Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League – Superman #1 (One Shot)
Scheduled to arrive in stores: July 12, 2022
Cover date: September 2022
“Out There”
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Chris Burnham
Cover: Chris Burnham & Adriano Lucas
Variant Cover: Steve Beach
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
A young Jon Kent is haunted by visions of parademons. He is so enraptured that he almost doesn’t hear his mother warning him of a robot attack in downtown Metropolis.
In this iteration, Jon wears a Robin suit and is a sidekick to a white templed Superman wearing a pale costume. The father and son duo (along with Krypto) enjoy balancing their superheroics with home life but the visions Jon suffers from seem to be spurring a need for more than a sidekick life.
Clark reveals that he experiences the same visions as his son but instead of sympathy, Jon is enraged that his father, Superman, has not stepped up to defeat Darkseid’s reign. Clark is devastated and admits he feels like a failure for not acting on the visions before now. Jon cannot help himself and as he grows older he starts acting alone as a hero, much to his parents’ dismay.
On Jon’s eighteenth birthday Lois and Clark make a decision on Jon’s future and, though this may be a mistake, the parents remain grateful that they were able to be part of his upbringing…
Story – 4: If you ever wanted a story that explored what would have happened if Jon wasn’t aged up, then this might be for you. The sentimental side of parenthood is explored beautifully, even if it made Clark into an over protective parent for a child with powers equal to his own. The part that did not work for me was the yearly chapters, it makes little sense, to me at least, that both Clark and Jon would knowingly let billions die year on year. Jon is too headstrong and Clark would be tortured mentally to not act.
Art – 4: I like the art style in collaboration with the style of story, Burnham’s style is very endearing and thought provoking. I’m still not sure of the relevance of the Robin suit beyond the ‘sidekick’ link. Aside from the Robin gimmick it was a beautifully illustrated story.
Cover Art – 4: This cover is a great homage to the golden age of comics, it is also a time period that fans have hankered for for years. ‘They should never have aged Jon’ is something some fans have always felt was an act that stole years of adventures from them. So it’s nice to explore this even though it was a one-shot comic book.
Variant Cover Art – 4: Echoing what I just said, here is Jon bonding with kids and having fun, being joyful and reaching out to a generation with a personable approach. The happiness on the kids’ faces says it all.
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