Superman #38 – Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Writers; Sergio Davila, Penciller; Vicente Cifuentes, Inker; Gabe Eltaeb, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 6/10
Corrina: Disjointed As the Rest
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: The final issue of this crossover (although it ends on a cliffhanger, with many unanswered questions, and there’s an epilogue in Super-Sons in two weeks) is probably the best issue of the whole event. But it’s also ridiculously overstuffed, with countless characters all changing alliances from minute to minute. Damian and Jon are on the run, heading back to their secret base while the Teen Titans have split down the middle – Aqualad, Starfire, and Kid Flash want to protect the kids, while Raven and Beast Boy have seemingly been convinced by Future Tim to help him at least capture Superboy. Their decision is probably the oddest part of the issue, and not really explained very well. As usual, Damian doesn’t respond to…well, anything well, so when they arrive at the base, his first reaction is to attack them without checking if they’re allies.
Then there’s the Titans of Tomorrow. They’re making their way to the present to chase down Tim before he breaks the timeline even more, and their return to the main DCU indicates to me that things may have changed for the better for most of them. Despite their ruthlessness in their own arc, they seem almost heroic here? Bart doesn’t get much characterization, but Cassie’s main concern seems to be protecting the innocent, and Conner, in particular, sees both Clark and Jon as his family. When Jon’s powers spiral out of control while trying to rescue his father, and he threatens to go full Solar Flare without the control, it’s pretty great to see three generations of Supers work together. Tim’s sacrifice, though, is out of nowhere, not fully explained, and seems to leave him in limbo. And the future Titans seem stranded in the present at the moment, which is…interesting. There are some clever things in this part, but overall, this storyline just didn’t work as a whole.
Corrina: There is a great deal of fighting and yelling among heroes this issue (and during the entire crossover) and no one seems to be applying any logic to their decisions, such as the fact that people from alternate history or the future can be evil: see the whole Metal crossover.
As such, it makes even less sense for Raven and Beast Boy to help Evil!Tim. Then there’s fighting and yelling, and the Titans of Tomorrow seem thrown into the middle of this story and their thinking is as muddled as anyone else. I don’t know the reasons for this crossover but I’m guessing something happened after it was conceived to interfere with its execution, which might account for its problems.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
