Superman #17 – Joshua Williamson, author; Jamal Campbell, artist
Ray – 9.5/10
Beam: Absolute power has sent the heroes of the DCU into a downward spiral, most notably Superman. Stripped of his powers and forced to fight his own son, who has been turned into a living weapon, Superman has fallen to the lowest point in a long time. And to complicate matters, he is now on a magical quest – and he is vulnerable to magic, as he discovered in a flashback to his Superman days when a punk villain named Kid Warlock brought magic to Smallville. Accompanied by Zatanna, the two heroes escape Waller’s minions and descend into the underworld in search of a mystical artifact that can take them to one of the few safe places in the world – the Oblivion Bar. There’s just one problem – the wizards left there are not the hero type and would rather kick out the troublemakers and drink their way to the end of the world.
The story of Superman and Zatanna dominates the issue, but there’s a great subplot involving the ragtag heroes of Metropolis. Lois Lane, wearing a new Lexcorp battle suit that could play into her upcoming superpowers, manages to save the day and get Jimmy, Siobahn, and the amnesiac Lex to safety. There are some hilarious scenes with Lex – now basically a normal and fairly good-natured man, confusing everyone around him. But back at the Oblivion Bar, it’s no fun affair, as Superman faces off against a magically gifted villain and proves he still has a fighting spirit – before issuing an ultimatum to the bar’s denizens, which is answered by one of the last faces I ever expected to see in the cliffhanger. Williamson is one of those writers who is clearly writing a love letter to the iconic DC comics of the ’90s, and this issue has another great twist in that direction.
Reviews of all DC issues can be found under “DC This Week”.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
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