Superman #7 Review

      

      

Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Gleb Melnikov, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Edwin Galmon
Colors by: Alejandro Sánchez, Edwin Galmon
Letters by: Ariana Maher
Cover art by: Jamal Campbell
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: October 17, 2023

Superman #7 reveals the identity of The Chained and the dark secret Lex Luthor kept for years. Can the Super family stop a deadly experiment run amok? Oh, and Lex receives an unexpected family visit.
Is Superman #7 Good?

Superman #7 is mostly good but a little odd because the issue takes a hard left in the middle to set up multiple storylines that have nothing to do with the conflict at hand. In fairness, the storylines Joshua Williamson is setting up are potentially interesting, but this comic reads like two different plots spliced together at random.

When last we left Superman, he made the ethical decision to free the mysterious prisoner encased in a prototype cell in the bowels of Stryker's Prison. The prisoner turned out to be an uber-powerful telekinetic tentatively nicknamed the Chained, and he had a bone to pick with Lex Luthor, Metropolis, and anyone responsible for his long imprisonment. Superman tried to put the Chained back in his box, but the Chained appeared to be too much for the Man of Steel.

Now, the Superfamily arrives to fight the Chained before he destroys Metropolis in his bid to get Luthor. Through the fighting, we learn the Chained's real name and that his powers have a striking resemblance to a power possessed by one of the Superfamily.

Suddenly, the story shifts to Stryker's where Luthor bickers with Lois about his true intentions when Luthor's mother shows up to tut-tut all the bickering, and she comes bearing another relative - Lena Luthor (or a Brainiac-infused version of Lena Luthor).

Suddenly, the story shifts again to Brainiac, who appears to be setting a future conflict on Earth because he now has a small army of Czarnians, erased from the history books, to do his bidding.

"Wait a minute! That's a lot of disjointed storytelling out of nowhere!" you may lament. You'd be correct, further confirming Williamson's failed track records with events (Infinite Frontier, Dark Crisis, Knight Terrors, etc.) are not a fluke. It's a shame because this series has a strong start, so hopefully, this is a one-off misstep, but we'll have to keep a suspicious eye on Williamson going forward.

What's great about Superman #7? The winner in this issue is the fight between the Chained and the Superfamily. You'd probably guess that the Chained's identity reveal would be the wow moment, but it comes early, is delivered quickly, and is nothing more than a curiosity. The tacked-on storylines about Luthor's family and Brainiac's impending approach have potential, but it's too early to say anything more positive than "We shall see."

What's not so great about Superman #7? The issue stumbles on two fronts. First, I've already covered the disjointed plot, so no need to rehash it. Second, a small squad of artists worked on this comic, and you can tell. Grant and Kaminski (the editors) tried to hide the style transitions in flashbacks and montages, but it didn't work as well as intended. The disjointed plot combined with the disjointed art styles results in a comic that feels cobbled together.

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 #7 is not bad, but it feels disjointed and cobbled together. Williamson introduces multiple plot lines, some of which have nothing to do with the main conflict, and the eclectic art team delivers serviceable art with frequently inconsistent styles.

7/10