Superman ‘78: The Metal Curtain #5 – Robert Venditti, Writer; Gavin Guidry, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: While the first Superman ‘78 mini pitted Superman against the largest-scale enemy he’d ever faced, this is doing something very different—sending him up against the entire geopolitical order. This issue kicks off by forcing a detente between Superman, Sam Lane, and the biggest wild card in this miniseries—Lex Luthor, whose iconic armor has been coopted by the Soviets to create Metallo. Luthor, of course, professes innocence when accused of being a traitor, and his story matches up—as much as it can with a narcissist like Luthor. This is a very good take on Lex, just offbeat enough to match up with some of the wackier mad-scientist versions, but also very clearly cunning and ruthless—and equally obsessed with Superman. Amid all this, it’s interesting to see the growing, grudging respect between Superman and Sam Lane. I also like how the relationship between Superman and Lois is developing.
But ultimately, Superman decides to take the fight to Metallo—by flying into Soviet airspace. And that’s where this issue really takes off, with Metallo taking that final step from Soviet loyalist to deranged villain, as he becomes increasingly obsessed with striking the final blow against Superman himself. While his more pragmatic commander tries to rein him in, it’s clear that the constant exposure to Kryptonite is making our villain unstable, and by the time Superman lands in Red Square, he’s raring to kill. The scenes of Superman in Russia are particularly compelling, as we see just how much propaganda has turned Superman into an object to be feared, even by children. With only one issue to go, there’s surely a dramatic final showdown to come, but the creative team has done an amazing job of setting the stakes high and making it easy to invest in this version of Superman.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
