It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a mistake that I made! Unlike Superman, I am but a humble human, prone to making mistakes. The one in this instance being that my review for issue 4 of The Kryptonian Age slipped through the cracks and didn’t end up being written. To counteract this, I am using this article to write a bumper-sized review for you! Issues 4 and 5. So, with my apologies out of the way, let’s close the drapes, turn on our gaslights and take a look at the penultimate events of this series.
It’s time for my tinfoil hat
For the past three issues, I’ve had one consistent complaint. It’s way too full of stories and subplots and what-have-you. I now have a theory as to why this is. When this series was announced back at NYCC 2023, it was going to be a 12-issue maxiseries. Funnily enough, it now only seems to 6 issues. Am I saying that this was originally planned to be a longer series, but had its run sliced in half so in order to compensate had to cram as much as it could into every single issue? Maybe. It certainly feels like it.
Onto the story itself. In issue 3 we were introduced to Alan Scott, saw further into Diana’s back story and had a little sneak peek at Martian Manhunter. Issue 4 picks back up with Alan Scott, whose train has been hijacked by the League of Assassins. Mrs. Silverton is crushed in the accident, giving Alan the ring in her dying moments, which he then utilises to incinerate some assassins. This ring definitely isn’t acting as a usual green lantern ring would, which leads me to wonder: why? Just make it a different artefact maybe instead of trying to do Green Lantern with Alan Scott.
It wouldn’t be an issue of The Kryptonian Age if we didn’t jump over immediately to another plot point. We see a boat attempting to smuggle illegal goods into Gotham City. That goes just about as well as you might expect, with Batman coming aboard and taking them all out with ease. HE grabs the captain and demands he tell him about smuggling in the League of Shadows. In a story this crammed, why would you take 5 precious pages for something like this? It just feels as if we can’t have a Batman book without a scene with Batman so we get a small and ultimately pointless one.
We shift yet again to the adventure between Adam Strange and Diana which, again, feels pointless. They’re walking to a port from the archaeological dig site, Diana is harassed in a bar and proceeds to beat up the offenders, and they go on a boat. Chip you may say, you’re simplifying the story to make it look bad! I am not. This is all that happens.
What are we, some kind of Justice League?
Do you know what this story really needed? Another plot line! We get to see this universe’s version of Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White. Lois comes to her editor with strong evidence that Luthor is assembling a squad of villains from death row. Not only that, but he’s supposedly “digging from emeralds” in Kansas, near a town called Smallville. Perry allows her to investigate.
On the subject of the greatest criminal mind of our time, one Victor Stone has an appointment with Lex Luthor, who claims to be the herald of a new age of man. I enjoy most of the characters in this story, with what little time were get to spend with them. Luthor does however enter the realm of caricature, going on about how others are “inferior” and that no mind could rival his, so he only requires an assistant who can “keep up”. That brings us to the end of issue 4!
Issue 5 picks up right where we left off. Luthor shows Victor his glowing man in a cage and explains his origin. Decades prior, an ancient object was dislodged from its orbit by a solar flare and was set shooting down to Earth. Upon impact, it woke up an artefact in Luthor’s possession, which in turn burnt off all of his hair, and froze his assistant, Jay Garrick, in a… flash. I wonder if we’ll see him again.
If you haven’t been able to decipher it by now, we’re seeing a Justice League assemble. It appears to be a mix of JSA and JL members, with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman being accompanied by Alan Scott and Jay Garrick. I like this roster and would be more excited to see the team form if I were more invested in the characters. You can’t call a character Jay Garrick and expect me to care instantly. I have to know him first.
Back to the story, Victor leaves Luthorm disgusted that he would keep the man captive and gets his car bombed. With him in the driver’s seat. He awakens to find that the mad scientist is attempting to turn him into a man-machine hybrid. We catch a quick glimpse of Batman, who seems to have been relegated to a side character in his own series. He’s fueling up his Bat-Blimp for a trip. This is as good of a time as ever to bring up the art and design. There’s nothing more I have to say about the quality, its standard is as high as ever. The design is what I’m most impressed with, for example, the Bat-Blimp looks awesome. I just wish it was accompanied by a better story. Actually, let me rephrase. I can see the passion, love and ideas that this project has. It would be nice if it had more time and space to tell it.
Blast from the past
Now we get to see… John Constantine? I’d almost forgotten he was in this book. In the Suez Canal, Constantine encounters what appears to be the Phantom Stranger. I used to be able to say more about the segments of this story, but they seem to have gotten shorter and shorter and so I find it very difficult to comment on them. They meet and talk, the Stranger tells John that he knows nothing, then vanishes.
Finally, we arrive in Smallville. Adam Scott in typical conman fashion is trying to monetise his latest encounter with the supernatural. Lois Lane arrives on the scene and asks him to use it, but he finds himself unable to wield it like before. This reaffirms my suspicions that this is not really a green lantern ring. We don’t have much time to linger on this before a scuffle breaks out. there’s been an argument in the saloon. The deputy steps in, only to be quickly disarmed by Deadshot, or should I say “The Dead Shot”. Just when all seems lost, the sheriff steps in to save the day. Wow, that sheriff sure is super, man. This is by far my favourite section from this whole series.
Maybe this is all the series should have been. A World’s Finest style team-up between Batman and Superman, rather than the whole League. That is what I expected out of a series called “The Kryptonian Age” and might have been preferable. The switch up from dark, gothic Gotham to bright, wild west Smallville really helps make it substantially more memorable than any other locations so far. Clark Kent being a bumbling “lucky” sheriff is a very interesting idea, and I’m excited to see where that goes. Unfortunately, he’s only just been introduced and there’s only one issue left.
Recommended If…
- You want to see a fresh new spin on Clark Kent
- A real who’s who of this new universe intrigues you
- The art really works for you. It’s one of the few reasons I’m enjoying it.
Overall:
This whole review might seem overly negative. That doesn’t mean I hate this. In fact, I really want to like it. If we got to spend more than a few pages of each issue with a single character, I might care for them more. Even doing a single one-shot issue per character like the original Gotham by Gaslight and wrapping it up with a team book might work better. As it stands, there just seems to be too much going on, and that really holds the series back from being as good and enjoyable as it could be.
Score: 4/10 for issue #3, 5/10 for issue #4
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