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Superman: Lost #4

Scheduled to arrive in stores: June 13, 2023
Cover date: August 2023

"The Edge of Forever"

Writer: Christopher Priest
Artists: Carlo Pagulayan
Cover: Carlo Pagulayan and Jason Paz with Elmer Santos
Variant Covers: Lee Weeks, Elizabeth Breitweiser, Rafael Sarmento

Reviewed by: Marc Lax
Click to enlarge

We begin with a flashback to the time Martha made the costume for Clark. We then flash forward to Superman in space losing track of the dolphins he was following last issue. Than we go to the present with Lois comforting Clark after a nightmare. Then we flashback again, flash forwarding several years after the dolphin incident where Clark has made a life for himself on planet "Kansas" where he encounters one of the kids he met a couple issues ago. He's the one Clark called Jimmy but his name is Szhemi. He's been searching for Clark because of rumors that a god lives in the Dead Zone, a place that Clark has built just like his farm in Smallville. Than we flashback from the flash forward to Clark telling Szhemi what happened after the whole dolphin incident. After this we get more flashbacks and flash forwards dealing with Victor, the man that gave Clark the containment suit. We find him dealing with the little orange aliens he encountered at the beginning of the story. Seems they are the ones responsible for the attacks on planet Kansas. We flashback to Victor giving an info dump about the people of Arkasian, the actual name of this planet Clark is now living on. They are worried about the climate change but still wish to stay and fight the Contrectatio (the little orange aliens). Victor tells Clark there are now space ships with star drives arriving and he could go home. The Contrectio offer to try and help Clark find Earth after they're done attacking this planet. Clark says he will not abandon the people of Arkasian. The aliens tell him he couldn't fight them all by himself. Suddenly a Green Lantern shows up to offer help. To be continued...

2Story - 2: What did I just read? Did the issue end after Szhemi found Clark? Or is this part of Clark's flashback? Okay, maybe I'm not as observant as I'd like to be but I cannot tell what is happening and where in this issue. Other than the Clark and Lois scene, I'm just as lost as Superman! This story remains confusing and hard to follow which makes you not care about these characters. The little aliens are obnoxious and their reasoning for attacking this planet is still not clear. The info dump scene with Victor still doesn't help in figuring out everyone's motive. It's mentioned that Superman has been lost for five years as this issue starts but is that before his confrontation with the Contrectio or after? I'm rambling a bit because this book is just confusing. It's not that I don't understand anything, it's just that the narrative is all over the place. The only reason I gave this a 2 instead of a 1 is because Ma and Pa Kent make an appearance, as does a Green Lantern. Those are the only things that intrigued me this issue. The rest is just jumbled and boring.

3Art - 3: The art remains decent and is probably the only highlight in this series. Not the best rendering of Clark but I wouldn't shy away from other work by Carlo Pagulayan.

2Cover Art - 2: Superman trapped in some sort of cocoon in space. Okay, though it wouldn't get me to pick this issue up if I saw it on the stands.

3Variant Cover Art - 3: Not a bad image of young Clark taking the suit from his closet but it's nothing special. I expected something a little better from Lee Weeks.

3Variant Cover Art - 3: The image is nice though it would be better if it was Superman's actual costume and not the glowing one he's been wearing. But it's somewhat accurate for this story. Though there is a god-like look to it, which is something I do not like when it comes to Superman.

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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