About Heroes

Authors: Geoff Johns & Richard Donner
Artist: Adam Kubert
Colors: Edgar Delgado

Alright, so we all know how late this book has been. So I’m not even going to bitch about that and move on to the review. Although, I really feel for the people that were anxiously waiting for this conclusion. That’s right, it’s the finale to the Last Son storyline and it’s extra-sized. Much like the Heinberg Wonder Woman story, the main book kept moving forward and they left the conclusion to be told in an annual. I thought that was a great move by DC.

Along with Superman comes the Superman Revenge Squad: Lex Luthor, Parasite, Metallo, and Bizarro to take on General Zod, Ursa, and Non. So what we get is a battle with Superman against Zod….which for some reason I found really badass when Superman was dual wielding the Red Sun gun and the Green Kryptonite gun. The rest of the Revenge Squad takes on the remainder of Zod’s Kryptonian criminals. Luthor manages to reverse the rocket’s warp drive and pull the rocket back home and re-open the phantom zone along with everyone who has ever had contact with it. Chris realizes that the ship must be shut off in order to deactivate it. Chris goes in, and stops it, but doesn't come back out. In a desperate search for Chris, Superman contacts Mon-El and is informed he is not with the other Kryptonians, but the search will continue.

It was really a good finale to a mediocre storyline that kept getting stronger and stronger with each issue. The delays really killed the momentum and I’m sure this will read so much better in trade. The character interaction and dialogue was superb…of course what else is to be expected from Johns? What I really loved was the fact that Lex saved the day, but he still got locked up with no credit for it. Of course the story is not flawless. What I’m really confused about is the timeline of this story. Chris mentions he’s already met Robin…which means that everything up to Buziek’s last issue (Superman 675...I think) could have happened before Action Comics 845. If that is so, that’s a little hard to believe. Unless of course Chris came back with no explanation. There also wasn’t enough Revenge Squad in the book for me; they each got about three pages of fighting. Damn, and just when I thought I was going to see a huge JLA vs. Zod’s army....nothing happens.

I am really shocked at the unbalance that I find in Adam Kubert’s artwork. While some pictures are right down stunning like the reflection of the destroyed Metropolis, others feel rushed. His backgrounds are lavishing as ever, but for some reason some of his fight scenes just felt like they needed to be polished up. Perhaps he should have let someone else ink his pencils….hell they should have teamed him up with Art Thibert. There is a nice little bonus at the end with Geoff Johns introducing the readers to Superman’s supporting characters. The art by Stephane Roux was solid and I wish he would get a monthly Superman book. Overall it was an entertaining read and I’m not taking the delays into consideration when I rate the book so keep that in mind. I think a B- is a fair grade considering the lackluster scenes that Kubert provides at times, but seriously that is no reason for anyone to miss out and enjoy the conclusion to this story.