Comic Book Review: Superman World Of New Krypton #10 (of 12)

Written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson
Art by Pete Woods; Cover by Gary Frank
Variant cover by Dustin Nguyen

Plot
In issue #9, we are left with a council member, dead on the floor and Adam Strange, standing above him, as the most likely suspect. As Kryptonian authorities immediately throw guilt upon Strange, Superman utilizes his commanding status to keep Strange from being tried and wrongfully convicted. But the questions still remains, “whodunit?” Clues lead Superman and his band of officers to believe the culprit to be one of the labor guild and immediately start their search within their company.

As Superman and Adam Strange come closer to solving the case, another wrench is thrown into the mix and Superman rattles his brain desperately trying to solve this case. But while Superman thinks, things are already being set into motion which could endanger the life of one member of New Krypton’s elite…time is of the essence!

My Thoughts

Issue #10 brings us back to what made #8 so good, the classic way of writing mystery tale! Adam Strange is an amazing character who brings so much life to this suffering title. The book needed something to help it get out of the dull drums and into some thought provoking story telling. We get not so much of the political struggles and troubles within the different social classes and more dialogue and story which analyze the mystery of the murdered council member. This was a much needed change and I’m glad to see Rucka is helping James Robinson finally focus this title into something understandable and tangible.

I find it interesting that, even though Superman swore to leave his home world of earth and everything he took from it behind and embrace New Krypton’s way of doing things, he was unable to bow down to the Council’s need to pass immediate judgment. Whether this was the writers intention or not I don’t know, but the sociological comments found in this scene are tremendous. It made me ask myself “Can one truly leave their upbringing behind to embrace the exact opposite?” It’s a hard thing to do, as shown that even Superman can’t escape his learned behavior.

The double paged layout formats of each and every issue has been slowly bugging me as we get closer and closer to the final issue. I’ve tried to keep quiet about it, hoping that it was just me getting used to it, but I honestly believe this format and the way they use it is incredibly confusing and distracting. I would be reading one page, confused as hell, then realized what I did. My wish? That the ones organizing this would think a little harder about how they place panels on the pages, it would make my reading experience much more enjoyable.

Now I’m still confused at where this miniseries is going even though we are two issues away from being done with the story. I can see where the focus is going to be, but I can’t figure out why this is all happening and what its significance is in the DC universe. There aren’t even that many clues given to us as to why all the chaos is going on.

Overall

While this particular issue is good in and of itself, I’m starting to think the ending to this mini will be a huge let down, and I will have wasted $36 on a 12 issue series. James Robinson is not getting high points from me for this series, which is a double whammy seeing as how he’s doing an even worse job with Justice League: A Cry for Justice.

4 out of 5 stars

Next Issue Coming January 6, 2010

"Mystery in Space" Part 2! As the murder mystery on New Krypton deepens, Superman and Adam Strange's investigation leads them to uncover a conspiracy involving all five Kryptonian guilds that threatens to devastate the entire planet. This chain of events will touch everyone – Alura, Zod, even General Lane – and will lead directly into next month's explosive finale!