ICYMI! Superman #8: Whatever Happened to the Man of Chains?

It’s the penultimate chapter of “The Chained,” Joshua Williamson’s second arc on the solo Superman title, and we finally understand why this new character hates Lex, what his connection is to Conner, and where the Chained, and Conner’s powers came from. We see the formation of what looks to be the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad, and a killer final page cliffhanger. Joining Joshua Williamson on art duties is Gleb Melnikov, David Baldeon, and Jamal Campbell. 

Williamson’s quickly risen in the ranks of DC’s golden child writers, filling in the role last held by Scott Snyder, in the post Dark Nights: Death Metal that ushered in the Omniverse. He’s also been the lead for the last few big events, including Infinite Frontier, and last years Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, which paved the way for the Dawn of DC. Williamson’s worked on almost high profile title in the DC umbrella, including the Flash, Justice League, Batman, and now Superman. 

I find his work to be better geared for solo books, where his ideas can work in the realms overly ambitious, to the mundane. Not everything has to be a multiversal threat. This also gives Williamson the room to add in character development amongst for the supporting cast. We’re only 8 issues into this run, and he’s already introduced a whole bevy of new adversaries for the Man of Steel, and his extended family members. While I found the first arc to be a better read, this arc is finally starting to warm up. Seeing a repentant Lex, who’s actually trying to work with Superman. One of my favorite characters has actually turned out to be Mercy, who’s the plucky gal Friday, and it’s just plain fun to see her like that. 

The Chained is Sammy Stryker, who was the son of the man who built Stryker’s Island Penetairy. Sammy was experimented on by Lex years before, that gave him tactile telekinesis, much like Conner’s powers. It’s discovered in this issue that the reason the Chained was imprisoned was because his powers became too strong, and Sammy wanted revenge against Luthor and his father, for having tortured him to give him these abilities. Lex also revealed that it was his research in the realm of telekinesis that Project CADMUS would use when they cloned Conner, used these techniques to give him his powers. Just a fun little addition to Superboy’s origin. 

This story’s uptick could be because of the art. Gleb Melnikov’s art is energetic, and dynamic, but it’s such a big departure from Jamal Campbell, and his style, that it’s been the reason I’ve found the arc to be lagging for me. This isn’t the first project Williamson and Melnikov’s done together. They were the creators of the short lived Robin solo that featured Damien Wayne. Fortunately what he’s delivered this issue is probably his strongest effort yet. He’s joined by David Baldeon and Campbell ends the issue with the killer set up for the finale next issue. Whatever Gleb’s doing, it’s working.