Art by: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz
Colors by: Jeremy Cox
Letters by: Willie Schubert
Cover art by: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, Elmer Santos
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: September 12, 2023
Superman: Lost #6 pushes Clark out of his comfort zone when his life in "Kansas" is forced to an untimely end.
Is Superman: Lost #6 Good?
Superman: Lost #6 is an improvement over the first four issues. If you like how the series started, the positives are more positive, if that makes sense. However, this issue was a struggle to get through because Christopher Priest, in typical Priest fashion, jumbles together a mix of ideas and concepts in a messy ball that doesn't know where it starts or stops. Things happen, and the individual things that happen are interesting, but by the time you're done, you have no idea what you were supposed to take away from the issue or where the series is headed next. Call it "Stuff without Purpose."
When last we left Clark, Szhemi, aka "Jimmy," discovered a temporal anomaly that just might be the ticket to get home. Fearing the possibility of abandonment, Hope killed Szhemi. Now, ten years have passed, and Clark is forced to reckon with the conclusion that the planet's sun is dying. Hope begs Clark to abandon the planet, but Clark does what Clark does best - make every effort to unite the people of his surrogate planet to save themselves. Unite they do, but not in the way you might think.
Is Priest trying to do a Tom King impersonation with this series? It feels like Priest is doing a Tom King impersonation because every plot twist simply makes things more miserable as each issue progresses. Yes, Clark succeeds in helping the people of New-Ark unite to save themselves, but they unite against Clark in a poorly explained vote. If the goal was to beat down Superman and break him on an emotional and psychological level, Priest is succeeding almost too well. It's almost becoming sadistic.
Again, you read it. Interesting things happen. But it's hard to make out the point, and you feel worse than you did before you read it.
What's great about Superman: Lost #6? To be fair to Priest, the collection of scenes and ideas read as if there's a deeper metaphor for everything that's happening, so the book suggests clever planning. Whether or not Priest can pay off that feeling remains to be seen.
What's not so great about Superman: Lost #6? Again, the entire issue is overshadowed by an atmosphere of uncertainty. You don't get the sense that the series is headed in any particular direction other than for Priest to explore concepts and ideas without the pesky need for such mundane trivialities as a plot.
How's the art? Excellent. Pagulayan, Paz, and Cox give readers a fantastic set of visuals, especially Hope's self-taught ring-slinging. The colors, pencils, and inks are gorgeous.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Superman: Lost #6 doesn't pay off the cliffhanger from the next issue and instead jumps forward ten years where Clark's new planet is heading for catastrophe. Priest plays with interesting ideas and concepts, some of which feel wholly original and others heavily imply real-world allegory, but the pieces never come together.
6/10
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