"Superman" #38 Debuts New Power, New Costume for the Man of Steel

Seriously though, it's the same ability that Kara had at the beginning of the New 52.

My review (with SPOILERS):

[URL="http://iblogalot.com/2015/02/04/superman-38-by-geoff-johns-john-romita-jr/"]SUPERMAN #38 by Geoff Johns & John Romita Jr[/URL]

The only thing I took away from this issue is that, at least as evidenced by how he writes him, any change to Superman not instituted by Geoff Johns is viewed as bad and must be changed as quickly as possible.

Clark Kent back at the Daily Plane?

Done, regardless of the dated nature of that particular status quo. No real explanation, either. Just Johns putting it off until he can sneak it in while everyone's eyes were on the alleged new power, despite it being a riff on something that's been done before.

Superman as a human for a day?

That's straight up fan fiction right there, because his Kryptonian physiology doesn't change just because his cells are depleted of solar energy.

Jimmy knowing who he is? BFD.

Okay, rant over.

What's done is done. Time to move on and read Action Comics to get the taste of this issue out of my mouth.

This was a pretty decent ending to a cool arc full of good ideas that was a little bit bloated. Superman's new costume is definitely sleeker, which I think we had all hoped when they announced he'd be redesigned three years ago. Space Age.

The power is meh. I mean I'm not against it, it's just that giving a new power to Superman has never been a special occasion. He gets them all the time. But as an plot device to do a "Twenty-Four Hours With No Powers" one-shot I'm really stoked.

I thought the stuff with Jimmy was long overdue. I mean he was totally rad here and his personality was aces, I just mean Superman's Pal being let in on the secret finally. I've wanted it since I first read All-Star, where Jim is the coolest dude on Earth.

So between a novel and decent costume streamline, a plot device to set up a cool story concept next issue, the radness of Jimmy Olsen, and a solid "Superman-like" closeout to the Ulysses story, and more of that tease about that mysterious figure who's all fatherly about Superman, it was probably the strongest issue of this run so far.

As long as he's not dressing up as Gangbuster again or even in his Supersuit and almost getting killed until Batman shows up to save him like he did before his wedding.

After reading this issue, I really like Superman's new power. I think it's an interesting tool in his arsenal, but more for its side-effect rather than it's destructive capability. It's sort of like a last resort, one he'll use if he knows there's no other option. I also think it presents an interesting opportunity, him being painfully human after using it. I think that's a good way to limit this power. I've seen too many criticisms levied against Superman for him being too powerful. Pre-Crisis, I think that was valid. But with this, I think it's nicely balanced and provides a compelling new dimension to Superman's abilities.

As for the story itself, it was okay. I'm still disappointed with how Ulysses turned out. He still came off as a much more immature version of Zod. He offered the world another way to be better aside from what Superman offered. Instead, he just became another villain and all these people who wanted to see this new world are left hanging. It makes me really question how bold Superman and those who write him are willing to be. I think it could've been an interesting challenge for Superman, having a rival who helped people by actually creating a better world or taking them to one. It would provide Superman with a new incentive to make the world better in ways that went beyond just saving it. Instead, nothing really changes. Everybody is left with the crummy status quo, which I think certainly needs improvement. Other than that, I think it was a good story, just not a great one.

[QUOTE=kivatt;908644]Seriously though, it's the same ability that Kara had at the beginning of the New 52.[/QUOTE]

I find it odd that this being the case, that nobody seems to acknowledge that we've seen it before with a different Kryptonian.

I mean it's cool and the way it expends his solar reserves makes sense. To be frank, I'd think his heat vision would work in a similar fashion as that's solar charged as well, no?

I'd just like that this not be treated as a much bigger deal than it really is. It's not like he got the power to phase through walls or increase his density to the point that he has his own personal gravity field.

I think that Roger Stern once wrote that heat vision depleted Superman's reserves faster than his other powers, but I think as time has gone on since the 90s, we've gotten more and more attached to the idea of Superman shooting eye beams and that strategic aspect has kind of fallen by the wayside in favor of just using them all the time. This new power doesn't seem so different.

I guess I don't mind the idea, but I'm not super fond of it either. Ah, well. At least it probably won't get used much. In fact, any situation dire enough to merit depleting his cells is probably a fight with a foe he can't beat that way anyhow. Like Darkseid or Mongul or something.

[QUOTE=Adekis;909584]I think that Roger Stern once wrote that heat vision depleted Superman's reserves faster than his other powers, but I think as time has gone on since the 90s, we've gotten more and more attached to the idea of Superman shooting eye beams and that strategic aspect has kind of fallen by the wayside in favor of just using them all the time. This new power doesn't seem so different.
[/QUOTE]

I assumed this about his heat vision, as well.

Having seen the new costume in a panel, as opposed to a variant cover, I think there really isn't a whole lot to say. It still mostly looks like the Jim Lee costume, with a few minor (and I really mean minor; if there were no attention brought to it, e.g. upon a passing glance, I'd think it's just another artist's representation of the Lee suit) changes:

1) The collar went from a V-neck to kind of trapezoid cut out, but it's still a collar, and it still has red piping.
2) The belt is still all red, but it's shaped a little differently. The pentagon in the middle is now an oval, and the belt is lower in the front. Again, if you weren't paying close attention, you might miss it. There's no yellow on it like in the variant cover we saw.
3) There's no more armor-style plating, particularly no more pentagons on his lateral deltoids, and now there are long seams.
4) The boots look more like the classic boots, which I think is really nice touch.
5) Those sleeves are so hideously long, instead of unfortunately long.
6) The cape inserts into his costume closer to his chest than atop his shoulders.

But yeah, it's still Lee's suit, just that details are slightly different, and the story behind the suit has changed. So much ado about two small changes, his suit and his new power, that could've easily been blown over.

Is it still the Kryptonian artifact making the suit?

Clark back at the Planet you could see coming from a mile away so it didn't really affect me that much. Missed opportunity in regards to no one following up on Lobdell's blog idea, but not the end of the world. Call me when Johns starts changing things from Morrison's origin, then I'll go a little batty.

[QUOTE=Sacred Knight;909826]Clark back at the Planet you could see coming from a mile away so it didn't really affect me that much. Missed opportunity in regards to no one following up on Lobdell's blog idea, but not the end of the world. Call me when Johns starts changing things from Morrison's origin, then I'll go a little batty.[/QUOTE]

It does suck about that change. It was really awesome to see him doing his own stuff but I guess what Johns' does is what Johns' does.

I liked the issue. I also liked the updated costume at the end. It no longer looks like fingerless gloves, and the red trim on the collar is there too. Good stuff!

The new power is great, with a simple yet clever explanation for it. If it adds to Supes being the most awesomely powerful then good, he should be....as long as Wonder Woman can still go toe to toe with him....what I`m not keen on is what made the development necessary, that of the existence of Ulysses...in order to have dealt with Ulysses, who`s basically another Superman....he shouldn't have been invented...and what to do with him now...he just waits to be resurrected, like Doomsday...and the new power used on Doomsday would have been better....and who the hell is that hooded person that appears on the last page?

Jon

I dont know. Ever since Romita took over the art on this book I feel like I really have lost interest. I feel like he doesnt draw superman as being very "Super"... the costume is barely different at all I mean its hardly even noticeable.