Superman Unlimited #15 – Dan Slott, Writer; Lucas Meyer, Artist; Giuliano Peratelli, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: There are those decisions in comic book history that never quite get settled with the fanbase, no matter how long it goes. There’s the Hal Jordan-Kyle Rayner civil war, the Spider-Marriage – and in the present day, the aging-up of Jon Kent into Superman from his 10-year-old self. Dan Slott sold this arc as giving us the best of both worlds, with Jon managing to save his younger self from the volcano and giving him a second chance at a normal life, while he takes on a new identity as Tomorrow Man. But what Slott is actually doing is giving us a really well-thought out story that seems aimed at putting these questions to rest and delivering some strong meta-commentary about why aging Jon up was the right decision. And it all centers around the new Superboy, who started acting less and less like a hero with each passing issue. He’s now been revealed as the son of Ultraman and Superwoman from Earth-3 – and he’s not going back without a fight.
With the fake Jon breaking out of the lab and causing chaos rather than being confined, it’s turned Smallville into a warzone. Kryptonite crystals are springing out of the soil across the small town, and pretty much everyone is called into action to stop it – including the best boy, Krypto. I have to say, I keep on getting a little surprised every time I see Lana with superpowers, because it’s such a random plot point that I expected to be retconned out, but there’s an interesting wrinkle with how they work in this issue that has the potential to be a major status quo change. But all the action aside, this issue does an amazing job of being a mission statement for our Jon Kent, as he seeks to help the boy he thought was his double and potentially gets a new arch-nemesis out of it despite his best efforts. The scenes between Jon and Lois once he’s ready to drop the facade are some of the series’ best.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
