“Our past is crucial to understanding the present and our future, but you can’t let it control you.”
Depending on the person, history is a scary subject. Knowing who you’re related to, where you come from, and what led you to be who you are creates a picture of yourself that you’re faced with day by day, and to the average Joe, you have experienced nightmares with pieces of yourself scattered across every little corner. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the true horror of Knight Terrors: Superman #2 is one big self-reflection.
Following the first issue, Williamson strikes another hole in one and sets up the future of Superman and Action Comics with one story alone. Knight Terrors has shown to be admittedly hit or miss, however, his work on Superman and Supergirl paves the way for character deconstructions that lean heavily on their past and future as heroes – whether it’s Supergirl’s nightmares of her past selves and the haunting presence of Doomsday or the death and mysteries that follow Superman through his everyday life, Williamson does his best to show how that haunts the heroes and he succeeds.
DC Comics
The idea of deconstructing Superman is a tricky thing. Many writers choose to criticize or deconstruct his character using the format of an evil and unjust hero and further painting him as a savage for their tale, but Williamson deconstructs Clark Kent using a nightmare. Insomnia’s manifestation of his nightmare represents the horror of being a fallen angel, Clark is scared of outliving others, doing cruel and unjust things to others, and in time being a reaper to the ones he loves. The Super-Reaper is a walking reminder of everything a man like him would be scared of while existing as a play on those “evil supermen” and their blasphemous stories, but differentiates itself using the law of self-destruction with drops of dementophobia.
Super-Reaper doesn’t just exist as a symbol of fear for Clark; it can also be said that he represents the death of Krypton and Kara Zor-El’s greater cynicism towards the universe. Insomnia causes someone like her to remember that she isn’t a survivor of Krypton but its ghost. Someone who remembers the history and its culture. She is a lost spirit who wanders throughout the galaxy with no true home because she’s constantly trying to find herself and her past selves chasing after her reflects that.
Of course, Williamson’s storytelling wouldn’t be complete without the breathtaking art by Tom Reilly and Nathan Fairburn. The pair takes these existential concepts and manifests them into reality, whether it’s the horror of The Super-Reaper or the highs and lows of battling sentient deadlines. Dan Mora’s Super-Reaper design continues to be a delight as Insomnia exists as an unsettling figure scene by scene. Reilly’s art style paired with Fairburn’s colors makes the larger world of Superman’s dreamscape visually striking but unsettling, as the simplicity of Reilly’s paneling allows the characters to feel both big and small in the settings they inhabit. Reilly’s interpretations of Clark and Kara are fantastic – the two look the best they’ve been in a long time, whether it’s Clark’s classic bodybuilder aesthetic or Reilly’s Kara feeling straight out of the ’80s with her muscular build.
Williamson. Reilly, and Fairburn knock it out of the park with the final installment of Knight Terrors: Superman and sets up the future of The Man of Steel in a strong and interesting way.
The trio are perfect collaborators with their usages of stories and designs from the deeper history of Superman and Supergirl whether it’s Kara’s past incarnations or little references to Clark’s expansive time as a hero, it becomes clear that Williamson, Reilly, and Fairburn are a bunch of Superman fans who love the character and his history.
Once the story ends, the three leave a little teaser for what’s to come for the mild-mannered reporter in the next installment of Superman, and considering the ending of Superman Annual 2023, it’s a big one. Until then, we have to wait and see what horrors follow the last son and daughter of Krypton.
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