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Reading Walmart Superman #5 – Up In The Sky but Back In the Ring

Published Mon, 03 Dec 2018 09:00:30 -0600

Last updated Mon, 03 Dec 2018 09:52:10 -0600

Jerrod Hugenot writes,

Despite some distribution delays, Superman DC 100-Page Comic Giant! #5, starts with Tom King and Andy Kubert's latest chapter in "Up in the Sky!". In this third part, Superman's quest to find and rescue a child takes him into an interstellar boxing ring.

A mercenary hired to stop Superman makes an interesting deal: go a few rounds with him, don't use your extraordinary powers, just your fists. Whoever goes down for the count loses more than the match. Mighto will have to give up who employed him. Superman will have to give up the only chance he has for getting the next clue on a rather impossible search of the cosmos.

Tom King structures this short chapter around each round of the fight, ten rounds/pages' worth. Mighto, billed as "the mightiest mercenary, [and] the scourge of galaxies", uses his brute force as well as some blunt trash talk, in hopes of wearing down Superman and defeating him.

In the absence of a yellow sun, Kryptonian physiology tends to lose strength and stamina like a battery draining away. Superman may be very well be feeling these effects already, yet he soldiers on. Mighto keeps giving Superman an easy out: just give up and lose. The aliens who serve as Supes' ringside help keep things in perspective. "Who are you? C'mon! You're Superman!"

Mighto brags about his ability to outlast Superman in the ring. Indeed, Superman is pummeled throughout this fight, yet Mighto's taunts actually have the opposite effect. Indecisive at the start of "Up in the Sky!", Clark's resolve continues to grow. He keeps getting up to continue the fight, so that he can win and find the next lead. He can do nothing less!

Over the decades, many writers have complained about (or simply leaned too much upon) Superman's powers. How do you write Superman, who once wrestled an angel in Morrison's JLA run? King keeps bringing me back to this story with his unfolding story of Superman, who is the sum of his decency and deep commitment to do the right thing. His powers may be vast, yet his sense of self really enable him to go above and beyond.

Andy Kubert's art shines yet again this month. Given a shorter page count, he works with King well to convey a sense of time passing and the wearying blows endured by Superman and his opponent. The steely determination of Clark rising up to start a new round or pick himself off the ground is well conveyed. Here is a "Man of Steel" defined more by his determination and integrity than any powers or invulnerability.