Superman: Son of Kal-El has been a shot in the arm that superhero comics have needed for some time. It offers a queer main character, a villain who is the embodiment of some of today’s greatest dangers (fake news), and it has a hell of a lot of heart, too. As its writer Tom Taylor told me last week, Jon Kent aka Superman didn’t even punch anyone in the first story arc. Danger looms over his mother and grandparents in this week’s Superman Son of Kal-El #12 though so some punching may be in order.
The latest issue opens with Superman saving a person who was kidnapped. Soon he gets a distress signal and we learn there’s an attack on the compound Batman set up to keep his family safe. As the preview shows, danger is close by — but so is Krypto!
Taylor and artist Cian Tormey delve into the melodrama of trying to stop a president, which usually can’t be done with force. It’s a smart bit of writing since it steeps the rest of the issue in a bit of reality. If Superman punched out the president of a foreign nation, we’d probably be facing far bigger problems like a world war. There’s some other realism later on, but also some very fantastical superhero stuff too. That blend is nearly perfect here.
Tormey and inker Scott Hanna do a good job with this scene along with color artist Federico Blee. The compound being attacked is well detailed with trees and a convincing energy shield. There’s a nice volume on the enemy robots’ shoulders and heads, making them pop, and Batman looks cool as hell even though he’s freaking out.
Great plan, Batman!
Credit: DC Comics
One might liken the plot of this issue, which features Nightwing, to a heist. The middle portion of the book allows for some Lex Luthor character work that’s a nice touch. One can imagine President Bendix is a more cruel and diabolical version of Lex, or maybe Lex is just a little less interested in taking as many chances.
Rounding out the issue is another conflict and this time it takes Superman to an entirely new kind of confrontation. It’s nice to see Taylor use a young Superman in this way, especially when you consider how green he is, but he’s fearless too. Since Jon is younger and has less experience, the character can be in risky situations that’d be cakewalks for his father Clark. This scene is a good example of how the series can do a lot more with Jon Kent in the lead role.
The only negative might be Jay, who appears to be totally not an issue. Batman in a previous issue basically said Jay can’t be trusted, but that seems to be dropped for now. It’s true Batman doesn’t get a chance to question Jon’s choice to work with Jay, but it’s still a bit funny it’s seemingly ignored.
It looks like Ruairi Coleman draws the final few pages, but that isn’t made clear in the issue so that may not be the case. Either way, it’s hard to tell where Coleman and Tormey trade off. The final sequence offers up a massive and gross monster to ogle. It’s a good balance of creepy, weird, and threatening, especially with Blee’s colors giving it all sorts of purplish hues.
Superman: Son of Kal-El continues to be an excellent series up there with Taylor’s perfect series, Nightwing. It explores what it would be like if Superman was younger and newer to being a superhero, but also more adamant than ever to save everyone and everything without violence.
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