Superman rarely gets angry – and when he does, he manages to keep himself under control. It’s one of the things I like about him: even though he has ups and downs like the rest of us mere mortals, he doesn’t stoop to lashing out when he’s angered. But Joshua Williamson has been putting this to the test during his Superman run, as the Man of Steel was infected with a strain of red Kryptonite that flares up whenever he gets angry. Superman #26, which begins the “Superman Red” storyline, pushes this percolating plot point into overdrive.
To be fair, there’s a lot of things that have angered Superman recently. He’s learned that despite trying to use Supercorp for good, Mercy Graves has been keeping secrets from him. Lois Lane survived a near fatal blow, but her days as Superwoman are seemingly over. And Lex Luthor, given a second chance, ended up taking a life. Williamson has done a great job of showcasing how Clark Kent has been pushed to a breaking point, and he doesn’t hold back from how scary things are.
This storyline is muted somewhat by an abundance of “interludes”, which mainly set up plot points for future issues. This includes Lena Luthor heading to Midvale, setting up her appearance in the new Supergirl series; the evil Legion of Super-Heroes tormenting Time-Trapper/Doomsday, which is setting up for their fateful confrontation with Superman in a future issue; and General Zod coming face to face with Supercorp’s weapons. This isn’t new; a previous issue of Superman did touch upon this, but those interludes feel like they fit the story rather than announcing “here’s what next.”
DC
The artwork in Superman #26 also takes a similar approach, as Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreria are joined by Sean Izaakse. Again, I love Izaakse’s work, particularly when he was working with Dan Slott on Fantastic Four. But while his work helps seperate the interludes from the main story, it grows rather jarring when he takes over the last few pages. To Iaakse’s credit, he does draw some amazing imagery. Zod’s ship detonating is a blockbuster-worthy image, while the Darkseid-influenced Legion is utterly horrifying.
It’s Barrows and Ferreria who get the best moments, though. Their opening pages feature a Red Kryptonite-infected Superman looming over Lex Luthor, and it’s an unsettling sight: the Man of Steel is glowing with red energy that pulsates in spear-like formations from his chest, while his eyes blaze an unholy crimson. To further underline how ominous this all is, Alejandro Sanchez lights the page up in the same red color – save for Ariana Maher’s letters, which are a blood red. It makes the shift to warmer tones even more jarring, but it shows how things are getting worse for Superman.
Superman #26 kicks off a new story arc, pushing the Man of Steel to his emotional limits while also setting the stage for the next part of Williamson’s run. It also reinforces the fact that an angry Superman is a Superman you don’t want to cross.
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