Superman: Son Of Kal-El #12
Nightwing helps Superman discover more about Bendix and Luthor’s relationship in Superman: Son Of Kal-El #12, by writer Tom Taylor, artists Cian Tormey and Ruairi Coleman, inkers Scott Hanna, Ruairi Coleman, Cian Tormey, and Raul Fernandez, colorists Federico Blee and Matt Herms, and letterer Dave Sharpe. Taylor and company keep building their story in this one and end it with an all-out brawl.
This one revolves around Superman getting new information about Bendix. Krypto returns, causing a minor meltdown at the Justice League safe house, and they recruit Nightwing to talk to Luthor, using a bug to find out about his liaisons with a Senator, who released Faultline for the attack on the Kents. It all ends in Washington with Superman and Jay confronting the Senator and finding out that Bendix has his claws in him more than they suspected.
Superman: Son Of Kal-El has entered a holding pattern. Jon and Jay learn more about Bendix, there’s a fight at the end, rinse and repeat. This one goes a little farther with the ending than other issues, but it feels like Taylor is in a bit of a rut. With the recent announcement of the end of the Warworld story in Action Comics, this rut becomes more apparent. Maybe Taylor doesn’t want to take things too far or something yet, but the way this book follows a formula has already started to rub people the wrong way.
That’s not to say that it isn’t exciting or doesn’t work for the story, but progression in this book has been slow in the past year. There’s some cool dialogue in the issue, and it builds nicely with good pacing, but it’s still the same basic story in each issue. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out, but it’s still a rather formulaic comic, and that hurts the book overall.
The art is pretty good, not spectacular. Tormey and Coleman’s styles are pretty similar, so it’s hard to tell when one stops penciling and the other one starts. The fight at the end looks good with a well-designed monster, and the character acting is good. Much like the book’s writing, it feels like it’s in the same rut. It’s good, and it works for the book, but like everything else, it could be better.
Superman: Son Of Kal-El #12 builds the plot more, and it’s an entertaining read, but it’s not as great as it was in the beginning. Maybe Taylor is holding things off for the future, and the art is good, but compared to some of the other DC books coming out on a monthly basis, it’s par for the course
