Superman #43 - Night Shift: Part One
Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Xermanico
Colors by Alejandro Sanchez
Letters by Ariana Maher
Cover Art by Xermanico
To say that Superman has been through the wringer over the last few months is an understatement. He became King Omega at the end of the D.C. KO tournament, embarked on a journey through time that ultimately led to him being saved by his younger self, and then had to deal with General Zod almost destroying Earth. If anyone deserves a break, it's the Man of Steel. Unfortunately for him, that break is going to have to wait, as things are never quiet for long in Metropolis, and if the beginning of Night Shift is any indication, Superman might be facing one of his toughest battles yet. Let's get into it. Spoiler Warning Now in Effect for Superman #43!
The Night Shift Begins…
Night Shift - Part One opens up with an unlikely duo in Cat Grant and Marilyn Moonlight. Moonlight, who has become one of the coolest additions to Metropolis’ roster of heroes, has Grant tag along with her as she investigates a ghostly graveyard that has popped up out of nowhere within the maze of Metropolis’ downtown area. Grant, whose character was originally nothing more than a gossip columnist and sort of a paparazzi-type reporter, has undergone a character shift, and she has become a much more serious reporter. She wants the Metropolis citizens to know what's going on in their city at night; she’s ready to walk into danger if need be. The graveward has some secrets, and these two are going to find out what they are. We’ll check back in with them later.
Xermanico and Alejandro Sanchez’ brilliant art is on display early in this one. The splash page of Marilyn and Grant in the graveyard is easily one of the highlights of this issue. The graveyard looks very creepy, with the headstones, statues, and mausoleum structures all looking right out of a horror comic. In particular, there’s a panel of just one of the statues in the graveyard that you can see legitimate emotion in. Sanchez’ color choices in this section were damn near perfect. Marilyn and Grant are bathed in the blues and whites of the moon as they walk among the dark headstones and monuments. The artistic representation of moonlight in this section just looks great. The way the art team created the graveyard with the calm light of the moon almost makes it seem like the calm before the storm, and as this issue goes on… well, let’s just say that’s not too far from the truth. Xermanico’s art was a huge reason I loved this issue, and I hope this guy sticks around on Superman with Williamson for a minute. Sanchez’ colors do not disappoint either.
Superman Returns
Now we get to check in with Big Blue himself as Superman is getting himself reacclimated to being back in the city that loves him as much as he loves it. As I mentioned earlier, Superman has been through quite a bit recently, and it got to the point where he was almost completely trapped at the end of time. Part of him thought he would never see home again. Part of him thought he would never see his wife and son again. I can’t imagine what that does to someone when you have to come to terms with the fact that everything you love might be lost to you. Thankfully, he’s back, and the splash page title card that serves as his introduction in this issue is gorgeous.
We’re gonna be talking about Xermanico and Sanchez a lot in this review. We not only get a beautiful scene of Superman flying over the Metropolis skyline with a blazing sunrise behind him, but we get a montage of him doing what he does best: saving lives and protecting the innocent. Xermanico’s Superman design is right up there with some of the best in the modern era. As far as interpretations of him go, I’d rank Xermanico’s Superman right up there with the likes of Dan Mora, Jorge Jimenez, and Adrian Gutierrez, just to name a few. Xermanico’s Superman has gravitas; he has presence, and he manages to make him look both powerful and kind.
Sanchez’s colors on this title card are stunning. Just take one look at the sunrise behind Superman to see some of the most gorgeous color work in a book in recent memory. The sunrise looks stunning with all kinds of reds, blues, yellows, and purples coming together to brilliantly light up the beautiful Metropolis morning. Sanchez’ colors during the little montage sequence look great as well, from the reds and oranges of an apartment on fire to the bright flash of a gun muzzle as it fires a bullet destined to be stopped by the Man of Steel. I can’t get over how great this initial scene featuring Superman looked.
Kal is obviously doing everything he can to help Metropolis as Superman since he’s been back, but his life as Clark Kent isn’t flowing just as easily yet. Lois, who is not only his wife but now his boss, notices he hasn’t turned in a story in a minute and thinks she should take a sabbatical. He’s been through a lot, even for someone like Superman. Everyone needs to take a break now and again, and especially someone who has the weight of the world on their shoulders almost daily like Superman. Clark says he’s fine, of course, but Lois reminds him of how much he’s been through recently. I’ll let Xermanico and Sanchez’ second awesome montage take it away here because once again, these two deliver another highlight of the issue with their stellar art, showing what Superman’s life has been like these last few months.
Lois wants Clark to feel more grounded in his home again; she thinks he needs some time to really readjust, and he's not giving himself the time to do so. For someone who is always on the move and always on alert, that can be hard to do, but there is some truth to what Lois is saying. She wants him to remember what it's like to slow down again. During their conversation, Clark hears Chemo causing trouble in another country, and what happens next makes for one of the coolest moments of this book and, frankly, in any Superman book I’ve read recently. While Clark is off fighting Chemo, Lois still speaks about the story she needs him to cover, and you get a nice perspective of what life can be like for Superman sometimes. He’s contending with a living, breathing, massive kaiju-sized being of pure radiation while also listening to his wife halfway around the world about what she needs him to be reporting on. It’s honestly really cool to see how much Superman can juggle the aspects of his double life, and it makes for a really cool art sequence as Superman battles Chemo while Lois’ words appear over the course of the page.
Lois tells Clark she needs him to find out what’s going on with all the recent disappearances in Suicide Slum, and she’s not letting him go alone. His best pal, Jimmy Olsen, has been assigned to be his partner, and even Clark can’t be too upset since Jimmy and he have been close since day one. Clark and Jimmy are quickly out the door and on the case as they work to find what is going on with the residents of Suicide Slum. Naturally, who do they turn to first? Someone in Metropolis who always has his ear to the ground to help out his best bud, “SOOPERMAN,” Bibbo Bibowski!
I love when Superman stories involve the reporting side of Kal’s life. Clark’s reporting is just as big a part of the character, and I like when writers and creative teams understand that. He’s a damn good reporter, and while he may do his best work saving the world as Superman, his job as a reporter- what he does to help the people with the might of the pen over the sword- is part of what fuels him. While we get a lot of Superman action in this story, it's important to remember that without Clark Kent and his reporting, we would be losing a fundamental aspect of the character.
Bibbo has a wild theory about Space Zombies abducting these people, but the real information that Clark gleans from him is about who came to ask him questions first, and he finds out that Cat Grant has been doing some digging around on her own. Clark says bye to Bibbo and Jimmy and begins patrolling Metropolis as Superman after dark. Superman recounts how one of his greatest failures was not being able to save Cat Grant’s son from being killed by Toyman and how she has completely evolved from her gossip column days. She’s become a respected reporter in her own right, but the Daily Planet hasn’t heard from her in a few days. Despite the quiet beginning to the evening in Metropolis, evil isn’t far behind…
Two things: 1) It’s nice to see Cat Grant featured in this story. I’ve always liked the cast of characters that surround and interact with Clark on a daily basis at the Daily Planet, and each of them is a fun character in their own way. From Ron to Jimmy to Perry to Lois to Cat to Steve Lombard, the Daily Planet has a fun group, and it’s nice to see them involved in Superman’s stories on occasion. I’ve really loved Williamson on Superman, and this is yet another reason why. 2) This page with Superman recounting Cat’s journey looks great.. I loved the typewriter text on the left side, almost like he’s writing an article to tell us about Cat, and the montage of him patrolling the city alongside before-and-after panels featuring Cat was a nice choice. Once again, Xermanico and Sanchez deliver. If this issue is any indication of the art we are getting going forward, we’re in for some great-looking books.
“The Site of a Great Death”
As the issue races forward, Superman hears a scream from a couple out on a nighttime walk and finds them being chased by what I can only describe as 20-foot-tall black slime demons with massive teeth and claws. Xermanico’s design for the creatures reminds me of something straight out of a nightmare, and the type of black, that’s almost an absence of color more than a color, was a great choice by Sanchez. Superman whisks the couple to safety before returning to the massive demons. In a moment that is quintessential Superman, and further proves how much Williamson gets this character, he yells at the demonic-looking beings that he doesn’t want to hurt them, but he will make damn sure that no one else gets taken. Superman takes the fight to the terrifying beings, but as he begins to get the upper hand on them, a momentary lack of focus and awareness of his surroundings allows a person who was cloaked in the shadows of a nearby alleyway to blast him with the energies of a gauntlet that has a very familiar symbol etched onto it… Those energies have dire consequences for the Man of Steel, but let’s check in with Cat Grant and Marilyn Moonlight one more time.
Cat and Marilyn have infiltrated that massive mausoleum in the graveyard and found that a death cult, worshipping the deceased Nekron, has formed in Metropolis and is behind all the recent disappearances. Their goal? To bring Nekron back to life, they’ve chosen Metropolis as ground zero because of a “Great Death” that once happened there. It’s no secret what that Great Death was, as the comic cuts to a panel of Superman’s ripped-up cape from THE fight with Doomsday so many years ago. For the last time in this review, I’ll sing Xermanico and Sanchez’s praises as the scene inside the creepy mausoleum looks like it was ripped right out of a horror film. Massive braziers emblazoned with fire provide the spooky lighting for the leader of the death cult and his followers. An imposing statue of Nekron watches over the room as his followers begin their insane plan to bring him back. Just all-around great artwork in this entire issue.
So what happened to Superman when he got hit by that blast? I will not spoil here, but based on the last page of this issue, things have gotten quite complicated for a man who is the embodiment of light and hope. Let’s just say the title of this arc is going to mean a lot more for Superman going forward. I can’t wait to see how this arc develops as the story continues.
Superman #43 thrusts the Man of Steel right into the middle of a horror story and is an awesome beginning to a new arc. Joshua Williamson continues to prove he has a great pulse on Superman and his world, and the art stylings of Xermanico and Alejandro Sanchez are gorgeous from the first panel to the last. Featuring the return of Marilyn Moonlight, this issue sets the stage for a story that could have ramifications throughout the entire DC Universe.
RATING: 9.5/10
Highly Recommended