SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #122
"Superman V Steel"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Mark Schultz
Pencils: Darryl Banks
Inks: Kevin Conrad
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Letters: Ken Lopez
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
Schultz peppers this script with some great ideas. Conflict among heroes, a secret compromised... they make for some entertaining reading. It seems like half of this issue boasts strong characterization and subplots, while the other half, little more than cliched super-hero fisticuffs and dialogue. As is usually the case, the book is full of potential, but it's not fully realized.
Superman is concerned that the Entropy Aegis armor in Steel's possession is too dangerous and must be contained, and the difference in opinion is driving a wedge between the two heroes. While the Man of Steel is off visiting his globe-trotting wife, Earthquake returns to Metropolis, empowered after such close contact with the Earth's core. He wants the Aegis armor for himself, and Steel must fight off the immensely powerful villain.
Longtime Green Lantern artist Darryl Banks ventures into Metropolis in this issue. His softer style would be well suited to the more down-to-earth subplots of the Superman books, but Conrad's inks bring an uncharacteristically dark tone to his pencils. It works for some sequences, but in others -- notably the quieter ones -- not nearly as well. The tech of Steelworlds looks good, though, and the darker colors reinforce the more sombre mood of the story.
The main point of this issue seems to be to bring Steel out from Superman's shadow, and given the great potential in the character (thanks in no small part to comics writer Priest's take on John Henry Irons in the long-since-cancelled Steel series), I'm pleased to see it. He stands his ground in the face of a hero just about everyone in the DC Universe worships, and he does so because the object of their disagreement -- a piece of technology -- lies within his field of expertise. It's too bad, though, that it seems he's proven wrong by the end of the issue. It detracts from his willful confrontation with the hero who inspired him.
Schultz addresses the odd nature of the relationship between the title character and Lois Lane here, and has planted the seed for a great subplot. I was also impressed with the strength of personality we near in the narration, presented in the voice of Natasha Irons, Steel's niece. The rather stereotypical confrontation between Steel and Earthquake (and later on, Steel and Superman) wasn't all that interesting, though, especially given the fact that Earthquake is not a well developed character.
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