Superman #40
Scheduled to arrive in stores: February 7, 2018
Cover date: April 2018
“The Last Days” – Part 1
Writer: James Robinson
Penciller: Doug Manhke
Inker: Jaime Mendoza & Scott Hanna
Cover: Viktor Bogdanovic & Mike Spicer
Variant Cover: Jonboy Meyers
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Clark and Jon are visiting the Fortress for a very special anniversary. Krypton died this day and the men of the Kent family wish to honor those that passed away by watching a holographic representation. An alert in the Fortress reveals another planet is suffering a chain reaction so Superman and son race to save it. The reception they receive on planet, Galymayne, take them by surprise. A battle of wills and a conflict of science and religious faith mean history may be about to repeat itself. Clark and Jon find themselves begin to weaken but despite the odds they refuse to give up. Will it be deja vu or the beginning of a new age?
To Be Continued…
Story – 4: A polarizing story that is full of sentiment and heart.
Clark and Jon are clearly influenced by Krypton’s fate but when faced with religion they are dismayed to find the planet’s population embrace their fate through religious prophecy. Even if they save Galymayne will they be making the right choice or making enemies?
I am not sure I agree with Clark’s attitude in this instance. His motivation of course it to save billions of lives and even he admits he has not visited many alien planets. The culture shock brings out a stubborn streak and reminds me of the phrase: “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.”
You may not agree with me but I felt his stubbornness put his life and that of his son in terrible danger. I am interested to see where this will go and its emotional toll on Superman, not to mention its influence on Jon.
Art – 5: If your breath wasn’t taken away this issue, with the stunning artwork and that journey through space, I’m not sure what more they could do. Jon is occasionally a little cartoonish but I think that’s across all titles. I keep flipping back to that journey from Earth to Galymayne and can’t get over what a great job they did this issue. Color Artist Wil Quintana has complimented Mahnke’s line art perfectly.
Cover Art – 4: I initially thought from the cover that we were having a Dr. Who/Waverider moment and that Clark and Jon were watching Earth’s last moments. The color palette here misled me a little but the emotional toll of the scene was not lost. You don’t need to see Clark or Jon’s faces to know they are devastated.
Variant Cover Art – 4: Strangely, the variant avoids the themes of the issue and gives us another take on that journey through space. This rendition shows the duo in a more lighthearted way and in some respects, given the story, it was a nice way to avoid the controversies of the issue.
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I would also think that the events in this story would effect Supergirl as well, however I haven’t been reading Supergirl’s comic in a while so I don’t know if it would.
I hope it doesn’t. It may be extremely sad for Clark if he can’t save them. He has never experienced the loss of his planet. He has known everything being already an adult. It surely took a toll on him but think of Supergirl: She experienced that in person. She lost her family, all her friends…everything. And all in front of her eyes.
For Clark it may be extremely hard but for Supergirl…it would be devastating.
I hope Supes doesn’t take the “dictator” route. But it would be nice to offer those who don’t follow their religious way a chance to survive.
Adam, that “horse” phrase was really the point of this story. Something very important that Clark could teach his son. Even more than teaching how to use his powers. To use them wisely and only when needed and asked for.
Saving lives is exactly what Superman should do.
I recently saw an old super friends episode where Superman traveled to the past to prevent the destruction of Krypton. When he returned to his time, the justice league was all but wiped out. Robin being the only survivor from the legion of doom’s attack. He had no memory of superman, since superman never lived on earth. Which meant Superman’s heroic identity never existed.So Superman had to go back in time to Krypton to prevent himself from saving Krypton, thus restoring the proper time line. I was just reminded of that story. I don’t know if there was any inspiration… Read more »
I think there was another Superman story back in the early 2000’s that was similar. I believe it was called Superman:Return to Krypton. In this story, Superman saved Krypton.
Although later on in a continuation story(Superman:Farewell to Krypton), it was revealed that it was a fake Krypton created by Brainiac. However the fake Parents of Superman developed real feelings for him, so they saved him from the threat of the story.( It’s been a while since I had read this comic, so I don’t remember specifically what they had saved him from.)
Wow! A -1 for each post for mentioning a couple of stories? Why the negativity? Were the stories bad?
Definetly. Saving lives is what Superman does best.
The person who gave me the negative vote is definitely NOT A SUPERMAN FAN. If they were, then they would agree about Superman’s ability to save people or provide an explanation on a different quality that Superman would excell at. And each UNEXPLAINED negative vote that I receive from this person or persons only proves that they are NOT A SUPERMAN FAN. And I emphasize the words UNEXPLAINED, and NOT A SUPERMAN FAN since they FAIL to give any reason for their LAME VOTE or why they would be a superman fan.