Tie-ins, by their very nature, are a double-edged sword. They can interrupt the flow of a story or play a huge part in shaping it. They can be the best part of an event storyline, or the absolute worst. Superman #32 lies somewhere in the middle, as it deals with the fallout from DC K.O. #1 and picks up the reveal that Lois Lane regained her Superwoman powers. The real star of the issue turns out to be Lex Luthor, who takes great pride in explaining to Superman how he managed to enter the King Omega tournament.
That’s right. This is a comic where the villain takes the time to explain his master plan to the hero. It’s be funny if it wasn’t so on the nose, or taking away from the infinitely more interesting storyline where Lois and Superboy-Prime take on Darkseid’s corrupted Legion of Super-Heroes. Even then, the dialogue there veers between clever meta-commentary on tournament arcs and Superboy-Prime sounding like a dollar store Deadpool. A joke about “power scalers” made me groan out loud.
Superman #32 is also a reminder that Joshua Williamson can and has written stronger work in the past – including on Superman. It might be that his attention is divided; in addition to Superman, Williamson is also writing another DC K.O. title in Knightfight, G.I. Joe for Skybound, an upcoming Superman vs. Captain Atom one-shot (which this issue sets up), and Iron Man for Marvel next year. That’s a lot, even for a writer of Williamson’s caliber, and it feels like he’s treading water with this issue until he can get to the good stuff. The only issue is, there’s plenty of good stuff to explore – like how Lois loves being on the same level as her husband, or the terror the corrupt Legion poses.
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However I feel about the story in Superman #32, I can’t deny that the artwork by Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreria is top-notch. From the opening pages, which recaps Lois’ brief stint as Superwoman, to a two page spread of her socking the Darkseid-powered Sun Boy in the face, Barrows goes for the big moments as often as he can. That extends to Lex himself; in his flashbacks, he gifts the members of the Legion of Doom with Warsuits like his own and stares down the Joker without flinching. Alejandro Sanchez’s color work adds the appropriate apocalyptic touches, shrouding most panels in a fiery red haze or the cold blue hues of a graveyard of gods.
Superman #32 ends with the promise of “All Fight Month”, which will see the next round of DC K.O. combatants take each other on in different titles and one-shots. Not only is Superman slated to face off against Captain Atom, but Luthor is also prepared to fight Etrigan the Demon, which should be an interesting match-up. There’s also one more surprise that turns out to be a deep cut in Superman lore, and I hope that Williamson follows up on it.
Superman #32 is somewhat of a rough ride, as it’s more setup than actual story. But the payoff could be worth it, as the stage is set for not one but two major matchups in DC K.O.‘s second half.
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