Superman #11
Scheduled to arrive in stores: February 20, 2024
Cover date: April 2024
Chapter Eleven: “Lex Luthor Revenge Squad”
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: David Baldeon
Cover: Jamal Campbell
Variant Covers: Lee Bermejo and Warren Louw
1:25: Pablo Villalobos
1:50: Chuma Hill
Sweater Weather Variant: Ariel Diaz
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Pharm and Graft confirm what Superman and Lex have suspected all along, that they were the masterminds of everything to date; the transfer of Lexcorp to Superman, the power boosted villains, The Chained being freed and even destroying big pieces of the city.
Lena remembers accessing her historical data from LL-01 hours earlier and confronting her grandmother with the information. Leticia questions why Lena remains at Lexcorp if she is fully aware of her father’s selfishness. Lena reminds her mother that it’s Supercorp now, not Lexcorp but before they can explore their family tree self deprecation Mercy interrupts, informing them that Superman has vanished.
Mercy and Lex (direct from Strykers) theorize what happened when Superman and Marilyn Moonlight were hit by all variations of kryptonite at once. Lena meanwhile wonders how Pharm and Graft got hold of the colored kryptonite considering their rarity.
A very angry Lois arrives demanding answers on Superman’s disappearance and listens to Lex and Lena bicker between theories. They are no closer to a solution but it is then that Pharm and Graft arrive to free The Chained. The women are blindsided by someone in an original Luthor power suit and realize too late that they were betrayed from within.
Returning to the present moment, Pharm and Graft reveal they were never able to secure real kryptonite, but had tested synthetic versions on Bizarro when they had captured him. Superman may be reluctant to join the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad but with their warped version of red kryptonite they’ve harnessed a way to make Superman perpetually (and unwillingly) angry.
The Squad now complete, they infiltrate Strykers and Superman prepares to murder Lex as Lena watches helplessly.
Graft instructs the power suited spy to execute the next stage of their plan and while they exit, Lex stands up and begins to smile. His puzzled enemies realize too late that Superman may be angry but Superman’s rage isn’t solely directed at Lex.
Superman proves Lex right by making short work of each of the Squad. Lex uses the synthetic green kryptonite to stab Superman before dying and explains that green and red kryptonite cancel each other out.
Graft reveals their final plan. They’d tinkered with kryptonite not only to create the Klaw but to master a gas that killed anyone it came into contact with.
Superman stumbles to his feet horrified to see the missing Squad member spraying the city with the synthetic gas and Graft reveals that the master plan was never theirs… It was Lex Luthor’s all along!
To Be Continued…
Story – 5: Perhaps I misjudged last issue. Though I had no way of knowing that what I had issues with in #10 were going to play out here. In a collected form I guess it wouldn’t have mattered! I really liked this issue because, as mentioned, it was the real meat to the story. Yes, I deliberately kept the spies identity out of my synopsis.
We discovered who was the spy in Supercorp, we found out how and why the supervillains were abducted and abused, we learnt about synthetic kryptonite and now we’re fully informed and invested in the final chapter. Bravo! And more fool me for not being just that little bit more patient. I liked that, however brief, we also learnt what was intact from Lena’s backstory. Superman being a side character in his own book is something I dislike, especially as he was reduced to elements I dislike about his character, but because we finally had the answers we’d waited over a year for, all is forgiven.
Art – 4: It is great that we have one sole artist for the entire book and the action scenes look fantastic. The panel composition in places is a little too cluttered for my liking but given how much story Baldeon had to cover it’s understandable. The energy level in the art was consistent throughout and definitely kept my attention.Cover Art – 5: Everyone loves a montage, or so the creators of South Park would have us believe. Luckily in this instance it really works! It feels like a movie poster. Really eye catching and Superman looks awesome. I like the opposing color palettes in the piece, they shouldn’t compliment each other but somehow they do here. Great cover!Variant Cover (Lee Bermejo) – 4: Who doesn’t love a little Superman and Krypto? Love the cover, it just exudes joy. If I have one critique it is that Superman’s skin is a little too detailed, it could by the setting sun exaggerating the wrinkles but other than that I really love it.Variant Cover (Warren Louw) – 5: You know when you get an action figure and the packaging artwork looks so awesome you don’t want to open the blister package in case you ruin it? It’s vibrant, shows Superman not holding back… I have expected it to say “With power punch action!” on the cover. This is an amazing variant and I think its going to be my new phone wallpaper.Variant Cover (Pablo Villalobos) – 4: Nicely rendered cover showing a Man of Steel after an attack emerging unscathed. Feels a little unfair to compare to the other offerings but this feels more of a sketch cover. A great piece but just feels like it’s unfinished.Variant Cover (Chuma Hill) – 4: Grrrr! Angry Superman! It’s become a comedy trope with Superman fans in recent years but on this occasion it fits the narrative of the book. Just like the main cover there is some expert color matching going on and the result here is an arresting cover. I really like the effect used for the heat vision here.
Sweater Weather Variant: (Ariel Diaz) – 3: The artist is clearly brilliant, but the theme of the cover leaves me with the ick… I am all for Lois and Clark being romantic, I ate up the 1990s series after all, but this just doesn’t fit the book at all. It feels a bit off to me and that is a shame as I think Diaz is pigeon-holed by the theme.
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