Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artists: Bruno Redondo & Caid Filipe
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Cover Artist: Jamal Campbell
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Superman is stuck in the old west! After a brief encounter with the mad Dr. Pharm who tried to recruit Marilyn Moonlight, both Superman and Moonlight were sent back in time to the wild west in Metropolis’ past. Read Superman #10 to see just how the Man of Steel finds a way back, and what occurs in the present in his absence.
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Review:
Now, last issue we had Superman on life support at LexCorp, now SuperCorp, recovering from extreme exposure to kryptonite. Naturally, we all knew this wouldn’t last that long, and in the process Superman got a new armored suit to help him fight for a brief while. Turned out Dr. Pharm wanted to recruit Marilyn Moonlight to take out Lex Luthor, but she refused. Superman showed up, tried to arrest Pharm, but he used his new kryptonite gauntlet to scramble Moonlight’s powers which ends up sending them into Metropolis’ distant past during the times of the wild west.
Now, not much really happens in this issue. It’s very much a Superman spaghetti western type of story. Superman and Marilyn Moonlight ride on horseback to find civilization, only to discover poor folks who were robbed and murdered by an evil vandal. Turns out, Superman has history with this vandal, a time-traveling gunslinger called “Terra-man”. Based on the comic, this guy is quite the deep cut as far as Superman villains go. To settle things, Supes and Terra-man have a good-old fashioned shootout. From there, the comic doesn’t waste time and has Supes and Moonlight take him down in quick fashion.
The best thing about this story is that it’s only one issue, and Joshua Williamson doesn’t end up dragging this whole side adventure for multiple issues. Which is what tends to happen in most other books in DC and Marvel Comics for the past decade. The art by Caid Filipe to depict the old west in Metropolis was also great. He really does capture the style, feel, and atmosphere of a traditional western setting, especially in its people. Superman looks great with his cowboy design and of course Marilyn Moonlight looks dazzling because of her light-based getup.
The downside is that not much really happens in this comic, it’s very much a quick read. The action with Superman and Terra-man is just four or five pages, two of which area double page spread of them staring each other down. On top of that, we get some of Moonlight’s backstory here. But’s it’s just in one page, and sadly it’s not very impressive, it’s just…serviceable. Nothing about her or her exploits screams “legendary figure” who would still be popular in modern-day Metropolis as Williamson has tried to depict in some of the past issues. Sure, she could be a local urban legend brought up from time to time, but nothing more than that. Especially in a city filled with all kinds of more interesting superhumans, like Superman, Lex, the Super Family, and Supes’ entire rogues gallery.
Now, it’s clear we’ll get more of her in future issues, but what we’ve gotten so far is barely anything at all. For now, Marilyn Moonlight is just a cool design and nothing else. Then there’s the ending, which is a big spoiler but I will say that it does up the ante for what comes next. Obviously, we’ll get more in the next issue, but I will say the last few pages are done well to show a rejuvenated Superman just do his thing, saving lives, stopping accidents, and just helping people, all in a solid double-page spread by, I believe, Bruno Redondo.
Final Thoughts:
Superman #10 delivers a quick side adventure of Superman in the wild west. The story is written and drawn with the stylings of a classic spaghetti western story, with Superman center-stage against an old villain from his past. Unfortunately, the story is a pretty quick read, since the villain Superman fights isn’t too interesting or difficult and is a very easy win for Superman any time of the day. Plus, what we learn about the new character Marilyn Moonlight, who was created in this series, is pretty disappointing. For now, Moonlight has just a cool design but not much else. Hopefully, more is done with her in future issues. On the plus side, the comic doesn’t drag this side adventure for multiple issues like most comics would. It actually wraps this story up in one issue before bringing both Superman and the readers back to the present and to the main plot this series has been building up.