Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #3
Scheduled to arrive in stores: May 2, 2023
Cover date: July 2023
“Countdown to Injustice: Chapter 3 – The Regime’s Paradise”
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Clayton Henry
Cover: Clayton Henry and Marcelo Maiolo
Variant Covers: Zu Orzu, Tiago Da Silva, Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer
Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
Jon Kent wakes up in a research bed being analyzed by Lex Luthor. He immediately freaks out at the prospect of being at the mercy of his father’s arch nemesis. Luthor assures him that he is an ally of the Superman of this world. Superman enters the room in the middle of Luthor’s attempt to warn Jon about him. The Flash enters, warning Superman and Wonder Woman about two attacks occurring on two separate bases. Superman tells Jon to wait at the Hall of Justice while he and Wonder Woman deal with the attacks. But while Jon is at the Hall he learns Damian is defending one of the sites, so he rushes off to help him.
Damian is about to fight Batman when Jon shows up. Jon is concerned about Damian’s willingness to kill his own father and attempts to intervene. This allows Batman to escape from the fight, enraging Damian. Superman arrives and takes Jon for a flight and gives him the chance to see the world they have created. Jon takes the chance to fly around the world by himself, he discovers the world is cleaner and quieter. The environment is cleaner and the world healthier. He also discovers that the people are afraid of Superman and what he will do if they step out of line.
Story – 3: The story is fine. It might be bigger for those with more of a connection to the Injustice comics, but for me its just another variant of the main world. I’m curious to see how Taylor presents Superman’s point of view versus Batman’s. I hope Jon sees more of the negative tyranny resulting from Superman’s role and not just the cliched minimal exposure Taylor has given us so far. He really needs to draw a strong comparison between this world and the experiences of Germany under Nazis rule and Russia under Stalin’s rule. Maybe examples are more firmly given in the Injustice comics, but it’ll have to be very convincing in order for me to believe Superman ruling the world is worse than Batman constantly letting mass murderers run free to murder again…
Art – 3: The colors inside the issue look bright and sharp. I don’t like how the heads are drawn, specifically with how much the ears stick out. The action is well drawn, especially the fight between Damian, Jon, and Batman. The backgrounds are very simplistic, which really hurts this issue, especially because Jon goes around the world and tours what Superman has done.
Cover Art – 4: This cover looks cool, even if it doesn’t occur in the issue. Seeing Jon attempt to intervene between Batman and Superman kind of reflects his position in this story.
Variant Cover – 3: This one is a cool idea, but the face of Ultraman looks wonky.
Variant Cover – 2: This cover is another in the style of the splotchy water colors. It is my favourite of this style, but it is still not very good.
Variant Cover – 2: The colors are vibrant and eye catching on this cover, but the figures look stiff.
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