DC Comics 10/19-21 – Batman #115, Nightwing #85
Superman Son of Kal-El #4
It’s not fair to the creative team and readers of comics to have future developments spoiled by big headlines and a million think pieces and tweets long before the actual issue comes out. Son of Kal-El #4 isn’t the necessarily the spoiled issue in question, but it’s frustrating knowing in advance things like Jon’s love interest Jay is invulnerable and can’t be hurt.
As far as some controversial statement bashing the decision to make Jon bisexual, check bounding sites. That’s a non-issue although I wish Jay weren’t the love interest as Jon still needs actual friends besides Damian. Pairing them up romantically doesn’t address that problem and making Jay invulnerable takes away a ton of suspense. The dude in distress has worked just fine for Steve Trevor over the years. Jay doesn’t have to be any different.
Given the extent of the quick changes in DC writer Tom Taylor earns a pass for calling Hippolyta Wonder Woman while Diana is actually back on Earth or guest artist Daniele Di Nicuolo drawing Hal Jordan as a member of the Justice League.
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Still, it was worth it to have a nice moment with Jon and Wally West. Taylor excels at these character bonding moments and this was another great example. Taylor also finds a natural way to include some characters from one of his previous titles in a way that doesn’t feel ham-fisted like some of his peers.
Is Taylor pulling a rub naming the villain in the first arc Bendix? Or is it just an unintentional jab at writer Brian Michael Bendis for his handling of the Superman books? Either way it works. Bendix ordered a strike against Superman Jon to take out the Kent family home. It’s one of the many negative aspects of Bendis’ decision to have Superman out his identity to the world.
Still, it’s a little surprising that Batman didn’t whip up some sort of protective field from an attack of this nature…
Di Nicuolo’s art style probably works better for a anime-type book or something along the lines of Teen Titans Go! The linework and expressions are a bit too extreme for a standard comic book and take away from what should be a very emotional moment for the Kent family.
Bendix is proving to be a formidable villain and a nice equivalent of Lex Luthor for Jon. It’ll be interesting to see where Taylor takes this new rivalry while fleshing out Jon’s backstory beyond what’s already been spoiled.
Rating: 7 out of 10