Mild Mannered Reviews – Superman: Son of Kal-El #6

Superman: Son of Kal-El #6

Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 4, 2022
Cover date: February 2022

“Beginnings”

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: John Timms
Cover: John Timms
Variant Covers: Inhyuk Lee

Homeless teenagers are kidnapped from the streets of Blüdhaven and slung into shipping crates for shipment to Gamorra.

In Smallville, Lois is livid that a simple crop duster could obliterate the Kent farm – while under the protection of arguably the most powerful team of heroes in the universe. Lois swears revenge and an embarrassed Batman licks his wounds enquiring after Jon.

Superman (Jon) now back in Metropolis and free of the power overcharge takes some time out for a dinner date with Jay atop the Daily Planet globe. Jay opens up to Henry Bendix usurping his own mother as the Gamorran president. He explains that his mother is missing, presumed dead, and the citizens of Gamorra (including himself) have become unwilling guinea pigs in a super soldier bio weapon programme.

In a twist of events Jon, Jay, Lois Lane and Robin all break into STAR Labs simultaneously to find out how Fault Line was taken from custody. They discover the Gamorran ambassador was involved and Superman (Jon) rushes to intercept the cargo ship he is leaving on. Superman (Jon) finds the kidnapped teens and, along with the ambassador, he returns them to Metropolis while a mysterious foe is left to break news of failure to Bendix. President Bendix, who should be upset, is more interested in his new alliance with Lex Luthor and the results of his experiments he calls… The Rising.

To Be Continued…

Story – 5: The plot begins to flesh out more and Bendix’s plan becomes clearer. I enjoyed the scenes with Lois and Batman, I love that she is not intimidated in the slightest. Robin, being Jon’s only friend for a long time meeting Jay was fun. I like that Jay is able to look after himself, though I really would like him to stop using Jon for his own gain, especially if he really does like him. I don’t mind Jon having a wider ensemble cast but I am starting to feel he’s slipping away from the spotlight of his own book. More has been focused on Gamorra, Henry Bendix and Jay and less and less on Jon having a life as Jon Kent (not just as Superman).

Art – 5: The art continues to impress with large action set pieces. There is a little niggle from me with the attention to detail slipping here and there and the cartoony anatomy creeping in to some sequences. To be fair this seems to be Timm’s usual style so its a personal niggle I can’t downrate.

Cover Art – 4: I like the energy and if it were agains the sleepy villain instead of the homeless (super powered) teens I would be all for it. However, dear readers, you know by now that I really dislike covers that mislead the reader of the story content.

Variant Cover Art – 4: I know Jon and Jay are in the beginnings of defining their burgeoning relationship, and this is a beautifully rendered portrait of the two… I wish it were a depiction of the two fighting side by side though!

Variant Cover Art – 4: Great cover showing the same battle but in a different style. Same critic issues over baiting, but I can’t deny these variant covers always, always, look amazing.

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