Review: Superman #18

Quick Summary

Pros: The setup for this event pays off greatly. The mystery villain aspect of the new Clark Kent is terrifying and entertaining. The Super-family dynamics are, once again, fantastic here.

Cons: Nothing worth mentioning. Different readers will experience cons differently though.

Overall: DC Comics has been setting up this Superman event since the beginning of Rebirth and now it is finally off to a real beginning. This is a great true start to the meat of this event and all signs point to it being great. If the rest of this event is as good as this single issue is then everyone is going to leave it more than satisfied.

Story

The identity and purpose of the new, creepy Clark Kent has been one of Rebirth’s biggest mysteries and is one of the first ones to be receiving an actual answer. This issue is the first one to really set this event in motion and it does so in a way that indicates fans are in for a wild ride. It ever so slightly lifts the curtain on what this new villain is capable of while simultaneously kicking the action into high gear. This is how comic book events should be started as it is interesting by itself while also getting readers pumped for the next issue.

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First off, the setup for this mystery has been excellently orchestrated and does wonders in making this event feel more satisfying. In a comic book landscape where world changing events are started with little more than a one issue introduction, it is incredibly satisfying to see a comic finally put some care and effort into setting up and crafting a big reveal. This is important because having no setup or introduction to a larger story completely undercuts the gravity and importance of the entire arc; it makes it feel just like any other story. The mystery of the extra Clark Kent has be present since near the beginning of Rebirth and has enough setup to, hopefully, deliver a great resolution within these next few issues.

The mystery surrounding this entire event is not just to get fans excited, it also plays a large part in the structure of the event itself. This issue is doing its best to strike fear of the unknown into the hearts of both Superman and the readers themselves. No one has anything more than wild speculation about who the new Clark Kent is and what his abilities are. He demonstrated, in this issue, the strange ability to somehow erase things from the universe, leaving everyone to speculate what else he may be capable of. This is a great writing tactic as it causes readers to question if the typically all-powerful Superman is even able to defeat this villain, after all he couldn’t even save Jon when he was holding him in his own arms. The architects behind this event have done a fantastic job in presenting a great villain, now all that is left to do is see what his next move is.

This is not just a story about a creepy villain though, it is also another Superman family struggle. Tomasi and Gleason have proven in Batman and Robin that they are more than capable of writing a great story about a superhero father on a quest to save his child. Now, they set out to do it again but this time with a twist. This time Jon is missing and Superman is going against a completely unknown adversary in order to save him. The father/son paradigm has been played upon greatly throughout the current Superman comic and this event serves as the next step for building up that even further. I, personally, am more than confident in what Tomasi and Gleason are able to do here and am wholeheartedly looking forward to seeing what happens next.

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Art

The art here is great once again. To see a more in depth review of it check out the “Art” section in our review of Superman Vol. 1- Son of Superman (Review).

Continuity

This issue continues elements from stories started in Action Comics but also revolves around a lot of the family dynamics established in Superman. The storyline will then continue in the next issue of Action Comics, issue #975.

• The family dynamics between Clark, Lois, and Jon are mostly established in Superman Vol. 1- Son of Superman (Review). They continue in subsequent issues/volumes but are mostly established in this one.
• The story behind the new Clark Kent starts in Action Comics Vol. 1: Path of Doom and continues in the background of the Action Comics series.