story is just recap for what's been going on since Bendis took over the Super books and while some will appreciate the sympathetic look at our hero as he recalls what's been going on, it just left me underwhelmed. The art is decent overall, but I need more from our title character in this book.
6/10
Thanks for the review, Eric. Honestly, this issue was a real shock. I thought Xanadoth would be the worst part of this issue, instead his sections are actually the best part, he and the agent are well-written, their dialogue make sense and are rooted in genuine contextual backgrounds over the general Bendis-speak. That is left to the Superman portion, which is the worst part of this title. His "therapy session" is atrocious. Superman is well-established to have a sensitive side, look no further than Tomasi and Jurgens' runs.
ReplyDeleteConcerning Xanadoth himself, he's fine. Not great or terrible, just fine. I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but the JL Dark book had a major arc revolving around finding Mordru, which established him as THE Lord of Chaos, at least the only one that mattered. He was dark, depraved, and league's more powerful than Xanadoth. So far, Xanadoth comes off as an evil Doctor Fate, which isn't too bad but not . We'll see how it turns out.