Superman: Lost #2 – Priest, Writer; Carlo Pagulayan, Penciller; Jason Paz, Inker; Jeromy Cox, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Priest’s comics are always fascinating and filled with geopolitical context, but I don’t think he’s ever done a cosmic story like this before. It starts with a fascinating concept—what if Superman was lost in space for ten years while only hours passed on Earth, putting his very human mind through things that no human body could possibly survive. Last issue focused heavily on how the chaos started, with Superman being sucked into a cosmic singularity while trying to remove an alien threat to Earth—and returning a confused, traumatized wreck who Lois is trying to piece back together. Batman’s role in all this has caused no small amount of controversy, as Lois seems to blame him. Of course, what actually happened to Superman is unknown to both of them—and we only learn it slowly, through pieces revealed to us in flashback segments through the issue.
Much like Mark Russell, Priest is very good at using surreal situations to tell very human stories, and he’s been doing it a lot longer. As Clark desperately tries to get home, he encounters one alien civilization after another. First he encounters a gross little group of money-obsessed travelers who try to extort him for a ride home and immediately kick him out when he doesn’t have it. From there, he finds himself on a world that seems to be a desolate, polluted wasteland filled with visor-wearing people who seem resigned to living in the apocalypse—only to discover that it’s a very different world across the planet. The message here might be a bit on the nose, but it’s one that’s extremely needed right now. Clark’s journey is just beginning, but it seems clear it’s not about sensory deprivation. It’s about encountering a whole network of worlds, while searching for the only one he wants. And it’s excellent.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
