Review: Superman Vol. 5- Hopes and Fears
Quick Summary
Pros: The opening arc is a wholesome and inspiring look at the Kent family and at America. The second arc is an exciting conflict centered around an interesting look at Superman’s thoughts on fear. The final arc has some solid moments of action. The artwork is consistently positive and helps capture the tone of each story.
Cons: The final arc is just alright.
Overall: This volume collects a range of stories that all manage to be positive in some way. They detail fun times with a family, exciting battles with unique morals, and engaging confrontations between powerful characters. Though not all of these stories are great, the collection still works out well overall. This volume will likely appeal to fans of the series and fans looking for a few unique moments from Superman.
Story
After several volumes of “great” storytelling, Superman Vol. 5: Hopes and Fears may be the first one that is just “good”. The stories collected here each stand almost entirely on their own and each work in their own way. The opening arc is a wholesome look at America and the Kent family, the next arc is a thrilling battle between Superman and the forces of fear, and the final arc is an exciting confrontation between Superman and Deathstroke. However, the quality of each story decreases as the book progresses, with the first being great, the second being good, and the last being just alright. These differing levels of quality cause the collection to even out somewhere in the middle, leaving it as the first “good” collection in a series of “great” ones.
(spoilers start here)
The opening chapters in Hopes and Fears, written by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, take the Kent family on a fun, family road trip. They explore aspects of America’s history and celebrate many of its underappreciated heroes, which suits the theme of this arc. Meanwhile, they grow a bit closer as a family, taking a bit of time for themselves in order to learn and simply enjoy each others’ company. What is particularly noteworthy about this arc is that it does not involve much conflict at all and barely has Superman using his powers. While this might not work normally, here, it provides a great interlude between more action-focused storylines.
The next arc in Hopes and Fears, written by Keith Champagne, has Superman take on Sinestro and the literal embodiment of fear. The story arc’s opening is tense and frightening, as the lives of multiple children are at stake. Then, this tension explodes into drama, as Superman faces off against Sinestro. It is an engaging storyline that centers around a solid message about overcoming fear.
Finally, Hopes and Fears concludes with a story arc, written by James Bonny, that has Superman take on Deathstroke. This arc is exciting at points and provides a decent reaffirmation of Superman’s rule against killing. However, as a whole, the arc is a bit unimpressive. The rule against killing was a major feature of the last arc, so it feels repetitive to explore it again here, and the face-off between Superman and Deathstroke never actually feels like it is going to amount to anything significant. The arc is still aright but is easily the weakest in this collection.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The quality of the artwork in Hopes and Fears remains consistently positive throughout the collection, with each art style matching the type of story being told. The first chapters tell a wholesome story about a family in America and are told with Scott Godlewski’s artwork. These chapters are bright, clean, and take time for a few inspiring glamour shots, which highlight the upbeat nature of the storytelling. The next few chapters tell a frightening story about a sinister villain and are brought to life by Doug Mahnke’s artwork. These chapters look more realistic and less stylized, emphasizing the fear and the reality of the fear. Finally, the last few chapters tell an action-focused story about Superman taking on a hired gun and have artwork from Tyler Kirkham. These chapters are bold and dynamic, with an emphasis on explosive energy from both characters and weapons. In this way, each chapter is able to capture the spirit of the storytelling and further solidify the differing tones present in this book.
Continuity
Superman Vol. 5: Hopes and Fears continues the story from Superman Vol. 4: Black Dawn (Review).
The story here continues in Superman Vol. 6: Imperious Lex (Review).
This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:
- Sinestro (Reading Order) gained possession of Parallax in Green Lantern Vol. 5 #20, collected in Green Lantern Vol. 3: The End (Review).
- Sinestro recently faced off against Hal Jordan (Reading Order) across Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 1: Sinestro’s Law (Review).
- Superman recently faced off against Deathstroke (Reading Order) in Deathstroke Vol. 4 #7-8, collected in Deathstroke Vol. 2: The Gospel of Slade (Review).