REVIEW: Superman #27
Superman #27, ‘Superman Red: Part Two’ addresses a few dangling story threads before teasing what’s to come. That’s not to say these story bits wrap up, but merely progress for further developments. There’s plenty to unpack this issue so let’s dive in.
The standard cover is by Dan Mora. Cradling what appears to be an injured Lois, the visages of Luthor centric villains tower behind Superman. Mora’s art is superb as always, but it’s curious how Lex’s face is washed in green while the other four are in red. Is it a reference to kryptonite or is Lex’s change of heart a more earnest condition than expected?
Jerry Ordway and Hi-Fi gives us the ‘Superman’ movie variant this issue. A great rendition of David Corenswet’s Superman and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane coming in for a landing after an afternoon flight. It’s always great to see legends return to Superman even if it’s just for a cover.
Speaking of legends, a special Legacy variant is brought to us by George Pérez and Trish Mulvihill. Simply a classic take on Superman by one of the most talented artists to have ever been in the business. Even though Pérez can’t be with us any longer his creative legacy will immortalize him forever.
There’s a lot of great variants this issue. Keep your eyes peeled for covers by Derrick Chew, Guillem March, Ariel Colón, Marc Aspinall, and the DC Pride variant by Rachael Stott.
Artists Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Sean Izaaske, with Colorist Alejandro Sánchez are the interior art team. This group of artists have been absolutely fantastic these last few issues, and this one is no exception. There’s plenty of action, emotion, and splash pages as several storylines converge for satisfying resolutions. One of the overall highlights of this entire series has been how great the art has been since page one and that is still holding true.
Joshua Williamson, lettered by Ariana Maher, packs a lot into Superman #27 and manages to keep it all relevant and connected. Dealing with several incidents that have occurred over the life of the series could easily fall into the realm of lazy writing to wrap them all, but that’s not what Williamson delivers. Instead he brilliantly ties it all together while keeping story beats open enough to revisit in the future. He even allows Clark and Lois a tender moment to catch their breath before the prologue of the epic storyline to come. There’s definitely exciting times ahead of us as The Summer of Superman continues.
(9/10) There’s really not a lot to critique in ‘Superman #27‘ except a small nod to how fast world elements reset by the end. However, even Williamson has Lois give a meta acknowledgement to these events and that manages to keep it from being a glaring trope. In all seriousness, if you’ve been reading this series in any capacity, this is not an issue to miss.
