Superman Unlimited #10 – Dan Slott, Writer; Mike Norton, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: It’s hard to say which of the current Superman books is my favorite, because they’re all so different and so compelling, but Dan Slott’s offbeat, down-to-earth take evokes my favorite era of the character – the triangle era. The stories were lower-stakes but no less compelling, and Metropolis felt like a real city with a great mix of heroes, villains, and ordinary people in the mix. After all, how often do you get a story focused on Prankster anywhere else? This issue continues a plot where a mysterious new Prankster, the deranged metahuman nephew of Oswald Loomis, has been targeting prominent citizens of Metropolis – including Mayor White, and now reporter Clark Kent. There are some really great moments early on, as the villain continues to set traps around the city and Superman often has to bail himself out of trouble. It’s the kind of funny story that really adds some nice color to Superman’s world.
While most of the issue focuses on this subplot, there’s a great side story involving Jon Kent and a visit from Mr. Mxyzptlk, who tries to warn Jon that he has an arch-nemesis from the 5th dimension coming for him. There’s just one problem – Jon has never heard of this guy, at least not yet. Jon’s new status quo in Smallville has been a lot of fun over the course of this series. Meanwhile, Clark gets a visit from the original Prankster, who seems to be having second thoughts about his new partnership, especially as Minnie Mannheim turns up the heat on him. This sets up a tense conclusion as Superman finds out the hard way who he can actually trust. One thing that’s interesting here is that the main threat isn’t actually resolved – Superman survives, of course, but the villains aren’t taken down. Rather, they’re going to continue to be part of Metropolis’ ongoing crime scene, and next month brings a major status quo shift that might play to their advantage.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
