Superman: Lost #3
Scheduled to arrive in stores: May 9, 2023
Cover date: July 2023
“The Tide”
Writer: Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan
Artists: Carlo Pagulayan and Jason Paz
Cover: Carlo Pagulayan and Jason Paz with Elmer Santos
Variant Covers: Lee Weeks, Elizabeth Breitweiser
Reviewed by: Marc Lax
Lois continues her story on Senator McMonigle when everything flies off the table. Lois sharply tells Clark she’s not his maid. While cleaning out his messy closet Lois finds the energy suit and communicator he was given at the end of last issue. We flashback to Superman in a fetal position floating in space. He’s woken by the communicator. The two have a back and forth about how many days he’s been in space. How many miles back to Earth. Does he want to go back to “Kansas” the farm on that other planet? Suddenly he’s surrounded by flying dolphins. He remarks that he’d heard about them from Lobo. There’s another back and forth about their current speed and how long it will take to get back to Earth. Superman thinks if the dolphins had once been to Earth they must travel through black holes, transwarp corridors. If he follows them and finds one of these corridors it may take him home. But after getting a telepathic message Superman realizes that the dolphins came looking for him. Trying to free their calves the dolphin’s parents were trapped. After a page of exposition about the planet that’s trapping the dolphins Superman flies down only to be met by giant sand statues of him and Lois. He fights them only to find out that their planet was attacked and they’re just trying to defend. After getting nowhere with these thought creatures the dolphins are saved and Superman figures whoever is attacking this planet must have a star drive. The dolphins fly away taking Superman’s survival rig and he crushes the communicator.
Story – 1: I don’t really know what I just read. Really. If I had to listen to that communicator ask him if he wants to go back to Kansas one more time I would have jumped into the book and smashed it. Thank you Superman for doing it for me. Now I’m not always the sharpest tool in the shed but I’d like to think my comprehension is pretty good. Well it’s being tested. Must we have several pages about “What’s our speed?” “How much longer to Earth?” “How long to the next yellow sun?” etc? My head was spinning. But then it stopped because I started falling asleep. So much dialogue and nothing happens. He finds the dolphins. Decides to follow the dolphins. With a telepathic message he learns their parents are trapped by energy coming from a planet. He fights planet creatures. The dolphins fly off with his survival rig in tow. Oh let’s not forget Lois yelling at Clark. This book constantly gives us an angry Lois. Whether she’s angry about what happened to her husband or just being angry in general. Even under these circumstances she’s not likable. Maybe if they fleshed her out more. Gave her more than two pages. We don’t even get to see Clark in his current state. Just math and dolphins and annoying communicators. Wow!
Art – 2: The art is okay there’s actually some nice scenes but it’s not strong enough to save this book.Cover Art – 2: Again an intriguing image telling us what’s in store but even Superman’s bright costume can’t help the muddy brown that takes up most of the cover.
Variant Cover Art – 3: Always nice to see Superman flying in space even if he has to share it with dolphins.Variant Cover Art – 3: This image, if anything, seems to give us some indication of how Clark is feeling. I just wish it would have been explored more in the book.
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