SUPERMAN #179
"What Can One Icon Do?"
Recommended (7/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Colors: Tanya & Richard Horie
Letters: Richard Starkings
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
Loeb immerses his title character in issues of race this month, and it makes for a thought-provoking read. Those looking for clear-cut answers, though, to such complex matters should look somewhere else. Olivetti offers up some strong art, which comes as no surprise. The only real problems with this issue is that Loeb could have delved even further into the subject material, and the subplots make for some minor inconsistencies.
After a visit to his therapist's Manhattan office, Superman happens upon a crime in progress in Harlem. His actions lead him to an encounter with the area's new resident hero, Muhammad X. X is irritated that Superman would show up in a place where he doesn't belong, and the racial tension gnaws at the Man of Steel long after he's moved on. Superman consults with friends and even his wife about the issue, arriving at no easy answers.
I'm a white male in my mid-30s. I've not known any real discrimination in my life, and I likely never will. Despite any good intentions on my part, I'll just never know what it's like for others who face blatant or subtle oppression on a daily basis. I've had friends tell me, "You just don't know." "You just can't understand." They're right. I can't, no matter how much I want to.
Loeb makes the same point, but he does so in a much different way. "We don't have any super-powered mad scientists, giant robots, or aliens trying to take over this neighborhood," X says about Harlem. "Nobody like that would want to." It's a witty bit of dialogue, but it speaks volumes about the real world from the point of view of someone in a fantasy world. Furthermore, it indicates the sort of low-key hostility and harsh reality that underscores the script.
The subplot involving Lois and her mother on a world tour is entertaining, but it's also been played out inconsistently throughout the Superman titles. Is the point to explore a rift between husband and wife, or are they planting the seeds for a perceived affair? Clark's repeated appearances near Lois are getting to be a bit much; the characters behave as though they want to blow their big secret.
Olivetti's art here reminds me more than a little of the work of a Superman artist who recently moved onto another title: Doug Mahnke. Olivetti's work here, while still boasting his usual angular and solid appeal, is also in keeping with the organic intensity and crisp quality of Mahnke's recent work on Superman: The Man of Steel. The Hories' colors area shade brighter than one might expect from such a serious story, but overall, the art is strong even though the conflict at play isn't really a visual one.
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