Customer Reviews

Superman: Mon-El (Vol. 1 )

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Mon-El has always been one of those characters I've loved throughout my association with comics. I first read his "origin" story when I was a kid in an 80-page Giant, back when they had those for only $.25. You could read for hours. *sigh*

The problem with Mon-El, and it was a problem for a lot of writers, was that he was entirely too much like Superman (then, Superboy). He had the same powers and was at first believed to be another survivor from Krypton. Then he was given that whole weird weakness to lead and eventually placed into the Phantom Zone and eventually dropkicked into the future a 1000 years. Once there, he joined the Legion of Super-Heroes and became a core member. Off and on. Yep, there's been lots of problems with Mon-El.

Fortunately for Lar Gand (Mon-El's real name), the whole anti-Kryptonian feeling sweeping through the DC Universe at the moment has given him a second wind in today's world. I'm sure his future is still up there waiting for him, especially since the antidote that keeps him from dying of lead poisoning seems to be wearing off.

(Though that begs the question of why Mon-El doesn't jet off into space for some world that has the technology to reverse the poisoning or zip into the future for a quick fix. I like the time travel thing best, but it was kind of addressed when Superman was unable to access the future. However, I'm sure the timeline will be salvaged at some point, so why didn't the Legion jump back and...well, you see where the whole time travel thing kicks us in the butt, don't you?)

At any rate, with Superman voluntarily returning to New Krypton for a while to mediate there, someone needs to stand in as the new hero for Metropolis. Ta-dah! Mon-El. He even gets a new insignia to slap on his uniform - the Superman family shield, and a new identity as Clark's cousin Jonathan Kent.

I appreciate all the hoops author James Robinson had to jump through to make the story line logical, and don't mind at all that we're ignoring some potential plot holes, because he tells a darn good story. I like his version of Mon-El, even the weird fact that he sounds British with his Daxamite accent. I mean, who knew?

I also enjoy the team-up with the Guardian. Selecting the Guardian as the leader of Metropolis's Science Police, then as the mentor of Mon-El was genius. With all the new things Mon-El is having to learn, and the menace of the Parasite lurking in the background, Metropolis's newest superhero definitely needed someone to help him learn the ropes.

I liked Mon-El's tour of the world in an effort to get public opinion back on his side. Renato Guedes and Jose Wilson Hagalhaes's art gives the book a fresh face and gives us a new image of Mon-El. The panel breakdowns and action were well done.

Although Superman will soon be back in the pages of all his monthly comics, I'm enjoying the stand-ins as well as the plot developments regarding Mon-El and the other characters. This is a good chance to see Metropolis through other eyes, and with a basically neophyte hero that's familiar to most DC readers.

This volume in the `New Krypton' series reprints Action Comics Annual #1, Superman #684-690, Action Comics #874 and Superman: Secret Files 2009 #1. This is what was happening in the Superman comic while Superman was busy on New Krypton. It tells the latest version of the story of Mon-El. I still have the original issue of Superboy which featured the story of "Superboy's Big Brother", and Mon-El was always my favourite member of the Legion of Super Heroes. Now, in keeping with the current DC programme of reinventing the Silver Age, having returned and revamped Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and the Legion itself, it is now Mon-El's turn. We start off with a retelling of "Clark Kent's Big Brother", which introduces Mon-El to the young Clark Kent, revamps his origin slightly to `modernize' it, and sends him to the Phantom Zone for a thousand yea... hold on, make than 20 years, all on a Monday, and in 14 pages, though admittedly, the best 14 pages I have read in many years. They even manage to get in the two-headed creature from the original cover, this time as part of `an-out-of-control amusement park ride', but it is still there for us old people. Now however, the Phantom Zone is collapsing during the New Krypton crisis, and Superman has to release Mon-El, who starts to die from his lead poisoning; however, there is a mysterious bottle with a Legion symbol in the Fortress, addressed to Mon-El, which contains the cure... Also in this volume is the Guardian's rescue of Tellus, a Legionaire from the 31st century, and a meeting between Tellus and Sodam Yat, the Daxamite Green Lantern, as well as a cameo appearance by Scar, the `rogue' Guardian. Anyway, Superman recruits Mon-El to be his replacement while he is on New Krypton, and he gets a secret identity and joins the Metropolis Science Police, and in due course along with the Guardian, who has become leader of the SP, helps to rescue Tellus, as prophesied by him in Superman: New Krypton volume 1. It is all going somewhere, and there are more Legionaires in hiding, as we will see in the resolution to Mon-El's story in Last Stand on New Krypton.

If you are a Legion fan as well as a Superman (and Mon-El) fan, then this is an excellent volume, and if you read the `Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes' volume, then this is the beginning of the sequel...

Major life-changing events have been seriously shaking up Kal-El's world and, thanks to some high-caliber storytelling currently gracing his comic books, Superman is once more become relevant. Superman isn't alone anymore, but with that comes a whole new set of headaches. One hundred thousand Kandorians freed from their shrunken bottled city, resumed to their original mass, and all demonstrating super powers. And it turns out they're a militant-minded bunch. SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON Vol. 2 chronicled the revived Kryptonians' early stab at self-preservation, this comprising in part of a preemptive strike against Superman's incarcerated super-foes (who in time may pose a danger to the Kryptonians). One fallout to this was the deaths of several members of the Metropolis Science Police at the hands of the Kryptonians. When Superman and his Earthly allies sought to bring the perpetrators to justice, the Kandorians implemented technologies from both Krypton and from Brainiac to construct New Krypton, this planet staking out an orbit opposite Earth's own, on the other side of the sun.

SUPERMAN: MON-EL continues the fabulous New Krypton arc, collecting the "Who is Clark Kent's Big Brother?" story from ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #10, SUPERMAN #684-690, ACTION COMICS #874, and material from SUPERMAN: SECRET FILES 2009 #1. Just because the Kryptonians are gone doesn't mean their threat doesn't exist. The United Nations pass a law banning all Kryptonians, except Superman, from Earth. Kal-El is at a crossroads. Concerned about the danger still posed towards Earth, he takes up an offer to reside on New Krypton, to better keep an eye on and to perhaps better influence his ruthless fellow Kryptonians. Superman "abandons" Earth, but only after ensuring that his "older brother" Mon-El would take over as Metropolis's primary defender. And then Kal-El flies off to the pages of SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON maxi-series.

Superman will always be this timeless icon, but he's never been one of my all-time favorites. His departure from his titles doesn't exactly leave me all waily and lamenting. That's because a) Kal-El is a central character in that high-profile maxi-series (so it's not like he's vanished) and b) we now get Mon-El front and center.

Getting to know Mon-El is what makes this bunch of stories so fascinating to read for me. Like most DC Comics readers, I've spotted him before in various Legion storylines, but I've always associated him with that whole distant future scene and, for whatever reason, I just wasn't as invested. Here, I really like his character arc. Mon-El starts out as pretty much a clean slate. In "Who is Clark Kent's Big Brother?" a young Clark Kent meets the Daxamite and initially believes him to be kin. He's not, of course. We do, however, learn of how Mon-El came by his Kryptonian name.

Mon-El finds himself out of the Phantom Zone, his lethal weakness to lead resolved when the cure very conveniently, mysteriously appears. But it's neat watching Mon-El's fish-out-of-water progress as he acclimates to his new environs, adapts to Earth's weird culture. I wonder how this will all work out, because somehow Mon-El will end up a Legionnaire in the 30th century (unless continuity's been effed with again). I also like that he takes on a civilian identity and even an everyday vocation and that Superman's allies have taken him under their wings. The Guardian, in particular, does a lion's share of the mentoring.

In fact, the Guardian (or his clone, anyway) is also heavily featured in the SUPERMAN comic book (with Nightwing & Flamebird having taken over ACTION COMICS). A running sub-plot deals with the Guardian's assumption of field command of the Metropolis Science Police, although that's not the only thing on Jim Harper's mind nowadays. He's still highly cheesed at Codename: Assassin. He still aims to keep his promise of rescuing that mysterious figure held captive by Project 7734 (but we all recognize the telepathic prisoner as Tellus, of the Legion of Super-Heroes).

James Robinson provides the excellent writing. Renato Guedes is the primary artist, and his lines are simple yet graceful. Mon-El has never looked more majestic, even if the Guardian observes that the Daxamite doesn't quite have the Man of Steel's elegance in handling the bad guys ("...but he gets the job done!"). There's a lot of stuff going on in these pages, a huge ensemble, a complication of plot points. There are sightings of Zatara and of John Henry Irons, who is semi-retired as Steel. General Sam Lane, Lois Lane's father, is still conniving and plotting and still very paranoid, and don't forget that his machinations contributed to the estranged relations between Earth and New Krypton. Project 7734 is still pulling strings in the shadows. Somewhere, the Parasite is on the loose and craving a taste of Mon-El. James Robinson, in this stretch of tales, seems content to just establish Mon-El as Metropolis's primary protector. For now, all the various plot threads are allowed to dangle. Things can only get worse from here. In upcoming issues, I expect Mon-El to really be put thru his paces.

This trade also includes two segments of "Origins & Omens," focusing respectively on the Guardian and on Mon-El. As a bonus feature, we also get bios on the Guardian and Mon-El, as well as a brief wiki-type history lesson on Metropolis and a sort of cityscape of the City of Tomorrow with key structures and facilities highlighted.

Mon-el is a wonderful character that never seems to get enough attention. He's been seen in many books over the years but this story arc is one that I really loved best. My teen-age daughter discovered Mon through this story arc and she came to love him even more than Superman. Though one reviewer here seems to feel that Mon-el and other wonderful characters like Steel or the Guardian are "only secondary" characters, I encourage everyone to give these characters, especially Mon-el a chance. I love Superman as much as anybody, but Metropolis has many interesting characters that never get enough time to really shine. Having Kal off world allowed some of them to get a little air time for a few issues. James Robinson is a great writer.

While we followed Kal-el's adventures in the New Krypton books last year, we follow Mon-el and other defenders of Metropolis, (along with the gang over at the Daily Planet) in the main Superman title. Before leaving for New Krypton, Superman asks Mon-el to take his place and aid Steel (John Henry Irons) and the Guardian Jim Harper in defending Metropolis in his absence. We get to know Mon-el and his life through the eyes of this young man with limited time to live and yet a desire to live it to the fullest, while fulfilling his promise to Kal. He has real honor and lives up to his other name, Valor.

Because the entire story arc was meant to be read as four titles interwoven (Superman, Supergirl, Action Comics and New Krypton), I figured it might be difficult to eventually present it as a coherent collection. I like the way DC collected these Mon-el stories, plus tossed in an older Mon-el introduction story. The book itself is beautiful and the color is gorgeous, but it should be understood that this only includes the "Superman" title and not any of the other 3 titles I mentioned. You would need to collect those separately if you want to get the entire New Krypton saga. If you're only interested in Mon-el, these stories were enjoyable to read on their own. Even though I collected all those Superman family titles last year, I bought this book anyway. I like having all the Mon-el stories in one place and so beautifully printed.

"Superman: Mon-El" is a collection of comics that simply do not gel well together. The story starts with a recap of Superboy's initial meeting with Mon-El, followed by Superman heading to New Krypton, coming back to Earth before heading back to New Krypton again before the second string takes over as Guardian, Mon-El and John Henry Irons take turns as the leads--with cameo appearances from DC's third string from Dr. Light to the Red Rockets. While James Robinson writes all of it save a moving prelude, a squad of artists and inkers took care of the other end. With references to various other plots and outside stories from the New Krypton stories to, of all things, DC's half-hearted and ultimately failed attempt to revive the Red Circle comics heroes, this book should have been a disaster.

Somehow, despite all these flaws, the book manages to hold the reader's attention and interest due to the closest thing it has to a protagonist--Mon-El. Mon-El is best known for being a member of the Legion of Superheroes but he shines here when he takes center stage. His powers are similar to Superman's with one catch--while Superman is vulnerable to kryptonite, Mon-El is vulnerable to lead. In Superboy's childhood, young Clark Kent sent Mon-El to the Phantom Zone, where criminals from Krypton, were kept, hoping the fact that nobody ages there would help Mon-El till they could find a cure. Now, with the Phantom Zone destroyed, Mon-El is back in the real world--and is dying. Mon-El's first impressions of the real world and his attempts to live each minute of his life even as he is dying will hold the reader's attention and there are some very moving moments. Granted, this only redeems the book only so much. While this book can be recommended to fans of the New Krypton stories as well as to fans of the Legion, its appeal to casual comic readers is limited at best. Unless a reader is very familiar with the DC universe, they will be in for a confusion.

Even though the book is titled "Superman: Mon-El" it should actually be titled simply "mon-el".

Superman doesn't play any significant part in this story (other than being the hero who left earth).

In my opinion, the adventures of mon-el were handled very poorly by the author, resulting in a series of boring tales which in several occasions didn't even connect directly with the main character in this story.

Unfortunately, the author spends a ridiculous amount of time on secondary characters (such as "the Guardian" and the Metropolis' Police Department officers) that will not contribute to the Superman universe in the future. This was of course an effort to showcase potential new heroes and players in the Superman universe and make them a common fixture in this pocket of the DCU, which mainly due to their poor characterizations, will not happen in the foreseeable future.

This book should be bought mainly by fans of mon-el. If you are a Superman fan, and are expecting to see him playing a significant part in this tale, then you will be very disappointed, wishing you spent your money somewhere else.