DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN #684

The Mind Of Rudy Jones

March 2009

Written by James Robinson

Pencils by Jesus Merino

Inks by Jesus Merino

Covers by Alex Ross and Chris Sprouse

Synopsis

[continued from Supergirl #37] Marco Rudy (aka The Parasite) is on the run.  He recalls leaving the Phantom Zone and then taken into custody by the police.  Then, Mon-el appears to tell Superman that Zod has escaped.  Rudy briefly escapes custody and grabs Mon-el, absorbing his powers, briefly.  But it was enough to escape.  Now, he hungers to feel Mon-el’s powers once again.  Elsewhere, the Guardian introduces himself to the Science Police as their new leader.  In Keystone City, The Flash (Jay Garrick) agrees to keep a lookout for certain things as requested by Nightwing and Flamebird.  Later, Superman flies to New Krypton to warn Alura of Zod’s escape.  She tells she knows, after all he is the leader of the Krypton army.    [continued in Action Comics #874] 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There is a good comic book somewhere in this issue, but with the schizophrenic nature of the story, it was difficult to find.  This is two issues rolled into one and the compressed nature of both makes for a very frustrating read.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this issue, but I think I would have liked it just as much or better if it were two issues rather than just one.  The problem, of course, is the “Faces of Evil” tag.  The basic idea of the “Faces Of Evil” is that stories are told from the villains point of view.  Not every issue actually does this mind you, but Robinson makes a go of it with Parasite.  I think what happened is that Robinson juggled around the original script to fit the Parasite into it and while the effort reads seamlessly, I think the issue would have benefited from a more focused direction rather than the split effort. 

The first part is the escape of the Parasite from prison.  It is a good story; I loved the way the Parasite hungers for someone new and the sheer nastiness of the character shines through.  I also liked the way Parasite hungers for Mon-el’s powers, especially since Mon-el would have the same powers as Superman under the yellow sun.  It is also an intriguing premise to portray the Parasite as an addict looking for his newest fix and that he recalls the people had take over in the past, forming a rather odd collection of personality traits.  Yet, it is too short and cut off too quickly.  Frankly, I would have liked to have read more.  Or at the very least have the Parasite connected in some way to the plot of this issue, rather than disappear completely.

The rest of the book is dedicated to the Guardian and Superman with developments that build on what came before and sets up things to come.  Actually, the section with the Guardian feels more like a recap of events than anything else (perhaps this is the first issues of the eventual trade paperback?) but it does explain the Guardian’s role during the attack on New Krypton and lays the framework for the future.  The biggest (and perhaps most important) is the ending with Superman and Alura.  As the reader, we already knew that Alura and Zod were working together, but now Superman knows as well.  Again, this entire section is really just set-up since the issue ends with Superman learning the truth, but I liked the way the conversation plays out.

Now that I think about it, I’ve got to wonder why Alura wasn’t placed on the cover as the “Face of Evil”?  It would’ve been nice to get the story of New Krypton from her point of view, learning why she is doing what she is doing.  Maybe it is too early in the story to do that or maybe DC doesn’t view Alura as evil so much as misguided, but I think a story from her viewpoint could’ve satisfied the gimmick of “Faces of Evil,” and created a more cohesive story. 

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