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Review: New Super-Man #4

By Andy Frisk
October 24, 2016 - 19:51

Kong Kenan/Super-Man and two fellow Justice League of China compatriots battle the Chinese Freedom Fighters, but Kenan and company are actually more like pawns in a game than actual heroes.

Gene Luen Yang keeps up the smart storytelling as he continues to build his own DC Comics' Chinese superhero mythos. While attempting to do some good on their own, Super-Man, Bat-Man, and Wonder-Woman all end up battling some vigilante Chinese heroes who actually end up having the true moral high ground over the Chinese Justice League heroes. Early on, Yang seemed to be commenting on the interchange between Chinese and American pop culture, but now he is making New Super-Man more of an analogy about democracy vs. the state, with the Chinese Justice League being the propagandistic puppets and The Chinese Freedom Fighters being the voice of the people. He also deftly brings things full circle when he reveals a unique connection that exists between the two groups. He lays the groundwork for some really interesting storytelling over the course of the next few issues. Overall though, there doesn't seem to be a clear cut hero, nor villain in this tale...at least not yet.

Vicktor Bogdanovic keeps the series consistent by maintaining the look of all the characters masterfully over the course of the series thus far. Other DC Comics' Rebirth titles have had artistic changes (mostly because many of the series are bi-monthly) that have hurt the visual consistency of the books. New Super-Man has been an exception to this trend and it helps keep the book stable visually. Sometimes when a book changes artists twice in a month, while telling the same story, the affect can be jarring. Sequential art is at its best when it is consistent for an entire story visually.

New Super-Man still remains a surprisingly good read out a batch of good reads launched out of DC Comics' Rebirth initiative. 

Rating: 8 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12