Superman #651 is part 3 in this One Year Later storyline. So far, this storyline has been pretty interesting; hopefully, this issue will kick it up a notch.
Creative Team
Writers: Kurt Busiek & Geoff Johns
Art: Pete Woods
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Total Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue starts with Clark wearing the Power Ring and being covered in a green light. We then cut to some bug-like alien creatures breaking into Stryker’s Island Prison. We shift back to Clark giving the Power Ring back to Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and telling Hal and Hawkgirl that he’ll think about wearing the ring, but he thinks that Supergirl has everything under control and he likes what he has been doing as a reporter. Suddenly, there are sounds of an attack coming from Metro Square. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl rush off telling Clark he will have to stay behind since he is now a civilian.
We shift to Metro Square where the Prankster has taken control of all the TV’s and starts causing chaos in the city. The Prankster brings to like Refrigerators in an appliance store. He brings to life the crumpled newspapers in the subway. He even brings to life giant version of the “walk figure” in crosswalk signals.
We then cut to Stryker’s Island where the creatures, known as the Flea Circus, break out the Kryptonite Man.
We then go back to the fight between the Prankster and Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.
We then shift to Lex Luthor, Toyman and Metallo. Lex uses one of his devices to shut down Metallo.
We then shift back to the brawl in Metro Square. Clark tells Lois that we won’t be taking the Power Ring. The Ring shows the answer itself. It reacts to your mind and thoughts and if Clark had thought of himself as Superman then it would have shown him as a green Superman. Instead, it showed him as a green Clark Kent. Lois says she has been happy having a partner that she doesn’t have to share with the world and that he is no longer someone she can never completely touch. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl close in on the Prankster when he suddenly escapes. Clark then realizes that the Prankster was just a distraction. Clark then calls in Supergirl to check out Stryker’s Island. Unfortunately, Supergirl gets there too late.
We then cut to the Flea Circus delivering the Kryptonite Man to Lex Luthor. Luthor then takes the immobilized Metallo and rips out his Kryptonite heart. Lex then enters a vault full of massive amounts of Kryptonite saying that he would like more but this will have to do. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Johns and Busiek are doing a great job with this story. Superman #651 definitely kicks the story up a notch. We have Lex breaking free the Kryptonite Man, tearing out Metallo’s heart and having the reader discover that Lex is stockpiling a massive amount of Kryptonite for some nefarious purpose. Plus, we have the Power Ring showing Clark that he sees himself as Clark Kent and not Superman. We also have Clark deciding not to take the Power Ring. This was definitely an issue packed with plenty of goodness.
I thought it was a neat twist to have the Power Ring show Clark as Clark Kent instead of Superman. I was definitely expecting to see Clark in some green variation of his Superman costume. I also liked the dialogue between Lois and Clark about how he doesn’t want to be Superman or a Super-Hero. Lois response that she has loved the past year being married to a regular human like her was interesting. Especially since we know it is going to end at some point. How will the two of them deal with Clark getting his powers back? How will that impact their relationship?
I’m interested to see what Lex Luthor is up to. Johns and Busiek are doing a good job by letting his plan slowly unfold rather than blurting out too quickly. The scene where Lex takes out Metallo’s heart is actually rather funny at the beginning. Toyman has Metallo on an operating table that is like the one from the game “Operation.” The dialogue between Lex and Toyman about that is pretty funny. It was a neat scene that showed humor in an otherwise nasty scene.
I think that Pete Woods’ art is starting to grow on me. It isn’t that bad. I still don’t think that it is anything great, but it doesn’t detract from the title at all.
The Bad: I have no complaints with the story. It is well-paced and makes me eager for the next issue. I still say that Clark Kent is terribly boring.
Again, the art is average. Some panels look nice and others do not.