Now that we've gotten pass the pleasantries and introduction that came from Supergirl #14 and Superboy #14, Superman #14 picks up where Supergirl left off with Kara trying to explain her ordeal with the newly introduced H'el. Who does the issue stack up?

The Super

Trying to find a good thing in this book is really difficult for me to do. If I had to speak well on the writing it would be that Lobdell is trying to breathe a new character trait into Superman so that people can relate to him more. Also, Lobdell tries his best to characterize the Lois and Clark relationship which has seem to be lacking since the initial start of the New 52.

When it comes to the art its not too bad. There's a good amount of detail in the characters facial features that makes them feel more realistic with their expressions.

The Evil

There's a lot here to not like. Lobdell might be trying to find a way to bring more life in Clark Kent/ Superman but the way he has been going about it is all wrong. Our hero comes off as condescending and arrogant throughout this entire issue. When he punches H'el, he puts people in danger and then goes into an arrogant rant in which he says "I knew he would land there, so they weren't in danger!"

Furthermore, the fight Clark has with Lois feels very forced. He has practically no place to start a fight with Lois for moving in with her boyfriend, especially when in the last issue he had come to realization that he had moved on to something new and different with Wonder Woman. So why is Lois' relationship such a bother to him when they have never gone to the next level?!

Finally, there's H'el himself. Yes, H'el is the villain and it would seem he has an endgame in mind for what he wants to do but why? He seems to hate humanity for the fact that they are not kryptonian. He put no effort into trying to convince Clark that he wants what's best for krypton leading us to be dumbfounded on everything that this arc and crossover is supposed to be about.

While I did say I liked the art, let me also stress that the action backgrounds aren't as beautiful as the last issue. Colors are not shown be be very vibrant this time around, with some pages looking very bland and boring.

Final Thoughts

H'el on Earth is turning into one of the crossovers that a person wonders why its happening to begin with. Not much is coming from it. Our villain doesn't come off as intelligent but just as a comic book villain who won't kill the hero when he has the absolute power to, while our hero just seems so out of character it makes us wonder why we read the title to begin with. Lobdell's Superman story continues to chug ahead, but if this is what Superman fans get when they buy the book, what's the point of reading and buying it?

1.5/5