Superman #29
Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 27, 2025
Cover date: October 2025
“Legion of Darkseid” – Part Two: “Legion Lost”
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Jamal Campbell, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferriera & Dan Mora
Cover: Dan Mora
Variant Covers: David Aja, Ariel Olivetti, Tula Lotay
Incentive Variant: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira & Alejandro Sanchez
Artist Spotlight Variant: Bruno Redondo
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Time Trapper fades from time, but not before revealing his proposed champion in assisting Superman… Superboy Prime!
Superboy reveals he’s not the Superboy Prime that Clark remembers, in fact he is one that was somehow revived in a pocket universe while Superman’s universe was rebooted twice.
Using his own unique talent to break reality he takes a reluctant Superman to the future to rescue a hero that no one remembers.
As they punch their way through time and space Prime tells Superman about the epic conclusion to the story, multiple Legion teams joining forces with the two Clarks’ to defeat Darkseid and his corrupt Legion.
Except as they come to the end of their journey, they find Superman’s recent choices have altered time and the future is a desolate wasteland littered with Legionnaire corpses. Dead characters to Prime but dead people to Superman a definition that almost forces them to blows.
They are interrupted by the sound of a shovel digging through the metal and dirt and are confronted by a beaten and broken Cosmic Boy burying his friends. He leads them to a refuge where the last of the Legion survives.
The collective surviving Brainiac 5’s have captured Darkseid Brainiac variant and they have been able to find the prison holding the lost hero. Superman uses the moment to inspire the team and ready them to fight at his side. They agree and race to find the mysterious Booster Gold.
Prime pauses for a moment and realizes that Cosmic Boy is an imposter, why would a master of magnetism need a shovel to dig through metal debris? It is a realization too late and the evil Chameleon Boy variant kills a number of the Legion as he reveals that the secret to Darkseid’s plot isn’t to kill the Man of Steel, but to break his spirit. A future without hope is the true goal.
Prime takes on Chameleon Boy and spurs Superman onto rescuing Booster. Superman finds the stranger and releases him. Booster reveals that he is a good friend but Darkseid deliberately erased him from people’s memories and used his unique chronological energy to conquer time.
Booster used some of that energy to send Validus through time but that was at least two years ago, Superman reassures Booster that they will get him to safety, that is until Darkseid’s Legion appears blocking their and their newest recruit Prime, returning to his dark roots…
To Be Continued…
Story – 5: An unexpected chapter in the story but one hell of a read! The rebooted Superboy Prime was a joy to read, especially as the twists played out with this anomalous character. I honestly only remember him being a dark and violent character, so seeing him in a more positive light was a fun arc. It was nice to see Superman still inspire hope in a dark and gritty future. The writing was strong throughout and kept the pace constant and engaging. I am really looking forward to the next chapter!Art – 5: The art is consistently strong and though I would have loved to see the full page spread Prime described, there was enough on the page to captivate me. The panels are detailed and fun. There are some really dynamic sequences to keep you reading a few times to see what you missed!
Cover Art – 4: A dark somber image with Clark mourning his childhood friends. It’s impactful, memorable. It’s a personal gripe but I didn’t like the inking technique here. It doesn’t detract from the story the cover is telling, just person taste.Variant Cover (David Aja) – 4: I am really torn by the cover. The visual imagery is fantastic, as is the thick lines and blocked ink work. The downside for me is the negative space. The white area hurts the cover as it draws your eye to the white space and away from the great inking style.Variant Cover (Ariel Olivetti) – 4: A beautifully painted cover, one that feels like it needs to be framed. It feels more like a piece of art than a comic cover. The energy of the fight scene seems frozen or extremely slow so it feels like a snippet of time, a lushly illustrated snippet.
Variant Cover (Tula Lota) – 3: The soft focus style and color wash technique Is not to my taste, it looks like a nice composition from the boundaries of linework but the bleed of color is not a style I like.Variant Cover (Eddy Barrows) – 5: When Superman is pushed too far, this is what you get. A powerful image and though burning eyed Superman is an overused trope, here there is a determination behind the Man of Steel rather than the anger. I dig it!Variant Cover (Bruno Redondo) – 4: Rarely do we get two covers that artistically follow a similar theme, especially in a variant series. Just like the other we have a beautiful piece of art, a celebration of style and then a battle with the negative space to retain attention. I am so conflicted by this style because I can’t find a middle ground.
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