Comic Book Review: Superman #686

The Revolution enjoyed the New Krypton story arc that weaved its way through Action Comics and Superman. However, The Revolution was not all that impressed with the new direction of Action Comics. Hopefully, Robinson can do a better job on Superman than what Rucka did on Action Comics. Let’s go ahead and do this review for Superman #686.

Creative Team
Writers: James Robinson
Pencils: Renato Guedes
Inks: Jose Wilson Magalhaes

Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with the old “Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane. No, it’s Superman.” routine. Actually, it is Mon-El. We flashback to “before” with Superman talking with Mon-El outside the Fortress of Solitude. Mon-El is happy to be free from the Phantom Zone and is still unsure of what he wants to do first with his newfound freedom. Superman then asks Mon-El to stay in Metropolis and take over Superman’s role as Metropolis’s protector.

We cut to “now” with Atlas in a diner in Metropolis. We learn that Atlas has been living underneath Metropolis in the sewers. Atlas calls them quite the wonder. Atlas felt that in order to better understand Metropolis that the best place to start was with the city’s foundations. (Wow. Taking quite a literal approach.) We see John Henry Irons walk past the diner.

We then shift back to “before” at Ironworks. Superman visits John and mentions how John did a fine job filling in for Superman back when Superman “died.” Superman says that he knows that John rarely dons his armor anymore and has become more of Metropolis’s anti-Luthor. However, Superman says that he would appreciate it if John would look out for Mon-El. John replies that while Superman is gone that Steel will be back in force.

We then slide over to “before” on the roof of the Daily Planet building. Jimmy Olsen is meeting with Superman. Jimmy is bummed that his best pal, Superman, is leaving Earth. Jimmy says he is going to miss not being able to use his watch to call Superman in case of an emergency. Superman replies that Jimmy did not need Superman’s help during his adventures chronicled in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special #1. Jimmy replies that maybe it is time that he manned up. Superman responds that Jimmy did that long ago. Superman then tells Jimmy to be on the roof tomorrow at the same time. Superman flies off.

We shift to “now” with Jimmy Olsen on the roof of the Daily Planet building. Mon-El arrives and hands Jimmy a watch. Mon-El says that Superman told Mon-El to give Jimmy this watch. The watch is tuned to Mon-El’s hearing and that he is always just a signal watch away from Jimmy.

We cut to “before” with the Guardian meeting with Superman at the Science Police Headquarters. Superman states how with the Guardian now leading the SP that they are now much more than just a glorified clean-up crew that mops up behind Superman. Superman says that this is a good thing since Superman has to leave for a while. The head of the SP asks Superman to please bring back the Kryptonians who murdered the SP officers. Superman promises to do so.

Superman then asks for a favor from the Guardian. Superman asks the Guardian to give a friend of his a secret identity so that he might better learn of Earth and its ways.

We then shift to “now” at the SP Headquarters with the Guardian assembling his SP officers to go deal with Rampage who is running amok in Metropolis. Guardian tells the SP officers that without the “big guy” in town that they will have to pick up the slack. Suddenly, the head of the SP informs Guardian that the new “big guy” is already engaging Rampage.

We cut to Mon-El brawling with Rampage. Mon-El picks up Rampage and flies her a mile into the air and then throws her back toward the ground. The massive impact knocks out Rampage. Guardian and Steel then arrive on the scene. Guardian asks Mon-El if he had no idea that Rampage would survive being dropped from a mile up in the air. Guardian says that Mon-El was not thinking about the possibility that any bystanders would get hurt if she had landed on them.

Steel checks on Rampage and says that Rampage is still alive. Guardian says that is a good thing otherwise he would be arresting Mon-El instead of recruiting Mon-El. (Ha. Well, you could try arresting Mon-El.) Mon-El says that he is a very quick learner and that soon Guardian will be happy that Mon-El is here. The heroes then take to the sky. We then cut to General Lane watching the scene from his headquarters.

We shift to Guardian introducing Mon-El as “Jonathon Kent” to the other SP officers. Guardian says that Jonathon is from England and was a boy wonder with Interpol. One of the SP officers makes some wise crack about Jonathon’s hair.

We cut to Billi Harper giving Jonathon a tour of the SP Headquarters. Billi reveals that she just transferred to the SP because she is the grand-daughter of Jim Harper who the current Guardian was cloned from. Billi’s first name is actually Jamie but she is using her middle name since her first name is too close to the Guardian’s name. Billi says that she still has not revealed all of this to the Guardian, yet. Billi then asks Jonathon to keep it a secret, please. (Wow that was incredibly naïve and trusting to unload that much personal information to “the new guy” at the office.)

We then zip forward to “later” with the Guardian yelling for Kent to hurry up. We see Mon-El walk out of the locker room. Mon-El is in an SP armored suit. Mon-El says that he is ready for anything. End of issue.

Commentary

The Good: Superman #686 was an average read. My favorite aspect of this new direction of Superman is that Mon-El is going to be one of the main characters of this title while Superman is gone. Mon-El has always been one of my favorite Legionnaires. The main reason for that is that when I was a little kid I hated Superboy. And when I read through my uncle’s collection of old back-issues of the Legion; Mon-El was one of the few Legionnaires who could slap Superboy around. Eh, the strange reasons that we become attached to certain characters.

Anyway, Mon-El a logical replacement for Superman. Mon-El does lack experience but he has all of Superman’s powers without the weakness to Kryptonite. I dig that Mon-El assumed the identity of Jonathon Kent. I like that DC is further fleshing out of the long relationship between Mon-El and Superman. And this move of Mon-El assuming the Kent name continues the theme of Mon-El being Superman’s “brother.”

I like the addition of Steel to this title. I am looking forward to seeing Steel in action even though I prefer John out of his armor. John is a great character and I am glad that he will be getting some panel time while Superman is gone. I love the emphasis that Robinson places on John being Metropolis’s anti-Luthor. That is a great role for John to play. I look forward to Robinson further developing this aspect of John’s character.

I enjoyed seeing Jimmy man up in his scene with Superman. Jimmy had a chance to shine in his one-shot special and it was cool seeing Jimmy tackle an adventure without having to rely on the big red S to save his bacon at some point. Seeing Superman giving Jimmy his props was nice.

I liked Robinson’s decision to never actually show the reader Superman’s face. The only vaguely see Superman’s face is in one panel where we see Superman’s distorted reflection on the Guardian’s helmet. This serves as a nice way to emphasis Superman’s departure from the title. This was a stylish manner to transition from Superman as the focus of this title to Mon-El, Steel and Guardian.

Renato Guedes and Jose Wilson Magalhaes combine to deliver some solid artwork in this issue. The fight scene between Mon-El and Rampage was quite dynamic and nicely done.

The Bad: Superman #686 had many defects that lead it to being a decidedly average read. The structure of this issue was far too formulaic and repetitive. Having to sit through a series of scenes in which Superman visits the various heroes and makes his request that they guard Metropolis in his absence was boring. This structure for this story was methodical to a fault. And this format made Superman #686 a very dull read. Robinson basically burns an entire issue by giving the reader more set-up than we probably needed for this new direction of Superman.

There was very little action in this issue. All that we got was the quick brawl between Mon-El and Rampage. And unfortunately, Robinson gave us little in the way of drama, mystery or intrigue in order to pick up the slack due to the lack of action. Superman #686 was a slow paced read that plods its way through the various scenes.

The quality of writing on Superman #686 was not up to the high standard that I expect from Robinson. The dialogue was generic. The characters move through the scenes like soulless automatons. The character work was practically non-existent. Mon-El was as colorless as possible. This is by far the most boring version of Mon-El that I have ever read. The Guardian acts like nothing more than a stereotypical cop. I got the strong impression that Robinson simply did not put forth that much effort into this issue.

Robinson gives us what appears to be the obligatory romance between Billi and Mon-El. This scene did not work for me at all. It made no sense that Billi would spill her guts and tell Mon-El all her secrets upon first meeting him. This made the scene seem rushed and forced. It was as if Robinson simply had to cram this background information about Billi somewhere into this issue and that this scene was a matter of necessity rather than logical storytelling.

I am a bit mystified over the secret identity that Robinson has chosen for Mon-El. Making Mon-El an SP officer does not seem to be the smartest decision. It would make more sense to choose a job that would allow Mon-El to easily leave in the event of an emergency. By making Mon-El an SP officer, it makes it much harder for him to ditch his Jonathan Kent persona and slip into costume and deal with the threat as the super hero Mon-El. Also, by placing Mon-el in a job that requires him to fight also increases the odds that his powers will be inadvertently exposed. Won’t his fellow officers be curious when Mon-El never suffers as much as a scratch no matter how large the threat?

The scene with Atlas seemed relatively useless and appeared to only serve the purpose of burning up some panel time. The plotline involving Atlas has been creaking along and I have rapidly lost interest in it. Robinson needs to do something purposeful with Atlas and in short order.

Overall: Superman #686 was a pedestrian read. This certainly was not an exciting start to this new direction for this title. At this point, I cannot say that I am all that excited about the new directions for both Action Comics and Superman. Both Rucka and Robinson need to give me more effort than what we have gotten the past two weeks. Otherwise, Action Comics and Superman will join the other DC titles that I am dropping including Teen Titans, Titans, Detective Comics and Batman.

I would only recommend Superman #686 to loyal fans of Mon-El and the Guardian. For everyone else, I would recommend skipping this issue. It is not worth your hard earned money. And nothing happens in this issue that will prevent you from enjoying the upcoming direction for this title.