Superman: Lost #10 – Priest, Writer; Carlo Pagulayan, Jose Luis, Pencullers; Jason Paz, Joe Prado, Julio Ferreira, Jonas Trindade, Inkers; Jeromy Cox, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Priest’s ambitious runs have always been among the best hidden gems at DC, but this Superman-centric story spanning time and space may have been the most intense and psychologically driven so far. It took Superman ten years out of time, sending him on a quest through space, and deposited him back where he left—with only a day having passed for everything else. He was left with a horrible, traumatic legacy and a mission he could never get back to. And that wasn’t the only thing he left behind, it seemed—as last issue ended with the unstable Green Lantern Hope, who had an obsession with Superman, returning to Earth pregnant. Obviously, this unnerves Lois, but there’s no time to dig into it because crises are brewing both on Earth and in deep space, and Superman will never let innocents get hurt—no matter what it might cost him.
It’s amazing just how much Priest weaves into every issue of this. Even amid the cosmic-scale story he’s built in this book, the first-issue subplot involving a Senator’s affair still plays a key role, and the confrontation with Lex Luthor is one of the best-written scenes in the issue. Hope’s legacy as a morally complicated, tragic character comes to a satisfying conclusion with a reveal in this issue, but Superman’s story is actually a lot more complex than I expected. He plays a key role in resolving not one but two major conflicts this issue, but when it comes to the second one, he has to make an impossible choice—and that leads to a mind-bending segment with a reveal that I had to read over again to make sure I was understanding everything. This is the kind of Superman story that we probably wouldn’t get in the main continuity, which makes the fact that Priest pulled off this spectacular story all the more impressive.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
