Adventures of Superman: Book of El #2 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Writer; Scott Godlewski, Artist; Alex Guimaraes, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Phillip Kennedy Johnson wrote what I think is the most iconic modern Superman story in Warworld, which saw Superman become a gladiator to liberate Mongul’s empire of slaves. It was a brilliant run – and led to a legacy of his in the stars that will apparently last a thousand years. But it seems that adventure might be just the opening act, as this stand-alone series will apparently take Superman into the far future. Last issue saw his idyllic day on the farm interrupted by the arrival of his nemesis from Warword, Kryx-Ul, his children kidnapped, and him apparently blink out of existence – only to wind up in the far future, in the company of his distant descendant, Rowan Kent – a peasant rebel on a world ruled by a seemingly peaceful technocratic regime run by “Your Luthor”. But this is just a friendly mask, and another villain rules the planet – one far more dangerous than any Luthor.
Superman has been missing these thousand years, but his legacy looms large – in a fascinating twist, Smallville has become the seat of this strange new regime, but the Kent Farm has been perfectly preserved in time by Superman’s followers. And inside the Fortress, long abandoned, one man works to keep Superman’s memory alive. The identity of this mysterious archivist is one of the most fascinating twists I’ve seen in a while. There’s so much good stuff in this issue, but one thing I really enjoy is just how creative Johnson is with his take on what Earth becomes long after Superman’s departure. It’s an intergalactic civilization now, one with residents from across the universe – but it still has many of the same problems we have. The scope here is so huge that we’re not seeing the full picture yet, but what we are seeing feels like a note-perfect conclusion to Johnson’s epic run.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
