Morgan Edge, host of Metropolis’ right wing talk show Edge of Reason, retreads the recent events that have stricken Metropolis from the death of Mon-El to the destruction of the city’s sewer system and entire water supply, and caps his commentary with a rousing rendition of what amounts to an elevation of General Lane to Founding Father glory status. Meanwhile, Mirabai The Forlorn mentally interrogates Zatara, who is a captive in her magic realm, and Jim Harper, during a small memorial gathering in Jon Kent’s honor, reveals to the Sci-Po team that Jon Kent and Mon-El were one and the same person. Little do they know that they’ll be seeing Mon-El again though…

It looks as if the decision to keep Mon-El’s secret identity secret has been made editorially, and we probably won’t be seeing much of Jon Kent anymore. That’s a shame because Mon-El was really starting to develop well as a character and his secret identity was an integral part of his development. With Mon-El soon to be joining the Justice League though, he probably won’t have much time for indulging in a secret identity as a member of Metropolis’ Sci-Po. As Superman readers know, Mon-El is slowly dying and he’s been on a bit of a personal mission to experience and travel the world as much as possible. Surely, there’ll be a cure for what is killing him at some point, as his character is so interesting that he’s definitely worth keeping around. As far as any other major plot developments, Superman #692 doesn’t really cover much, except for some resolution to part of The Guardian’s family history and some discussion of Mirabai, General Lane, and Codename: Assassin’s plans for Mon-El and Zatara, all of which have a very obviously anti-Kryptonian bent.

Dagnino continues to deliver some strong penciling work in Superman #692, although this issue is very light on action. This issue is more centered on the developments in the personal lives of its supporting cast of characters, who take center stage in this issue with Mon-El’s absence. This relegates Dagnino to creating much more subtle depictions of nuanced body language and facial expression, especially during Mon-El’s memorial gathering. He accomplishes this artistic task just as strongly as accomplishes the usual fisticuffs that occur in most issues.

Overall, the Superman Family of books continue to be the most enjoyable and thoughtful mainstream superhero books on the market right now. It’s truly a testament to Robinson and company’s writing ability when they can deliver an issue of a title named Superman where neither its title character, nor its current fill-in protagonist even appear (Mon-El does only very briefly), and it’s still a great read.