Sunday, September 16, 2018

Tales from the $2.99 Bin! - Superwoman #1


Next up for the month is technically the first love on Clark Kent’s life: Lana Lang. She was first introduced in Superboy #10 (1950). She was pretty much a Lois Lane copy right down the attitude of liking Superboy over young Clark Kent. She even had adventures with Superboy. In the Bronze Age, she came to Metropolis, became an anchorwoman, and even started a relationship with Clark. Things did change in the post-Crisis, though. She and Clark dated in their youth but he only cared for her like a sister. This led her to ultimately marry Pete Ross, Clark’s friend. She was also pretty much a normal lady.

Post-Infinite Crisis, the writers tried to fold her back into book by having her be CEO over Lexcorp. Then, the New 52 happened and she basically became an adventurer. She and Clark still had their past. She even became a superhero in the Rebirth era. The lady’s been everywhere in the media. I think my favorite version is from Superman: The Animated Series. I don’t know where Kristen Kreuk would be on that list, though. Maybe if she wasn’t so… “meh” in Smallville’s later seasons, me, my sister, Liz (she likes Smallville too), and plenty of Chloe/Clark shippers would like her more.

I did think about looking at Action Comics #597 since the cover is pretty funny, but I think I’m going to hit something more modern. Remember when I said that Lana was a superhero? Well, there’s a story behind that. At the official end of the New 52, that version of Superman died and somehow transferred his powers to New-52 Lois and Lana. They then got pulled into their own series called Superwoman. The first issue was written and penciled by Phil Jimenez. Matt Santorelli inked the issue. So, what happens when two of Superman’s loves get powers? Some unexpected stuff.

Superwoman #1
Writer and Pencils: Phil Jimenez
Inks: Matt Santorelli
Colors: Jeremy Cox
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editors: Eddie Berganza and Paul Kaminski

“Who Is Superwoman?”
This  switches back and forth from Kent Farm to Metropolis, so I’ll just make it simple.

Kent Farm, a few weeks ago:
Our story begins with Lana on Kent Farm with Lois. Since Clark is dead, it’s being sold off. Ever since his death, Lois has been imbued with Clark’s abilities. When he died, his energy shot off into her and Lana. She’s come to Lana for help since apparently helped Clark out when he was struggling with his abilities. She gives Lois advice while chiding her for revealing Clark’s identity to the public… I may have to look at that whole “Truth” arc one day. Lois then lets on that Lana may be able to do the same things she can do because they were both hit with Clark’s energy.

Later, the two talk inside about this whole ordeal. While Lana tells Lois about her family, she gets a headache. It turns out that Clark dying and her new powers are putting her through a little anxiety. Lana’s worried about what these new powers could do, but Lois reassures her that she could do some good. Things end good on the farm with the two talking about headlines and what they’ll do when they get back to Metropolis.

Metropolis Present Day:
Lois has been making a name for herself as the new Superwoman. She’s been saving lives and stopping crime. In order to conceal her identity she vibrates her face to distort her features. As for Lana, she is a new reporter for the Daily Star. She gets ready to interview Lex Luthor as he shows off a new battle cruiser called “The Gestalt”. At this time, he became Superman when Clark died. He even has his old cape. While they do their interview, Lois (as Superwoman) watches them.
Nice suits and nice banter.

Suddenly, a unknown person takes control of the battle cruiser and starts to wreak havoc. Luthor tries to intervene, but his new suit won’t work. This causes both Superwomen (Lana also gets into costume) to come in and try to save everyone. After they stop the cruiser from hitting a bridge, they quickly converse with Lex. Since the thing that stared this ruckus is still in the cruiser, the women go in and see if any other crew members are alive. What they find is dead crew members and a woman similar to Bizarro. The woman attacks Lois and takes her down. Then… the issue ends as Lois dies in the same way Clark did.

…………………………………………………….

So, talk about being thrown for a loop at the end! I actually remember hearing about this twist before I read it. Lana ended up being the Superwoman we followed instead of Lois and I think some Lois fans were peeved with that. The fact that the issue was all in Lana’s point of view was a small sign. I can’t blame them, but I can say that this issue was still good. It spun off from “The Final Days of Superman” storyline and picked up with the two loves of Clark. Jimenez was able to pack in a lot with this first issue and it read well. I thought Jimenez helped us get Lana and her predicament. While she has a sad end, I liked how he characterized Lois as well.

The artwork was pretty good. Jimenez is considered to be a modern version of George Perez and it’s easy to see that. Even if that’s the case, He does good work here. I liked the designs for both Lois’s and Lana’s costumes. I liked how Lana’s costume is essentially a modernized version of Superman’s Electric suit from the 90’s. The action was quite nice but I think the highlights came from Lois’s and Lana’s talk on the farm.

I really don’t have too many qualms here. The writing’s good but it can meander in a couple of places. To be fair, it’s the first issue. Also, while the artwork is good, I don’t think Jimenez got a good handle on Lex’s Super suit. It looks weird here. Other than those things, this was a good first issue. Because of this, I picked up Superwoman for a while. I stopped after #4 primarily because of funds but I might finish this one off since it did unfortunately get cancelled in the mid-teens.

In the end, this was a nice way to have Lana do something for a while. She is a good character even though she hasn’t been used the best at times. I’m not just talking about  talking about Smallville here either. Some writers were weird with her at times. While Lana does serve as a pre-Lois Lane, she does have her own thing going on and that’s cool. Well, that’s another love down. I do have one more love interest to look at (maybe two) and then I’ll move on to other characters. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t work for Lex Luthor even when he’s actually a good guy.

NEXT TIME: CLARK FELL IN LOVE WITH A MERMAID???

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