The Man of Steel comes closer to uncovering the mystery of
the Vanishing, in which millions of people disappeared without
trace, and comes face-to-face with the being behind it all.
But what desperate measures will our hero take to make things
right again - and does Wonder Woman have the power to stop
him? Just how far is Superman willing to go "for tomorrow"...?
The
concluding volume of this saga doesn't quite match the
previous one
in terms of its art. This is probably because Scott Williams
doesn't complete all of the inking chores, instead sharing
the task with a veritable committee of nine other inkers.
That said, the art is still superior to that of the majority
of mainstream comics I have seen in recent years. The renditions
of the world to which the Vanished have, um, vanished are
suitably alien-looking and magical. And you can see the influence
of Danger Girl veteran Williams in some of the more
revealing and curvaceous poses struck by Wonder Woman and
Lois Lane. Meanwhile, colourist Alex Sinclair continues his
sterling airbrush work.
Writer
Brian Azzarello throws in a ton of elements that will appeal
to fans of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, including
the Phantom Zone, an apparent meeting between Superman and
Clark Kent (don't worry, this is explained - eventually) and
a certain powerful arch-villain.
However,
Azzarello's sentence structures occasionally leave something
to be desired. When Superman wonders, "What does it mean when
a man whose life is built on faith sacrifices it by saving
his own life?", I had to read that again, because at first
it didn't seem to make sense. Only upon my second reading
did I realise that "it" referred to the faith, not the life.
A better sentence would have been, "What does it mean when
a man whose life is built on faith sacrifices that faith by
saving his own life?"
The
superhero's disagreements with other members of the Justice
League in the previous volume, his battle with Wonder Woman
in this one and his confrontation with Batman on a Gotham
City rooftop could explain the hostility that exists between
Superman and the Dark Knight in Azzarello's Lex
Luthor: Man of Steel. This volume also establishes
the new Fortress of Solitude in a South American rainforest.
If
you don't already own this book, which also includes an afterword
and sketches by penciller Jim Lee, then you might want to
add it to your list of things to do... for tomorrow.
Richard
McGinlay
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