Superman #30
Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 13, 2021
Cover date: June 2021
“The One Who Fell” – Part 1
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Penciller: Scott Godlewski
Inker: Scott Godlewski
Cover: John Timms
Variant Cover: Inhyuk Lee
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
It begins with a perfect family day out. Duty calls for Superman and so Clark and Jon find themselves heading out to the planet Thakkram.
Qarath O Daanim, ruler of the Thakkramites sent out the distress call, to help with an invader attack. Once calm has set in Clark introduces his son to Faldr Poornym, an old friend from years past. When Superman reveals Qarath’s distress call was why he has returned they are in complete shock as Qarath is dead!
Superman and Jon decide to investigate and discover Faldr may have lied and the invaders may have a bigger plan in motion that even Superman and son can’t stop.
To Be Continued…
Story – 3: I didn’t enjoy this at all. Not the story itself, but the way it was told. The Thakkramites and their way of telling stories was so disengaging it only succeeded in confusing matters. Retrofitting a relationship with Superman also made the story confusing. I am a bit disappointed Superman can’t handle missions alone anymore and also that his recent stories have been concentrating on ‘world building’ rather than engaging the reader. I hope there is a shift to allow Superman more of the limelight because the books are quickly losing focus.
Art – 3: The ‘barely more than a sketch’ is horrible in the Earth scenes. Especially when Jon’s age shifts from panel to panel, everything is so sparse that it just looks bland. Then all of a sudden we leave for Thakkram and the art suddenly elevates as the story picks up. I found myself fully embracing the style but I think Gabe Eltaeb had a lot to do with that.
Back up story:
“Tales of Metropolis: Ambush Bug”
Writer: Sean Lewis
Artist: Sami Basri
Jimmy Olsen has called together several ‘heroes’ of Metropolis to find Projectress and Deadstream after their antics attacking Bibbo (last issue). During the briefing Deadstream attempts to take over Bug’s mind.
Deadstream had intended to infiltrate Olsen’s band of heroes but he underestimated Ambush Bugs abilities and finds himself trapped in the Hygroscopic realm. Bug has extracted Projectress’ location and teleports there to confront the villainess.
Bug falls prey to her illusions and struggles to escape her grip. You can’t keep a good bug down and he eventually escapes her influence and takes evidence that he gleaned from Deadstream directly to Jimmy.
Will Jimmy’s band of heroes be able to foil the plot?
Story – 5:Now this is starting to amp up a bit from last issue! Strange that I am preferring these back up stories to the ‘main feature.’ I am really enjoying this plot line of the supporting cast as it gives us a glimpse of what is going on while Superman is off being… super! So far we’ve had Bibbo and Ambush Bug and they both had their time to shine.
Art – 5: I find the back up has some visually impressive layouts. No big splash pages but to be honest they don’t need them. Great fun and vibrant.
Cover Art – 4: Seeing the cover as the introduction to the story it’s a bit confusing as to what Superman is doing and who is watching him. I know the cover text is a massive spoiler but I’d sooner have Superman as the star not the villains.
Variant Cover Art – 4: This is a beautifully illustrated cover but also falls into the trap of sidelining the lead character. It is a bit annoying that Jon is taking centre stage, yet again. I’m here for Superman not Jon. To quote the movie Mean Girls. ‘Stop trying to make Jon happen.’
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To each his own.
I had a good time with this issue and the few installments that Johnson’s done so far are already better than anything Bendis did.