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The following review is excerpted from Comic Book Revolution (click here to read the full review)

Writer: James Robinson
Pencils: Renato Guedes
Inks: Wilson Magalhaes

Art: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10

The Good:

Robinson clearly did not want to rush the story at all and allows the arrival of the Kryptonians on Earth as well as the reaction that it has sparked across the globe to really sink into the reader’s mind. The controlled pace of the story makes the climactic ending all that much more intense. I believe that Robinson intended Superman #681 to be the quiet before the storm.

I like the collection of heroes that Robinson assembles to go confront Superman. If anyone is going to give a lecture to Superman and get away with it then it would be Alan Scott and Wonder Woman. I was also impressed that Robinson respected what is going on in Batman RIP and did not needlessly shoehorn Batman into this scene. Such an action would have been a very easy and tempting thing for a writer to do.

Superman’s response to the heroes’ concerns was perfect. Superman truly embodies hope and promise. Superman always looks at the positive side of everything to the point where he sometimes turns a blind eye to possibilities that do not mesh with his positive view of life.

Robinson does a fine job showing both sides of this issue concerning the people of Kandor. Robinson is able to treat both viewpoints fairly which succeeds in making it even tougher on the reader to decide if they should trust the people of Kandor or not. I appreciate it when a writer takes the time and effort to craft a moral dilemma that the reader struggles to resolve. Superman is very persuasive in his support of his fellow Kryptonians, but the other heroes make a compelling case for their distrust of an entire city full of Kryptonians.

I absolutely loved the scene with Krypto arriving at Ma Kent’s house. To me, this was the best scene in the entire issue. I am a dog lover so I am a total sucker for scenes like this. I felt bad for poor Martha all alone at the Kent Farm. Clark sending Krypto to be with his mother was a sweet touch. I continue to love how Robinson has handled Krypto during his run on this title.

And then Robinson drops a huge bomb on the reader with the dramatic appearance of one of the biggest and baddest Superman villains of all time…

The Bad:

Superman #681 is a slow issue that has absolutely no action at all. Not much really happens at all until the very end. We get very little in the way of plot development in this issue. And what we do get is a bit repetitious as we re-hash the dialogue from Superman: New Krypton Special #1 concerning the threat that an entire city of Kryptonians poses to Earth as well as Superman’s goal of teaching the Kryptonians about Earth and its customs and rules and in turn teaching Earth about Kryptonian culture.

The lack of action and the limited plot progression will likely turn off some readers. I have to admit that I was surprised to see Robinson taking such a slow burn approach with Superman #681 considering the sound foundation that was constructed by Superman: New Krypton Special #1. I thought that having a special one-shot issue to install the underpinnings for this New Krypton story would have allowed Robinson to come out of the gate a bit faster than what he did with Superman #681. It is clear that New Krypton is being written for trade format and not for a monthly format.

Overall:

Superman #681 was a solid read even if I was expecting more than what we got with this issue. Robinson does a good job setting the stage for what should be a dramatic showdown between the Kryptonians and Doomsday over in Action Comics. The New Krypton is in intriguing story that has numerous interesting plotlines and tons of potential. It is an exciting time for the Superman franchise and I think that this story will appeal to readers who have never been big Superman fans before.

For more in-depth reviews, story recaps, scans and news visit Comic Book Revolution!

Writer: Geoff Johns, James Robinson & Sterling Gates
Pencils: Pete Woods, Gary Frank & Renato Guedes
Inks: Pete Woods, Jon Sibal & Wilson Magalhaes

Art: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10

Superman: New Krypton Special #1 effectively pulls together all of the various plotlines from Action Comics and Superman into one cohesive major story. This issue does its job of laying out a clear direction for both Superman titles and also manages to hook the reader’s interest into picking up both titles to follow this monster story.

The first three pages had absolutely no dialogue. Franks’ artwork was unbelievably powerful as he conveyed such a range of emotions from Clark’s heart wrenching sorrow, Lana’s feelings of regret and shame to Bruce Wayne’s ever constant distant personality. Most writers would have not had the restraint to allow an artist to tell the story. I appreciated the fact that we were not flooded with narration boxes.

I loved the scene with Ma Kent and Clark where she emphatically tells her son that he has nothing to be sorry about concerning his father’s death and then orders him to go do his job. I liked how Clark eagerly offers up the statement that the restoration of Kandor will not change him.

The theme of family continues as Superman fresh off the loss of one of his parents watches Kara’s emotional family reunion with her parents. Even though Superman is clearly happy about Kara being reunited with her parents, there is probably a tinge of jealousy that he not only does not have his biological parents, but now he is missing his adoptive father.

The writers do a fine job handling the debate between Superman and Jor-El concerning the debate about the newly super powered Kryptonians from Kandor. This is obviously going to become a serious problem. Superman handles his incredible powers well because of his Earthling father and Pa Kent’s humble and solid middle-American values. The teachings of Pa Kent and how they have impacted Superman are well contrasted with the fact that Jor-El seems horrified at the suggestion that the Kryptonians learn from the Earthlings. Jor-El’s comment of why the Kandorians would allow the Earthlings to teach them to be less Kryptonian was perfect.

It is totally unbelievable to think that all of the Kandorians are going to handle their awesome new powers like Superman has. The fact is that your average person, or Kryptonian, when blessed with such incredible powers would probably trend toward being a villain rather than a selfless and idealistic hero.

And on top of that, Superman will face a much more personal decision to make on whether he identifies more with his Earthling upbringing and his Earthling adoptive mother or more with his Kryptonian heritage and his Kryptonian family. The fact is that deep down inside, Clark is more a typical mid-west farm boy than he is a Kryptonian.

The artwork by committee was nicely done. Yes, it creates an inconsistent look to this issue, but that is offset by the fact that Woods, Frank and Guedes are all three great artists. Frank’s artwork was my favorite of the three due to his amazing ability to convey so many emotions and properly move the story along in the absence of any dialogue. Still, all three artists did a fine job with the artwork and they combined to make this a good looking issue.

The writers made this issue very new reader friendly. If you have not given either Action Comics or Superman a try then Superman: New Krypton Special #1 is the perfect jumping on point.

For more reviews, scans, story recaps and news visit Comic Book Revolution!