Superman #26
Scheduled to arrive in stores: May 28, 2025
Cover date: July 2025
“Superman Red” – Part One
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferriera & Sean Izaakse
Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Covers: Derrick Chew, Guillem March, Clayton Henry & Ulises Arreola, Mark Aspinall
Court Side Variant Cover: Riley Rosso
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Lex has been returned to Stryker’s Island, and has a tearful discussion with Lena. His daughter delivers some home truths and disowns him heading to Supercorp to confront Mercy.
In Earth’s orbit Lois is undergoing tests but to no avail, her powers are gone. Lois draws a close to the investigation and even though Clark doesn’t really believe his wife shrugging off her superpowers, he lets her teleport back to Earth.
Over in Supercorp, Lena is horrified to discover that despite her actions Luthor has covered for her and allowed Mercy to continue running Supercorp. Mercy reveals that though she forced Lex to return to his darker side and release Ex-L she hasn’t actually committed a crime. Lena is further dumbfounded when Mercy offers her the role of her personal assistant.
Superman arrives allowing Lena to leave and informs Mercy that all of Supercorp’s contracts have been terminated and their access to Justice League technology has been revoked. Supercorp, in its current incarnation, is dead. Mercy and Lex are welcome to the scraps of the company left over.
As Lena deals with her mental turmoil she finds her self drawn to the town of Midvale, just as Superman heads to Stryker’s with Mercy’s words echoing in his head.
Superman demands to know if Lex has any more projects like Ex-L that he’s hidden away. Lex promises he does not and that when he discovered Ex-L’s danger he refused to use him. Superman’s anger brews as he listens to Lex justify why he killed his clone. Lex persists that he wants them to continue to work together and salvage their partnership. He offers to return Lois’ powers as a show of faith and to help Superman mend his wife’s broken heart at being mortal again.
This confrontation sends Superman’s red levels higher than ever before and he begins smashing the prison apart, feeling almost like he’s about to explode. With the last of his humanity he urges Lex and the the guards to run before he kills them. Lex races to the cells and confronts a gleeful Pharma and Graft and offers them a deal if they cure Superman.
Meanwhile, Superman is able to hold the poisoning off just enough to call the Justice League and this moment of respite is enough for Marilyn Moonlight to materialize and stop Superman by any means necessary.
To Be Continued…
Story – 5: I really enjoyed this follow up to last issue, especially as it explored the character moments. I like that there were consequences, though Lois and Lena have paid the heaviest price. I’ve enjoyed Lena as a character but it looks like she won’t be too far disconnected from the Super family. I hope we’ll explore Lois’ story more as it’s unchartered territory for Superman and his marriage. I’m not sold by the Superman poisoning storyline, so the dramatic scenes really were the driving force this issue.
I haven’t covered the ‘interludes’ in my overview mainly as they don’t really offer anything to the story yet, so I will leave those for you as a surprise.
Art – 4: Over all the art this issue is strong. There are some moments where facial expressions are a little ‘off model’ but nothing that detracts from the enjoyment of the book. Page 10 has a stunning illustration of Superman, go take a look! Superman exuding red kryptonite actually looked a little disappointing, so I’m hoping it’s going to escalate visually.Cover Art – 5: Superman looks equal parts angry and in pain here and if this is how they want to sell the Red K poisoning – this is how to do it! I really like the blend of benday dots, reds and whites. It really give you the feeling Superman is losing control.Variant Cover (Derrick Chew) – 5: A fun, cheerful cover focusing on Kara and Lois. I really like the anime influence here and the fact they are smiling. We rarely see superheroes just enjoying their power, so it exudes positivity.Variant Cover (Guillem March) – 4: A second cover filled with positivity, this time featuring the Super couple of Lois and Clark. I like seeing them together and their happiness is palpable. The coloring of the cover is where I feel it’s let down, the art shows depth but the coloring makes it feel flat.Variant Cover (Clayton Henry & Ulises Arreola) – 5: Look out, Superman isn’t holding back and it’s going to hurt! I love the feel of this cover leaning into a sort of animation cel vibe. The two layers really pair well together. It really feels like a snapshot of a sequence.Variant Cover (Mark Aspinall) – 5: An iconic pose and and in an art style rarely seen on modern comic book covers. There is a real attention to detail and a love of art deco in Aspinall’s piece. It deserves more than variant cover status!
Variant Cover (Riley Rosso) – 3: I’m not sure I get the theming of this cover. Everyone in Superman themed colors in honor of him, i guess? Rosso has definitely run with that theme, it looks fun, though I doubt I’ll ever see Batman wearing that costume in universe! It’s a bold cover and bursting with fun and energy, albeit with much weirdness.
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