REVIEW: Superman #33
Superman #33 continues the DC K.O. All Fight Month with Round Seven: Lex Luthor Vs. The Demon and begs the question, “Does Lex Luthor Have A Soul?”. As with all these 1v1 stories, the issue wastes no time getting into the action along with unexpected twists and turns. It’s not all a Lex on Eteigan fightfest however, as Lois and Superboy Prime continue their quest to contact Superman with vital information.
The standard cover is by Hayden Sherman and Mike Spicer. Lex and Etrigan go blow for blow as each lands a powerful punch on the other. The rumble around them indicates their fight is a messy one and accurately teases what takes place inside the issue.
Tula Lotay’s variant is a cool noir style take on Mercy Graves. Dressed in her chauffeur’s outfit, Lotay depicts Mercy in black & white standing in front of a red LexCorp sign. The rainy effects really adds to the noir aesthetic making it an awesome cover.
The variant by David Aja feels like it could be an homage to World War II images of bomber plane art. Lex is riding a dropped warhead in his old school villain suit. It’s a great cover showcasing just how far Lex will go to see his plans through.
Hayden Sherman and Colorist Alejandro Sánchez handle the interior art. Their work is simply spectacular this issue. Pulling from multiple eras of comics, we get a visual smorgasbord of costumes with each round, as to be expected from this stage of DC K.O. The major difference is the change in tactics from both Lex and Etrigan depending on the era their outfits derive. The changes in battle could’ve easily faltered the pacing, but instead it keeps escalating thanks to this art team. Apart from character design, the panel work is also worth mentioning. Ever so often we get a book where the page itself is a major contributor to the visuals, and this is such an issue.
Joshua Williamson, lettered by Ariana Maher, does what he does best by tapping into DC lore to orchestrate this matchup in ‘Superman’ #33. At first glance this fight feels very one sided as Etrigan is literally a demon from Hell, but Williamson does a splendid job reminding us why Lex is Superman’s most well known adversary. The final victory was cleverly handled and feels well earned. Meanwhile Lois and Prime get a plan in place to get the Fortress information Lois discovered to Time Trapper, not knowing the Watchtower is under siege. Could they be heading into a situation/trap that would disrupt the direction of DC K.O. or will the end up being an unsuspecting cavalry? We have to wait until next issue to find out.
(9/10) This issue is crazy fun for an all out death match story. Williamson of course, adds depth to the conflict keeping it from feeling too gratuitous or cliched. It also still feels relevant to the overall plot of the series even without Clark making an appearance.
