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Review: Superwoman Vol. 1- Who Killed Superwoman?

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Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline is interesting and full of twists that make you want to read more. Lex Luthor’s role in the book is incredibly emotional. Themes involving anxiety and feminism are introduced and have a lot of potential.

Cons: A change-up around the middle of the book leads to some confusion. The story’s side characters feel more like a distraction than anything else. The book doesn’t lend itself well to new readers.

Overall: The first volume of the Superwoman series gets a lot right but also has its fair share of problems. It succeeds in providing a captivating story staring a compelling cast of characters, and even finds time to pack this story with action and emotion. However, a few small problems hurt it along the way and make the book particularly unappealing for newer readers. Overall, this is a collection for fans who enjoyed Lana Lang’s more recent comic appearances.

Story

Superwoman Vol. 1: Who Killed Superwoman?, by Phil Jimenez, is a decent introduction to a series that has some potential. The lead character is entertaining, the story is filled with action and emotion, and the themes it presents are thought provoking. However, a confusing jump in the story, reliance on previous comic book knowledge, and a focus on less interesting side characters hold the book back from being something more suitable for everyone. Instead, this book comes off as a tale for those who liked Lana Lang’s story from Action Comics or for those who were intrigued by possibilities at the conclusion of The Final Days of Superman (Review). There is potential here though, and, if the second volume improves on some issues, the series itself could appeal to a much larger audience of readers.

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At the very beginning of this collection, readers discover how Lois Lane and Lana Lang received superpowers and see what they decided to do with them. This exposition is cleverly paired with an exciting initial adventure to avoid any chance of boredom. This solid opening chapter then concludes with Lois dying right before Lana’s eyes. It is an exciting and completely unexpected opener that immediately grabs your attention.

From here, half of the story begins to follow Lana’s reaction to Lois’s death and how it affects her heroic actions going forward. This leads to a narrative that splits fun moments of action with heavy moments of self-reflection. Themes involving anxiety and feminism are also introduced but do not become the centerpiece of the book’s drama, leaving room for Jimenez to expand upon them in the following volume. The only place this storyline stumbles is in the transition between Lena Luthor’s takeover of Metropolis, which raises tons of questions but answers very few.

The other half of the story follows Lena Luthor’s confrontation with her brother. These two characters have an immensely tragic backstory that makes it easy for readers to sympathize with both parties. Lena feels as if Lex has been the sole cause of most of her life’s problems, while Lex genuinely loves his sister and is trying to make her life better. Seeing them in conflict here is touching and emotional and is easily one of the highlights of the book.

Despite these many positives, the story is hampered by a number of side characters and storylines. While having a cast of minor characters is not necessarily a negative on its own, leaving them underdeveloped, like they are here, prevents them from adding anything. It is hard to get invested in Traci 13’s actions when readers barely know anything about her. There is a chance that these characters will become more significant in the following volume, but here they simply end up distracting from the main event.

In addition, another of the book’s biggest potential negatives revolves around the amount of knowledge required to fully understand this storyline. Lana’s connection to Superman and Lois’s connection to the new Lois play a large role in the story but are only summarized here. This makes the book hard for casual fans or new readers to jump into. This will certainly not be a problem for everyone but is something to keep in mind when recommending the book to others.

(spoilers end here)

Art

In Who Killed Superwoman, Phil Jimenez provides the majority of the book’s artwork in addition to writing the story. His work here pays off as all of his chapters end up looking great. His work is detailed, expressive, and well structured in a way that makes the book easy to read. In addition, he does well in contrasting the book’s more serious moments with the more lighthearted ones; providing visual differences that set the mood before anything actually happens.

The chapters not done by Jimenez are done by Emanuela Lupacchino, who’s style here does well in matching the rest of the collection. While Lupacchino’s work still has a great level of detail and expression, it does not fit the series quite as well as Jimenez’s chapters do. This may be because of the more lighthearted style seen here, which does not work as well in the book’s more serious moments. Even with this problem though, the book still looks nice and is hardly a disappointment in any regard.

Continuity

Superwoman Vol. 1: Who Killed Superwoman starts a brand new series from DC Comics, so there are no direct predecessors to this book. However, the origin behind the titular heroes’ powers comes from one of the final scenes in Superman: The Final Days of Superman (Review).

This issue also references the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

 

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