Superman #22
Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 22, 2025
Cover date: March 2025
“Blast From The Past”
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Dan Mora
Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Covers: David Talaski, Jonboy Meyers, Mico Suayan & Romulo Fajardo Jr., David Lapham & Lee Loughridge
Sweater Weather Variant Cover: Marguerite Sauvage
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Mayor Perry White is catching up with Jimmy and Siobhan and as they finish up brunch Jimmy mentions his master plan to impress Lois, a clear photo of Superwoman for the front page.
The Aftermath invite Superman and Superwoman aboard their ship above the city of Metropolis. The visitors make a tempting offer… to avenge all the those lost to Doomsday’s hands they offer to take Doomsday away so he may never threaten anyone again. However their offer comes with a caveat; The Aftermath with kill everyone on Earth deemed as Doomsday’s protectors and take the creature by force.
Lois urges Superman to consider agreeing given recent events with the Time Trapper, but Superman is cautious. He brings up Calaton and how he originally encountered The Radiant (in the classic Trade Paperback “Hunter/Prey”), an energy being made up of Calaton survivors.
Superman asks a question that has bothered him for years. The Aftermath’s ancestors created Doomsday as a weapon, but as a weapon to fight what? The Aftermath skirt around the question and Lois intervenes. She points out that these visitors have a reason why they want Doomsday and given they’ve threatened to destroy Earth’s population it isn’t to save them. Without the truth, Superman refuses to hand Doomsday over.
The Aftermath reveals itself as the predecessor of The Radiant and transforms into a formidable energy being who immediately races away on the hunt for Doomsday’s energy signature. Lois calls out to Supergirl who is with Doomsday in Supercorp and alerts her to The Radiant’s mission but it’s a warning that comes too late as The Radiant hits Doomsday with a blast that awakens the creature and sends him hurtling out onto the Metropolis city streets.
As a free for all fight ensues, Lois notices Jimmy and Silver Banshee sneaking into the battlefield and as Jimmy snaps his photo scoop something unexpected happens!
The Be Continued…
Story – 5: That escalated quickly!
A lot happened and it happened incredibly fast. It was welcome, if a little unexpected! A lot of threads have dangled for a while so it was great to see them explored more. One thing that was a little disappointing was that there was no recap on “Hunter/Prey”. I’m old enough to remember it, but for many some parts of this issue will raise a few questions that the book doesn’t answer. I hope The Aftermath and the backstory will be explored a bit going forward. I must also point out that, as fleeting as they were, it was great to see Perry, Jimmy, Siobhan, Lena and Lex have some impactful story beats.Art – 5: The art was strong this issue though I felt in places the speed of the script impacted the artwork’s opportunity to breath. It was a beautifully illustrated issue but it almost felt like an over edited movie where scenes were cut to speed up the run time. As an example of that have a look at how the scenes flow between The Radiant’s reveal through to Jimmy and Siobhan”s arrival. Still even with that said, the book looks stunning.
Cover Art – 3: This issue’s cover seems to lack detail and rely heavily on broad color strokes to fill the gaps. It does not feel up to the usual standard we’ve come to expect from Mora.Variant Cover (Dave Talaski) – 5: This cover is a thing of beauty. It should be studied. There is a pulp novel feel to it and Superman just exudes charisma and presence here. Think I’m going to make this my phone wallpaper, it’s so good!
Variant Cover (Jonboy Meyers) – 4: I love the art, I just don’t love the theming and I think it’s a personal fault and nothing to do with the cover itself. It’s just a variation on a scene I’ve seen countless times. Don’t misunderstand me, the art and energy is fantastic, for newer readers it will feel fresh and awesome, and for them I’m scoring it high but as a seasoned Super fan it probably hit too many tropes.Variant Cover (Mico Suayan & Romulo Fajardo Jr.) – 4: As with the last cover – this looks awesome, but I’ve seen Doomsday roaring at the cover and as cool as it is, he’s losing his menace a bit. Maybe if The Radiant were reflected in his eyes so it reflected the story? I feel like I’m coming across like Comicbook Guy in The Simpsons and I don’t mean to, but this cover doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be an homage to a previous version of the same ‘pose’. So it just comes across as a bit desensitizing. Anyway my only other niggle is Doomsday doesn’t have ram antlers (unless that’s a spoiler).Variant Cover (David Lapham & Lee Loughridge) – 3: I feel like the composition is off. There are villains running towards one another. Bizarro and Parasite and Cyborg Superman are just present. The most interesting part of the cover – Lex versus Superman seems buried behind this reverse perspective. I feel it would have been a much stronger cover had it been flipped with the villains in the background and Superman in the forefront.Variant Cover (Chrissie Zullo-Uminga) – 4: I’m not entirely sure about this cover… I don’t get it. It’s Superman having a steam bath at the arctic, using his heat vision to keep cosy. I mean it will definitely appeal to the swimsuit edition fans and it is a nicely drawn cover. I guess it just proves you can make a variant cover of anything these days…
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