Superman: New Krypton Special

Writers- Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Sterling Gates

Artists- Gary Frank (Penciler) and Jon Sibal (Inks), Renato Guedes(P) and Wilson Magalháes(I), and Pete Woods (P/I)

Let me start by saying I hate specials and crossovers. I do not like to buy other books when crossovers happen for a myriad of reasons, but the big two being story and cost. Typically, when you read issue “A” of one series and the next part in book “B”, you loose something in translation as the two writers attempt to make the story cohesive and work. Not only that, but “Special” usually means a book that costs more and includes reprints or some kind of supplemental material (which is in reality padding any way you slice it), it’s usually a lose-lose situation.

“Superman: New Krypton Special” is both the end of the previous “Braniac” arc and the beginning of the New Krypton story. The book comes in at a stunning 40 pages of story (48 pages, do the math on the ads yourself) for an extra buck ($3.99). The story tells what is both the worst time and the best time in the life of Clark Kent, his father recently deceased (John Kent) and his “Kryptonian” family (Aunt and Uncle) arriving with 999,998 (that’s 1,000,000 all together) other Kryptonians. Unfortunately, these Kryptonians didn’t have the benefit of being raised by a kindly Kansas couple and see humanity as lesser beings.

Geoff Johns, James Robinson, and Sterling Gates all manage to mesh together in one cohesive story (their books being Action Comics, Superman, and Supergirl respectively). On the same note, not so much on the artists ends (through no fault of their own). The art of Gary Frank (of Action Comics) tells the story of the funeral of Clark’s father, and why Jonathan Kent was so important in whom Clark is. In an inner thoughts moment that is emotionally chilling, Johns and Frank tells us why it’s important that Superman not “act” the way we would want to given the circumstances, and what would happen should Superman drop what some perceive as a dated morality. Additionally, Frank manages to capture the essence of Christopher Reeves in appearance and mannerisms in both his renderings of Clark and Superman.

The art of Renato Guedes and Pete Woods seems to mesh pretty well in a drastic departure from Frank’s work. It doesn’t interrupt the flow of the story so much, but is a bit jarring to adjust to. The two artists manage to tie the story together with their respective writers. For the first time, I actually admit to myself that I want to read the three individual Super-books, and not for the crossover (New Krypton runs through Action Comics, Superman, and Supergirl).