Synopsis: Superman’s hunt for Brainiac brings him up against the Toyman, who may just be the most terrifying villain the Man of Steel has faced yet—and their confrontation will leave Superman shaken in ways he never thought possible!
The Story
Superman’s hunt for Brainiac continues. Having missed him by mere moments across various countries, he finds himself having to get through the Toyman in order to reach Brainiac. Haunted by the memory of discovering a dead body as a child on Krypton—a death caused by the injustices of that world—Kal-El becomes even more determined to stop the Toyman and has some rather dark thoughts about what he will do when he eventually catches up with the villain.
Although the Toyman uses extreme tactics against him, Superman still feels remorseful and somewhat soiled by the fact that, in order to make it all stop, he had to beat the Toyman to within an inch of his life. He then flies off into space to think things through.
Artwork
Juan Ferreyra continues to produce great artwork for this book. I loved how different the panels depicting Kal’s childhood on Krypton looked from those set on Earth. Also cool was the small group of Toyman’s toys coming at Superman in one panel, building towards something Toyman has created using technology given to him by Brainiac. The device causes Superman’s eardrums so much pain that the Man of Steel loses control. The shots of Superman flying towards the sun are brilliantly drawn and would look fantastic blown up and displayed on the bedroom or office wall of pretty much any comics fan.
Overall
This was a fairly strong issue that gives us an insight into Superman’s inner thoughts, which are surprisingly dark, despite the fact that his thought process could be justified. Whether it is right or wrong, however, is a completely different matter.
- Covers9.0
- Story9.5
- Artwork9.8
- Lettering9.4
- Colours9.8
