Superwoman #2

Last issue ended on a very shocking note. More than once I was caught off guard with the direction it went into. I decided to try another issue to see if I can get a better vibe where this is going.

SPOILERS AHEAD


I can understand some of the anger I've seen over DC marketing this as a Lois Lane title then having Lana Lang show up as another Superwoman and the only surviving one by the end of the issue. The last time I recall a switch like this was the Huntress ID change when they decided to bring in more Earth 2 stuff. It's not fair to the fans of the characters even though I can kind of see where DC is coming from.

Lex Luthor wants to take over since he's "Superman" only he can't do anything due to the power suit not responding. Missiles launch with him hoping Superwoman can do something. Inside the ship Lois crumbles apart like Clark did leaving Lana alone to deal with the Bizarro looking Earth 3 Superwoman. Lana freaks out since she's lost another person and has trouble with stress. Her powers don't seem to do anything and Bizarro Superwoman asks for help. Mercy Graves comes in and transforms into another Bizarro Superwoman.

Lana panics and rushes out and the Superwomen are ordered not to follow her. Steel meets up with Lana amazed that she's wearing the uniform. I do like the pairing. Though I now wonder why he started playing the bongos naked. That's certainly a mental image that made me smile for the randomness.

Maggie Sawyer and the cops want to get to the bottom of everything. Lana fibs about Lois being alive and missing. Much liked Lois did Lana gets a nosebleed. The Bizarros are clones that one of the villains (Kryptonite Man) can see through their eyes. Eventually at the end its revealed that Lena Luthor is behind everything.


Overall: I'll start with what I liked.

Lana is a great character in this and I enjoyed seeing get some attention besides the standard love triangle stuff of the past.

John Henry with Lana, they fit together really well as a couple. Having her bond with Natasha also feels natural. I love how thoughtful Natasha is about helping and the nod to past canon with the Insect Queen name. Together there's a perfect balance of caring and support. Plus the Irons are always awesome to see.

Lex was perfectly arrogant and it's always nice to have him in over his head. The touch with Atomic Skull freaking out and Steel wanting to know what happened because of his family was a great touch.

But this issue really lost it on the villain side where things are just rushed with very little explanation and it feels very disorienting. I could buy Lena Luthor doing this but the "clone vision", prison torture and various plots all feel jammed here.

Also: Clone Spores? That's when I knew for sure this was heading in a direction I wouldn't like. This series has potential but this issue didn't have a solid focus. Too much is going on and being introduced. The crammed plots really take away from the overall story which made me lose interest. This has happened in other books but some of them I could forgive because they always put character first which made me care more. Here we leave the heroes to have different bad guys we know little about do things before going to other bad guys. I felt like a lot of it could have been edited down or taken out.

I hope for the best for Lana Lang Superwoman but I'm dropping this.