Friday, September 29, 2017

Tales From the $2.99 Bin! - Superman #1-6: "Son of Superman"

Next up for the month is a character who’s been an ally and villain to Superman: The Eradicator. The Eradicator has a long history and has been revamped a few times in the comics, so I’m going to keep it simple. It started out as a Kryptonian device and it was created to preserve Krypton’s culture by any means. When Superman found it, it tried to brainwash him. Later, it created its own body and tried to make Earth into Krypton. It wasn’t until “Reign of the Supermen” where it started to become a hero. Since then, it’s been back and forth between ally and villain.

The version I’m talking about today, though, is the New 52/Rebirth version. In this era, the Eradicator was an android created by General Zod to capture law breakers and capture their life force. It first showed up in Supergirl and how it’s in the first arc of the new Superman series. To make the story short, the New 52 Superman died, so this Superman (a Pre-Flashpoint version from another Earth) took his place. It’d be tough to explain it especially since most of what I said is now irrelevant after “Superman Reborn.” All you gotta know for now is that this Superman is married to another Lois Lane and they have a son named Jonathan. They’re also going by “Smith” instead of “Kent.” Confused yet?

The first six issues of Superman had its story handled by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. These two aren’t strangers to superheroes with kids since they worked on Batman and Robin a few years back. Patrick Gleason also provided pencils for most of the issues. The other pencils were handled by Jorge Jimenez and Doug Mahnke.

Superman #1-6
Story: Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Pencils: Patrick Gleason (1, 2, 4, 6), Jorge Jimenez (3), and Doug Mahnke (5)
Inks: Mick Gray (1, 2, 4, 6), Jorge Jimenez (3), and Jamie Mendoza (5)
Colors: John Kalisz (1,2,4,6), Alejandro Sanchez (3), and Wil Quintana (5)
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editors: Eddie Berganza and Andrew Marino


SYNOPSIS
We start the series off the Kents/Smiths living life in Hamilton County, just north of Metropolis. Clark is back to a red and blue suit. Jonathan now knows the truth and is even starting to exhibit powers of his own. Problems do occur when Jon accidentally heat visions the family cat, Goldie. During dinner, Jon doesn’t tell his parents about it and he even gets a little testy too. He gets sent to his room where he later sees his dad, Batman, and Wonder Woman meeting outside. A minute later, Superman comes up to get Jon for something.
I don't know why, but I hear some "90's Sitcom Music" in the distance.

That something is a submarine in the Arctic that needs help. It turns out that a powerful cyber-octopus attacked it. The octopus then attacks the Supers. Superman gets Jon to use his powers (and debut his costume) to defeat the creature. Afterwards, Jon tells Clark about Goldie and the two bond. They and Lois bury the cat later. All seems to go well until Jon passes out in front of his new friend, Kathy. The Kents/Smiths realize the only place that can really inspect Jon is the Fortress of Solitude. When they reach the fortress, they just don’t find Krypto, they also find the Eradicator (who was summoned during the battle) waiting for Superman.
Liking the new look, sir.

Superman knows all about the Eradicator and attacks him. The fight does stop when the Eradicator saves Jon and Lois from debris. Clark then decides to hear the being out. It was summoned to protect the last of Krypton. When it scans Jon, it finds out that he’s half-human. The Eradicator’s “douchebag mode” kicks in and believes Jon to be inferior because of his human heritage. He tries to eradicate him like he has done to others, but Krypto gets in the way and is eradicated. the fight begins anew and Jon is one ticked off boy.

They both fight the Eradicator and bust its shell. This somehow teleports them to Metropolis. It turns out that a small piece of Kryptonite brought them there. The souls in the Eradicator are released and they’re able to interact with Superman. It turns out they are the souls that died when Krypton exploded. Before Superman can learn more, The Eradicator absorbs them back in. Their fight begins once again. In order to protect the city, Superman decides to take Lois and Jon to the Batman’s cave on the moon… You know Batman has to have a Batcave on the Moon!
Sweet.

The family try to catch their bearings before the Eradicator shows up. Superman tries to take him on but he ends up getting absorbed just like Krypto. Jon does what he can and Lois uses Batman’s HellBat armor to take it on. With the spirits’ help, Superman is able to escape the Eradicator’s body and take spirits with him. He even gets Krypto out and this weakens the Eradicator. After all of that, Superman is finally able to take the being down. Krypton's spirits leave as well.

In the aftermath, Superman is congratulated for keeps Metropolis safe. The whole world knows about the battle, so they know that Superman’s back. At home, Clark talks to  Jon about helping him get accustomed to this new superhero life. Clark also brings up the always-awesome secret identity and gives the boy some glasses. Afterwards, he takes Jon to the JL Watchtower and introduces Batman and Wonder Woman to the new Superboy.
Batman: You idiots wrecked my cave! I know Lois looked awesome in my HellBat armor, but still! How's that reporter's salary, Kent?

OPINION
I thought this was a nice story. We get the familiar as well as some new stuff. That’s what the Rebirth phase has been all about and it’s still going strong for me. For those who didn’t read Dan Jurgens’ Superman: Lois and Clark, this reintroduces us to the new Kents… Whites, Smiths, whatever. The story is about family and everybody gets their moments to shine. Of course, Superman’s doing his thing and Lois gets to do more than be an innocent bystander. Jon Kent was also pretty cool. He’s literally a Superboy-in-training. Even the family dog (Krypto) gets to chime in. It does make me wonder where that other Superboy is, though. I hope he hasn’t been forgotten about.
Yeah, it's silly and awesome at the same time.

It was pretty nice to see elements like Batman’s MoonCave and that HellBat armor come into play. It was even nice we got Bibbo thrown in for good measure. While he/it was a bit one-note, The Eradicator was pretty cool here. He was pretty much in the role of the Terminator here. I hope I’m not the only one who saw that. I liked the updated look and the updated origin. Even though he’s a little different from his previous incarnations, its strict obedience to what it thinks Krypton should be is still there. They even connected him to another Superman villain who got to show up this month and that was interesting.

The artwork was pretty good overall. Patrick Gleason isn’t one of my faves, but he does put in good work. Jimenez and Mahnke also looked pretty good with their fill-ins. The family moments look great and the action is pretty good. The designs for Superboy and the Eradicator were also pretty good. Even Superman’s updated suit (not missing the trunks but the red boots are needed) looks good.
"Giant holes are what you make,
Wreckin' on the moon,
I hope your leg won't break,
Wreckin' on the moon"

There really isn’t much wrong with this one. As I said above, the Eradicator can been pretty one-note. Also, it does kind of drag in the middle a bit. It pretty much becomes “Fight Club” after the third issue. That’s not a bad thing, but the fighting can get a little repetitive. Other than that stuff and maybe a couple of nitpicks, this was good. It’s a series that’s still going strong.


The Eradicator isn’t one of my favorite villains but he’s not that bad. In the Post-Crisis, it had a “Make Krypton Great Again” motif that went to the extreme. We still got that with this version. At least we did get to see a more heroic version of the character later in the Post-Crisis era. Well, that’s another one done. Next time will be a look at a pretty obscure character and team from the early 2000’s: The Elite. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and keep those 10 year-olds in line.

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