Superman Up In The Sky #3 // Review
Eisner Award-winner Tom King, legacy artist Andy Kubert and legendary colorist Brad Anderson continue to bring the once Walmart exclusive stories to the rest of the world in these new reprints. Covering a previously controversial Lois Lane story as well as an ode to Andy’s father, this issue provides two separate yet connected tales for readers to enjoy.
Albeit a bit of a darker more gallows humor. The Lois story, as mentioned earlier, follows Clark in what is essentially a space DMV while he imagines the worst happening to his beloved. While the idea sounds better on paper, at times, the dark humor can be a bit hard to swallow, especially considering these issues were designed to be sold to children. With the second story a bit more uplifting, dealing with an amnesiac Clark. Finding himself alongside Sgt Rock in an unending war reminiscent of Andy’s father, Joe Kubert, and his time on the title.
Andy Kubert delivers sensational work, able to tell an entire story with a single image, even when they are a bit hard to swallow at times. Utilizing more splash pages in his approach, Kubert ups his page count quicker. But with his lineage and schooling, Kybert knows just how to perfectly do more with less. Brad Anderson adds the perfectly saturated hues to deliver a throwback aesthetic and help make Clark feel truly, super.
While the first story is almost a bingo card for Tom King tropes, the intentions are clear and quite genuine, albeit darker than intended. The humor is clear, but with the younger audience being the target market, King missed the mark on this one. Mortality of not just Lois but of the people of Metropolis are spoken about without much reverence or caretaking away from the heart and slightly coming off as insensitive to the darker subject matter. Again, the second story featuring Sgt Rock is by far the selling point of this issue outside of the curiosity behind the Lois story.
Albeit initially intended for kids, now being sold in the direct market fits the story far better with a much more adult consumer base. Fortunately, the Lois story was not altered from its original form so readers around the world can make their own minds up about this particular chapter. While the Walmart specials continue to pump out each month, these issues will continue to follow behind in toe.
