In this review of Superman: Father of Tomorrow #2, Jor-El has helped the world for twenty years, but is it really any better off than it was before?
SUPERMAN: FATHER OF TOMORROW #2
Written by KENNY PORTER
Art and Main Cover: DANNY EARLS
Variant Covers: GABRIEL HARDMAN, CHRIS BURNHAM
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 6/24/26
This review contains spoilers
Superman: Father of Tomorrow #2 begins twenty years since Jor-El’s introduction as Superman in Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1. With the help of Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, Jor-El is fighting villains and trying to make the world a safer, better place.
He’s been able to share Kryptonian technology to improve medical equipment, schools, and transportation, but some of it has been reverse engineered to make weapons. When Lex reveals that he’s developed a nonlethal controller chip weapon, Jor-El tells him Kryptonian tech shouldn’t be used to make weapons of any kind.
A short time later, Lex brings up the idea again and Jor-El becomes agitated, but he’s interrupted by an explosion in the distance due to Parasite’s escape from General Lane’s Stormwatch facility.
After a brief battle, Superman is able to defeat Parasite and discovers one of Lex’s controller chips implanted in Parasite’s head. Lex sold the technology to Lane without Superman knowing. Now angry, Jor-El bans Lex from the Fortress labs. As Lex walks away, he vows to kill Jor-El.
As Superman: Father of Tomorrow #2 closes, Lex is in a London bar talking to John Constantine, looking to make some sort of deal with the magician because Lex knows Jor-El can be hurt by magic.
Analysis
I know time jumps can be annoying for some readers, but with the shorter series nature of this title, it works. Kenny Porter gave us the setup in the first issue and now we get to see the payoff of Superman’s promise to help. It also works nicely because Lois and Lex are now adults and play a more central role in the story.
While this is an Elseworlds story, Porter keeps things somewhat familiar by having Lex take a major villain turn in the latter pages of the story. While this is interesting, what I like the most is Porter’s exploration of fear being the key to humanity’s problems.
Jor-El has done so much good in two decades to fix the world’s issues, but he realizes that he hasn’t done enough. Lois even brings up the fact that humans can’t be stopped from wanting to fight each other. I think Porter sums it up well, though, by saying that we fight because we’re afraid. We fear things like not having enough money, food, or even love and that drives us to fight. There’s a whole “natural selection” and “survival of the fittest” component to this, but what would happen if we didn’t have to worry about not having enough? That’s what Porter touches upon in this issue and it’s certainly as fitting today as at any other point in time.
Danny Earls and Nick Filardi once again turn in some top notch artwork. Facial features are expressive, action sequences are full of energy, and the colors make the illustrations stand out clearly. There’s a variety of great panels including early on when Superman stops Silver Banshee and her gang, later when he fights Parasite, and right at the end with the final-page reveal of Constantine.
Final Thoughts
Superman: Father of Tomorrow #2 digs deeper into betrayal and fear. While we’re dealing with familiar characters, there’s some good development of these versions, helping to advance the story. Have fun, comic lovers!
