Superman Son Of Kal-El #18
Superman and his father find themselves at the mercy of Red Sin in Superman: Son Of Kal-El #18, by writer Tom Taylor, artists Cian Tormey and Ruairi Coleman, inker Scott Hanna, colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr., and letterer Dave Sharpe. This issue continues to do all of the good things this book has done from the start.
The Justice League works together to rebuild the Kent house, but there are still dangers to the two Supermen. Lois and Nightwing reveal the identity of the man who attacked Jon - Luis Rojas - and why. Jimmy Olsen is kidnapped, and a bomb threat is called into the Daily Planet building. As the two Supermen work together to evacuate the building, Jimmy’s signal watch goes off, and Kal-El goes to check it out. Jon completes the evacuation and goes after his father but is caught by Rojas and loses his powers. Luis shoots him three times, but he survives and uses a device that Brainiac 5 created for him to make up for when he loses his powers. He takes down Luis and saves the day. Later at Stryker’s Island, Jon visits him to talk, but he rebuffs him. Jon and Kal-El have a conversation about enemies as Lex Luthor visits Rojas.
Superman: Son Of Kal-El has always been a book that surprised the audience. Taylor did a lot of work with Jon’s character, which is something that some fans just didn’t seem to like. The funny thing is the same fans who complained about the book’s character focus would have complained anyway. Taylor took the clay that was Jon and worked him into a character that everyone could understand. Sure, he’s a lot like his father, but he’s also different. A lot of people figured that Taylor should have just focused on the adventures, but he made Jon into a character that was partly what people expected and partly a new one.
This issue shows that off, especially towards the end. Jon has a method for dealing with losing his powers, and his solution to taking out Rojas has nothing to do with violence, using his freeze breath. He goes and visits Luis and tries to show him that there’s no reason to hate him or his father. He reaches out in kindness. Jon is who he is, and this chapter continues to show just who he is and why he’s that way.
Tormey and Coleman have been doing an excellent job with the art since they took over, and this issue is no different. As usual, their pencil style is impossible to tell apart. Their line work is clean and detailed, and everything looks really good. However, there are some parts toward the end where the line work isn’t as strong. That could be mostly because Hanna takes over on inks. It’s not terrible, but it is noticeable. Fajardo Jr.’s colors are clean and bright, really working with the pencils.
Sharpe’s lettering has always been wonderful. He’s worked on every Superman book for the last few years. His steady and easy-to-read style has given these books a house lettering style that serves as a continuity between titles. It really brings out the voices of the characters, and this would be a different comic without it.
Superman: Son Of Kal-El #18 is a pretty good last issue for this book. It leads into the next phase of Jon’s life well. Taylor has created a fantastic series so far, and it will be interesting to see where he takes Jon next. Tormey, Coleman, Hanna, and Fajardo Jr. have all done nice work, and Sharpe’s letters are the icing on the cake. This issue closes out this book in great fashion.