REVIEW: My Adventures With Superman #5
Amazo and Superman’s high-tech battle with Bloodsport is far from over when you thought it might be in My Adventures With Superman #5. However, that is not the focus of this issue. We’ve heard several stories all throughout time about humans trying to escape their fate and past. With the advent of science fiction, stories about machines trying to escape their fate and past have become the new test of hubris. This story is no exception.
DC has debuted its new comic book label, going back to the classic stamp seen from the 90s and mid-2000s. It looks like the studios weren’t the only division using it. TV series art team member Li Cree gives us a dramatic cover of Amazo and Superman as if they are facing off, but that is anything but the truth.
The only variant for this issue is another Dragon Ball homage to the late Akira Toriyama by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz. Fans have really been loving these variants and this one is perfect to coincide with this month’s premiere of Dragon Ball Daima, which Toriyama had written before his passing this year. Lopez Ortiz does a great job of giving an already manga-inspired take on Superman a total manga makeover.
Amazo isn’t knocked out so easily from what was meant to be a killing blow by Bloodsport the last time we saw him. It’s a little unclear what happened next, but it seemed like his core overloaded and created some sort of temporal field wherein his memories before landing on Earth are being played. The fact that he broke out into the Kryptonian native language before doing so is already very telling of his origin. And, as we know, the Kryptonians in this universe weren’t exactly the benevolent science-driven species they’re often portrayed as. Bloodsport is also trapped in the field and is only using progressively stronger weapons with the intention of both beating Amazo and Task Force X. Amazo will have to make a big decision that will determine what kind of machine he will be.
At the same time, Lois and Jimmy must fend off Task Force X forces using Cadmus’ defenses and keep Ma and Pa Kent safe. It’s the loveable human cast that this story needs and this iteration of Jonathan and Martha are really a soft, sweet old couple. There’s also something much spryer about this Lois and Jimmy that makes them so endearing here and in the show. Josie Campbell gives us an origin story for Amazo here, inspired by stories like the Iron Giant. While the fight with Bloodsport could’ve easily been ended in this issue, Campbell instead ties it into Amazo’s reflection on his origin and purpose. It also ties into stuff that was implied in season 2 concerning Krypton and actually confirms them. The theme of something not wanting to give into its inherent evil is nothing new to the My Adventures With Superman series at all. Someone always seems to be going through it, whether it’s Clark, Kara, or Amazo. Letters are by Lucas Gattoni.
You bet that all that exposition is told in images and not just text bubbles over reaction shots thanks to Pablo M. Collar. Superman’s unique power presentations in these iterations transfer over to the page nicely –it had to be inspired by Superman Blue. The cosmic flashback scenes for Amazo are anything but calm even in the dark void of space. There’s also plenty of super weapon destruction to go around as Task Force X brings out the big guns on Cadmus and Team 6 prepares one of their own. Colors are done by Nick Filardi.
(8/10) If you like stories like The Iron Giant, then you’re going to love My Adventures With Superman #5. It’s that pivotal chapter in those tales about machines trying to escape their fates the way humans do. As Hogarth Hughes said, “You don’t have to be a gun, you choose”.
