In this review of Superman #23, Superman tries to save Metropolis from the destruction of Radiant’s battle with Doomsday.
Superman #23
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Art and Main Cover: Dan Mora
Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez
Variant Covers: Guillem March, Nathan Szerdy, Dave Johnson, Dan Panosian
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: February 26, 2024
This comic book review contains spoilers
The Story
Following up from last issue, Superman, Superwoman & co. are fighting Radiant and his alien armada who are trying to destroy Doomsday at all costs. The doomsday version of timetrapper freezes time right before radiant’s explosion to offer Superwoman (Lois Lane) a deal. He will show her her future, including the means of her death, in exchange for her help. She refuses so he unfreezes time causing the giant explosion that hits Jimmy Olsen.
Lex Luthor tells Superwoman to get Doomsday and Radiant in the sky and he blasts them with a shrink ray which contains them in a little glass case like the city of Kandor. Mercy speculates what might happen if Doomsday dies from the effects and is resurrected with greater powers and Superman agrees that it was a mistake. Luther insists that they didn’t have a choice before Lana comes to them with news of Jimmy’s injury.
Superman #23 comes to an end after Clark visits Jimmy in the hospital, Silver Banshee tells him and Lois that she holds them responsible for what happened. Meanwhile in space, one of General Zod’s advisors informs him that he has become powerless so Zod kills him. Finally, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl confront Time Trapper at the end of time.
Analysis
There is so much going on in this run, it’s hard to care much about any of it. Joshua Williamson seems to just be overflowing with ideas and instead of focusing on any one concept, he’s decided to try and cram them all in one run. We’ve got Lex Luthor dealing with amnesia and feelings for Mercy, Time Trapper’s shenanigans, Lois becoming Superwoman and dealing with her powers, Jimmy dating Silver Banshee, Lana working with Supercrop, Superman’s losing control of his powers, Zod’s arrival, Doomsday, Radiant, and more. It’s nearly impossible to keep track of it let alone remain invested in it all on a month to month basis.
Williamson tries to balance all these elements to the extent that he can, but the sheer number of characters and motivations leads the first half of the issue to be a convoluted mess. We’re thrown immediately into this conflict with Superman fighting to suppress his rage and Radiant setting off an explosion to kill Doomsday without even the help of an explanatory blurb. The rest of Superman #23 serves only to set up more characters and storylines rather than deal with the great number that we are already following. Now we have Zod coming to the Earth’s yellow sun and the Legion of Superheroes getting mixed in with the time trapper storyline which has become less of a storyline and more of an extended tease. And I, for one, am really getting sick of it.
Dan Mora does his best to layout the absurdly complex battle dynamics of the opening Metropolis fight but unfortunately the pages can’t help but be busy and chaotic with how many different figures and parties are involved. The staging of Lex’s introduction is oddly executed as we’re never clearly shown where he is in relation to the action. Additionally, while showing Jimmy’s camera crash to the ground is a cool idea, it’s misleading as I initially read that as him being incinerated by the explosion. It turns out he was mostly hurt in his… hands? Were they just trying to contrive a way for him to lose his primary skill of photography? But Alejandro Sánchez’s colors are poppy and appealing. I like Lex’s giant green beam and the darkly lit hospital scene.
Final Thoughts
There are roughly ten thousand plot lines going on in this book right now. Superman #23 is no different. The creative team needs to streamline the plot asap before the book becomes completely incomprehensible.
