Review: ‘Superman’ #31 Dives Into Those Left Behind

The world is in peril. The Justice League is stepping up to defend it. But Superman #31 shows what’s happening for those left behind.

Joshua Williamson, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Alejandro Sanchez and Ariana Maher show what happens to Superman’s family at home.

Darkseid is coming. The Justice League is ready to stop him by fighting for the heart of Apokolips. But Superman is doing his best to save everyone in case they fail. As for the rest of his family though, Lois Lane has other plans- she’s going to find the solution in the archives of the Fortress of Solitude, even if it will kill her. And if Darkseid’s Legion has anything to say about it, that’s exactly what will happen.

I really enjoyed this issue. Event tie-ins are HARD to get right. Sometimes they’re too much at the mercy of the event. Other times, they just don’t do anything interesting with the concept.

Here Williamson takes what’s going on in DC KO, and deepens the event while allowing the events of this issue to stand on its own. The first half of issue sees Clark Kent have moments that both enhance his personal storyline- getting time with his family- and filling gaps in the plot of the event- helping create the arks seen to evacuate Earth in DC KO #1. But it also creates an important plot point that both Lois and Clark get involved in- did Krypton know about the threat of Apokolips?

It’s a retcon, absolutely, that Krypton (and by extension Jor-El) may have known about Darkseid and his legions. It’s a retcon that’s simply interesting as hell though and doesn’t completely ruin or rewrite anything. It just enhances the overall shared universe, and that makes it cool as hell.

Barrows’ line art is mostly very good. There’s a few areas where his facial expressions are over-exaggerated (a look of absolute horror when surprise is what’s needed for example). But his page compositions are great, and he does a fantastic job with the quiet moments. One of the best pages of the book is when Lois begins grilling the Jor-El AI, which Barrows intersperses with glimpses of Superman fighting through the preliminary in KO. It adds even more emotional heft to an already tense scene.

Ferreira’s inks give the panels weight without being too heavy on their own. Together, he and Barrows create this stylish look that’s almost ink wash. It always makes for a fantastic looking issue and I’m glad to see this duo as the alternating art team on this book.

Sanchez is a very underappreciated color artist. He’s able to step in and match the line art style for whoever he’s working with. With Mora, he’s very bright, giving the pages an almost animated look. Here though, he’s slightly more muted, and given he’s the color artist on the main event series, he matches the palette he uses there to give it a thematic match.

I continue to enjoy what Maher does on the book too. She’s able to relay a lot of information, when that’s what’s happening, without it feeling wooden or too wordy. But in the quieter more emotional scenes, she is able to convey that emotion in some great, more subtle ways.

Superman #31 is available now from DC Comics.