Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Superman #694

By Andy Frisk
November 30, 2009 - 20:34

In “Man of Valor” Part One, Mon-El rockets back onto the scene in Metropolis after a stop over to emotionally recharge and get the gift of a new costume from Ma Kent. He manages to knock Bizzaro around pretty handily (Bizzaro is currently on the rampage in Mon-El’s adopted city), but when The Parasite shows up, Mon-El’s recurring super-power outage creeps up…again.

Anytime one of the Superman Family members, from Conner Kent/Superboy to Kara Zor-El/Supergirl needs some direction, and a new superhero outfit design, they stop over in Smallville and spend time with Ma Kent. She’s chocked full of sound advice and wisdom, and she probably makes the absolute best apple pie on her side of the Mississippi. The advice she gives Mon is sound, as always, and the talks Mon has with Conner also help set him back on track after being down on himself for falling into General Lane’s trap. While beating up on Bizzaro in Metropolis though, he loses his powers yet again, at an inopportune time, yet again, and is probably going to need a rescue, yet again…

His rescuer this time though looks to come in the form of a hero from the Legion of Superheroes who has been playing a role in Mon-El’s life while in disguise. It appears that we might finally be getting an answer to who was behind the mysterious potion that cured Mon-El of his lead poisoning, but caused his “power outages” and the prognosis of an impending and inevitable early demise (Daxamites, genetic descendents of Kryptonians, react to lead like Kryptonians react to Kryptonite-that is very poorly!). It will be interesting to learn the secrets behind Mon-El’s “cure” and just what role The Legion is playing in his development.

Pina does a great job of bringing Mon-El back from “the dead,” and bringing Mon-El’s new, Ma Kent designed, costume to life. Ma is now responsible for at least three major DC Universe characters’ costume designs: Superman’s, Supergirl’s, and now Mon-El’s. In reality, it’s Robinson and Pina who deserve the kudos for coming up with Mon-El’s new look. It’s an interesting color reversal of Superman’s that stylistically resembles Superman’s outfit, but keeps aspects of Mon-El’s original dud’s design. The small Superman shield on the suits left breast is a great touch, aligning Mon-El with the Superman Family of heroes much like Nightwing and Flamebird are now as well with their Superman shield belt buckles, which are a part of their new outfits.

Now that Mon-El is back and in Metropolis again, it’s going to be interesting to see how he and his former colleagues in The Metropolis Sci-Police readjust to one another. The Guardian revealed Mon-El’s secret identity (which was a mistake on Robinson’s part storytelling wise) to the group at his wake, so the interesting plot device of a secret identity is for naught now, but with Mon-El taking a role in The Justice League soon, he might end up having to be in costume all the time anyway. Either way, Mon-El’s adventures warrant further reading, whichever book he’s starring in.

Rating: 8 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12