REVIEW: Superman #19

Superman #19 brings us the reveal of Lois Lane returning as her version of Superwoman set the internet abuzz for the next big arc in Superman after Absolute Power. Not only that, but two of the most powerful adversaries Superman has ever encountered also return in this continuing era of the Man of Steel.

With the World’s Finest All-Star artist Dan Mora now on the series as a regular artist, we’re going to be getting some pretty great covers. By now with World’s Finest, we’ve seen Superman from Mora several times over. But there are some subtle differences like the belt and emblem that make this design slightly different from the World’s Finest one. The DC All-In stamp also makes its first appearance on a Superman cover.

Chris Samnee with colors by David Baron gives us a Darwyn Cooke-inspired variant. A bright yellow Superman cover can only mean that the sun is up. The white doves are also something that makes regular appearances on modern-day Superman covers.

Kelley Jones gives us this year’s Trick-or-Treat variant cover with Halloween right around the corner. The cover actually feels like a children’s Halloween picture book starring a young Clark going Trick-or-Treating around Smallville as his future hero self. The simple art style is what makes it so charming and little Superman is adorable with his candy haul.

Several other great variants are available from Simone Di Meo, Carla Cohen, Daniel Sampere, Ben Oliver, and Nathan Szerdy.

Flying out (literally) of the events of Absolute Power, Lois is donning the mantle of Superwoman yet again in Superman #19, whether this will be a long-lasting change has yet to be determined. But in the meantime, she is going everywhere with Clark – to work, to save the day, and then back home. Mercy is still working at SuperCorp and assists with any ongoing threats Superman may face without him having to go back to the Fortress. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor continues to have memory loss after House of Brainiac. The good news is he doesn’t think too highly of the man he once was.

After thwarting an attack by Atomic Skull, Clark and Lois are faced with Doomsday who had just escaped Hell after evolving beyond its torture and taking over the place as seen in his Action Comics Special. Lois remembers Clark’s first fight with him as if it were the previous day and is itching to punch him in the face, but all is stopped by the return of Time Trapper – a villain whose identity changes as some sort of living timeline.

Joshua Williamson stays on the series as writer, continuing the changing world of Superman we now see before us. SuperCorp is an interesting spin on what if Superman had billionaire resources, Pharm and Graft were cool original villains to play into Lex’s origin story, and now Lois is Superwoman. While these changes may or may not be likely in the long term, it’s cool to watch them unfold especially in mainline DC.  So far, Time Trapper may be the most compelling villain in the series because of what he tells Superman about the grand scheme of his life alone. With him in play, this Doomsday battle may also not be the traditional type. No matter how many times it happens, it’s always surreal seeing Lois with powers of any kind. Her motivation as a hero isn’t too different from her motivation as a reporter. Letters are done by Ariana Maher.

From the top floor of the Daily Planet to the streets of Metropolis, Dan Mora and colourist Alejandro Sanchez keeps up the same pace of action panels as he did in World’s Finest. There’s also a little reference to World’s Finest with a Daily Planet employee (who does appear to resemble Mora) wearing a Batman-Superman fusion emblem shirt. Of course, there’s also that awesome Death of Superman panel – absolutely timeless. Doomsday also hasn’t looked this fierce since The New 52, years in Hell will do that to anyone.

(9/10) Superman #19 is the kick this series needed with a Superfamily focus much like on Action Comics and House of Brainiac and is already more exciting than the previous arcs, though they all had their qualities. It also kind of feels like a 90s Dan Jurgens story with the return of Doomsday and inclusion of a time traveling figure that deals with Superman’s future.