Credits: Written by Louise Simonson, pencils by Jon Bogdanove, inked by Dennis Janke and edited by Mike Carlin.
Cast: Lois Lane, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Dubbilex, Guardian, the Newsboy Legion, Charlie and the Underworlders, Batman and Maggie Sawyer.
Plot: Lois Lane wakes from a nightmare and almost immediately is called by her boss Perry White, who informs her that the city is flooded. In Kansas, Jonathan and Martha Kent return home. Locals who have heard that Clark has been declared lost in the wreckage of Doomsday’s attack and Jonathan and Martha return in the wake of the loss of their son. Everywhere around are ghosts. In the barn, Jonathan sees his prize cow, but can remembers teenage Clark caring for her, because of his example.
In Cadmus, Dubbilex and Guardian are with the corpse of Superman until the Newsboy Legion arrive. (Side-note, like Guardian they are clones of the original 1940s Newsboys) They question why they have Superman’s body. Now we go back to Kansas and Jonathan is remembering his son again, this time younger and he’s laughing to himself in a melancholy remembrance.
Back under Metropolis the underworlders find pieces of Cadmus technology, in this case a detonator. This is while the tunnels are being evacuated because of the damage shown in previous issues. We then see that on the other side of the tunnels that there’s a leak and the Newsboy Legion went to see Guardian to inform him of it. We now cut away to Batman remembering when Superman gave him a kryptonite ring. He remembers being so trusted and knows he needs to keep the ring, symbol of Superman’s trust.
Later on at the statue of Superman, Lois gets past the crowd of Superman worshippers to get to the tomb, only to find Maggie Sawyer there. Recognising that Lane won’t go anywhere without answers, she fills her in on the events of the last couple of issues, including the theft of her fiance’s body. She’s looking despondent when Charlie waves her down from the river with a frog-like underworlder. Charlie shows her the detonator, proof that Cadmus was involved in the flood and the theft of Clark’s body.
Back in Kansas, Jonathan remembers Clark talking to him after his unexpected debut, how this huge powerhouse was so vulnerable and asking his dad for help. Jonathan remembers that Superman was his idea, an idea that put him where he died and the guilt is washing over him, Back in Metropolis, Lois and the underworlders break into Cadmus and knock out a few guards. They find the body, but Lois’ attempt to take the body sets off alarms and they have to flee, but one of the underworlders is a telepath, so there’s no trace left for Dubbilex to find. Lois returns to the Planet and starts writing what she knows, determined to reveal the truth and get Clark’s body back,
In Kansas, Jonathan is at the site where Clark arrived on Earth and all the pain and sorrow gets too much and he collapses in Martha’s arms and she cries out, hoping that she hasn’t just lost the rest of her family.
Notes: This is an issue of two halves. Half of the issue is relaying the events in Metropolis. This is a bit staid and uninteresting, with the end result being Clark’s body not being returned, so it comes across as filler, a way to stretch the number of issues so that one can be a milestone number and all that. That’s the less interesting bit, the real meat and potatoes of this comic is Batman and Jonathan Kent remembering Superman and Clark. Batman is all stoic and wistful and all that and it’s a lovely scene, but the load bearing wall of this comic is the breaking heart of Pa Kent. He is a veteran who became a farmer, who became a husband and finally a loving father. He is the person who helped turn Clark Kent into Superman, by teaching him to care, to believe and to keep trying. He sees ghosts everywhere of his successes, which only makes his perceived failure to protect him so much harder. His heart gives up on him as the pain in his soul reaches a crescendo. As a father to a strong and compassionate boy, this part of the story hit a lot harder than some of the other stuff. Watching his tears and smiles is sobering and adds a realistic note to this story about the death of an alien who came to Earth and did only good. You aren’t worried about Superman now, you’re pulling for his dad, hoping that his mum won’t have to bury them both and that stays with you.
Verdict: Writing – 4 out of 5: Simonson does emotion well, clearly knowing this world well and giving each emotional scene it’s space. We’re intercut with the Cadmus stuff, but you can see that her better work is in the Kansas scenes.
Art – 3 out of 5: A rare mis-step from Bogdanove, whose action scenes are usually excellent, but here they pale compared to the more intimate moments, but those are excellent.
Overall – 7 out of 10: An issue that does the personal stuff incredibly well and brings the reader along towards the next stage of this story.
Next Time: Back to the Wildstorm with StormWatch
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