REVIEW: Superman: Lost #1

Superman: Lost #1, “Blink” launches a brand new 10-part miniseries that puts The Man of Steel through a temporal space odyssey. This first issue sets the scene for the journey we’re about to partake and expertly leaves you craving more. The covers are fantastic as well, so let’s take a look at them first.

The standard cover is by Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Elmer Santos. A simple yet elegant image of Superman adrift in the vastness of space. Taking a more true-to-life approach, their space scene is bright and full of colours. If not for the stark red of Superman’s cape, he’d almost completely blend into his surroundings. It’s a great cover to convey how different this story will be from other Superman in space tales. It’s also getting the foil variant treatment which will no doubt be spectacular.

The variant by Joe Quesada, Kevin Nowlan and Richard Isonave gives us our first look at Superman’s new suit for this series. Dressed all in white, except for his trademark red cape, Clark and Lois share a moment high above Earth. Feeling like a reunion scene, this is another appropriate first issue cover as the story begins at its ending. As if they’re playing with the theme of the new white suit, there’s also a black and white variant available.

Lee Week’s variant is a painted bust of Superman in front of an unfamiliar celestial background. The contrast of light and dark play well to show Superman being divided between two worlds. There’s a sense of both sadness and determination on Superman’s face that also adds to the theme of duality of this piece.   

Artist Carlo Pagulayan with Jason Paz on inks and colourist Jeromy Cox make up the interior art team.  Together they create a classic look to all the characters involved for instant recognition. The body language of everyone is easily readable making the emotional weight of the story all the more present.  The level of detailed attention to the environments makes the backgrounds feel like sets of a live action show instead of works of art. The last page, however, teases how much of a sci-fi tale the story is and I can’t wait to see what visuals are in store for us.

Written by Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan with letterer Willie Schubert, Superman Lost #1 starts out fairly unassuming. A typical day for Lois and Clark as they try to unravel a story of political intrigue.  Seeing Lois and Clark interact as a couple, as well as investigative reporters, is always refreshing.  Continuing with the unassuming day-in-the-life theme, Clark is soon called upon a Justice League level emergency. From there, the story takes its turn and a few hours later, Clark is standing somewhat stunned in their living room. Once Lois gets his attention, he confesses to have been gone twenty years. Almost on que, Bruce Wayne enters the story and the tale of Superman’s time displaced journey truly begins. 

This issue mainly serves as contextual reference for the story Clark is about to tell but Priest and Pagulayan frame it in a captivating way. Having Clark return moments after his departure is an interesting way to begin as we already know how the story ends, but it also means the stakes of his actions throughout his odyssey could have lasting consequences. Although there’s been many space adventures involving Superman, the uneasiness in Clark’s demeanor suggests this story will be something unlike we’ve experienced before.