REVIEW: Superman: Lost #4
Superman: Lost #4, “The Edge of Forever”, depicts Superman more like we’ve come to expect, doing what’s right because it’s the right thing to do. There’s another small time jump but it helps remind Clark who he is and what he does; help those that need it.
Superman: Lost #4, “The Edge of Forever”, depicts Superman more like we’ve come to expect, doing what’s right because it’s the right thing to do. There’s another small time jump but it helps remind Clark who he is and what he does; help those that need it.
Before we get into the details, let’s look at the three amazing covers accompanying this issue. The main cover is by Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Elmer Santos. Encased in a chunk of space ice, Superman almost looks like he’s piloting a crystal spacecraft. The image invokes the journey Kal-El took from Krypton to Earth. A helpless passenger with no idea where the ship he’s on is taking him, it’s a great cover to convey how lost and hopeless Superman seems to be in this series.
Lee Weeks and Elizabeth Breitweiser’s variant visits Clark’s childhood bedroom and the cape his mother made. The iconic cape plays a pivotal role in reminding Clark of his calling as Superman and this piece takes us back to the beginning with the old school feel of their line work. There’s almost a sense of disappointment or regret in Clark’s face as he holds his first cape, as if he’s lost sight of his own symbol of hope.
The variant by Rafael Sarmento has Clark displaying his new white suit he’s had for this series. Seemingly taking fashion advice from Apollo, Superman is depicted larger than life and basking in the rays of a yellow star. The lost theme of this series plays out in various ways and the white suit, void of the colorful reds and blues, seems to be another metaphor in that vein. Even Clark’s face looks more alien as he looks on expressionless.
Carlo Pagulayan, with inker Jason Paz and colorist Jeromy Cox continue their exceptional work for the interior art. The way they flow the visuals through different points in time feels like we’re watching someone’s memory play out connected events. The disjointed nature of how the story unfolds could easily lose the readers, but their ability to shift through different times somehow makes it feel more linear. The inspiration of actual deep space imagery to add colors to the otherwise darkness of space is refreshing as well as visually pleasing.
Scripted by Christopher Priest, co-plotted with Carlo Pagulayan, and lettered by Willie Schubert, Superman: Lost #4 takes us back to the dubbed planet Kansas. t’s now been five years since Clark was transported by the singularity that threatened Earth and he’s decided to follow the first rule of getting lost; staying in one place to make it easier to be found. Unlike most time jumps, we’re actually given the accounts of what happened after last issue to bring us up to speed.
There are more great visuals as Clark rides a comet in search of his missing gear. Taking time to actually reflect on his current situation, Clark reflects on the moment Martha presented his cape and realizes he hasn’t been acting much like Superman over the past few years in space. He then decides to go back to “Kansas” and get used to the idea of never seeing Earth again. Not really welcomed by either peoples of “Kansas”, Clark does what he can to help while being seen as little as possible. That is until he discovers a plot that endangers the lives of the lower caste of inhabitants.
Here he runs back into the salvagers that brought him to “Kansas” in the first place and pleads with them to relocate the citizens before scavenging the surface. Reaching an impasse with the non-charitable nature of the salvagers, it appears Clark may get some assistance from this sector’s Green Lantern. Putting himself on the line for people that don’t care if he helps them or not feels more like what Superman would do regardless of his desperation to get back to Earth.
Superman may be lost in regards to getting home but that doesn’t mean he has to lose himself along the way. There’s still plenty of years to fill before his return to Earth and the toll of space travel is still affecting him, but at least in this issue we get to see Superman act more himself as a hopeful reminder that adversity doesn’t need to define our actions in a negative way.
