Superman #672
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Peter Vale & Jesus Merino
Cover by Vale
It's Superman versus the all-new Insect Queen on the Moon, for the life of Lana Lang. Meanwhile, Lana (on the Moon) makes a startling discovery that could transform LexCorp's future. And back in Metropolis (sadly, not the Moon), Chris Kent's power problems build to an explosive payoff. Superman
On Sale January 9, 2008
SERIOUS TROUBLE
Review by Matt Rape
Chris Kent has contracted what seems to be a common cold. Lois calls in a nanny to watch after Chris as she heads out for the day to work. She attempts to contact her husband, Superman, but he happens to be in the outer reaches of space and not within range of her voice. Superman is on a course to the moon to find the now abducted Lana Lang. The dreaded Insect Queen has Lana trapped deep within her secret moon colony and worst of all, the Queen has not only taken on her general appearance but the structure of Lana's DNA and memories. To make matters worse, Lex Luthor has been in contact with the Queen for some time now, hoping to from a bond with the Queen and her colony of insect people.
Luthor, up to his old tricks, betrays the Queen and she now focused on finding his whereabouts with help from Lana Lang. If Lana is unable to help the Queen find Luthor in her desired amount of time, she will become nothing more than protein to the high lady and her people.Superman begins his search near a baseball target that was placed on the moon. This target was placed there weeks ago when Superman had attempted to knock a baseball from the field to the target on the moon, for charity. Eventually The Man of Steel stumbles upon the great insect moon colony. He's attacked by a few of the lackey insect moon creatures and tosses them into the depths of space, but not out of the moons gravitational pull, mind you.
We are now treated with inner thoughts from Lana that are displayed as notepads from her personal desk notebook, but marked out to state that these words are actually from her mind. She cuts her way out of her slimy cocoon prison because the bug guards have conveniently stopped paying attention to her. Superman finally makes his way through the nest and to his astonishment sees a working hive full of insects and layers of eggs.Lana takes down the insect guards with the newly acquired moon powers with no idea of how they were acquired, but shrugs them off as if they were an old memory. She begins to escape through the cocoon shaft only to be subdued by other humans living inside of the hive. Lana's mystery humans turn out to be workers from LexCorp were trapped there while working on Lex’s project. Some of their buddies were turned into insects as well after the already dwelling bugs injected serum into their throats. Meanwhile, Superman confronts the queen and demands that she give Lana back immediately.
Back on Earth, Lois is interrupted at The Planet by a call from the Nanny, saying Chris was feeling worse than before. She darts out of the office, mistakenly calling a very visibly dark headed photographer Jimmy. Her son’s sudden illness has her that confused.Meanwhile back on the moon, Superman battles a million insects. The Insect Queen begins to have strange emotions towards the Man of Steel, almost as if she loves him. This is the DNA and make up from Lana's body residing within her now calling the shots.Back to Earth where Lois quickly dismisses Nanny. She checks on Chris to find that his anti super being watch has cause his arm to grow like the Incredible Hulk and also glow vibrant neon red. She removes the watch and his body explodes into a violent glowing red light until it eventually explodes and destroys the upper half of the Kent's apartment. Mean while back on the moon, The Insect Queen sticks a giant wooden steak from her mouth into Superman’s neck.
Story:
Okay. Is this what I will be treated to with Superman for the coming months? I sure hope not. My first problem sits with the Insect Queen. She steals the likeness of Lana Lang but also has her heartbeat pattern as well as her attractions to Clark still embedded within? Also, each time she uses an "s" in her words its emphasized with a "z" instead. This becomes very annoying and just unnecessary after the first page. It’s really that bad. Sure, I understand that you want her to talk as a real life evil Insect Queen, but we really don't need all the "z"'s thrown in there. I have a problem with her constantly calling Lex Luthor, simply THE LUTHOR. Like he’s a professional wrestler now, coming down the aisle with his championship belt around his waist.
I understand that Superman is a good guy. He has upstanding morals and knows where he stands when he makes a decision. This is the reason why Superman has been my favorite character since the tender age of three. What I don't understand is why his dialogue is so bad in this issue, that it seems like I wrote this comic when I was three years old.I quote actual words from Superman’s mouth in this issue "To begin with, I've come for Lana Lang. Tell me where she is. And she'd better be all right, or you're going to be in serious trouble." Serious trouble. SERIOUS TROUBLE?? Even young children today have a better grasp at the English language than this. Come on Supes, where’s that Kryptonian spirit when we really need it?I don't even want to begin on Chris's "Red Sun" watch and the fact that his arm grew bigger than Superman’s thigh, then turned a glowing red, only to explode seconds later.
I really have no idea where this story is headed, and haven't since Busiek started way back at the beginning of the Camelot Falls arc. I apologize to Mr. Busiek, I don't know if he’s just in a bad position right now, and is being thrown this stories to write, but this stuff is really bad. It just misses on so many levels. If they're trying to go for the more silver age Superman, then they are missing terribly. Those stories were fun, and enjoyable. These stories are atrocious and almost unbearable to read. I almost put the issue down after Superman’s "Serious Trouble" remark.
Art:
The art isn't so bad. It’s not really anything that jumps out and grabs your attention either. Certain expressions on Superman’s face are awkward at times, but overall it’s tolerable. Lana is drawn nicely, she reminds me a bit of the older stuff from the 90's. I grew up with that art so I am drawn to it whenever I see any similarities.
Cover Art:
This is the best part of the issue. It steps out and makes you say, "Hey, why is Superman tangled up in that web?" It’s not because he was battered at the box office by that other red and blue wearing hero. The cover reminded me very much of some old issues I have collecting dust in a drawer and really peaked my interest as to what was happening on the pages. Too bad it didn't deliver. If you want to read really well written Superman stories in current circulation, pick up All Star Superman. This is some of the best Superman stuff we've seen in years. Also Action Comics is going along quite well right now with some good Legion action. Both titles are perfect examples of what classic silver age Superman stories brought into modern times should be.
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