Review of Superman #13
“Everything I do is open to misinterpretation.”
***Contains Spoilers***
I haven’t reviewed Superman for awhile, but not because I wasn’t reading it or didn’t like it. This issue is the lead in to the H’El on Earth crossover(I guess the Superman Family didn’t want to feel left out of the crossover party happening at DC). The issue opens with us getting an idea of Superman’s strength. He is visiting Dr Veritas at the Block(an underground advanced research facility). He was strapped to a machine and basically did the equivalent of bench pressing the planet for five days, this caused him to break a sweat. I mean he barely had one bead of sweat on his forehead. He got excited because as you can see it takes a lot for the man of steel to sweat. The kind doctor flirts a bit, but Superman has to leave, he does have a job.
After a quick flight into space to recharge his batteries he heads home and accidently walks in on Jimmie taking a shower with a friend. He gets to work just in time to get his ass chewed by Perry and Lois. I am not entirely sure why Lois was in on the ass chewing. As she says she is a producer for PGN and doesn’t “have a horse in this race”. Regardless they are upset that he has nothing to report on.
Clark starts to deflect onto Lois by criticizing what her show reports on. She cuts him off to text her boyfriend about moving in with him. Clark uses his x-ray vision to invade her privacy and once he sees this he storms off to his desk. Seriously Clark, stuff like that is why some people are wary of aliens. No sooner does he get to his desk when Mr Edge shows up. Mr Edge is the owner of the company that owns the Daily Planet. He talks down to Clark and basically threatens his job. He is not a nice person.
This is when Clark has his Wanted moment. Remember in the movie Wanted when James McAvoy’s character just snapped and blew up at his boss? Well, that is exactly what Clark does. He gives Mr Edge the whole facts replaced by opinions to information replaced by entertainment. Hell, he even throws in truth, justice and the American way. So, yeah Clark is now unemployed.
Cat quit with him, more because she is sweet on Clark than on principle.
Enter giant, alien beast. A Godzilla sized creature appears out of no where and Clark quickly sneaks away to change. He lands a good hit, before it bitch slaps him to Ireland. Yeah you read that right. This thing slapped Superman clear across the Atlantic Ocean. As luck would have it he landed by an oil drilling station. He has just enough time to get the workers to safety before the beast shows up. A little heat vision and the creature is a fireball.
This should be a cause for celebration, right? SUre he got fired today, but he killed the monster that was going to destroy Metropolis. His cousin doesn’t see it that way. Kara(Supergirl) shows up and she is pissed. They don’t get along great to begin with as it is. She says that the creature he just killed was a Tripedal Curosianiun, a Kryptonian dinosaur. She demands to know where it came from, sadly I do not think Superman has any idea. They do not realize it, but there is someone watching them, waiting.
Talk about bad days. He got fired from his job for standing up for his ideals, then a giant creature attacked the city, which he managed to defeat, but then his cousin shows up and starts screaming that he is a liar. H’El on Earth continues in Superboy #14 and Supergirl #14 and of course Superman #14. This was another pretty good issue. It really makes you feel bad for Clark Kent. That has been a running theme for this book. He is one of the most powerful beings on the planet, but he lives in a small apartment he can barely afford. He can bench press the Earth for days, but he can’t pay his rent.
