Superman: Son Of Kal-El #3
Superman learns there’s more to wearing the big red S than just superheroics in Superman: Son Of Kal-El #3, by writer Tom Taylor, artist John Timms, colorist Gabe Eltaeb, and letterer Dave Sharpe. Taylor thickens several plots with this one while also showing why Jon is a perfect Superman.
The two Supermen find themselves in Coast City, saving the residents of a falling building. Jon is able to evacuate the building, and together, he and his father find the person responsible: a girl named Faultline. She has no memory of how she got there, so they take her to STAR Labs. Once there, Jon gets a call from Jay, who tells him that the Gamorran refugees are being released back to Gamorra. Jon goes and helps with the protest, offering himself up to be arrested as Bendix watches. Kal gets him, and the others released, and they meet Jay. They take him with them to dinner in Smallville, where Superman reveals to Jon his mission to Warworld. Superman leaves, but Bendix has a trick up his sleeve. His men have retrieved Faultline, and they drop her on the Kent Farm, seemingly destroying everything.
Taylor has been proving his superhero bona fides for years now, so it’s no surprise that this book is so good. From the opening where Jon rescues 472 people (and their pets, as he likes to point out) in four seconds to Jon going to protest and making a speech to Cat Grant as he’s getting arrested, Taylor just gets how to write Superman, even if it isn’t Clark. So far, this book has seemed to show how different Jon is from his dad in many ways, but this issue also shows just how similar they are in the best possible way.
Jon is still just a teenager, and Taylor does a great job of capturing that, too. People who already read this month’s Action Comics get some of the scenes of Jon and his father saying goodbye. Here the whole thing is expanded upon and from Jon’s perspective, so it hits differently than it otherwise would. Jon is scared for his father’s safety and doesn’t want to lose him. It’s such a great juxtaposition; readers get to see Jon be both the great hero and the kid he is. Taylor is able to walk the line in a way that a lot of writers aren’t with heroes as young as Jon.
Timms’ art is great. He does a wonderful job with the opening sequence, the protest scene looks great, and the dinner at the Kent Farmworks. There’s a part where Jay is fangirling about meeting Lois Lane that works so well because of Timms’ art. The scenes with Jon and Clark are poignant in all the right ways and really help get across the feeling that Taylor was trying to capture.
Superman: Son Of Kal-El #3 does a great job of showing the super and the man, even if the man isn’t exactly a man yet. The book goes a long way in showing that Jon is ready to be Superman and that he’s learned his lessons well from his father. It also does a great job of capturing his side, that is still just a young kid. Taylor and Timms both are doing a great job with this book.