American Alien #7
DC Comics
Written by: Max Landis
Art by: Jock
In American Alien #7 Superman fights Lobo and tragically learns the fate of his home planet Krypton. Clark Kent also has a wonderful moment with Lois Lane that could warm the coldest of hearts. I’d be lying if I said that sounded less lame in my head. As usual please go buy and read the issue my summary isn’t a good substitute.
I’m going to start with what I found most striking in this issue and that’s the art by Jock. The man is one hell of an artist and easily one of the most distinct currently working in comics. If you don’t believe me I highly suggest you take a look at his variant for this issue, it’s gorgeous and I regret not buying it. You could also look at the facial expressions throughout the issue, especially the eyes. In comics facial expressions are so very important and I think a lot of artists miss the mark or fail to convey the desired emotion. Throughout this issue I swear I could see the pain in Superman’s eyes and the joy or shock in Lobo’s. I haven’t even mentioned his panel work, action sequences, or skyscrapers which to save time are all incredible.
Max Landis once again has written my favorite Superman series to date. The guy gets this character and who he is at his core, which he’s shown us for seven issues. I’m surprised we haven’t already seen an announcement of a follow up to this series but I’ll be even more surprised if it doesn’t come soon. There’s not a lot left for me to say about Landis that I haven’t already said in past reviews so I’ll leave it at this, he’s a very talented writer and I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next.
Normally I’d use this last section to talk about the issue I just read but since this is the end of the mini series I’ve decided to switch it up and talk about all seven. As a whole this series was phenomenal, issue one was my favorite comic to come out in all of 2015. Each issue helped me see Superman as more of a character I can relate to and less of a god, Landis humanized him. Every issue making him more human having him make mistakes, giving his powers limits, it’s exactly what I wanted without ever really knowing it. Hell even seeing a young Dick Grayson talk with Clark Kent was a perfect moment that I never knew I wanted to see.
As a fan I got everything I wanted out of this series and more so now I’ll close this out with the usual. Go buy every issue of American Alien, there’s only seven and they can be purchased online so if you’re a fan you don’t have an excuse. Soon it’ll come out in trade so please buy that too because if you love it and want to see more Landis in DC Comics then fans have to support it. Image if Max Landis’s “Superman: Agent of Batman” become a reality or we see him get a shot at another DC property. Also not to give all the credit to Landis but every artist on this series put out excellent work and deserves support as well. In no particular order I’d like to say Jock, Francis Manapul, Nick Dragotta, Matthew Clark, Tommy Lee Edwards, Doc Shaner, Mark Buckingham, Joelle Jones, Steve Dillon, Jae Lee, and Jonathan Case you all killed it! (If any of you see this and would be interested in an interview please let us know, we’d love to conduct one!). For seven issues we got some of the most memorable art I’ve ever seen, so thank you for that.
Superman: American Alien is one of the best Superman stories in decades and it proves the character can be handled right and with reverence. Don’t sit on this series, you will be sorry you passed it up.