Colourist: Ulises Arreola, Becca Clay
There's been a shift in comics telling stories about corrupt governments, cruel corporations, and people in positions of power oppressing the regular folk to the point where they've become so broken that violent uprising is the only option left to them. Marvel and DC are doing this in their alternate universe lines of Ultimate and Absolute and it's interesting how these themes are present in both companies at this time; but then I look at the world we're in now and it's not hard to see why we have art like this. The latest issue of Absolute Superman takes a step away from the mysterious new Man of Steel to follow Lazarus agent Lois Lane as she tries to find out more about the mysterious helper of the downtrodden.
Lois' journey takes her around the world, talking to various people that have been saved by Superman, learning more about him, but also more about Lazarus and the people that she works for. We saw a small change in Lois in the previous issue, where she wanted to write her own report instead of allowing the clearly evil Brainiac 'AI' (we know it's totally not an AI) to do it for her. This issue we see this change in her continue, as she strikes out on her own, goes against protocol, and even dismisses the warnings from her father. Perhaps the biggest sign that she's the decent, kind Lois that we know and love is that she beats the crap out of a Peacemaker and arrests him for brutalising civilians, showcasing that despite the massive differences this world has a lot of these people are still the decent, kind people we know.
This issue also introduces us to two of the previously mentioned Omega Men, a group of terrorists/freedom fighters that have been bringing the fight to Lazarus in order to challenge their grip on the world. One of them will be immediately familiar to Superman readers, and it brought a huge smile to my face to see them this issue. The other, Omega Prime, is less obvious, and I think that when the mask comes off it could end up being anyone we know, or a completely new character. Whoever she is, I like her relationship with the other Omega Man, and her design is pretty cool too.
The art is provided by Rafa Sandoval and Ulises Arreola, who make fantastic work. This is one of the coolest looking books DC has on the shelf at the moment, and the style fits the darker, grittier tone that the book has well. The slums and war-torn places that we visit always look great, full of detail that sells the fact that these are bad places, places that you'd never want to find yourself, let alone live in. It's these smaller details that really make the book work for me. Whether it's the workings of General Lane's robotic legs, the cut in half helicopters, or the bulky Peacemaker armour, the book has a very real, tactile quality that I adore.
Superman isn't in the issue much, despite his presence being felt throughout, but when he is on the page the art team make him feel larger than life, and the depiction of his dust cape remains one of the the more visually impressive parts of the series. This Superman feels so different to our regular one, and even without any dialogue just his presence on the page marks him out as different to Clark.
I'm loving the Absolute books, and each one of them is recreating these iconic heroes in new and interesting ways that feel unique to these titles, yet manage to stick to the qualities that made these heroes last for almost a hundred years. That being said, it does feel like each of the books has their own distinct identity, and they could almost be their own universes. I'm hoping that we get a little cohesion at some point, even if it's smaller details. Show us Peacemakers in Gotham, have a mention of Amazons in Superman, do something that shows this is the same universe, because whilst I'm loving these titles they don't feel like the same world yet, and the longer that feeling goes on for me the weirder it gets.
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