Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman: Son of Kal-El Comics

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Superman: Son of Kal-El #14

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 9, 2022
Cover date: October 2022

"Siege of Gamorra" - Part One

Writers: Tom Taylor
Artist: Clayton Henry
Cover: Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain
Variant Covers: Rafael Sarmento and Travis Mercer/Danny Miki and Brad Anderson

Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Click to enlarge



As Lois Lane and The Truth reveal everything about Gamorra and President Bendix, the dictator seals his country off from the world with a force field bubble.

Meanwhile Superman and the rebellion of Gamorran refugees (known as The Revolutionaries) argue over the next course of action. Dreamer informs them that Superman cannot attack directly as one of the Gamorra Corps is made of kryptonite gas, but the teens cannot agree on a game plan, that is until Robin arrives and they devise an assault with Jay at the centre. Superman gifts Jay with a Legionnaire flight ring and a costume from the future for him to sneak inside the force field with his power of intangibility.

Superman 'airdrops' Jay as 'Gossamer' and the teen is able to bypass the armed forces until he gets to the shield controls. If he can deactivate it then Superman, Robin and The Revolutionaries can launch a final assault.

Jay is confronted by Bendix's staff and explains this may be their only chance of freedom, he is shocked by the response to his plea.

Dreamer gasps as she sees a terrifying vision and begs Superman to get to Gossamer as fast as possible. What could hurt an intangible man?

To Be Continued...

3Story - 3: It's a lot of filler this issue, that's not such a problem as it's been action, action, action in bursts recently, so it's nice to have a few character moments. The scene with the ring was funny and I like Superman, Robin, Dreamer and Jay/Gossamer working together. I'm not so enamored by The Revolutionaries, they have some cool names and powers but there were so many of them they just became two dimensional (except for Osita).

I hope now they've been properly introduced we'll get to know them or it seems a bit pointless to have them there. I get that it brings gravitas to The Rising but I don't care enough about them. The story is amping up now so I'm hoping they don't become cannon fodder in the war.

Aside from that the best scene in the issue is when Jay and Jon are above Gamorra, some real echoes of Lois & Clark there.

3Art - 3: I'm still finding the coloring technique difficult to enjoy as it highlights the fact that the inking is overly blocky. The coloring by Federico Blee seems to be doing a lot of the 'heavy lifting' but with no detail to work with.

4Cover Art - 4: I like the cover, it's nice to see Jay and Jon not hitting us over the head with their love; I'm not opposed to that, so please don't misunderstand, just that it's also good to see them in superheroics. Nearly every cover so far featuring Jon and Jay has been a romance orientated one, so it's nice to see it move on.

4Variant Cover Art - 4: A beautifully painted throwback cover to when Lois & Clark lived in Hamilton County. I know I'm one of those fans that wished we saw more of their family life. This is a wonderful cover.

3Variant Cover Art - 3: This cover, as opposed to the others, is action based and what a punch that is! I like that we see that Jon is every bit as powerful as his father. He definitely means business!

Mild Mannered Reviews

2022

Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.
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