Comic Book Review: Superman #692

The Revolution has not liked Superman since the “New Krypton” arc ended. This book has been lacking without Superman. At least the last time Supes was missing from his own book, we had the whole mystery of the new Supermans who tried to follow him after his death.

Unfortunately, the book seems to be floundering with this storyline. We really expected more out of James Robinson. This has not been up to the level of his Starman series. Let’s see if he picks up the pace with this issue.

Creative Team
Writers: James Robinson
Pencils: Fernando Dagnino
Inks: Raul Fernandez

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Morgan Edge is on the television announcing that Mon-El has been killed by the Kryptonians. As he explains that the superheroes are not being effective at helping the city recover from the disasters that have occurred.

The JSA is apologizing to the Guardian for not being able to fix the sewer system. The nanotechnology used in the bomb undoes any repairs they make. The nanotech was stolen from John Henry Irons. He was found comatose in Ivy Town.

With water being so valuable, criminals are hijacking water trucks. Guardian, with an assist from the Science Police, stops one hijacking.

Morgan Edge says that he predicted the Kryptonian problem. Just like he predicted Superman’s fall from favor. He believes that General Sam Lane is humanity’s only hope against the alien problem.

Zatara wakes up. He is chained and guarded by ogres. His captor announces herself as Mirabai the Forlorn. Her spell prevents him from speaking. If he can’t speak he can’t use his magic.

Zatara remembers that Mark Merlin came back from the dead to save Prince Ra-Man. Mirabai explains that Mark never came back from the dead and the Prince has a seat in Hell. The one who posed as Mark Merlin also took the form of the Parasite. His plan was to gain Zatara’s trust. He would then trick Zatara into using his power to access the source of magical power in General Lane’s satellite.

Mirabai says the power source is someone that Zatara will not know in a thousand years. She makes him go to sleep. When he wakes up, he will serve her.

The Guardian gathers the Science Police at a bar. He tells them that when Mon-El died, fellow officer Jonathan Kent also died. They were the same person.

Billi approaches Guardian and wants to know why he never told her that Jonathan was Mon-El. Guardian explains that Mon-El wanted to learn what it was like to be human. If she had known, she would have acted differently around him.

Guardian tells her that he knows she is the granddaughter of the original Guardian. He choose her because she is the best. She decides to start calling him Uncle Jim (Since he is Jim Harper’s clone).

Officer Wilcox talks to Guardian. He is surprised to see her alone. She explains that she is a widow and her husband died recently. The others are giving her time to recover. They toast the future.

As Wilcox walks to her apartment, her cell phone rings. She tells the person on the other end that the Science Police think Mon-El is dead. They will know the truth soon enough. She looks at a picture. It is Karate Kid and Princess Projectra from the Legion. Her Sensor Girl costume floats through the window.

General Lane and Assassin are taking a walk through 7734 Project M. A variety of creatures are on display. Lane wants to know about their latest acquisition. Assassin says that his mood in not good. Mon-El is angry.

The Good: Everything is starting to come together (cue the Beatles song) now. Stories that did not make sense (such as the Mark Merlin resurrection) are falling into place. If you have access to it, reread the old First Issue Special series. So far, Robinson has brought back Atlas, Manhunter, Code Name: Assassin and Outsiders from that series. Who knows how many more will be brought back.

The designation under the Outsiders is FIS #10. This refers to their debut in First Issue Special #10. The Creature Commandos designation is WWT #93 for Weird War Tales 93.  I am enjoying the way Robinson has worked all of the old characters into this conspiracy storyline.

My favorite part of this issue was the revelation of Wilcox’s identity. I was a big fan of the Paul Levitz Legion stories. Seeing the return of Sensor Girl caught me off guard. Hints had been dropped that there were more Legionnaires in our time. I can’t wait to see what other Legion plots get worked into this storyline. It appears that Lane has someone from the future powering his satellite.

Robinson continues to build the background of the Guardian. He has become the star of this story in nice fashion.

The new art team did a good job of illustrating this issue.

The Bad: Why is this book called Superman? I think this story would have been better as the lead story in the new Adventure series. When I buy a book called Superman, I expect to see the title character. I think this story has been receiving some negative feedback because of this fact.

Overall: Superman #692 was a good story that has been building slowly. I would like to see the Guardian move to his own title when Superman returns.
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Jim