Review: Superman Vol. 2: The Chained hardcover/paperback (DC Comics)

Joshua Williamson should be commended on his first year of Superman. Together, his Superman Vol. 1: Supercorp and Superman Vol. 2: The Chained are a clever one-two punch; Supercorp was good on its own, but what’s sowed there is harvested in Chained to great effect.

The first volume’s artist, Jamal Campbell, is only present for a single issue in the second. A cadre of other artists take his place, doing relatively well, though it very much gets away from them by the end — particularly in the climax, where it counts. But it shouldn’t overshadow the great work Williamson is doing — excavating favored old storylines while also building a new Metropolis mythos. I hope this keeps on for a while.

[Review contains spoilers]

At one point in this book, Williamson is nodding to Superman’s 1970s pre-Crisis rivalry with Terra-Man; at another point, we’re deep into the events of Jeph Loeb and company’s 2000s Superman run, specifically Superman Y2K and Our Worlds at War. Such is the fantastic breadth of this book — the second volume of a series, mind you, that had Parasite, Silver Banshee, Livewire, Toyman, and Red Cloud all in Superman Vol. 1. But in addition, Williamson takes a Metropolis landmark like Stryker’s Island, introduced by John Byrne in the 1980s, and gives it a history that feels like it’s been there all along (amazing no one considered “Stryker”’s identity until now). There is a lot for a Super-fan to like here.

[See the latest DC trade solicitations.]

Williamson reveals that new-classic history in the first three issues: he introduces Sebastian Stryker, founder of Stryker’s Island penitentiary, who apparently allowed Lex Luthor to experiment on his son Sammy, imbuing him with tactile telekinesis similar to what Luthor would later give Superboy Connor Kent. When Sammy went insane, he was “chained” underneath Stryker’s Island, where he’s remained all this time.

A perfect set of dominoes then falls. When Superman learns there’s someone imprisoned in isolation under Stryker’s, he must of course go rescue them as quickly as possible. He is only in the position to know about and rescue Sammy because of his embrace of the Supercorp company Lex left him — but it’s the very discovery of Superman’s connection to Supercorp that sends Sammy newly spiraling toward destroying Metropolis. In the last volume, we saw how Superman’s reluctant acceptance of Supercorp’s resources helped him bring a happier resolution to the Parasite and Silver Banshee; now, in the “second half” of this first 12 issues, the flip side is the way Supercorp can be a liability.

The second chapter of “Chained” is also the extra-size legacy-numbered Superman #850, buffeted by 10 pages focused on Lex Luthor and drawn by Super-title stalwart Dan Jurgens. Here, Williamson brings in Letitia and Lena Luthor — and it took me a moment, because as recently as the Steelworks miniseries, there was some question as to whether the 2016–2018 DC Rebirth Superwoman series was in continuity, and with it, Lena Luthor, the adult sister of Lex who fashioned herself as the villain Ultrawoman. Except this Lena is a teenager, and refers to Lex as “Dad,” and then it all came together … this is Lena Luthor, daughter of Lex and the Contessa Erica del Portenza, whom — quite shockingly at the time — Lex traded to Brainiac 13 in exchange for the power that later made Lex president, and whom we haven’t seen since roundabouts 2001.

Williamson’s been teasing Brainiac’s presence in this book from the start (not to mention the “House of Brainiac” crossover book coming, etc.), so that much isn’t a surprise, but I did not expect — indeed, had rather forgotten about — the infant Lena Luthor, now grown, who’s barely been mentioned in 20 years (see similar with Black Canary’s sister Sin in Birds of Prey Vol. 1). I’m thrilled — because I’m surprised, because I loved that Jeph Loeb era, and because Williamson immediately makes her seem a logical part of the cast, giving her a job at Supercorp (helped by the can’t miss art of Bruno Redondo). If I was excited for House of Brainiac before, I’m even more so now.

Again, the art on Chained stays together mostly well. In the initial issues, Gleb Melnikov seems to apply a stripped-down approach to “the Chained” Sammy that makes him all the scarier, plus muted colors from Alejandro Sanchez, I believe. Insofar as it’s old home week in this book, the more animated art from David Baldeón put me in mind of Carlo Barberi and Carlos Megila from back in the Super-days, interspersed around Kano and Duncan Rouleau and Pascal Ferry and such. That’s also nice to start with, but the finale of this book needs more seriousness to live up to the previous issues' rising action than Baldeón can give it. After Redondo and Campbell and such, Baldeón’s Lex and his mother falling from the sky look too comical to achieve the necessary suspense.

There’s so much happening in Superman Vol. 2: The Chained that it’s somewhat taken for granted that Clark Kent is both reporter for the Daily Planet, the superhero Superman, and now also head of a multinational research company. It’s not clear yet if Joshua Williamson considers that “business as usual” for Superman or if we’ll come to find Clark under some strain in this regard. I’d as soon have Clark as a journalist (and no one believes Supercorp will be a lasting change), but there’s something interesting and timely to Williamson’s conception of Superman as Super-CEO. For decades Superman has shown us that those with great strength can also be benevolent, and perhaps this 2020s Superman can equally show us that those in possession of great wealth can be benevolent. I’ll be curious to see what Williamson does with this.

[Includes original and variant covers]

Rating 2.25