Superman is having a banner year. Superman was a hit at the box office, but more importantly, it was a hit with the fans. DC Comics has been taking advantage of the publicity from the movie, introducing a new Superman ongoing and getting A-list creators to tell the best stories in every Superman comic. Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 is the latest Superman offering, a DC Black Label book from the Ice Cream Man team of W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. Ice Cream Man is one of the most popular horror books out there, but Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 isn’t a horror story. What it is yet another amazing Superman offering from DC Comics, a great first issue that uses the nature of comic storytelling to its advantages.
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The basics of the story is that Superman retrieves an asteroid with four new types of Kryptonite in it. Lex Luthor learns about the asteroid, and Superman gets Batman’s help to test the Kryptonite, Luthor hatches up a plan to distract Superman involving Solomon Grundy. Prince kicks off the book with a quick Superman history lesson, just in case you didn’t know his origin before jumping right into the story. The characterization and dialogue is on point throughout the book, and Prince keeps the book lively throughout. Longtime DC fans will recognize Professor Pyg, one of Batman’s creepiest villain, in a cool little cameo. Where it really gets interesting is in the Kryptonite testing. The book introduces the four new colors — Purple, Cobalt, Speckled, and Rainbow — but we only get to see Purple in action (although thanks to the nature of Purple, we do get a preview of what Cobalt can do). There’s a bit of a Silver Age feel to the story, but it still feels pretty modern, which is common among Superman books of recent years.
DC has been doing a lot with Kryptonite recently, and The Kryptonite Spectrum plays into that. Adding new colors is a cool idea, and Purple is one that could only work in a comic. It messes with Superman’s temporal awareness, causing him to lose his hold on the past, present, and future. It looks like there’s a limit — it mostly seems to be within the same day — and Prince uses this interestingly. Luthor gets Solomon Grundy to attack Metropolis to hurt Superman, and the story of the whole thing is told out of synch, jumping between the fight’s timeline. It can get a little confusing, but it’s the kind of thing that uses the comic panel’s way of showing time in the best way. We eventually get a page with all of the panels in the right order, but it’s kind of awesome to realize what’s happening and put it together on your own. Prince nails a very All-Star Superman-esque feel throughout the book, and it works.
The art by Morazzo, and colorist Chris O’Halloran, also has an All-Star Superman feel. Morazzo’s art definitely looks like Frank Quitely’s, with some striking differences. Much Quitely, he gives Superman a Silver Age feel — this is a big Supeman, but not one of the more obviously musclebound ones. His character acting is very good, and you can tell that he and Prince have developed a good shorthand working together. Morazzo captures the feel of Prince’s script perfectly, and there are a lot of gorgeous panels in this book.
Morazzo is able to capture that Superman feel that the character needs. There’s a wonder to the character that art gets across, and he also captures Superman the savior and Superman the bruiser. His Batman is lanky, giving him a spooky, otherworldly feel. His Lex Luthor really shows off just how unhinged he can be. I think my favorite panels involve a dinner with Lois Lane. It’s a pretty heartbreaking scene, and Morazzo is able to sell that sadness wonderfully. This issue’s time gimmick wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for Morazzo’s wonderful art. O’Halloran’s colors help with the book’s old school Superman feel; this is a brightly colored book, and it feels like flipping through a book from decades ago. The art in this book is beautiful, and it really cements this first issue as a great one.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 starts out a little slow — I’m not sure if we needed the Superman origin recap over the span of a couple of pages — but it works for new readers. From there, the team is able to give readers an awesomely engrossing Superman story, using characters that everyone will recognize, whether they be a new or old reader. While it does get a little comic book-y with the Purple K sections, I think that will work for new readers as well. All in all, this is yet another great part of the Summer of Superman.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Supeman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of Netflix
