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Review: Superman: Lost #1
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Plot & Script: Priest
Plot & Art: Carlo Pagulayan
Inks: Jason Paz
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Willie Schubert
Reviewed by: Joshua Raynor
Summary
SUPERMAN’S ODYSSEY OF SOLITUDE! After Superman is called away on a routine Justice League mission, Lois Lane awakens to find a complete stranger standing in her living room. The Man of Steel, home much sooner than expected, reveals he has, in fact, been lost in space for 20 years. Nothing and no one seem familiar to him anymore, and the timeless bond between them has been severed…or has it? Can love conquer all?
Positives
I came into this book not reading the summary first, so I had no idea what to expect, and it went in a totally different direction from anything I would have considered. The idea of Superman disappearing for twenty years, only for those he loves to not even realize it, as he’s only been gone a few hours for them, is wild and fascinating.
Superman: Lost #1 is just a starting point for this much bigger mystery, so it made sense that the majority of the issue was spent as a flashback, setting up his disappearance during a mission alongside the Justice League. But, even as a starting point, this served as a very compelling piece of what I’m hoping will be an amazing story.
Priest did a great job laying out who these versions of Clark Kent and Lois Lane are and what their relationship is to one another. Within the first five pages, you get a great understanding of how they interact — their snarky banter, corny humor, and even their sense of love. They feel a bit more like a typical, down to Earth couple than many other iterations, and I think that will really help to keep fans engaged and will make Superman’s apparent disconnect even more heartbreaking.
Positives Cont.
The art by Carlo Pagulayan is absolutely beautiful, leaning in a more realistic tone. Jason Paz’s ink shading gives a wonderful depth to these characters, and even manages to instantly make everything seem just a bit darker the moment Bruce enters the scene. It was such a flawless shift in tone and really pulled me in.
And if I’m going to talk about how the ink shading brought a much needed darkness to a dramatic scene, then it’s only right that I mention how Jeromy Cox’s vibrant colors served as a perfect deviation into the introduction of the Justice League, which is particularly evident in Superman’s outfit that goes from a noticeably duller blue and red on one page to being extremely vivid on the next. It’s incredible to look at.
And last, but certainly not least, is Willie Schubert’s letters. While this is something that tends to be overlooked in comic books, I’ve always been someone who takes special note of what a letterer is doing, because it can add so much to a scene without people even realizing. And Schubert does a masterful job of using subtle techniques to separate what’s happening so the reader doesn’t get confused. There are a few big, flashy lettering moments, which are all great, but it’s those smaller instances that really catch my eye and earn my respect. Well done.
Negatives
The only nitpick I have is that there were a couple of moments where the dialogue felt a little clunky and not as natural as I would have hoped for, but other than that, I thought this was a great issue.
Verdict
Overall, Superman: Lost #1 is a wonderful start to what very well may be a great sci-fi mystery story, and I for one am extremely excited to find out more!
Score: 4.5/5
