Scott's Take: Superman Vol. 2: The Chained by Joshua Williams

Superman Vol. 2: The Chained by Joshua Williams and artists is the second volume in this series. “The Chained” is a new villain that Superman makes the mistake of releasing from a prison built by Lex Luthor. That is just the beginning as there is a lot that happens in this volume. There is plenty of action and dram in this story. Each artist does the illustrative work differently and that takes a while to get used to after  reading the previous volume, Superman Vol. 1: Supercorp.

 

 I don’t think the art style for the first few issues fit the story at all. Not bad artwork necessarily, but did not right for that story. Exaggerated cartoony art does not work well with the story material. If the first few issues were lighter in time, then it would have worked better. Seeing cartoon Lex laid up on a gurney awaiting surgery and bleeding out made me want to laugh because of the art. His head is so big and so is his chest.

 

The Lex Luthor revenge squad continues their evil machinations to make Lex pay for his sins as Lex and Superman continue their team up. The return of Lex Luthor’s mother and daughter adds more chaos to this read. There is a minor plot point issue for this reader in that Superman does not wait for Lex to wake up after his surgery thanks to the stabbing in the previous volume. Instead, Superman says the typical hero stuff that The Chained should not be made to wait any longer for release and does it. Without waiting for Lex to wake up and talk. It is less than thirty minutes later when the Chained is free and on his rampage and then Lex is awake. So, a good portion of this volume could have been avoided if Superman just waited a bit.

 

Sort of like on television when the cops see the suspect four blocks away, scream at them, and then the unnecessary on foot police chase. This results in “Police Parkour.”

 

This series will have a third volume at some point. However, but before that there is a Superman led event, House of Brainiac, which is setup here. As Superman faces off against another Brainiac led invasion of the Earth.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/45aLThw

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App through the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024