Best Comics of 2011: SUPERMAN #712 Review

This heartfelt tale pulled no punches and easily wins the spot for best comic of 2011.

Jamie€™s Comic Of The YearBook: Superman #712Written By: Kurt Busiek Pencils By: Rick LeonardiPublisher: DC ComicsPrice: $2.99Pages: 32Release Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)

The sun has set and the battle has been won, but in the aftermath a dog now finds himself without a master. This heartfelt tale pulled no punches and easily wins the spot for best comic of 2011.

In the midst of J.M Straczynski€™s recent Superman run "Grounded", it became apparent that the solicited story of Superman meeting a Muslim superhero in issue #712 €œdid not work within the 'Grounded' storyline€and a fill in issue was required. This specific fill-in issue was a €œlost tale€ set shortly after DC's 2006 event Infinite Crisis. Superboy is dead and Superman is MIA, all the while their faithful super powered dog; Krypto is safely in Kansas waiting for his masters return. The book details Kryptos journey as he looks for Superboy and the hard realization that he won't be coming back.

This book accomplishes so much while really saying very little. There is almost no dialogue throughout a majority of this book, with over 13 pages not including a single speech bubble. I love when a comic does this while still getting its message across perfectly. With little dialogue present, a majority of the books pressure of conveying its message clearly rests squarely on the shoulders of penciler Rick Leonardi. Conveying a human grieving (in silence no less) is a challenge in itself but showing it through the eyes of a simple creature? Dam near impossible for it to be done well and taken seriously. Leonardi€™s pencils carry this book entirely and the pure level of expression irradiating from Krypto (with the great help of Jonathan Sibal€™s thick and distinct inking) is the highlight of the issue. Even the simple fact that our story follows an animal rather than a human as they come to terms with death makes the realization of loss feel even more raw and close to home.

In preparation for this review I re-read the issue and its message hit me in the gut ten times harder. In the months since this book was released I'm sad to say that there has been more than one death in the family and a fair share of childhood pets were put to sleep. Returning to this issue after grieving so recently was quite an experience, of course it was more touching than ever and I'm not ashamed to say that I maybe possible in some manner at a point in time shed a manly tear while reading, but I digress.

Even with the overly dated premise (In Pre-New 52 continuity, Superboy had been alive and well again since 2008), this issue still packs as much of a sting to the gut as it would have if it saw release a day after Infinite Crisis back in 2006.

It may not be a vital story piece in the ever-expanding puzzle known as the DC universe and it may have taken over five years to see a release but I wouldn€™t have missed this issue for the world.

rating: 5

Contributor
Contributor

Follow him on twitter @Jay_Slough for constant film/tv/comic commentaries. This is the rather strange story of how Jamie Slough, at 3am one morning decided to try and form a cohesive sentence on his laptop by bashing his head on a nearby keyboard while finishing some university work. It's been doing him surprisingly well for the last few years and things don't seem to be changing anytime soon. At most times Jamie can be found reading from a large stack of comic books, catching up on TV shows such as Doctor Who, Breaking Bad & Curb Your Enthusiasm, begging people for work (but less said about that the better) and pretty much trying to be analytical about stuff. When he's not doing any of those he's writing or replacing yet another broken keyboard...