DC Comics
Writer: Scott Lobdell, Charles Soule, Greg Pak
Artist: Ken Lashley
Price: $4.99
The biggest Superman event of the year kicks off with a special one-shot written by all of the current Superman writers. This issue ties up Scott Lobdell’s run on Superman, finishing up any part of his story that left a sour taste in the reader’s mouth (almost all of it), while adding an epic battle between Doomsday and Superman. The story takes place after the events of Superman/Wonder Woman #1 and the Doomsday one-shot in which Doomsday’s origin and ability to evolve upon being defeated was established. This was a concept originally used by Dan Jurgens during his Hunter/Prey mini-series, and it’s brought to a better fruition in this storyline.
It takes a long time for the epic fight between Superman and Doomsday, but in the meantime we get plenty of backstory in case you never bothered to pick up a Superman book since the New 52. John Henry Iron is also featured in this issue with a “new” costume design. The main plot has to do with Doomsday constantly evolving to the point that he kills everything around him, it gets so bad that the death toll reaches one million in a matter of minutes. Due to the high death toll in such a short time, Batman and Superman share some great dialogue in whether or not it’s right to kill Doomsday. They feel obligated to do something drastic because of what Doomsday is capable of.
Throughout the issue, Clark doesn’t believe that he can defeat Doomsday. You can feel what he is going through as he repeats in his head that he might not make it, but he will do what he must to save the world. One of the ideas about the New 52 version of Superman that I haven’t liked too much is how he now just rushes into things without thinking of a backup plan. As much as I don’t like it, the writers utilize this idea very well leading to Superman’s predicament later in the crossover.
The art by Ken Lashley is very good and it’s surprising that he doesn’t get more work within this event, or even at DC.
Written by: Cory Robinson
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