My biggest pet peeve about the Superman books right now is the interconnected books and the resulting unfriendliness to those who just want to read an occasional Superman story instead of a thoroughly integrated weekly book. "Return to Krypton" would seem to be exactly what I don't want out of the books as a result. However, the mitigating circumstances are my interest in the dual Krypton that has been introduced and the writer, Geoff Johns, who is writing some of my favorite DC super-hero stuff right now. While there are some entertaining moments and an interesting use of this "Phantom Zone" Krypton, I generally felt like someone who was thrown in the deep end and expected to swim, as the recent history of the books and the less recent history of the Krypton story are mostly left unexplained.
Part of the interest that drives the "Return to Krypton" story is the mystery of the nature of this Krypton, but that doesn't mean that the entire story should leave readers scratching their head. While Johns gets the basics of the story across in dialogue, indicating that Krypton exists in the Negative Zone and giving a general idea of Jor-El's status on the world, I imagine that anyone who hasn't been a Superman reader for the last couple of years will be quite confused by this status quo. The fact that this probably isn't a problem says more about the incestuous nature of the Superman line right now than anything else could. Johns doesn't make the current storyline too accessible either, though, as Jor-El and Superman spend all their time on the run from a shadowy, ill-defined enemy, and it's hard to get worked up about whatever's chasing them when we have no sense of their motivations or the consequences of being caught. I'm all for being thrown into the middle of the story, but a little more exposition could have given this some much needed context.
Mind you, I did think that Johns did some nice job on the character interplay between Superman, Jonathan Kent and Jor-El. The awkward but friendly meeting between Superman's two dads was a high point of the issue, and Jor-El's experimentation with his powers under Superman's tutelage was a lot of fun, hearkening back to some of the moments Byrne showed off in Man of Steel. While I can appreciate the goal of getting the story underway, I almost wish that more of this issue had been given over to this interaction between the characters.
Of course, while the writing excels particularly with the character interaction, the artwork is best when handling the action. Ferry's work is in the manga style which I don't much like on the Superman books, but it's still solid art and fairly enjoyable. I was particularly impressed with how they worked with the Hories's colors on the arrival of Jor-El and the resulting sunrise. Ferry also does some beautiful background work on the Fortress of Solitude and a terrific chase sequence toward the end as Jor-El, Superman and Krypto are chased by sinister but mysterious pursuers.
All in all, the "Return to Krypton" story looks like a solid introduction for those who have been reading the Superman books for a while and are thus up on the status quo and the story that lead up to this. Casual fans who are intrigued by the "mini-series within a series" cover dress who come in looking for a self-contained four part story, however, may find this to be an exercise in frustration as question upon question piles up on them, with not much offered up in the way of answers.
