Comic Book Review: Superman #681: New Krypton

The Revolution enjoyed Superman: New Krypton Special #1 and is certainly looking forward to the New Krypton story arc that will be snaking its way through Superman and Action Comics. I am confident that Robinson will deliver a rather exciting start to this story arc. Let’s go ahead and hit this review for Superman #681.

Creative Team
Writer: James Robinson
Pencils: Renato Guedes
Inks: Wilson Magalhaes

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with news reports from across the globe about the Kryptonians from Kandor taking to the skies and flying across Earth. We slide to the Daily Planet where Perry is barking out orders to every single reporter that the Kryptonian story is to take priority over any other story. Perry tells Lois and Jimmy to cover the meeting in Metropolis between the President of the United States and a Kryptonian delegation led by Superman.

We cut to Superman flying to Kandor. Superman whispers “Oh, Dad.” Suddenly, Superman’s path is blocked by Alan Scott, Wonder Woman, John Stewart, Hawkgirl and Mr. Terrific. Wonder Woman states that they need to talk. Alan mentions how Superman is the most powerful person on the Earth and now there are hundreds of thousands of equally powerful people now on Earth with the return of Kandor.

Wonder Woman points out that the Kryptonians are no more Superman as all Amazons are like Wonder Woman. Mr. Terrific points out that “Twenty-seven of your race almost destroyed Metropolis not long ago.” (Actually, shouldn’t it be twenty-seven of Superman’s species?)

Superman counters that the heroes are talking about Zod and a bunch of criminal Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone. Superman insists that the people of Kandor are good people. And that the Kandorians know that they are guests on Earth. Superman tells the heroes to leave everything to him. Superman says that the solution is for America to recognize Kandor or New Krypton, whichever it is going to call itself. That such an action would be a good first step and get the rest of the world to sit up and take notice.

Superman continues that he will organize teachers to go to Kandor and teach the Kryptonians about Earth and our rules. Then these teachers will learn about Krypton. Superman says that this way both of his “races” (I still say it should be species.) will get something out of this. Superman promises the heroes that Earth will be a better place for all that is happening now. Superman then flies off to Kandor.

We see Superman arriving at Kandor and meeting with Zor-El and Aurora. Supergirl then also arrives on the scene. Superman points out that since Supergirl recently attacked the President’s plane that it probably is not a good idea for her to be a part of the delegation headed to Metropolis.

Zor-El replies that Kara is family and that they are finally together again. Therefore, Kara will fly with them. Superman acquiesces to Zor-El’s wishes. Zor-El then introduces Superman to his Chief of Security: Thara Ak-Var. Supergirl becomes excited at the sight of her old childhood friend and gives Thara a hug. Supergirl comments that she cannot believe that Thara was given such an important role. Thara quips that no one gave her anything. That she earned it.

Superman interrupts the two friends and announces that it is time to leave. Zor-El tells Superman to lead the way and to show the rest of them Superman’s world. The Kryptonian delegation then takes to the skies.

We cut to Ma Kent back at home all by herself. Martha holds a picture of Jonathon Kent and herself back when they were young. We get narration boxes that state how Ma Kent told Clark that she would be fine by herself and for Clark not to worry. Martha then sits there by herself and just stares at the old picture.

Martha then hears a scratching at the door. Martha gets up and opens the front door. Sitting there is Krypto. Krypto has a sweet look on his face and murmurs “Rwff” while he sits in front of the door and wags his tail. Martha smiles and says “And hello to you, too.”

We shift to Metropolis with Superman and the Kryptonian delegation flying into town. The people of Metropolis point to the sky and are stunned by the sight of the Kryptonian delegation.

We slide over to the building where the meeting is to take place between the President and the Kryptonian delegation. We see Lois Lane talking with Agent Liberty. Evidently, Agent Liberty is here because D.E.O. wanted a mask present for this meeting. That with all that has happened with the Amazons and everything that the government is concerned for the President’s safety.

Lois counters that the government cannot be expecting trouble from the Kryptonians considering that Superman is acting as their intermediary. Agent Liberty points out that it was a Kryptonian girl who brought down the President’s plane during the war with the Amazons. Agent Liberty is then informed that the Kryptonian delegation has arrived.

We see Superman and the Kryptonian delegation landing in front of the steps of the building where Agent Liberty and Lois are standing. The President comes out surrounding by Secret Service agents. Agent Liberty stands in front of Superman and gives Superman a steely look. We pan back as see the massive horde of media members.

The President says that the honor is his to meet Zor-El. Zor-El responds that the Kryptonians are guests on Earth and that the honor is all his to meet the President. The two men then shake hands. The President states that he has been informed that Supergirl is Zor-El’s daughter. The President then says that Zor-El owes him a real big plane. Zor-El and Aurora share a nervous glance. The President then smiles, chuckles and says that he was just joking.

Suddenly, a streaking ball of fire comes flying out of the sky and crashes into the steps next to the President and the Kryptonian delegation. We see the stunned and horrified faces of the media members, the Kryptonians, Supergirl, Lois, Agent Liberty, the President and Superman. Superman yells “NO!” We see the smoke clearing from the explosion and out steps Doomsday. Doomsday lets out a huge roar. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Superman #681 was a solid read. Robinson turns in a well plotted issue that continues to lay a sound foundation for the New Krypton story. This issue progresses in a very measured pace. Robinson clearly did not want to rush the story at all and allows the arrival of the Kryptonians on Earth as well as the reaction that it has sparked across the globe to really sink into the reader’s mind. The controlled pace of the story makes the climactic ending all that much more intense. I believe that Robinson intended Superman #681 to be the quiet before the storm.

I liked the frenzied feel at the Daily Planet. Robinson effectively conveys to the reader what a huge event the restoration of Kandor on Earth truly is. That with the arrival of so many Superman-class aliens on Earth that this world will never be the same again. This scene creates enough nervous energy in the reader that it gets the reader to keep waiting for something to go terribly wrong as we sit through the various slow moving scenes in this issue.

I dig that Robinson presented to the reader the reaction from the super hero community. I like the collection of heroes that Robinson assembles to go confront Superman. If anyone is going to give a lecture to Superman and get away with it then it would be Alan Scott and Wonder Woman. I was also impressed that Robinson respected what is going on in Batman RIP and did not needlessly shoehorn Batman into this scene. Such an action would have been a very easy and tempting thing for a writer to do.

The heroes expressed some valid concerns and made a good point about the fact that the Kryptonians from Kandor are no more like Superman than the Amazons who attacked America are like Wonder Woman. It is quite understandable that the heroes would be concerned over this many Kryptonians roaming the Earth. Especially in light of Zod’s attack on Metropolis. A hero does not have to be an untrusting and cynical bastard like Batman to be uneasy over the patent threats and concerns that a city full of Kryptonians presents to Earth.

Superman’s response to the heroes’ concerns was perfect. Superman truly embodies hope and promise. Superman always looks at the positive side of everything to the point where he sometimes turns a blind eye to possibilities that do not mesh with his positive view of life.

At this point, I side more with the heroes and think that Superman has simply clouded his mind with wishful thinking that the two species can peacefully co-exist. Superman is already in a fragile state of mind with the death of his father and it is only natural for him in this time of loss to cling to the unexpected return of his fellow Kryptonians. Superman’s ideals and wishes always sound great in theory but they often do not work out in the real world.

Robinson does a fine job with Agent Liberty and his personal take on the Kryptonians from Kandor. Agent Liberty makes a valid point when he brought up the Amazon War and how Supergirl attacked the President as a source for his inability to fully trust the people of Kandor. It is totally understandable that Agent Liberty would not be very trusting of a city full of Kryptonians.

In the scene with the heroes confronting Superman and then in the scene with Lois and Agent Liberty, Robinson does a fine job showing both sides of this issue concerning the people of Kandor. Robinson is able to treat both viewpoints fairly which succeeds in making it even tougher on the reader to decide if they should trust the people of Kandor or not. I appreciate it when a writer takes the time and effort to craft a moral dilemma that the reader struggles to resolve. Superman is very persuasive in his support of his fellow Kryptonians, but the other heroes make a compelling case for their distrust of an entire city full of Kryptonians.

I found the Thara Ak-Var and Supergirl dynamic interesting. Thara appears to be a bit hostile and I get a strange vibe from her. I could see a possible Thara versus Kara fight at some point down the road.

I absolutely loved the scene with Krypto arriving at Ma Kent’s house. To me, this was the best scene in the entire issue. I am a dog lover so I am a total sucker for scenes like this. I felt bad for poor Martha all alone at the Kent Farm. Clark sending Krypto to be with his mother was a sweet touch. I continue to love how Robinson has handled Krypto during his run on this title.

The final scene in Superman #681 was well done. I enjoyed the hint of hostility in the air as Superman squares off in front of Agent Liberty. This was an enjoyably tense scene before the President cuts the tension by warmly greeting Zor-El and then joking with the Kryptonian leader.

And then Robinson drops a huge bomb on the reader with the dramatic appearance of one of the biggest and baddest Superman villains of all time: Doomsday. Talk about a fantastic hook ending. It should be fun watching an army of Kryptonians tackling Doomsday in the next issue of Action Comics.

Renato Guedes and Wilson Magalhaes team up to deliver plenty of enjoyable artwork. Guedes does a fine job packing plenty of emotion into this characters which helps to bring Robinson’s story to life.

The Bad: Superman #681 is a slow issue that has absolutely no action at all. Not much really happens at all until the very end. We get very little in the way of plot development in this issue. And what we do get is a bit repetitious as we re-hash the dialogue from Superman: New Krypton Special #1 concerning the threat that an entire city of Kryptonians poses to Earth as well as Superman’s goal of teaching the Kryptonians about Earth and its customs and rules and in turn teaching Earth about Kryptonian culture.

The lack of action and the limited plot progression will likely turn off some readers. I have to admit that I was surprised to see Robinson taking such a slow burn approach with Superman #681 considering the sound foundation that was constructed by Superman: New Krypton Special #1. I thought that having a special one-shot issue to install the underpinnings for this New Krypton story would have allowed Robinson to come out of the gate a bit faster than what he did with Superman #681. It is clear that New Krypton is being written for trade format and not for a monthly format.

Overall: Superman #681 was a solid read even if I was expecting more than what we got with this issue. Robinson does a good job setting the stage for what should be a dramatic showdown between the Kryptonians and Doomsday over in Action Comics. The New Krypton is in intriguing story that has numerous interesting plotlines and tons of potential. I would certainly recommend giving Superman and Action Comics a try. It is an exciting time for the Superman franchise and I think that this story will appeal to readers who have never been big Superman fans before.