Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Superman: Son of Kal-El 2021 Annual #1 Review




Enter: Luthor


Written By: Tom Taylor
Art By: Steve Pugh, Clayton Henry, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Steve Buccellato, Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: December 7, 2021


Even though Annual's week is over, DC Comics has one more for us in the form of our newest Superman, Jon Kent. Let's jump into this Annual and explore not only Superman and Lex Luthor's relationship, but what is up to Post Death Metal and how he plans on being the Sexy Lexy we all know and love once again. Let's check it out and see if the Son of Superman can do more than fight with his father's arch-enemy.  

For this Annual issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El we're going to be exploring the relationship between Superman and Lex Luthor in not only how Clark Kent dealt with Lex but with how Jon Kent will now that he's the protector of Metropolis... and you know, the rest of the world. This is an element I've waited to see and am happy as hell that is here in that it shows us how Lex Luthor gets back to being the Lex we all know and love after his Apex Lex persona during Death Metal. Are there still some questions and some jumps in logic to get there? Well, yeah, but it's showing us a controlled, devious Lex who believes he's the smartest person in the room and I love to see it..... Even if I'm still wondering how this Lex is a part of the overall Totality that our Justice League will be dealing with at some point down the road.  



For Jon's part in this, we see a complex character that's still trying to find his place in the world and just how he plans on being the new Superman and while he wants to put an end to all world problems I don't know if I'm supposed to believe that he can actually achieve his goals or if I'm just looking at a young, naive Superman who is going to bite off more than he can chew. Beyond that though, this is a great issue that continues to show us Jon's continued pursuit to be the best Superman he can be, while also bringing back one of the greatest villains the world has ever known while showing us an interaction between the two that I can't wait to see more of.



All in all, this was an interesting Annual that expanded on Jon's journey without being intrusive to what's going on currently in the main series..... Not to mention, placed Lex Luthor in an intriguing role that will leave you wondering if he'll be just as a threat to Jon as he was to his father or possibly, being a mentor-like figure when Jon needs it most of all. There's some cool stuff here and some great art to accompany it and I can't wait to see everything that was brought up in this issue explored further..... I just wish that Lex becoming himself again and somehow allowed to exist with the rest of society was played out a little better because once you sell out humanity to the Mother of Creation who just wants to destroy what she previously built....... That's a hard place to come back from and here Lex makes it look like cake.

Bits and Pieces:

This Superman: Son of Kal-El Annual not only looks great, but it brings Lex Luthor back to the forefront and leaves you wondering what road he's going to take with our new Superman and that prospect alone makes me interested right off the bat, not to mention our continued look at what kind of Superman wants to be, while also giving us some fun stuff with the Fortress of Solitude. Yeah, I would have liked Lex working a little harder to be accepted by humanity again, but I like what we got here still.

8/10

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