Superman Up in the Sky #3
DC Comics
Written by Tom King
Art by Andy Kubert
Inks by Sandra Hope
Colors by Brad Anderson
Letters by Clayton Cowles
The Rundown: Superman’s mission in deep space is going to take some interesting detours.
Broken up into two different stories taking different legs of Clark’s journey to rescue a kidnapped girl, the first story shows that not even the man of steel is immune to the soul crushing agony of bureaucracy as he waits to make a long distance phone call to Lois. As he waits for hours in line with other aliens looking to make contact as well, he imagines harrowing circumstances that all end in the death of the woman he loves as he sits powerless to do anything about it.
In the second story, Clark’s journey will take him back in time as he crashes back on Earth during World War II and finds himself with no memory being rescued by Sergeant Rock and Easy Company. As he tries to remember who he is, Clark will learn sacrifice and drive from the Sergeant and his men.
The Story: This story is taking some interesting twists and turns as it unfolds and I want to believe that King has an overall vision for where this story will go next. I really enjoyed the first part of the story. It felt deeply personal to the character and touched on Clark’s feelings of helplessness as his search takes him father away from Earth and Lois. The second part of the story felt out of place. It didn’t really fit the overall narrative and seemed more like King wanted to just write Sgt. Rock into a story. It didn’t feel organic, but it was an alright distraction.
The Art: Andy Kubert’s art really shines in this issue. He’s allowed to create huge scenarios for the multiple deaths of Lois as well as create detailed battle scenes for the Sgt. Rock part of the story.