Superman #40 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Dan Mora, Artist; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: “Prime Time” has been one of the most wildly entertaining stories to come out of DC in a long time, with the redemption arc of Superboy Prime alternating between hilarious and heartbreaking. This final issue pits him against the other meta villain of Superman – Manchester Black, who was seemingly killed by Lex Luthor a few years back. However, Prime’s bizarre control over the fourth wall and continuity have somehow allowed the British psychic rogue to return as a mental parasite – and he’s taking full advantage of his new lease on sort-of-life to turn Prime back to the dark side. One fourth wall breaker is a lot, but two takes this comic into the realm of self-referential to an absurd degree – and I love every page of it. Through all of Prime’s bizarre tactics, there’s a very interesting question at the root of it – if Prime is truly seeking a fresh start, why is he doing it in the world of comics and not in his own world?
Soon, the battle spills out into the real world, targeting the comic book store where Prime has been working under his secret identity of “C.K.”. Manchester Black does his best to prey on Prime’s deepest insecurities, but Prime has come so far that he’s not vulnerable to them anymore. What he is still vulnerable to, though, is bad decisions – and his way of ultimately neutralizing Black might make him an even bigger threat down the line. That forces him to make some hard choices about what comes next, as the final pages address the viewer directly about what redemption really means. This has been a phenomenal story setting up Prime’s future, but special credit once again goes to Dan Mora, who plays with the nature of the comic book format in some incredibly unique ways. The original Superman is back next month for the kickoff of the big “Kingdom of Zod” event, but I hope Williamson gets to keep writing Prime for a long time.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
