DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERMAN:  SECRET ORIGIN #5

Book Five:  Strange Visitors

May 2010

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Gary Frank

Inks by Jon Sibal

Covers by Gary Frank

Synopsis

In Metropolis, Superman rescues people from a burning building.  Afterwards, he poses for pictures for Jimmy Olsen and then talks to Lois Lane about who might be responsible for starting the fire.  Elsewhere, Lex Luthor is upset at the attention Superman has been getting lately.  General Sam Lane offers to help Lex, providing Lex gives him weapons.  At the Daily Planet, John Corben tries once more to romance Lois.  She refuses his advances.  He reaches for her, but Clark Kent is there to stop him.  After Corben leaves, Lois agree to go to lunch with Clark.  Meanwhile, Lex shows General lane a Kryptonite-powere robot that will hurt Superman.  All they need is a pilot.  Corben volunteers.  Later, Superman responds to a potential fire, which was simply smoke set up by Lane to attract the Man of Steel’s attention.  Lane wants to know everything about Superman from his powers to his weaknesses.  Superman refuses and walks away.  Lane tells him if he continues he will be an enemy of the country.  Superman leaves.  Lane’s soldiers then attack, but the bullets have no effect.  Corben then attacks; the Kryptonite hurts Superman.  A bullet ricochets off Superman, hitting the Kryptonite and causing to explode.  Superman flies away, then flees to the sewers as Lane sends soldiers to the Daily Planet to shut it down. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was another fantastic issue, highlighted by the great characterization of all of the characters, from the main to the supporting players.  I loved the lunch date between Clark and Lois, which shows us a little bit of the bumbling Clark from the movies and the golden age but also a little bit of the confident Clark that emerged in the Byrne era.  At the same time it also shows Lois in full investigative mode, eyeing Clark, wondering exactly who he is.  The same is true of the Superman and Lane scene, which manages to further the plot but also provides insight into the characters.  You can sense Superman’s confusion about Lane’s motives while at the same time you can sense that Lois’ involvement with the alien bothers him more than he cares to admit.  Both is a great piece of deft writing, showing how well Johns knows these characters and how well that knowledge just makes this story so much better.  . 

In addition, this issue mixes the developing plot of Lex trying to defeat Superman while at the same time adding in more re-imaginings of the Superman origin.  There is nothing overbearing or clumsy about what Johns does.  He makes all of the plot points flow naturally from the story, building the Superman world based on the characters rather than the dictates of the plot.  He is not trying to force in characters or plots, but rather is letting the story and the characters dictate who needs to be involved and in what way. 

Having said that, the one thing that worries me is that Johns has settled into a story, dealing with the first attempts by Lex Luthor to find a way to defeat and remove Superman.  While it is a good story, it also doesn’t connect to the opening issues with Clark and the Legion and Superboy and Smallville.  You could almost skip the first two issues and it wouldn’t make much of a difference to the story that is currently being told now.  I am not saying the earlier stuff was bad or non-essential to the Superman mythos, but in telling a story you need to make sure that all parts of the plot are pertinent to the story, otherwise it is simply filler.  Right now, that is how the first couple of issues feel. 

Is it just me or does Lex make a rather big jump in his thinking when he assumes Kryptonite will harm Superman.  Kryptonite turned Rudy Jones into the Parasite, who then hurt Superman; therefore, it is the Kryptonite that will negate Superman’s powers?  It seems like a big jump.  Why wouldn’t it be the combination of the rock and Rudy?  It seems like there are too many variables for Lex to automatically assume it was the source. 

I like the new, revised origin of General Lane, but not for John Corben.  With Lane, his role in this story hints at the future role he will play in the current events playing out in the Superman titles right now.  But at the same time it doesn’t put him on the maniacal, shifty path he is one now.  Although you can easily see how he would get there.  On the other hand, I don’t like the fact that Corben is the faux-love interest for Lois and a surrogate son to General Lane.  It feels too much of a coincidence, too much of a connection, if you can understand it.  I like the fact that he is a soldier and I like the way he is portrayed here, but the other aspects push it far, in my opinion.

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