SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #128
"Return to Krypton II, Part 3: Blood and Heresy"
Neutral (4/10)
|
DC Comics
Writer: Mark Schultz
Pencils: Karl Kerschl
Colors: Tanya & Richard Horie
Letters: Ken Lopez
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
Despite my disdain for the resurrection of the Silver Age vision of Krypton, I continue to find elements in each chapter of "Return to Krypton II" that I enjoy. Here, it's the art. Karl Kerschl brings the emergy and imagination of this sci-fi story to life, and in the process, shows off his versatility as an artist. Nevertheless, I don't feel involved enough in this story to be all that interested in where's it's headed, and the lack of suspense doesn't help matters either.
Sapped of his powers under Krypton's red sun, Superman finds himself vulnerable to the cruel power of Xon-Ur, the Raoist cult leader. The Man of (not-so) Steel is rescued, but the credit to due to a surprising source. His savior, Superman and Jor-El plot together to end the war with the sun cult, albeit all of them for different reasons. The key to victory lies within the cult's central temple, where not only Jor-El's stolen cloning technology lies, but a secret from Krypton's ancient past.
I last saw Kerschl's art on Marvel's Iceman limited series. He impressed with his energetic, detailed manga-influenced artwork, and he does so again here. But until I read the credits, I didn't realize I was sampling his art once again. Instead of a manga look, his work strikes me as more like Carlos (Fantastic Four, Avengers Forever) Pacheco's work. He conveys the energy and excitement of the action-oriented script nicely, and his interpretation of Xon-Ur, the cult leader, really brings out the character's dark, obsessed nature.
Once again, the writer makes the assumption that the reader is up to speed on the past storylines that gave rise to this new one. General Zod is referred to as being dead, but I thought he was alive and causing trouble on Earth, for example. Given the iconic nature of the title character, I'm surprised more effort hasn't been made to open the door for new -- and especially younger -- readers. On top of that, using a team of four different writers to tell this one story arc strikes me as a mistake. Elements from one chapter seem to disappear in the next.
Schultz, and those before him, are trying to tell a dark, mature story about a civilization in chaotic flux, but that tone is in conflict with the more innocent elements of the Superman mythos that have been revived in the past year or two. Krypto is horribly out of place, for example. This retro tone keeps the Superman property from maturing. It's as though DC's taken several steps back as opposed to trying to move forward and bring a fresh perspective to this decades-old icon.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
|
