Absolute Superman #15
Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 7, 2026
Cover date: March 2026
“The Never Ending Battle Begins” – Part 1: “In Blue”
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Juan Ferreyra
Cover: Rafa Sandoval
Variant Covers: Gerald Parel, Carmine Di Giandmenico, Juan Ferreyra
Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
In the aftermath of the fall of Lazarus Corp, Kal has lost Sol and is gaining super hearing. The super hearing is slowly driving Kal mad, as he realizes just how many people are in need around the world. He is continually zooming around the globe saving people from catastrophes or providing comfort to the terminally ill. The story opens with him on the Kent farm in Smallville repairing his tractor, and them speeding off to save the day.
In one scene Kal approaches Winslow Schott, a toy manufacturer who has been using child labor to make his toys and increase his profits. Some of the substandard factories he has been using have had fires, resulting in the deaths and injuries of these children. Kal confronts him about these practices, melting through the wall of his Metropolis penthouse. His threat is clear, change practices, or suffer the consequences.
Amid his efforts to save the day he spends time with Ra’s Al Ghul in an Orangi Town prison. He has collected prayers from local children who lost family to Ra’s violence. Kal routinely reads these prayers to Ra’s, and we see the rapid aging Ra’s goes through now that he has been cut off from the Lazarus Pits.
As well, Kal has separate visits with Lois and Lana. Both of whom are concerned about his health and his single-minded focus on saving as many as he can. Both of whom attempt to ask him out for a dinner date.
At the end of the issue, we have a brief epilogue of Brainiac rejecting Talia’s calls for aid and approaching a small home with the name Luthor painted on the mailbox.
Story – 4: This issue was a nice breather after fourteen months tied up in the Lazarus storyline. We finally got to see Kal in the wider Absolute Universe, not interacting with the other heroes, but interacting with other familiar characters. It sets up an interesting premise for Aaron’s next saga of Absolute Superman. For years in the mainline Clark Kent balanced saving people all the time with his own personal life. Here though, Kal does not have an identity other than Superman, and in a world purposefully made more evil via Darkseid, how will the constant demands on his time affect him. I look forward to seeing Aaron engage in that theme in a meaningful way.
Art – 4: For over a year, I have had the opportunity to gush over the art of Rafa Sandoval, and now we introduce the new ongoing artist,Juan Ferreyra. Ferreyra has worked with Aaron in the past on the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles renumbering. Having not read any of that run, I was curious to see what this new artist could do with Absolute Kal. One of the biggest differences I noticed were the colors. They do not have the same saturated look and instead come across as a bit paler. The pencils have a more cartoony quality to them as well. While it does mark a drastic change, it works. Ferreyra’s art looks good, there are a few panels where anatomy looks wonky, I especially noticed it with Lana. His Lois Lane is not as “pretty” as Sandoval’s, but overall, I really enjoyed the art.
Cover Art – 5: Great image of Kal soaring above a familiar Metropolis background.
Variant Cover Art – 4: Very cool image showing the fury of Absolute Kal.
Variant Cover Art – 4: This cover is fun. I like the images in the background of his supporting cast.
Variant Cover Art – 5: This scene looks awesome. Such a cool image that evokes thoughts of the Phoenix from X-Men.
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