Madpenguin
"The best volume of the saga by this point."
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The best volume of the saga by this point.
-
Mar 8, 2012
- by Madpenguin
- posted in Speech Bubbles: Comics & Graphic Novels
Rating:
The Kryptonians who were freed from the bottled city of Kandor have begun life side by side with the humans, and both sides are pretty much skeptical of the other. Humans from behind the scenes aren't the least bit happy about this and have already begun a strike. Supergirls parents whom she recently learned are alive and well urge her to return to the city of Kandor, completely forsaking this human life she's growing accustomed to. Meanwhile, the Kryptonians have plans of their own.
+4
Previous Volumes:
Superman: Brainiac
Superman: New Krypton Volume One
Superman: New Krypton Volume Two
Superman: New Krypton Volume Three:
After the humans attack on the city of Kandor left a very important Kryptonian dead, the rest of the race fire up their city and leave the Earth. Their destination ended on the other side of the sun, with intentions on living there away from the people of Earth. Superman travels to their planet apparently forsaking the Earth, but he really intends on keeping an eye on them, especially since their leader is former Phantom Zone inmate General Zod. -summary
I remember when I was originally following the New Krypton story arc, and I wasn't too thrilled to see the writing duties removed from Geoff Johns and tasked primarily to James Robinson. In all honesty, I was never a fan of Robinson, not even up to this day despite some enjoyment I found in his titles. Well, I have to give credit where it's due and admit, that by this point, his storytelling practically mirrors Johns as he delivers the best batch of stories in this saga at the moment. Superman: New Krypton Volume Three is by far the best story in the saga by this time. The characters clearly carry the story through some very strong interactions. I will point out that the action segments are in very small supply here, but it's just how strong the constant story and character development can be. I enjoyed this part front to back. This TPB collects the first five chapters of Superman: World of New Krypton, and The Criminals of Krypton, taken from Action Comics Annual #10.
Superman arrives on New Krypton and in a successful attempt, makes peace with his aunt Alura. He takes his place as a Kryptonian and finds himself a member of a guild. Due to the mastery over his powers, he's placed as an officer in the military and is forced to answer directly to General Zod. Their interactions are the best in the book as the reader will not only get to see a very familiar, yet very well written side of Superman, but also see Zod in a totally different light. Zod does not appear to be a tyrant, only a man who loves his race enough to the point where he will kill and die for it. It was a nice moment to see the people of Kandor cheer his name, where even Superman realized how important he is to everyone.
Superman and Zod don't exactly hog the spotlight together. New Krypton also has its own issues; there's a possibility of a civil war taking place, with the most understandable of motives at its core. Plus the capture of wanted criminals that leads to a tight situation for the Man of Steel. Robinson and Greg Rucker deserve whatever accolades to come their way for this volume. When looking at the appearance of the Green Lantern Corp, plus tempers beginning to swell on some occasions, this could have easily resulted in an over the top brawl. Instead, they were able to keep a moderate pace and deliver the right amount of drama and suspense to carry the story from issue to issue keeping a high tempo. The second story to close out the book is an origin tale involving Zod, Ursa, and Non. I really wasn't expecting anything much initially, but I have to say this is very interesting to read. Now even though the action segments are in small doses, there is one very interesting moment where Superman displays a rare amount of technical skill on another high ranking soldier, which further works into his character development. Superman knows he's just another citizen now with everyone around possessing his powers, but he proves two things; he's had far more time to master them, as well as strength without skill has no real value.
Pete Woods artwork gets the job done and nothing more really. The character designs are cool to look at, and it was definitely a change seeing Superman dressed up in a black and gray military suit. The Green Lantern Corp look awesome as always, and I thought the Kryptonians were very well displayed, featuring different ethnic backgrounds. The action segments receive a nod for the entertainment value.
Robinson and Rucka receive more points for working their themes well without coming off very preachy. Although very predictable, Superman is attempting to teach his values to his race who suffers from a serious elitist attitude. This could have very easily felt like one of those soapbox moments that drag and drag, yet it was done in pretty good taste. I really liked this volume, but I can see were some may find it very boring due to the lack of action. The fights serve a purpose and aren't just tacked on to satisfy the action-crowd. In any case, this is a very solid volume that actually goes somewhere.
Pros:
-Strong character and story development
Cons:
-Not enough action for the action starved
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Post a Comment
woopak_the_thrill
March 09, 2012
In a way, I can see why DC needed to reboot the franchise since they sometimes hit a dead end with their premise. I think they seem to get writers to come up with good stories, but they don't know what can happen after. Zod is always an interesting character.
Madpenguin
March 29, 2012
That's definitely true. It seems so difficult sometimes for them to follow up on a characters success unless it's one of the big three. No wait, I take hat back. They haven't been able to do anything of worthy mention with Wonder Woman in awhile.
woopak_the_thrill
March 29, 2012
I feel that they often stooped to safe ideas rather than taking risks. The new 52 is basically the same old thing, save for Green Lantern and Aquaman.
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FM_ALEX
March 08, 2012
Great review man
Madpenguin
March 08, 2012
Thanks.
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Madpenguin
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About this topic
"New Krypton" is a Superman story arc written by Geoff Johns, James Robinson, and Sterling Gates with art by Gary Frank, Alex Ross, Renato Guedes, Jamal Igle and Pete Woods and published by DC Comics. The arc is an inter-title crossover, published in Action Comics, Superman and Supergirl.
The story features Superman coming to terms with the death of his adoptive father while also dealing with 100,000 Kryptonians now living on Earth as a result of the Brainiac story arc. This story begins a planned "link" on Action Comics, Superman, and Supergirl as part of their collective plans for Superman and his cast of characters through 2008 and beyond. The events of this story lead directly into the 12-part series Superman: World of New Krypton.
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The story features Superman coming to terms with the death of his adoptive father while also dealing with 100,000 Kryptonians now living on Earth as a result of the Brainiac story arc. This story begins a planned "link" on Action Comics, Superman, and Supergirl as part of their collective plans for Superman and his cast of characters through 2008 and beyond. The events of this story lead directly into the 12-part series Superman: World of New Krypton.
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