Review: ‘Superman’ #22 Continues To Get It

Ever since the current Superman clicked, it’s been firing on all cylinders. The current story arc continues to be proof of that.

Joshua Williamson, Dan Mora, Alex Sanchez, and Ariana Maher bring war to Metropolis.

An alien armada has arrived over Metropolis. Their demand- turn over Doomsday or they will level the entire planet. Now it’s up to Clark and Lois to try to stop them- diplomatically, or with their fists…

I love this set up, even if there is TONS going on. Clark finally finding a relatively peaceful way to shut down Doomsday permanently is fantastic- using Black Mercy in its most clever way yet- and complicating it with aliens who want to destroy him is such a natural escalation. On top of that though, Williamson is able to juggle Superman’s health problems, Lois’s superhero identity, Jimmy Olsen trying to get a picture of Superwoman, Luthor struggling with his lost memory and more in a cohesive way. It feels like the superhero soap opera of the Triangle era without shifting release schedules.

I am so glad to see Mora on this title. The world of Superman is the perfect place for him. He understands the confidence of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and shows how different they are. He makes Superman and Doomsday both scary as they unleash. His storytelling is clear, his layouts are easy to follow, he’s just plain the best superhero artist working right now, and I want him on this title as long as possible.

Sanchez has done so much work in Superman’s world that he gets it. The colors are bright, and doubly so for Superman himself, drawing the readers’ eyes right to Kal-El. Maher continues to do a great job at making the dialogue and captions work without standing out or distracting from the story on the page.

Superman #22 is available now from DC Comics.