REVIEW: Superman #34
Superman #34, “I, Superman”, continues the DC K.O. side story of Lois and Superboy Prime. We also get a little background into the creation of the Superman Robots as they haven’t really been utilized in over a decade. The Legion of Darkseid continues to terrorize our heroes, but they’ve apparently ran Prime out of patience.
The standard cover is by fan favorite artist Dan Mora. Tieing directly into the events of DC K.O., Mora gives us a snapshot of how that tournament is panning out for Clark and Lex. If you’ve been following along with the event, you’ll know Superman and Lex have been at odds the entire time, so the image of them back-to-back is definitely misleading. However, they are both dedicated to defeating Darkseid, so the idea of the cover still works.
KyuYong Eom’s variant gives a great take on the classic Lois Lane Intrepid Reporter look. The background putting her at the heart of the action, she carries her notebook decked out in a Superman logo, wearing a trench coat and scuffed up leggings. It really shows how a part of the situation she makes herself no matter how dangerous things may be.
The variant by Rod Reiss is a fun piece with Superman turning a wall into rubble. Reiss put some visual indication of Clark’s fist wrappings from the DC K.O. event making it a more relevant variant than others. The blurred motion effect really brings this piece to life where you can easily imagine the concussive force behind his punch.
Other great variants are by Ariel Olivertti, Mario “Fox” Foccillo & Prasad “Pressy” Rao, and a Punk Rock variant by Dave Johnson.
Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira are colored by Alejandro Sánchez to make up the interior art team. This group has been working on Superman books for years now and their art seems to get better every issue. Their layouts for ‘Superman #34’ are especially dynamic adding to the sense of urgency in Lois and Prime’s mission to get information to Time Trapper. There’s a real feeling of desperation as the Superman Robot keeps getting side tracked into helping where and when it can giving emotional weight to the entire crossover. The last page also ramps up the tension as it promises next issue to be extremely action packed.
Joshua Williamson, lettered by Ariana Maher, does an excellent job utilizing Superboy Prime within this story arc. There’s a real sense of growth within the character just inside these last few issues that makes his involvement feel less gimmicky and actually relevant. He has several lines that indicate how much therapeutic work he’s already done and scenes that showcase his commitment to remaining heroic. He might not always get it right, but he’s willing to take direction which is a far cry from previous portrayals of the character. That being said, the brash, arrangement, and flippant attitude he’s known and loved for is still fully intact which makes this the best version of Superboy Prime we’ve probably ever seen. Williamson also does a great job recapping the events that took place in The Watchtower during the 1v1 issues of DC K.O. With the Legion of Darkseid’s relentless pursuit of Prime and Lois, it seems Time Trapper’s fears of already losing is warranted. However, Prime declares he’s been holding back for fear of relapsing into the villain he had become but the Legion may need to see what happens if he cuts himself loose. Next issue is sure to be as epically charged as any battle of the main DC K.O. event.
(9/10) Even with ‘Superman #34’ being a tie-in to a crossover event, this story has plenty of stand alone moments that don’t require reading said crossover. That being the case, it also heightens the DC K.O. event if you are reading it and both these truths are extremely hard to pull off. This creative team not only pulls it off, they pull it off well.
