Superman: Father of Tomorrow #3 showcases a war on three fronts. On one side is Jor-El, who’s continuing to protect the world as Superman but feeling frustrated that others are trying to weaponize the technology he brought to Earth. The other side belongs to General Sam Lane, who’s hell-bent on removing Superman’s influence from the world. And finally, there’s Lex Luthor. Having been shunned by Jor-El for weaponizing his tech, Luthor’s cast aside science in favor of magic…and is proving to be a frighteningly quick study.
It’s that last part that reminds you that Superman: Father of Tomorrow is an Elseworlds story, but it’s also an example of how Kenny Porter is taking wild swings with the Superman mythos. Luthor’s been a brilliant scientist in most Superman incarnations, so to see him take a hard shift into magic is unexpected. Yet at the same time it makes sense: if Luthor wants to beat Superman, why not try magic, the one thing that he has no defense for? The shifts don’t end there, as General Lane has taken on the mantle of an iconic DC hero and now commands a certain DC team. Once you see them in action, you’ll understand why Porter made the choices he did – and how Jor-El is in for the fight of his life.
But Superman: Father of Tomorrow #3 isn’t just about physical threats. It’s also about Jor-El wrestling with the impact his technology has had on Earth, as certain people will never see him as more than a threat. More than that, he has to come to terms with the idea that he’s helping advance Earth less out of a benevolent need to help others and more to prevent the same fate as Krypton. A pair of interactions with Lois Lane and Martha Kent, respectively, help him come to this realization. Once again, Porter has kept a core concept of Superman alive while putting his own spin on it.
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Danny Earls also deserves love for the work he’s putting into Superman: Father of Tomorrow #3, especially with how he’s reinvented certain DC characters. Luthor’s travels take him to the ends of the Earth, and across a wide variety of DC’s magical figures, from Doctor Fate to the Swamp Thing. As for General Lane’s team of “Superman Killers,” Earls is continuing the trend of drawing from a certain corner of DC history. Other fight scenes are peppered throughout the issue, including Superman’s battle against a reimagined Intergang and a new foe that almost levels half of Krypton. In each of these fights, we see Jor-El’s power on full display: bullets bouncing off his chest, the air rippling as he takes flight, and his eyes glowing with heat vision. The color art by Nick Filardi enhances these scenes, with plenty of attention given to the gleaming silver towers of Metropolis.
Yet there’s one scene toward the end that hits the hardest, and not a single punch is thrown. Rather, it shows that Jor-El’s struggle to change the world will face more resistance…and have a bigger cost than he can imagine. The fact that Earls lets the imagery do more of the talking really hammers things home. Superman: Father of Tomorrow #3 isn’t afraid to ask some hard questions as it crafts new foes and a new challenge for Jor-El.
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