Written by Geoff Johns
Art by John Romita Jr.
Inks by Klaus Janson
Colors by Laura Martin
Published by DC Comics

PREVIOUSLY: SUPERMAN #32 by Geoff Johns & John Romita Jr.

This issue isn’t heavy on action, there’s a lot of talking heads. But thankfully Geoff Johns has an ear for dialog, so it’s not as boring as that sounds. We open with a meeting at the Daily Planet, with Perry White chewing out his staff for their lack of information about the new super-powered man who was seen with Superman in the previous issue. As I said before, I hadn’t been reading the Nu52 Superman until last issue, so I’m still somewhat playing catch-up. I see there’s a new hot Black female reporter, Jackee Winters, working at the Planet now, she’s in the staff meeting with Lois, Jimmy, Steve Lombard, & Ron Troupe (whom Romita Jr. draws to look like a young Malcolm X…). There’s an interesting bit when Clark walks in and Jackee mentions that he’s attractive, and Lois agrees. Hmmm…

Clark still hasn’t officially taken his job back with the Daily Planet. He shows up to question Perry about a story Perry wrote over 20 years ago about the mysterious Ulysses Research Lab, which we got a glimpse of in flashback last issue. Perry has extensive knowledge of the scientists who were Ulysses’ parents and shares it with Clark in exchange for Clark taking his job back. Ulysses shows up and almost blows Clark’s secret identity, and so Clark takes him back to his apartment to hide out. Despite being an adult, Ulysses shows to be extremely inexperienced in the ways of our world, & we still have no idea what the dimension he grew up in was actually like. And while Clark, as Superman, goes off to investigate Ulysses’ past, Ulysses takes it upon himself to borrow some of Clark’s regular clothes and go out for a walk along the streets of Metropolis.

What trouble could an extremely powerful and naive man-child possibly get into? Well, read the book and find out! I don’t want to spoil the really good stuff, except to say that there is some explosive action, a surprising reunion, and another brief appearance of a mysterious figure who seems to know a lot more about Superman than he should…

Like I said, this issue isn’t much action, but I enjoy the way Johns paces the story here. Clark’s scenes with Perry are nice, as it shows Clark actually being an investigative reporter, which is something that isn’t highlighted enough, in my opinion. Ulysses’ earnest outlook is interesting, and I wonder how long that will last? He seems genuinely interested in learning about our world and helping it, but could he end up being corrupted by it instead? We’ll see. As for the art, again, there isn’t much I can say. John Romita Jr. has a style that most fans either love or hate. If you are (like me), one of the many who loves it, then you’ll be happy here. I think the change in pace in this issue is good to show that Romita Jr. can draw “normal” scenes just as well as he draws action (I’m still not crazy about the Superman costume, though). All in all, a solid second issue by this new creative team.

Superman (2011-) #33