Superman #4: A Silver Standard

As Joshua Williamson and Jamal Campbell move onto their second Superman arc, they dodge a sophomore slump and launch directly into an issue rife with some of the best character writing the title has seen in quite some time. While the first three issues were extremely strong and clever, this one begins to hunker us down for a longer haul, taking the time to dive a little deeper into the unreliable history of Dr. Pharm and Lex.

The issue opens with Siobhan McDougall, a.k.a. The Silver Banshee, becoming next in line for Dr. Pharm’s kryptonite experiments as she’s attacked in her apartment. The opening is strong and uses dialogue to see for later that will come off as a surprise, but when considering some of the lines, it falls into place with elegance. Between Campbell’s dynamic art and Williamson’s propensity to show the human lives of our super-powered characters, an expansive and grounded tone begins to take the series over significantly. Comics in the modern day have grown disconnected from our characters’ lives outside the action. The more we lose of that, the more shallow and less believable these stories become. Williamson’s Superman and the world around him is a version of the character that can be wholly believed in. While this sense of scope and depth was there in the first arc, it did have to bear the brunt of opening the run-up and had to remain focused on the action. However, Williamson stretches his legs a bit more with character and world-building.

Silver Banshee’s story is set up in a way that allows her to be an antagonist without regressing all the character’s progress as an individual. The last page regarding her was something straight out of the silver age, but the book’s livelier tone and humanly grounded nature keep it from being out of place.

Case in point, Lex Luthor. Williamson spends a lot of time with Lex, utilizing conversation and silent action to re-characterize the version of Luthor in a post-Death Metal DC. This isn’t an inherently evil Lex, but instead, one whose deepest insecurities and ego lead him down the wrong paths as a human being. He’s being written and portrayed as a lawful gray, thanks to how well Williamson can make that grayness believable. There’s even a little bit of retconning with Luthor that’s here not only to justify his more heroic tendencies but also to push the plot forward, and it works. It’s an additive retcon and serves to flesh out our modern Metropolis a bit further. If PKJ’s Action Comics was about re-introducing Superman, then Williamson’s Superman title clearly focuses on creating a Lex Luthor to match it.

The tone in this book remains very reminiscent of the animated series from decades ago, and it’s a tone that works more than any other tone has worked for Clark in decades. Jamal Campbell’s art, and Nick Draggotta’s guest pages, elevate this story so much that every page is just a tremendous experience, from visuals to the story.