Superman #38 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Superboy Prime’s redemption arc takes a strange turn this issue, as he leaves his day job as a comic book shop worker and encounters a beautiful woman running from monsters. It’s Prime Time – except she turns out to be Witchfire, the obscure DC magical antihero who needs him for a spell. She tries to ensorcell him, but it turns out that he’s actually immune to magic unlike Superman. However, he is not immune to pretty lady, so he willingly agrees to go along with her and meet her coven deep in the sewers under Metropolis. He’s soon pulled into an elaborate magical plot, but there’s something odd going on – and the readers will notice it before the character does. The dialogue starts randomly inverting, to the point where it’s easier to read the book upside down (an oddly frequent technique lately that really favors paper comics as opposed to digital reading). It’s not clear if this is magic, but there’s no time to find out – as a demonic invasion is approaching fast.
The return of Blaze and Satanus, two of Superman’s villains from the 90s, is another great callback to that classic era, and Dan Mora (who also drew Neron’s return storyline in Justice League a few months back) gets to draw more amazing demons. Prime’s ongoing flirtation with Witchfire is a lot of fun, as he really doesn’t see red flags when they crop up, but he’s also able to get into some of his regrets from his villain era, which is pretty interesting. This is a fun, lighter story – until the end of the issue, when we find out exactly what’s causing the strange anomalies he’s been experiencing. Let’s just say that Blaze and Satanus aren’t the only demons making a return this issue, and this one is more than willing to muck around in Prime’s head and make him relive the worst moments of his life. With Superman currently off the table, this continues to be the hands-down best book in the line at the moment.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
