DC Comics reviews 6/22/21 – Infinite Frontier #1, Robin #3

Superman #32

The One Who Fell arc wasn’t the most exciting storyline in recent Superman history, but writer Phillips Kennedy Johnson does right be readers with it.

Instead of stretching out the arc to five or six issues, Johnson wraps it up in a nice and tidy three installments. It’s a lot easier to stay invested in a shorter decent storyline than have a promising arc ruined from being over extended.

Superman and Jonathan are still dealing with the fallout of the second invasion of the Shadowbreed among the Tharkkamites. Johnson has shown a tremendous touch in handling Superman and Jon’s father/son dynamic, but that’s not as easy to foster on an alien world. Doubly so when they have to work together to prevent a hostile takeover of another race.

Artist Scott Godlewski is warming up for his run drawing Jonathan’s solo adventures as Superman. Godlewski’s drawings have improved over the years though he still tends to draw character faces too soft.

The secondary story from writer Sean Lewis and artist Sam Basri wraps the other heroes in Metropolis arc. It’s been somewhat unfortunate that this has been the only place to see John Henry Irons’ Steel in action alongside characters like Loose Cannon and Gangbuster.

Lewis treats the characters, and main focus, Bilbo, with proper respect even if the scope of the story never feels too important. Basri’s art is a good fit for this lighter story. Basri wouldn’t be a bad fit to do more heroes of Metropolis whether in solo series or an anthology series.

Johnson’s Superman run has been solid though it feels cut short for the new status quo changes to the Superman titles. We’ll see if DC made the right call in taking some of the responsibilities away from a writer who was getting Action Comics and Superman back on track.

Rating: 7 out of 10