Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Clayton Henry, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: While Tom Taylor’s previous Jon Kent series was acclaimed, it had eighteen issues to tell its story. This one will only have six—and yet somehow, its central story is even bigger. Jon has his secret identity back—for the first time as a teenager—and is enjoying it, although Jay has his own identity problems to deal with. But the two of them don’t have much time to enjoy their new status quo, because a multiversal threat is coming for them. A framing segment reveals that Jon’s tormentor UItraman is rampaging through the multiverse, killing one Kal-El after another—and he’s making his way toward this world. The trouble begins with satellites falling out of orbit, and Jon’s powers starting to go haywire—an ongoing problem that started in Lazarus Planet. But before he can start fighting to prevent the disaster, it’s solved for him—by the presence of another Superman, Val-Zod of Earth-2.
It’s easy to forget that Taylor has been writing DC books for the better part of ten years, since he only really took off into a superstar a few years ago, but for this he’s calling back to some of his earliest work. His reinvention of the JSA was seen as an improvement on the original Earth-2 run, particularly in its introduction of Val-Zod and the Red Tornado of this world—secretly a reanimated Lois Lane. The arrival of these two, thanks to their connection to Mister Terrific, makes this a stealth sequel to several books at once. This first issue is a little laid-back at times, due to setting up its plot, but it has some great emotional moments as Jon and Lois realize that the monster who took years from Jon is back—and may be threatening their family again. Of course, we know that the headline threat here is someone else entirely, and this issue did a great job of setting up the journey to Injustice.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
