Review: New Super-Man and the Justice League of China #24

DC Comics
Review: New Super-Man and the Justice League of China #24
By Philip Schweier
June 13, 2018 - 04:06

DC Comics
Writer(s): Gene Luen Yang
Penciller(s): Brent Peeples
Inker(s): Scott Hanna
Colourist(s): Hi-Fi
Letterer(s): Dave Sharpe
Cover Artist(s): ilip Tan, Elmer Santos; Bernard Chang

The final issue of New Super-Man and the Justice League of China. It’s been a challenging road, as the title has gone from being a Superman variant to a Justice League variant, seemingly existing in its own continuity, unfettered to the rest of the DC Universe.

In this final issue, the JLC must face dark versions of themselves, as Super-Man takes them into the spirit realm in a bid to rescue his master, I-Ching, from death. But it all proves to be a tragic mistake, until Super-Man discovers yet another layer to the Yin/Yang philosophy. The last few pages of the book tie off the series, in a manner that seemed tacked on at the last minute because DC pulled the plug.

I am uncertain why the character was created in the first place. We have Superman; do we really need another? However, this version is slightly different from the more familiar Last Son of Krypton, in character if not in power. As I continued reading the series, I came to appreciate Kong Kenan’s efforts to achieve balance, and how Yang and Yin were incorporated into his nature.

Where the series began to stumble and ultimately fail was in the creation of a Justice League of China. Again, why? We have a Justice League, and Asian variants of established characters served NO PURPOSE. I suspect that’s Chinese knock-offs of DC Comics characters are a hard sell in North America. Perhaps the average comic book reader has little insight into Chinese society to appreciate how the JLC is different from the JLA. And cares even less. So again – redundancy.

Had the series focused instead on Kong Kenan and his role as a super-hero for Asia, the series may have had greater potential. Eventually, he may have evolved away from the Superman copycat mold. But we’ll never know, and I suppose that’s okay.

Rating: 4/10