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Superman: Lost #10

Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 16, 2024
Cover date: March 2024

"Hope"

Writer: Christopher Priest
Artists: Carlo Pagulayan and Jose Luis
Cover: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz with Elmer Santos
Variant Cover: Lee Weeks with Elizabeth Breitweiser
1:25 Variant Cover: Christian Ward

Reviewed by: Marc Lax

Click to enlarge

Lois interviews Senator McMonigle. We than flashback to Hope talking to Victor. The sun on his planet is a red giant approaching giant nova. Even if Superman returns he'd have no power to help. Hope broods then finds an old hairbrush.

In the present Hope hovers over Lois and Clark's apartment. Clark and Hope converse. She was able to find Earth by follow the telemetry of Clark's journey from Victor's planet. Her ring has recorded her journey to Earth. She can now bring back help. And... she's pregnant.

Bruce Wayne is following a live feed from Kasnia. A separatist faction is attacking. Superman flies off. With swiftness Superman stops the attack. For now. He gives an inspirational speech.

Hope and Lois try to communicate. It seems the child she carries is Clark's.

Luthor applauds Superman's speech. After Luthor's gloating Superman proudly tells him that Lois beat him. On returning to the apartment Clark finds the Justice League waiting. He doesn't want to return but Lois tells him even without his powers he can still give the people of Victor's planet hope. They discuss how Hope's people reproduce. Hope used a hair follicle to get pregnant.

Later, after Lois finishes her article clearing Senator McMonigle, she awakens to find Clark back in the apartment. He doesn't seem to remember his time on Victor's planet. Lois remembers Clark mentioning Adam Strange's thoughts on time travel. Clark tells her how he encountered the Contrectatio who were able to send him home. We then find an older Superman talking with the floating form of Old Superman, who he encountered previously. He explains his adventures saving Victor's planet. He mentions the misinterpretation Hope had with Lois. The hair follicle Hope used was not Clark's but Szhemi's. Hope's child will be a beacon of hope for Victor's planet. Superman entombs Old Superman with a recording of all that has happened, including how Hope used her power ring to help Clark get home using time travel so he would get to the point of the Contrectatio being able to send him home without knowledge of everything that happened over the last twenty years. While Lois is confused as to what happened eventually it won't matter. Lois has her husband back. The two fly off hoping to begin a new future.

Story - 3: Wow! That felt like two issues in one. It deals with the Senator McMonigle story, last issue's cliffhanger, helping Victor's planet, Luthor, etc, etc. But I'm looking at the series as a whole. I haven't been easy on this story and while I may not have been fair at certain points, I don't really feel different than I did after the first couple of issues. The back half of the series was definitely better than the front half but that still had its own problems. While I did enjoy the focus on Clark, Lois and Luthor, the plot of that arc was fairly obvious. Lois wouldn't really have cancer or a cure would be found. Clark would not try to kill Lex. Lois' experiment in trying to get her husband back would just not work. Through it all the Senator's story was peppered in. Why? So we could have Superman stop a war that wasn't really mentioned throughout the story. It felt as if everything was crammed into this last issue because it could have been one or two issues longer or the books were running late so they jammed it all into one. I still don't understand everything that was going on with Victor's planet. It's not really explained what the heroes did to help. Older Superman and Old Superman? That basically was there for an info dump.

I'm so glad Clark isn't the father of Hope's baby. I didn't see that coming! That also was just thrown in because... were we supposed to really think it was Clark's? Or because somehow this baby has something to do with saving the planet? It was just a ruse so we'd read the last issue. Obviously.

I enjoy timey wimey time travel stories but the time travel in this just made me scratch my head. I may not be the sharpest comics fan in the shed but I found myself saying... "What!?"

Overall what can I say? I've bashed on this series, I've even complimented some things, and tolerated others. It's not that Clark, Lois, Lex, etc acted out of character, though there were times I questioned that. It just seemed a long way to go for the story to say Lois and Clark should be happy! I've said this is not the worst Superman story I've read, and for sure it is not, but I had too many conflicting moments to give this more than a 3. It's not that I wouldn't recommend it, I know that many fans really enjoy this series, and Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan are a good team, but in the end it was just a disappointment.

Art - 4: One thing has stayed consistent throughout this series is the art. Carlo Pagulayan and all the inkers and colorists who worked on this book did a phenomenal job. All the characters were on point, the aliens, the planets, they all looked fantastic. I would love to see them work on another Superman story. Just wonderful! Thanks to the whole team.

Cover Art - 4: ery dynamic. Wonderful portrait of Superman. Very bright and colorful.

Variant Cover Art - 2: I think Lee Weeks is a great artist and have loved his work on these characters but wow this does nothing for me. I get what it's trying to convey but this not a very good drawing. Sorry Lee.

1:25 Variant Cover Art - 3: Again a nice portrait of Superman this time with his energy suit but it conveys no action or feeling.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2024

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

January 2024

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July 2024

Kneel Before Zod #5

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Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials Comic Books

Superman: Lost #10

Mild Mannered Reviews

2024

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