By Kurt Busiek, Peter Vale, Jesús Merino, Renato Guedes, Jorgé Correa Jr & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-146-5
Following directly on from Superman: the Third Kryptonian (ISBN: 978-1-84856-005-5) the tales in this package originally appeared as issue #671-675 of the monthly Superman comicbook, divided into two yarns thematically harking back to the gloriously innocent Silver Age Superboy stories as drawn by George Papp.
First up is a thoroughly tumultuous modern interpretation of Lana Lang’s finest, daftest schoolgirl moments. ‘Insect Queen’ is a cracking invasion thriller in three parts (illustrated by Peter Vale, Wellington Dias and Jesús Merino) wherein the adult Lana has assumed control of Lex Luthor’s old company, only to be abducted to a hidden moonbase and made the DNA template for an alien arthropod hive-brain’s new body.
The deadly insect queen has even made Superman her slave…
This delightfully gratifying “Saves-the-World” romp rattles along with sharp dialogue and lots of movie in-jokes; a superb palate cleanser before ‘Shadows Linger’ re-retools the story of “Superboy’s older brother” Mon-El for the post-Smallville/Superman Returns generation.
An alien from the Krypton-like world of Daxam, Mon-El is, like all his species, hyper-sensitive to common lead. Once exposed, a Daxamite will inevitably die. When this happened to the solitary star voyager, Superman was compelled to banish his new-found friend to the nebulous Phantom Zone to preserve his life.
Just as Mon-El reveals the horrific fundamentalist regime he fled from, three Daxamite Priest-Elders of the Protonic Flame appear on Earth demanding Mon-El’s surrender… or else. To further complicate matters a super-villain with the ability to duplicate and magnify an opponent’s powers is loose, wanting what they all want (world domination and busty super-heroines as willing handmaidens)…
A crazed ego-maniac and three intractable zealots with all his powers were bad enough for the Man of Tomorrow, but then some fool had to unleash the planet-consuming Galactic Golem…
Fun-filled and action-packed, this a well-told traditional tale beautifully realized by Renato Guedes & José Wilson Magalháes (with Jorgé Correa Jr. pitching in at the end), another swift, punchy antidote to those interminable multi-part cosmic sagas. There’s life yet in the World’s Most Senior Superhero…
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