SUPERMAN #41
Written by Gene Luen Yang
Art by John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, and Dean White
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: June 24, 2015
The Superman family of titles have been rocking and rolling with the launch of the DC You campaign this month. Action Comics, Batman/Superman, and Superman/Wonder Woman all produced solid issues that kicked off the controversial “Truth” storyline. Superman enters the fray this week, as artist John Romita Jr.(JRJR), and writer Gene Luen Yang begin to tell the story of how Lois reveals Clark’s identity to the world in the opening chapter of “Before Truth.” Superman #41 is a well done comic book that, along with the three titles mentioned above, further exemplifies how drastically improved the Superman titles have been.
The solicitation for this issue made it seem as if Superman #41 was a continuation of the “Truth” storyline that started in earnest with Action Comics earlier this month. Ironically, this isn’t completely true. Outside of the opening page that serves as a framing device, the entire issue appears to take place prior to the events of the Free Comic Book Day story.
This is put quite bluntly with the title “Before Truth Part 1.” Yes, it is part one, so if you were expecting a one and done that reveals how Lois tells her story you won’t find that here. The creative team seems like they are going to draw it out a bit, and tell a complete story. If this issue is any indication it’s a good thing they aren’t rushing.
Taking over ongoing writing duties from Geoff Johns is Gene Luen Yang. I’m going to guess that a large number of readers have never heard of Yang, as his most mainstream comic has been the Avatar: The Last Airbender series of OGNs. To go from one of the biggest names in the industry to a relative unknown seems like a big risk. Those readers that have read Yang’s work know that he is extremely talented. He more than holds his own with not only Johns, but with the other two writers (Pak and Tomasi) working on the three other Superman titles as well.
The plot is a fairly simple opening to what we already know will become a game changing story. That is perfectly okay though, as other areas more than make up for the simplicity. The crux of the issue is that Clark gets an anonymous tip about some shady dealings, so he takes Jimmy to investigate. Of course things get out of hand, and Superman is forced to save the day. The two aspects that will bridge the story to what lies ahead seem to be the anonymous tip, and Lois inching ever closer to finding the truth. The script may be simple, but it feels like a traditional Superman story in the best way possible.
The antagonist is a corrupt politician. Not only is that in itself classic Superman, but the politician heads an unnamed group that is trafficking hi-tech weapons. That sounds a lot like Intergang to me. Then there’s a quick witted Lois that has all of the qualities that make her a great character. There’s also a little bit of costumed Superman in a few action scenes. Given the new status quo in the other Superman books there’s no telling how much more readers will see of that in the coming months. The classic Superman/Jimmy Olsen relationship intermingled with the new Clark Kent/Jimmy Olsen dynamic is also a lot of fun. When you combine the classic feel with an intriguing mystery that we already know leads to huge changes the end result is a treat for fans.
Artists John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson continue their run on Superman that started with issue thirty-two. Joining them on art duties for the second consecutive issue is colorist Dean White. Over the past few years JRJR has become one of the more divisive artists in the industry. He has a lot of fans, and a lot of detractors. His work on this issue won’t win over any of his most fervent detractors, but it continues the trend of his work on Superman being his best work in quite awhile.
First and foremost the action scenes look awesome. A few of the highlights include the page with the heat vision turning into his new solar flare power, a panel with a really cool looking transparent sound effect, and the scene in/on the car that includes a not so subtle nod to a past JRJR series. Also, Romita Jr. draws a really great Clark Kent. This holds true whether it’s the very first page as Clark is smiling while flying on the back of an airplane, or the large panel with a side profile of Clark looking at his phone. The work speaks for itself, and you can really tell that Superman is a passion project for the veteran penciller.
There are a few panels where the art falters just a tad, and Romita Jr. falls back on some of his worst habits, but these are few and far between. A lot of the complaints that people have had about Romita Jr. over the past few years have been less apparent during this Superman run, but even less so this issue.
JRJR deserves a lot of credit, but it would be foolish to not acknowledge the effect that colorist Dean White has on the art. White is not only one of the best color artists in the business today, but his style specifically fits so well with Romita Jr. and inker Klaus Janson. White’s style seems to be more distinct, and have more of an effect on the rest of the art than most colorists. This results in his work bringing out the best in Romita Jr.’s pencils, and Janson’s inks. He is able to clean up a lot of the scratchy look that a lot of people don’t like about JRJR’s pencils. When you take into account how previous color artist on this series, Laura Martin, is one of the absolute best in the business, it becomes even more apparent how great of a match White is with the rest of the art team.
To be honest I was a little worried about the future of Superman heading into this issue. Outside of the runs by Pak and Johns I feel like I’ve been let down by how Superman, and his supporting characters have been treated in the pages of his two solo titles, and I wasn’t too familiar with Yang. The worry was for naught though, as Gene Luen Yang has shown over the course of just twenty-two pages that he has a firm grasp of what makes this group of characters great.
John Romita Jr.’s art may not be for everyone, and while it’s not perfect it’s hard to argue that bringing color artist Dean White into the fold hasn’t resulted in some of the best looking JRJR work in years. The plot may be a little on the light side, but mixing the traditional aspects of the character while barreling towards the new status quo is a wonderful combination that makes up for it.
As the DC You campaign wraps up its first month everyone involved with not only this title, but the other three titles involved in “Truth” as well, should be proud of how they kicked off this status quo change. There will always be people that disagree, but Superman #41 caps off what I feel has been the best month for Superman since before The New 52 started. The Superman line of comics haven’t been this good, or this exciting as a whole in years.
The Verdict: 9.0/10