Mild Mannered Reviews - Steel Comic Books

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Steelworks #3 Steelworks #3

Steelworks #3

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 1, 2023
Cover date: October 2023

"Steelworks - Chapter 3: Overload"

Writer: Michael Dorn
Artist: Sami Basri and Vicente Cifuentes
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Adriano Lucas
Variant Covers: Mike Deodato Jr. and Luis Guerrero, Jerry Gaylord, and Joe Quinones

Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
Click to enlarge


Steelworks #3 Natasha is ambushed by the new villain. He uploads a dangerous program into her armor before she is saved by Steel and Superman. It is revealed that her suit has now bonded to her DNA. Much of the remaining issue has Steel conversing with both Superman and Lana about his newest invention that can create unlimited energy. We then shift to Cat and Jimmy hosting the televised coverage of the city's Superman celebration. During the celebration Superman invited John Henry Irons onto the stage to reveal his invention. In the midst of the festivities our villain unleashes robots to attack the city. John activates his drone protectors, but somehow in the process of the battle Lana begins transforming back to her Superwoman persona.

4Story - 4: This marks a remarkable improvement over the first two issues. And it creates done very interesting drama to mine going forward. With both Natasha and Lana having major changes to their bodies. The issue succeeds because it creates personal stakes for John and allows for interactions with his supporting cast. Allowing him to have an important conversation with Lana marks an important step in this series. John needs more of a supporting cast of his own beyond Natasha, adapting Lana for that purpose is a great way to build on her recent character development.

5Art - 5: The art was the best it has been for this series thus far. Beautiful images.

4Cover Art - 4: The cover has a great image of both Steel and Superman flying away from the city. I didn't like the yellow tone given to the city in the background though.

2Variant Cover - 2: I'm not a fan of the style used in this cover.

5Variant Cover - 5: A truly epic image of Steel. Love it!

4Variant Cover - 4: Slightly bland background. But the Blue Beetle looks really cool. I hope the movie is a smash.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2023

Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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