Superman
has discovered that the entire planet Earth has somehow entered the Phantom
Zone. Not only does this open the planet to attack from its many criminal
occupants, it also cuts Earth off from some of the known DCU’s common elements,
such as the Speed Force and various forces of magic.
There is a
brief cameo by Lex Luthor’s Nuclear Man, as seen in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Some may regard this as outside
the current continuity, but perhaps the Phantom Zone is a bit of a hub for the
various realities within the greater DC Universe. That would be a fitting means
of keeping characters from moving too eagerly from one continuity to another.
Kind of like the Atlanta airport in our world.
This theory
is given greater credence when the Flash’s sense of reality begins to fragment,
and he inexplicably becomes Wally West rather than Barry Allen. However, that
could be attributed to a coloring mistake by Sinclair, or one of DC’s arbitrary
ret-cons in which they try to convince us Barry Allen has always had red hair.
What grabbed
me about this issue is the artwork. Reis, Prado and Albert seem to be
channeling their inner Neal Adams. The inking has a rick texture, and the
figure renderings demonstrate stances and facial expressions. I am inclined to
revisit past work by Reis and Prado to see if this is a recent development in
their individual styles, or if there has always been a certain mimicry in their
drawings. Not that that’s a bad thing, by any means.
Rating:
8/10