Quick Summary

Pros: The reveal of the main villain was done excellently and makes the possibilities for the rest of this event extremely interesting. In addition, the backup story is fantastic.

Cons: Although the main villain reveal makes sense, it was not built up to much. The art looks odd at times.

Overall: Superman: Reborn, Part 2 is finally here which means that fans will finally discover the identity of one of the biggest mysteries in all of Rebirth. This is another homerun issue in terms of plot and storytelling. It introduces a villain who will make fans sympathize with him while also causing their blood to boil. Overall, this is a great continuation to the already successful Superman: Reborn event.

Story

If fans were doubtful going into Superman: Reborn then this issue should put all of those doubts to rest. It continues to tell a good Superman story while undergoing a huge villain reveal. On their own these things could have been two completely separate issues, but together they do a great job in continuing this event.

(spoilers start here)

So first things first, the villain introduced in this issue was probably one of the least likely candidates that anyone had in mind. Fan theories and forums were all speculating different subjects; even this issue’s cover seemed to hint at someone else. This made Mxyzptlk’s reveal seem like it came from nowhere.

However, one cannot argue with results as Mxyzptlk makes an absolutely fantastic villain in this one issue alone. He is crazy, creepy, and chilling, yet still manages to make readers feel bad for him. Paul Dini’s backup story delves into his background and motives and explains them in a way that makes sense with all of the setup that has been done so far. In fact, it is hard to imagine anyone else as the villain after reading this issue’s backup.

Besides introducing a great villain, this issue also serves to develop the story of this event itself. Last issue saw Jon being removed from the Kents’s lives and now this issue removes him from people’s memories as well. Superman seems unaffected by this but Lois seems to have forgotten who Jon is entirely. This strange turn of events has a lot of potential and could lead to Jon playing a much bigger part in his own rescue, something which could turn out to be very fun to watch.

All in all this was a very solid issue and a smart continuation of this event’s story. It seems to be heading towards a classic Superman/Mxyzptlk faceoff with the added twist of Jon being involved. Although something like this would be both hilarious and awesome, I would also like to see the mystery that is Superman receive some attention as well. This event promised to reveal more about the nature of Superman’s existence in this world; hopefully the existence of Mxyzptlk is not the entirety of that reveal.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The art in this issue is pretty standard to the rest of DC’s typical offerings, with just a few odd tweaks. For one, faces are drawn in a way that makes them seem too well defined. Jawlines stand out and make characters look creepy and menacing even with a neutral look on their face. This works great for this issue’s villain but less so for Lois and Clark.

Despite this, Ian Churchill’s art in the backup issue ends up looking very good. His depiction of the main characters is pretty standard and looks like anything else you would find in almost any other DC book. However, it is the combination with various other art styles that makes this backup stand out visually.

Continuity

This is the second issue in the Superman: Reborn event, the first was Superman #18 (Review). This event mostly is built up in the pages of Action Comics but also involves some of the family dynamics focused on in Superman.

Mxyzptlk’s last appearance is collected in Action Comics Vol. 3: At the End of Days. However it is unclear what ties are between this issue and that storyline.

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