Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Review: New Super-Man #5

By Andy Frisk
November 14, 2016 - 21:25

"Study Plato! Democracies always decay into tyrannies!" argues Dr. Omen, head of the Ministry of Self Reliance, to Flying Dragon General, leader of the Freedom Fighters of China. After the US election of November 8th, 2016 this adage rings even more true to many readers of one of DC Comics' Rebirth line of titles: New Superman. You are about to read a review of a comic book though, not a political blog entry, so I will refrain from expounding upon the relevance of Dr. Omen's quote to the real world state of US politics. Gene Luen Yang's New Super-Man is a slyly political work though, so the seepage of political commentary into a review of a comic book with political undertones doesn't necessarily seem unnatural. Well, at least as unnatural as the election of an individual with absolutely no experience or, as we are seeing revealed daily, idea of how to do the job of leader of the free world...

...fortunately though, at least for those interested in reading smart mainstream comic books, someone who knows how to do their job, and do it damn well, is New Super-Man writer Gene Luen Yang. Every issue of New Super-Man gets better and better as the plot thickens as character identity revelations rock the book's apparent status quo. Quickly changing allegiances create a fast paced narrative here in issue #5 that raises interesting thematic allegories as New Super-Man continues to address, through the allegory of superhero adventure, the challenges and battles between authoritarianism and democracy, as well as the challenging ethics that (at last for this comic book's characters) complicate them. Dr. Omen created the Justice League of China to preserve the Chinese brand of authoritarian control to the benefit of the people in her eyes, while Kong Kenan/New Super-Man's father created the Freedom Fighters of China in an attempt to bring justice and democracy to China. How the two will work together to "save China," as they vow to at the end of this issue, will be very interesting to see play out in the next few.

Super-Man and Flying Dragon General aren't the only ones in this issue with conflicted allegiances and compromised ideals. Flying Dragon General's recently freed compatriots engage in dubious means to attempt to bring the aforementioned justice and democracy to China through the use of an interesting twist on the old Starro villain mind control trope that rears it's head every now and again in DC Comics stories. Artist Viktor Bogdanovic brings this new twist on Starro to life with a eye to the character's legacy but with a visual freshness that keeps it from being redundant.

New Super-Man continues to remain fun and interesting. We're only 5 issues in, but this book is already worthy of the type of critical attention that is usually reserved for the more adult oriented, i.e. Vertigo, books from DC Comics. Let's hope it can maintain it's super hero fun and smart commentary throughout its run. It's definitely an entertaining and thoughtful alternative, actually escape, from the current state of political affairs and despair many are facing right now. We could definitely do worse than the hopeful, if conflicted, political tone of New Super-Man.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12