ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #599
"Borba Za Zhivuchest"
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Derec Aucoin
Colors: Rob Ro & Alex Bleyaert
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
The standalone issues of Adventures of Superman -- hell, those of the Superman line of titles as a whole -- always stand out as the some of the strongest, and this one is no exception. Joe Casey offers up a character study in this issue, and it makes for captivating, believable reading, and one barely notices that one of the players is more powerful than a locomotive.
After rescuing the crew of a sunken Russian submarine, Superman pays a visit to her captain several weeks later. Despite his many years at sea, the captain, now retired, remains a farmer at heart, and it's on his quiet homestead that he meets the superhuman who saved his life and those of his crewmen. The pair learns how much they share in common.
Derec Aucoin blew me away with his crisp artwork on Meridian last month, and he does so again here. Maybe it's just a matter of paper quality, but it seems as though he's adapted his style for the tone of this story. He employs thicker linework, and somehow, it gives the characters a more grounded, human feel. Ro and Bleyaert's colors are appropriately dark and muted as well.
Casey opens the issue with the sinking of a Russian sub -- an obvious reference to a real-world event that ended differently. It immediately grants the story a much more plausible feel. Adding to the genuine atmosphere of the story is Casey's incorporation of the Russian language into his script.
I love it when writers look at Superman not as a super-hero, but a farm boy who's all grown up. Here we have the Man of Steel and the captain of a Russian nuclear submarine... both are larger-than-life characters, but the common bond they share -- farming -- brings them down to earth and turns them into people we can imagine knowing. The sense of peace the captain feels in this story is infectious, and it casts death and human dignity into a new light.
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