DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #12

Signal To Noise, Chapter One

April 2008

Written by B. Clay Moore

Pencils by Phil Hester

Inks by Ande Parks

Cover by Ande Parks

Synopsis

After Superman saves Jimmy Olsen from a bunch of smugglers, he decides to find a way for his pal to signal him when he needs help.  Meanwhile, Winslow Schott is fired from his job at a toy company.  He tries out a new giant toy, asking a bum if it makes him happy.  When the bum says no, Schott burns him to death.  The next day, two giant toys walk down the middle of the street.  When Superman investigates, the giant toys attack.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

You know, the cover made this issue look kinda cool.  I loved Hester and Parks when they were drawing Green Arrow so I was excited to see the duo doing work with DC again.  Plus, Superman fighting lucadores is such a funny concept that it had to be good. I was extremely disappointed to realize that Superman doesn’t fight luchadores.  The rest of this issue doesn’t make up for it.  In fact, the story was slightly boring.  Part of the problem is that it seems to spin its wheels without getting anywhere.  Was it necessary to show Jimmy getting into trouble twice?  One of the great things about these characters is that they are fairly well-defined so we shouldn’t have to get beaten over the head with Jimmy getting into trouble.  Frankly, I would’ve liked to see more of Winslow Schott and learn about him and get a sense of why he does what he does instead of skipping from here to there so quickly. 

What is the purpose of this issue, really?  We just had, what? last year or so, a story in Action Comics (issue #852) that focused on the relationship between Superman and Jimmy that resulted in the creation of the signal watch.  The two stories are nothing alike and in fact in Busiek’s story, Jimmy creates the watch.  I am not opposed to re imagining classic stories, but let’s face it, Busiek story is not that old to cal lit classic.  And since it is still fresh on my mind, I’ve got to wonder, what the hell is the purpose behind the story. 

 

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