Superman #689 Review

Written by James Robinson

Penciled by Renato Guedes and José Wilson Magalhães

Cover by Andrew Robinson

Morgan Edge opens the issue with a greeting from his new show entitled "Edge of Reason." He expresses his unease of the new batch of Kryptonians appearing as Mon-El battles Livewire and Gentleman Ghost. Edge then questions Mon-El's powers stating that they obviously appear Kryptonian.

Tellus (the purple bubble encased head creature) has parting words with the Guardian.  Before leaving Tellus insists he be called Ganglios though and instills a great new power into the Guardian just so he may defeat the Assassin.

Mon-El reveals through inner monologue some of his most recent events which include meeting the Rocket Reds, receiving his first kiss from one them named Ivana, joining Beaumont and Sunny Jim to defeat Big Don Drummond, marveling at the beauty of Gaudi, and helping a vampress named La Sangre.

John Henry gives his new friend Tom a small tour of his place called Ironworks, which is claims is the most technologically safe place in the world.  Tom shows appreciation for such trust in him and John reveals that he did a thorough background check for safety precautions.

Mon-El reveals even more events with the likes of Will Von Hammer, Freedom Beast, Congorilla, Dr. Light, Robo-Octo-Ape, Iman, King Billy, and Blockbuster.  He heads back to Metropolis after  a worthy night out of adventuring and realizes again that he is dying. 

The Guardian makes an appearance on "Edge of Reason" assuring Morgan Edge that Mon-El is not Kryptoninan, because he is bound to uphold the law, and such race is banned from Earth.  Morgan Edge then apologizes for making the accusations

General Lane is revealed to have hired Prankster to kill Black Lightning.  Lane wanted Prankster to do the job so nothing could be traced back to his operation. Prankster took a less violent approach by hiring someone else to commit a string of murders to lure Black Lightning out of the picture.  Lane then reveals he wants the dead body of John Henry Irons to be found at what looks like a villainous attack.

Back at Ironworks Tom Curtis tells John Henry Irons that he his not who he appears to be.  He had been using a cloaking device the entire time.  Tom Curtis is really ATLAS.

Story:

I've enjoyed the Super books without Superman up until this issue and the last issue of Action Comics.  This title held my attention at least a bit better than Action.  Most of it seemed like filler with all the different events Mon-El found himself in and eventually just became redundant.  Very little was moved forward with his story, though we did get something in Prankster working with General Lane and setting up a crime scene for the death of John Henry Irons.  I must say this as well, was it any surprise that Tom Curtis was Atlas?  The cliffhanger tried to be much more than it was but at least we are leading into the next issue in that sense.

Art:

The art continues to dominate this book easily.  The detail Guedes puts on faces and even his backgrounds is handled very well.  He never seems to slow down or show lack in his work, it steadily grows stronger.  Great work; here's to hoping he stays with the Superman books even after all of the New Krypton stuff is finished.

Cover Art:

Another really good cover from Andrew Robinson.  I am glad he is doing the covers for both Action and Superman because it gives them a sense of connection even though the stories aren't so much.  Great colors and painted look.  The three panels in the background do happen in the issue but they are so minute that I wouldn't really count it.  Good cover but not his best.