Absolute Superman #15 – Jason Aaron, Writer; Juan Ferreyra, Artist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: In many ways, this book has featured the character who’s the most distant from the one we know (except Martian Manhunter, who is a brilliant fever dream of a character). This Superman was raised on Krypton, only briefly knew the Kents, and has a cynical worldview that feels antithetical to Superman even as he does many of the same heroics. But somehow, in this issue, which takes place right after the Battle of Smallville, Jason Aaron manages to deliver one of the most quintessentially Superman stories I’ve seen since Morrison and Quitely. This is a mostly stand-alone story that picks up with Superman – now renamed Clark Kent, to honor the deceased couple who briefly sheltered him – tries to do good with Smallville as his home base and finally understand what it truly means to be human. And he does – in ways small and big, in scenes that are equally touching and incredibly powerful.
Some of the highlights involve him dealing out some very meaningful justice on Winslow Schott, here a corporate toymaker who liberally employs sweatshops; as well as making a difference in the life of one dying little girl halfway around the world. He also pulls off one of the coolest uses of his powers I’ve ever seen, in something that wouldn’t be out of place in the Silver Age. But it takes a toll on him too – he’s invincible, but his mind isn’t, and this issue does one of the best jobs I’ve ever seen of depicting the agony that bearing all these secrets and all of humanity’s pain would be. There are some great bits involving the humans who have come into his life, but it’s the villains who really steal this issue. Ra’s Al Ghul, now locked up in a Pakistani prison, is given a chance at some form of redemption by Superman, but his clock is running out. And then there’s Brainiac, who is one of the scariest figures in this universe, and seems likely to only get more so as we enter the next arc.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
