REVIEW: My Adventures With Superman #3

Season 2 may have wrapped up, but there’s still plenty going on in the pages of My Adventures With Superman to keep anyone wanting more entertained. Amazo is in Lois and Jimmy’s hands, but Clark is in the hands of Team Seven and Robert DuBois. The quest to keep Amazo’s rescue as low-key as possible continues, but with Team Seven and more after him, how long could Superman keep it up?

Superman under arrest or in handcuffs as an image has worked its way into popular culture through both pages and screen and TV series artist Li Cree gives it the full My Adventures With Superman treatment with Robert DuBois as his jailer. Lois and Jimmy are never far behind their friend in this universe. It’s great having an artist from the TV series as a cover illustrator, it further adds to the canonization of the comics.

One of the things that make My Adventures With Superman unique is the inspiration from anime and manga. Jahnoy Lindsay more than pays homage to that with his variant cover. Superman is all about power and so are several of the protagonists of manga, and it wouldn’t be a manga without a power-up shot. It also connects nicely to Superman’s unique powerset seen in the series. Lindsay had done Western Superman art justice in Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow – it turns out he can nail Eastern-inspired Superman art too.

In tradition with these variants, Warner Bros. Animation continues to use the character design sheets as cover. This does make it feel like a cool behind-the-scenes collectible. This month’s character is Flamebird, himself, Jimmy.

For aiding in Amazo’s escape, Clark has been arrested by Team Seven – the recently revealed rival agency to Task Force X. Robert DuBois, Bloodsport as we all know him, fortunately, hasn’t got a clue that Clark is Superman –just an accomplice. It gets better too; Clark can freely run to and from Stryker’s Island at lightspeeds to talk to Lois and Jimmy who are trying to figure out where Amazo would be safe.

While Clark maintains his prisoner act for Team Seven, Lois and Jimmy plan to get Amazo to the abandoned Cadmus lab – this was where they met Monsieur Mallah and the Brain in season one. It would be an easy mission getting from point A to point B, but Bloodsport and Team Seven are making their move to beat Task Force X to the punch. And this is all happening just as Ma and Pa Kent arrive in Metropolis for the holidays.

The cover would have you believe that this is a Superman-in-prison part of the story – it is and isn’t with how not two pages later he is back with Lois and Jimmy before returning. The lightheartedness continues as our thoughts of Amazo being a feeling and sentient being are confirmed, and humans did not make him that way. He’s also officially given his name, too. The main event is a Superman and Bloodsport confrontation on the Metropolis Bay Bridge. Campbell gives Team Seven their shot at both Superman and Clark Kent. Honestly, it feels like he’s toying with them. But how long will that last? Letters are by Lucas Gattoni.

Pablo Collar’s art here feels animated with how much the characters are given reaction shots much like in the show, especially with his use of manga-inspired backgrounds and icons used like onomatopoeias for when characters emote. The first half of the issue is the wind up while the second half on the bridge is the action pay-off. I’ve written it once and I’ll write it again, James Gunn revolutionized the abilities and appearance of Bloodsport while staying true to the original iteration’s roots. This version is no exception to his influence. The collar focuses more on the damage and peril of the action, as it is on a bridge, meaning we get Superman in saving rather than fighting mode. Colors are done by Nick Filardi.

(8/10) After season two took us to the furthest reaches of space, My Adventures With Superman #3 continues our heroes’ down-to-earth adventure of tangling with rival government agencies and quest to free Amazo from their clutches. Good thing nothing happens on bridges in superhero stories, right?