Comic Review: Superman: Last Son of Krypton

Published: October 8th, 2013
Written by: Geoff Johns, Richard Donner
Art by: Adam Kubert

DC Comics, 252 Pages

Review:

I wanted to read this because it was the first official comic book appearance of General Zod, the made-for-the-big-screen villain from the first two Superman movies by Richard Donner.

What makes this even cooler is that Donner worked on this story with Geoff Johns.

This collection is actually two separate stories. However, they both feature Zod with the first one being primarily about the character and his introduction into DC Comics canon. The second story primarily features Brainiac as the antagonist.

Ultimately, this was a really good read and one of my favorite Superman trade paperbacks of recent memory. Both stories were solid and they actually connect in a way that makes wedging both of them together, a more enjoyable, overall narrative.

I thought that Donner and Johns came up with a pretty satisfying story to introduce Zod and his family. I also thought that the Adam Kubert art was top notch but I’ve also always loved all the Kuberts.

If you grew up with the two Donner Superman films like I did, this should definitely peak your interest. It’s a worthwhile story that was both engaging and entertaining while also being a great homage to Donner’s Superman film work.

Rating: 7.75/10
Pairs well with: other Superman comics featuring General Zod.

Comic Review: Green Arrow: Better Than

Published: June 6th, 2018
Written by: Mairghread Scott
Art by: Matthew Clark, Sean Parsons, Jason Wright, Tyler Kirkham, Arif Prianto

DC Comics, 54 Pages

Review:

I haven’t picked up a Green Arrow book since before Rebirth but he’s always been one of my favorite heroes since I got a big chunk of the ’70s Green Lantern/Green Arrow series handed down to me in the late ’80s. Plus, I’ve been rewatching Arrow lately and needed an Oliver Queen fix in comic book form.

This story arc is covered pretty briskly in just two issues, numbers 41 and 42. However, this is a story with a lot of solid action and cameos from several villains, as Green Arrow fights his way through a maximum security prison to being Parasite back into custody. The most notable of those cameos are King Shark and Count Vertigo.

I thought the story was pretty good, even if it did get a bit preachy with its message, which was about the general prison state we have in the modern world. Parasite really just wants to go off and die but Ollie is torn between his duty of bringing him back in, as he is a dangerous villain, and allowing the guy to just die peacefully in the sunlight above. A lot of this plot deals with Ollie’s reservations about his duty and how it contrasts with other parts of his personality.

Also, we get a moment between Ollie and the prison warden where Ollie expresses his frustration with how the Parasite has been treated and the warden expresses his frustrations in how the superheroes of the universe just drop of these super powered criminals and expect the system to just be able to handle it with little to no resources.

Well, at least this doesn’t preach too hard in one direction and actually offers up different views and a debate of ideas.

I thought the art over these two issues was pretty good.

Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: Other Green Arrow stories since the start of the Rebirth run.