The Good
If your expectations for this issue are just "I really want an awesome fight between Superman and Doomsday!" then you're going to be pretty satisfied. Okay, it's not on par with the classic one and the pages can get a little too crowded at times (a double-page spread has 11 narrow panels), but man, when the action gets going, it's a very good time. This is a fight between two titans and that's most definitely conveyed properly in these pages. Punches generate shock waves and damage the ground, hits send characters flying, so on and so on. Simply put, it's a clear contender for a highlight spot in our weekly "Best Battles in New Comics" feature.
This is a big issue ($4.99 cover price for a reason, people), so it's understandable that Ken Lashley and Sunny Gho's visuals would fluctuate a bit. But, just like with the story, everything shines when the action comes from and center. Yes, some of the pages get a little too busy, but overall, the two fights really are a glorious spectacle and it's primarily thanks to these two. Everything from the coloring properly expressing all of the heat and dirt involved in the brawl to the gritty detail bringing all of the damage and savage swings to life, the fight itself is sure to be a great experience for your eyes. It's a shame things get a little too small at times (due to the large number of panels), but it doesn't take away from the impact all that much, anyway.
Sometimes the dialogue lays it on a little thick or characters appear out of nowhere (here's looking at you, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor), but there's still a couple of memorable scenes. There's three writers involved (Scott Lobdell, Greg Pak, Charles Soule), so you can't be absolutely sure who contributed what, but the brief interaction between Clark and Diana was my personal highlight. It's short and direct yet surprisingly tender and even somewhat cute. It was a nice escape from the constant build-up.
The Bad
The dialogue comes off a little heavy-handed at times and some of the caption boxes didn't really feel required (e.g. essentially stated the obvious without really adding anything new to it). There's some good bits of dialogue (as stated above), but overall, there were more than a few moments that felt somewhat unnatural to me.
Having a subplot revolving around Lana Lang and Lois Lane is cool, but right now, it just interrupts the flow of what's going on between Superman and Doomsday. If you're paying $4.99 for this issue, odds are it's because you're interested in Doomsday's reemergence, yes? This feels like a bit of a jarring jump from that story and only has a very loose connection to it (for right now, at least).
Oh, and I get the logic behind Doomsday wanting to "power up" before facing Clark, but if he's already an upgraded version of the villain, does he really need to? Not to mention how their fight concludes feels very abrupt and a little anti-climatic. It was almost like page space was running out so they had to wrap it up and then... yeah, that happened. Don't get me wrong, I understand it's illustrating the fact Superman is going all out, but it seems to downplay everything that came before it. Bit of a personal gripe: we've seen so many excuses to have Superman kill and these stakes certainly warrant considering the option. However, considering this version of Superman's intellect, experience, powerful allies and the technology this world has to offer, it would have been great to see Superman find another way and surprise us instead of building-up with "it's okay, you need to kill him!" and then following through on just that. It basically takes away the shock when it does happen.
The Verdict
It's an okay start for the event, but I'll admit I'm still curious enough to see how this will all play out (especially taking into account what solicits have revealed). The story isn't all that gripping and the subplot isn't doing anything to standout, but the action was a blast and the upcoming development has my interest. With such a big cover price (there's 35 pages or so, but still, $4.99 is asking a lot when we have so many titles on our pull lists), I can only suggest that die-hard Superman fans should consider picking this one up.
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