DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLACKEST NIGHT:  SUPERMAN #2

A Sleepy Little Town, Part Two

November 2009

Written by James Robinson

Pencils by Eddy Barrows

Inks by Ruy Jose with Julio Ferreira

Covers by Eddy Barrows and Shane Davis

Synopsis

This morning, Smallville was the idyllic Midwestern small town.  That night, Superman and Superboy battle against Black Lantern Kal-L in the skies above the town.  Meanwhile, Pyscho Pirate patrols the street, psychically altering the townspeople’s emotions, creating confusion.  Elsewhere, Black Lantern Lois Lane holds Martha Kent hostage.  Kal-L tells Lois to kill her.  Superboy leaves the fight to protect Martha, who si able to escape and runs away in the cornstalks.  Superboy then encounters Psycho Pirate.  Superman returns to Smallville and is suddenly attack by Superboy, who is under the influence of Pyscho Pirate.  On New Krypton, Black Lantern Zor-el confronts Supergirl.  She realizes it is not her father and attacks him.  In Smallville, Lois hunts for Martha, who appears out of the cornstalks and tells Lois, “It’s on!”  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I am detecting a trend with these Blackest Night tie-ins.  Much like the Batman issue just a week or so ago, this issue doesn’t really add much to the story other than to delay what we know is coming:  Superman encountering Black Lantern Jonathon Kent.  Everything else in this story seems to be just marking time waiting until we can get to the next issue.  In fact, we begin with Lois and Martha squaring off against each other and that is exactly how it ends.  Nioting else happens of consequence.  What we get in this issue can best be described as an issue-long fight scene with out of control townspeople mixed in between the big fight.  Even though the fight between Superboy and Superman, we also know that it won’t last, so it doesn’t really have that much of an impact.  It feels like a plot point designed to take up space until we can get to the true story that will be told. 

The New Krypton material is wildly out of place.  I appreciate the desire to get Supergirl involved with this story; the fact that she is so far removed from the rest of the action doesn’t help the story.  It feels like an entirely different story, as if Robinson could write a separate issue featuring just her (and in fact that might’ve been a good idea, use the three issues as one-and-done tales featuring the three leads in their own stories). 

The Psycho Pirate material also feels out of place, but I think those parts add a little bit more to the story than the scene with Supergirl.  Besides the fact that the Pirate is in Smallville, he can manipulate the emotions of the townspeople, as seen in those x-ray type visions, which is an important aspect of the Black Lantern power rings powering up.  And it leads to the fight between Superboy and Superman which may be filler but is still an interesting concept to pay with. 

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