It’s time to return to the burning planet of Apokolips and check on the Superfamily. After Lex Luthor was kidnapped by the people of Apokolips, Superman, Lois and their son Jon are transported to the planet as well. When the Kents arrived, they were scattered all across Apokolips. Lois found herself enslaved, then recruited as a Female Fury. Jon was getting chased down by Hunger Dogs. Then finally Lex presents Superman to the people of Apokolips as their new savior.
I have been pretty critical of this story so far. It mostly stems from the characters making decisions they wouldn’t normally make. We have now reached the halfway point and with the exception of some cool action sequences, this story has accomplished nothing. Will it turn around now?
**SOME SPOILERS BELOW**
Story:
Despite having Jon on the cover, we actually follow Superman and Lex as they try and escape the Apokoliptians. This is actually a fun team-up reminiscent of the beginning of the story. Seeing the two work together to escape shows off what makes each of the characters’ skills. This also leads to Lex trying to convince Superman to be the hope for Apokolips as prophesied in Darkseid War.
The plot development here is great but leaves me questioning why it wasn’t in the last issue. We are on the verge of an Apokolips civil war, but only have one issue of this story left. How amazing would this story have been if we watched the Kents dragged into this war and grew over the storyline? Instead, we are left with a rapid-fire version of that, with the actual reveal of a civil war in the penultimate issue.
We do actually have some story with Jon as well, though it does fall flat. He takes down some abusive Hunger Dog owners, earning the respect of the hounds. While it’s good to have an anti-animal abuse message, I doubt that the Hunger Dogs would have been that open to him. Also, despite the description of the issue saying Steppenwolf was supposed to be the one challenging Jon, but instead we get a couple of nobodies. Considering his role in the Justice League movie, one would expect him to show up.
Art:
I’m in the middle when it comes to the art. It is drawn well, but again there are times that have awkward facial expressions. While it’s not unnatural like the first issue, there are times where Apokoliptians don’t look monstrous in some scenes where the humans don’t look human in others.
Despite the awkward expressions, there are fantastically drawn scenes of action that bring the quality back up. Jon riding on the leading a pack of Hunger Dogs is the most amazing thing I have ever seen the character do. It’s etched into my brain due to how well it was drawn.
Conclusion:
While a step up in terms of story, this issue falls just short of being great. While I enjoyed the story of Lex and Superman, the Jon plot does not feel thought out. The art swings back and forth in terms of quality, but has enough for the action scenes to be enjoyable. We have one more issue of the arc, but I doubt it will send the story to the top at this point.
