Mild Mannered Reviews – Superman: Chains of Love Special #1

Superman: Chains of Love Special #1

Cover: Yasmine Putri and Arif Prianto
Variant Covers: Ig Guara, Mirka Andolfo, Juan Ferreyra

Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel

Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Ig Guara

Three months ago… Jack Ryder in his persona as Creeper is a livestream vlogger with a drone filming antics across Metropolis. The story begins shortly after an explosion at Strykers Island that inadvertently released supervillain, Livewire (aka Leslie Willis). Leslie is determined to keep her head down and stay out of trouble, that is, until she crosses paths with Creeper who is instantly head over heels with her.

Leslie skulks in the shadows and heads to a home away from home, her pirate radio station hideout. Powering it up she starts a show with callers offering up questions.

One caller probes her release and Leslie reveals what happened and even more as she becomes more and more comfortable. What Leslie was unaware of was the Creeper was one of the callers and he had live-streamed her story to everyone in the city.

A week later Jonathan Kent approaches Leslie and offers to help them use their pirate shows legitimately as part of the Daily Planet expansion, as paid journalists.

“Hardwired” is born and with the backing of both the Planet and the Justice League, the duo of Creeper and Livewire start broadcasting a show interviewing supervillians that have struggled to have their voice heard and perhaps aid their rehabilitation.

Everything is going great until Leslie suggests inviting a journalist that has been stalking her online and posting cruel videos aimed at her… forcing Creeper to reveal his alter ego. Their literally explosive lovers tiff leads the Justice League to intervene and arrest Leslie.

To make it up to Leslie, Creeper edits the show footage and broadcasts it using his Jack Ryder persona to curry favor with Leslie as a grand gesture of his love. As Superman and son arrive to prevent a riot, they reveal that they are avid listeners of the show and offer to give the duo a second chance and revive their show.

Is this the last we’ll hear of them? Stay tuned!

Story – 3: Here we have a great concept and use of two characters that very rarely get a chance at the spotlight. The problem is are they big enough to carry a Special? The answer is no. Traditionally, and to be honest, realistically, this should have been a much shorter story that was a backup feature in a Superman book. Superman features on just 6 pages in this 43 page special. If I wasn’t reviewing it I probably wouldn’t have bought it. Aside from that, the story wasn’t particularly good, with a poor structure and narrative that made me really dislike Creeper. The amount of text and expositional dialogue was so excessive some panels even had to vary font size to squeeze it all in. It kept my attention which scores it a three.


Art – 4: The art was fun, comedic and bold but often overpowered by text. I liked the moments where there were cartoon style flashbacks and if the story were streamlined just a little I think it would have given the great art a chance to breathe.


“Bill Zarro’s World”

Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Rosi Kampe

Bill Zarro is miserable. His wife humiliates him. His children disrespect him. His neighbours push him around. His work colleagues bully him. His life is a perpetual cycle of misery, until one morning he wakes up and everything is completely different.

At first Bill is terrified of the changes but eventually he realizes this Bizarro World is like a paradise. When Superman arrives and explains a tear between dimensions caused random people to switch places and that he is here to take him home, Bill wastes no time refusing to go back!

So if he stays on Bizarro World, what happens to his Bizarro counterpart?

Not To Be Continued…

Story – 3: A neat little story. Not much meat on the bone here so it is not going to be too memorable, but as a glimpse into the life of Bill and recognizing so many people in his position it was nice to see how the story unfolded.


Art – 3: The art is well suited to the story, it has some fun visuals especially when comparing the two worlds. If I could change one thing perhaps a little heavier inking would have given the art a little more depth.


Cover Art – 4: A little case of a fake out. Whoever write the copy of the cover was very misleading. The cover itself looks fantastic and also sells the story as something bigger and more epic that the interior. I love everything about this artwork. I would love to have seen a sketch cover to enjoy the process.


Variant Cover (Ig Guara) – 5: Much like the main cover it’s a cheeky misleader but I don’t mind this image it’s really eye catching and I really wish it could have played out; obviously before their transition to good guys though! I really like the blend of techniques used here.


Variant Cover (Mirka Andolfo) – 4: Leslie looks cocky here, breaking the fourth wall and my money is on her in this fight! There is a real animated energy to the artwork here I love that Andolfo is embracing the fun side of this duo.


Variant Cover (Juan Ferreyra) – 5: With DC K.O. currently running with the beat ’em up video game genre as it’s inspiration if is so strange that they haven’t opted for covers like this! This feels like a screencapture from an actual arcade game! The creativity deserves top marks here. Where can I play this game? Hehe!


Check out the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.