Superman: Lost #8 – Priest, Writer; Carlo Pagulayan/Jason Paz, Will Conrad, Artists; Jeromy Cox, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: For the first seven issues, this story was mostly a melancholy tale of Superman trying to get back home after being stranded in space. But somewhere, along the way of those ten lost time-displaced years, he found another home, another family—and another civilization he was desperate to save. So when he returned home finally, he wasn’t just mourning the time he lost and in shock, he was mourning what he lost the second time. And as Lois tries desperately to get her husband back from his stupor, she made a deal with the devil—and the devil answered in spade. Last issue saw Luthor deliberately infect Lois with cancer, essentially trying to force Superman back onto action to save her no matter what it costs. But he didn’t consider one thing—Lois would have to tell Clark. Lois would die before sending her husband into Luthor’s trap—literally—and that sets up a fascinating conflict in this issue.
Without knowing what’s going on with Lois, Clark’s focus remains on finding his way back to the world he left behind—and that brings in a few surprising players. Adam Strange, with his control of Zeta Beams, makes a natural ally and his bright and sunny Kirby-esque demeanor is an interesting contrast to Clark’s depression here. It also firmly places Strange Adventures out of continuity, I suppose, which is probably a good thing despite how excellent that book was! But also entering the picture is Black Adam, whose magic abilities are another interesting wrinkle. This also allows Priest to continue to build on the excellent work he did with the character recently. However, the best scenes here are definitely the brilliantly tense Lex Luthor segments, as the master chess player waits for the other shoe to drop and Superman to find out what he’s done, up until a final scene that speaks volumes in its silence.
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