Superman: Son of Kal-El #13 – Tom Taylor/Nicole Maines, Writers; Clayton Henry, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: One of the nicest surprises of the lead-up to DC Pride Month was the company’s decision to bring in Nicole Maines—the actress of Dreamer on the CW’s Supergirl—to steer the character’s direction going forward and introduce the first major trans superhero into the DCU. An OGN is coming, but it all starts here with Maines co-writing an issue of Tom Taylor’s groundbreaking book. Jay Nakamura’s identity has been revealed to the world, he’s forced to go into hiding, and with the safe house sort of off-limits due to Batman’s mistrust, there’s only one place secure enough—the Fortress of Solitude. It’s one of the most secure buildings in the world, and no one should be able to get in without being a Kryptonian—except when they open the door, Dreamer is already there. They’ve never met her before, but she’s been expecting them—and she has what might be a game-changing bit of news.
Dreamer’s power is pre-cognition, and she reveals a truly horrifying future—a sneak-attack by Henry Bendix in Gotham that lures all the heroes out of hiding—just in time to ambush them with a poison gas attack that fuses two of the DCU’s deadliest toxins. It’s another disturbing “Bad future” in the vein of DCeased, but without the relief of it being an alternate universe. It raises the stakes nicely, with Jay and Jon both knowing that there’s a ticking clock on the fight against the Gamorrean madman. It’s a strong issue of the parent title, but it also does a great job of introducing us to this new version of Dreamer. The fact that she’s trans is never really brought up in this issue, which is smart—it wouldn’t fit in, and there will be plenty of time to explore the character’s motivations and backstories down the line. What we do get this time is a strong introduction to her role as a hero—and she’s definitely a character I’m excited to follow anywhere.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
