Mild Mannered Reviews – Superman vs. Lobo #2

Superman vs. Lobo #2

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Superman vs. Lobo #2 [of 3]

 

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 9, 2021
Cover date: January 2022

“Book Two”

Writers: Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie
Artist: Mirka Andolfo
Cover: Mirka Andolfo
Variant Covers: Fico Ossio

Reviewed by: Tony Parker



Superman and Lobo find themselves on the newly restored Czarnia and Krypton respectively. Superman, now powerless thanks to Czarnia’s red tinted sun, finds himself living next to the dangerous yet strangely kind Miss Tribb, Lobo’s former teacher, and learns that Czarnia was a mostly peaceful world once, before Lobo simply chose to kill them all for fun.

Meanwhile, Lobo joins The Light of Jo-Mon cult, a group believing in the notion of Krypton returning to a more primal way of thought led by Fel-Kar, a now revived schemer of Krypton’s past. There, a sample of Lobo’s DNA is used to create a Lobo Clone army perfect to destroy Czarnia once more.

All the while, Dr. Flik continues conducting her research for her paper on Last Sons, but cannot stop herself from getting emotionally attached to her subjects, developing a respect for Superman and a crush of sorts on Lobo. After listening to Superman’s words of wisdom, she attempts to fix the chaos by visiting Numen and informing him of his mistake, which he goes on to fix.

But the trouble has only just started. Thanks to Numen’s efforts he now must regenerate in his womb. And while the planets are now back to being gone, and Superman’s powers are fully restored, the Numen Revenge Squad is on the way to kill the benevolent last son.

To Be Continued…

4Story – 4: Another enjoyable issue of this surprisingly good mini-series, only just a bit weaker than last issue!

When it comes to Superman for me, it’s the simple things and little joys I relish the most. He’s so kind and genuine and inspiring, that it doesn’t take much to make him work in a story, in my humble opinion. Watching him try to restore his powers, while still showing his real power, his acts of good, make his scenes feel like sweet dreams almost. Him fixing the broken garden shed, or showing sympathy for Miss Trib even though she was leeching his powers to defend herself, are further proof that for all his strength, it is his heart that impacts us most.

Lobo, as always, is delightfully horrible and entertaining. Joining a Kryptonian cult that’s fixated on sex and pleasure is a no brainer, and seeing him mow down versions of himself, attempt to create a parasite that kills people from the sphincter, or somehow bond with his former teacher never fails to be enjoyable. He is truly an odd character, the kind that can really do just about anything and come across as fun to read about. Superman himself says that Lobo is worse than Lex Luthor and Darkseid, yet still, we enjoy him. Truly, an interesting individual.

Dr. Flik also proves herself to be quite an interesting new character (though I do feel this will be her only appearance). Her attempts to be methodical and detached from her subjects provide a wonderful contrast to Superman’s empathy, and provide the basis for an intriguing character arc, though even if she doesn’t change, it would still work, frankly. She’s exactly the kind of character that can bounce off Superman well, and when she’s not doing that, she’s providing great laughs from her nearly inexplicable attraction to Lobo.

It’s not easy to talk of the story, simply cause at it’s bones, it’s quite simple, and all I can say is that I really enjoyed reading it, so I shall spend a few words on Jor-El and Lara. I find Jor-El especially to be an odd sort of character, at once a wise, sage father, and a strangely cold and distant man of science. I’ve leaned towards versions of the character that are more caring in the past, but there is something about a caring, yet flawed man, who is willing to make cold decisions, stating to Clark that his impractical decision to save his son was his best one, that I find greatly compelling. And it was nice to see Lara get to do something, as it seems quite rare from what I’ve seen.

So, to sum up, another blast of an issue, with great humor, action, and character beats. This run is shaping up to be the surprise hit of the year in the Superman side of things!


5Art – 5: Really enjoying this art style so far! At times reminiscent of Mad Magazine, at others of a Bizzaro story I once read (which is something I said last time, I am aware), it’s just quite pleasing to look at!


4Cover Art – 4: Again with the Mad Magazine comparison, this cover is perfectly Lobo-esque! Not much to say, just a good cover!


3Variant Cover Art – 3: Less keen on this one, though it does provide a throwback feel of sorts, almost looking like a classic Superman Team Up cover. Perhaps it’s the too realistic look that doesn’t work for me.


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Superman vs. Lobo #2