Superman #37 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Josh Williamson continues to do the impossible, making Superboy Prime not just a legitimate lead character, but one of the most entertaining and human ones out there. He’s settling into a new life as the primary Superman with Kal-El missing, but he’s starting over in a lot of ways. He has a low-rent job at a comic book store, most of the other heroes don’t trust him, and even those who give him a fresh slate are awkward around him. That’s definitely the case for Ma and Pa Kent, who open their house to him for lunch, but are clearly ill at ease – especially with a Justice League team led by Power Girl hovering menacingly overhead. Complicating things even more, Prime is running into trouble at his new job, showing up late frequently due to superhero things. It’s interesting to see how this very human plot rattles him, something Superman never really had to deal with.
At the core of this story is his desire for a new start, one where he’s not judged for his past crimes in a past continuity, and that leads him to Gotham – where he seeks help from Damian Wayne, who was probably just as disliked by fans as Prime when he first appeared. Damian has made a huge recovery from that, of course, but he’s not quite so generous towards Prime at first. As they battle a particularly menacing version of Clayface, with some great visuals by Mora, they do come to some sort of an understanding. This issue is hilarious in places, with Prime having a sense of meta-awareness that is really unique in characters and leads to some amazing one-liners, but there’s a surprisingly personal touch to the whole thing that really makes it work. The ending promises a surprising new villain – one who has an unexpected personal connection to Prime as well.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
