The classic critique of Superman is he’s so overpowered that it’s hard to make the stakes feel high unless others are in peril. Writer Joshua Williamson seems to have gotten around that with new villain The Chained, a highly powerful character who can control objects with his mind. Superman can’t possibly beat him if he can’t touch him, right? Chained up where he found The Chained, Superman #7 focuses on Clark’s super friends who aren’t ready for the power that The Chained can bring.
Superman #7 is an extra-sized issue, partly because it’s celebrating the legacy milestone of issue #850. Amping up the celebration is a team of artists who bring their A-game with a history of drawing the character, as Gleb Melnikov, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, and Edwin Galmon contribute. It’s quite clear legacy is a big driving force for this issue, touching upon classic characters like Perry White while introducing new complications for others like Lex Luthor, whose family grows by the end of the issue. For super Superman fans, there’s a lot to love here.
The issue opens with a flashback of Perry remembering what it was like to see Superman in the flesh. It’s a reminder of how impressive Superman is and how he touches people’s lives just by being around. The story moves to the present, where Perry is running for mayor. What’s old is new again, as we’ll see later with Lex, making for an exciting turn of events as Williamson keeps putting his stamp on the character.
I wonder if The Chained likes his chains.
Credit: DC Comics
The Chained arrives to ruin Perry’s opening speech, which leads to a battle involving Superboy, Supergirl, Kong Kenan, and Natasha Irons. This sequence reminds us of how powerful The Chained is and sets in motion a lot of danger for Superman’s friends and civilians in Metropolis. Some key info is imparted in this scene, including the identity of The Chained and how his powers are similar to heroes in the fight, sprinkling in info in an economical way. The biggest miss in this scene is Natasha, who shows up at the start but doesn’t get anything to do after that.
Plotting is a little jarring from there, however. After The Chained scene, the story smash cuts to Lex in a dialogue-heavy scene that adds interesting details about Lex, but it’s mostly characters standing or sitting. The implication of what we learn is huge, especially if you’re a longtime Superman fan.
From there, the story abruptly switches to Brainiac, which in turn sets up a future villain battle that was teased at NYCC this past weekend. This scene is intense, with well-written captions for Brainiac. The use of Lobo (or is it Lobos?) is pretty cool too.
There are huge implications for Lex Luthor going forward after reading Superman #7. This extra-sized issue sets up future threats while establishing The Chained as a heavy hitter and revealing Lex’s life becomes more complicated. There’s a nice reminder of Superman legacy throughout as well from Lex to Perry and more. The extra pages don’t help the somewhat jarring plotting, though, as the story cuts around too much for its own good.
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