Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "superwoman"

Superwoman, Volume 1: Who Killed Superwoman? by Phil Jimenez

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 1-7 of Superwoman and begins with the New 52 Lois Lane and Lana Lang each being Superwoman but that doesn't long as Lois apparently explodes leaving Lana to carry on alone.

The book has some interesting features. Chief among them is Lex Luthor who has claimed the mantle of Superman and even though he's imprisoned for most of the book, this book gives some insight to his character and Lana points out a bunch of his stuff that's utter abusive nonsense. I can't help but feel a little sorry for him as he really is put through the ringer in this book.

I also thought some of the supporting cast worked well particularly John Henry Irons.

What doesn't work well is Lana Lang. Making her become Superwoman is a big surprise, but there's little in this book that makes me want to read more or her adventures. I think Phil Jimenez was trying for something different: She was emotionally vulnerable and prone to anxiety and her powers are killing her. These are well thought out problems and they don't necessarily make us want to read about her. This is a very wordy book and Lana is the most verbose character in the book seeming to never stop talking. Her overall character lacks sense of fun or even firm purpose.

I think the type of idea Jimenez had for Lana's character is a good one but it's not well-executed. Marvel had Carol Danvers who had to stop using her powers because it was destroying her mind, but they didn't do that in the first book, they got us to know her and cheer for so when she was grounded, we felt the impact of that. Here, starting with this problem when she doesn't understand her powers means that she doesn't really fully understand what she's lost and what she's risking, and neither do we. As for emotional problems and struggling with anxiety, a better character having those sort of issues is Jessica Cruz in Green Lanterns, who despite her open struggles is far more fun to read than Lana.

When writing a book like this with a character concept that's new, it's got to be really good. This book isn't bad, but it's lackluster. It's weaker than Batgirl's debut series. Batgirl could afford a weaker opening volume because it's an established character with a fan base that will keep it around. Superwoman on the other hand is a new heroine and her first book needed to be strong to generate reader interest. This book fails to do that and so while it's worth reading for the stuff about Luthor, this book didn't make me interested to keep reading this series.



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