Steelworks #2 – Michael Dorn, Writer; Sami Basri, Max Raynor, Vicente Cifuentes, Artists; Andrew Dalhouse, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 8/10
Ray: This book’s first issue set up an interesting dynamic, with it dividing its focus between a political drama where John Henry Irons tries to transform Metropolis and the role of superheroes, with a more conventional superhero adventure. I was won over by how much Michael Dorn called back to the original run by Louise Simonson and Priest, with the main threat being tied to John’s history as an arms manufacturer before his encounter with Superman changed his life. Now, an old rival of his has returned, and transformed a bitter man who lost everything due to John’s decision into an intangible supervillain who makes a play to invade Steelworks. As John and Natasha fend off what seems like an invisible threat, Natasha spots the master villain—but there may be a much bigger challenge coming. After all, Steel now has to make the case to the Supers that he wants to make them obsolete.
This book has a lot of interesting ideas, but I’m not quite sure about its big idea yet. John Henry makes some good points about Metropolis supposedly being too dependent on Supers to protect it, and creating a new infrastructure that makes the city near-immune to destruction would help. But I’m not sure how that fits with the Supers not being needed—after all, Doomsday rampaging around the city is still a major problem, even if he’s not knocking down buildings! It feels like Dorn is dancing around an interesting conversation, but some scenes are a little wordy. I do like the cast he’s building here, including bringing in Jay Nakamura as Steelworks’ new press liaison. The villains are a good combo—one tragic but increasingly deranged, and the other utterly loathsome. This book is a little rough at times, maybe due to having a writer new to comics, but it has some great elements that are keeping me interested.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
