Adventures of Superman: Book of El #5 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Writer; Scott Godlewski, Artist; Alex Guimaraes, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: As Phillip Kennedy Johnson prepares to mic-drop on his time at DC, he’s saved some of the best stories for last – as the scope of this epic Superman saga is up there with his work on Warworld. Cast into the far future in search of his lost children, Superman is being reunited with his descendants, each of which has followed a different path to heroism. That includes the twins Rowan and Ronan, with the latter becoming a Superman-like hero – and the former becoming the guardian of Lanternholm, a city of living light creations. But now the world she’s built is under attack, as Kryl-Ux has possessed the last Sun-Eater left alive and is marching on the city. Johnson has always had a great handle on the scope and scale of deep space, but as his work for the competition shows, he’s also excellent at dealing with eldritch abominations – and this horror from deep space definitely has elements of that.
One of the interesting elements of this series has been the way Superman’s legacy manifests in different forms across the planets. He’s actually considered a legend in much of the universe, with so much time having passed that most people don’t believe he ever existed. But when he shows up, it inspires countless other people to follow in his example. One of which is Rowan, who started out the series as a more antagonistic character and instead becomes one of the most heroic figures here by the end – risking everything to allow a life form Kryl-Ux doesn’t even recognize as worthwhile to survive. And that allows her to access a power that’s been lost for centuries, restarting one of the DCU’s boldest legacies. Of course, certain characters are still missing – and we finally get our first answers about them at the end of this issue, as we approach the halfway point of a truly excellent series.
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