Superman: Son of Kal-El #18 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Cian Tormey, Ruairi Coleman, Artists; Scott Hanna, Inker; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: This is the final issue of Taylor’s current series, although it will be relaunching as a miniseries that allows Jon to keep having his own solo adventures—which is a shame, because this character deserves to keep an ongoing after all the work Taylor has done with him. The last few issues have been part of the ongoing Kal-El Returns storyline, and have done amazing work in fleshing out the relationship between Jon and his father. Last issue’s coming-out story was excellent, and this issue turns the focus on another major crisis—bigotry, which not even Kryptonians are protected from. It starts in an optimistic way, with the Justice League joining forces to rebuild the Kent homestead. Even Batman gets in on the charity work, in a way only he can. But last issue saw Jon nearly killed by a villain who seemed to be able to neutralize his powers, and that character returns this issue—striking back against those closest to the Kents.
We know that Jon is getting new powers soon, and that Clark and Jon are finding a way to put their secret identities back in the box. Both of those developments may spin out of this issue, as the new villain Red Sin strikes again at both Clark and Jon. We finally find out his origin, as it turns out he has ties to Lexcorp and lost his parents in a tragic way that made him prone to radicalization and anti-alien rhetoric. While he’s a young man who has never made an impact on the villain scene before, he’s armed with technology that lets him punch well above his weight class—and that makes the scenes with him rather terrifying. The resolution to the story shows that Jon doesn’t give up on people easily, but it also sadly drives home that people can only be saved if they actually want to be. Taylor has built a fantastic foundation here for future stories for Jon Kent and his supporting cast, and I hope he gets to keep telling them.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
