Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1: The Pieces are in Place

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special has a lot of moving pieces. I was invested in Action Comics’ buildup, but for me, the Leviathan Rising hasn’t completely grabbed me just yet. The highlight, though, is Leviathan. They rock some awesome face changing camouflage in a museum when they confront the Invisible Mafia’s Leone, and upon releasing Clark Kent is seen in a getup that I can only describe as a mix between Star Wars’ Darth Revan and Destiny’s Cayde. Several panels even seem to be taken straight out of a Star Wars story.

Clark’s capture is brilliant writing by Bendis: Kent sees that there is a team waiting to ambush him in his apartment, so instead of kicking their butts he wants to chase the story and is “captured.” He seems pretty confident until he is actually captured. This is all undone when he is back in his suit and flying around as if nothing happened.

The issue shifts to writer Greg Rucka’s Lois Lane focus. I was blown away by Mike Perkins’ art, but the section felt so out of place compared to the other segments (besides Jimmy Olsen’s). The Lane segment gets too gritty too fast and feels like an entirely different character than the rest of the issue. That being said, the segment was extremely enjoyable, especially because it shows Lane telling off Batman.

Matt Fraction’s Jimmy Olsen segment was extremely enjoyable and a complete wildcard. I was constantly reminded of Fraction’s Hawkeye run with Marvel, which is a good and bad thing. I highly enjoy Fraction’s writing and his stab at Hawkeye was one of my favorite series, but this segment felt too much like the Hawkeye run. Steve Lieber’s art even seemed to mimic David Aja’s. However, I do appreciate Fraction’s ability to take a “ normal” character (no powers) and create compelling stories. The segment is also a nice callback to the early “Friend of Superman” series.

The Supergirl segment is the most compelling: her adoptive parents’ home is obliterated by the same figure and energy blast from the earlier Action Comics issues, suspected to be Leviathan’s doing. There are emotional stakes in Supergirl’s investigation. She isn’t trying to save the world just because she is a superhero: she wants to know what happened because she is emotionally connected.