Dave-El's Spinner Rack: Superman Lost

Today, the ol' Spinner Rack takes a look at the latest issues of Superman Lost by written by Christopher Priest with art by penciller Carlo Pagulayan, inker Jason Paz and colorist Jeremy Cox.   

Superman Lost recounts what happens after Superman is transported through a wormhole to spend 20 years lost in the vast infinite expanse of outer space, the trials and tribulations he experiences in his encounters with alien worlds and the trauma Clark Kent experiences upon his return to Earth where only one day has passed since his disappearance.  

In the present day sequences, Clark is having trouble acclimating back to "normal life". Having spent so much time in the void of space needing to conserve oxygen, Lois has to remind Clark to breathe. Clark Kent actually tries to go back to work at the Daily Planet but he's not really there, barely aware of everyone around him.  

Clark's head is still where he spent the last 20 years.  

After the premise is established in the first 2 issues, issues #s 3 and 4 are kind of aimless as Superman is flitting about space with a desperate urgency to get back home. He has acquired a couple of tools from the alien planet Tapestry he encountered in issue #2: 

• an all white suit that helps Superman maintain energy levels to fuel his super powers as he moves from one star system to another. 
• an AI assistant called Marquis which is Superman's only companion.  Marquis keeps doing the math Superman keeps asking it to do to calculate how much further Superman is away from home and it keeps telling him he is impossibly far from home. 

Side bar bitch session: the caption boxes for Marquis are virtually impossible to read with small red print on pale color backgrounds.  I am really getting tired of modern comics trying too hard with clever tricks for lettering that make it damn hard to read. 

Superman hitches a ride with some space dolphins to cover more distance but gets caught up in some conflict that Superman doesn't fully understand and the space dolphins fly off and in a moment of frustration, he shatters Marquis. 

Too far from Earth and without the AI for guidance, Superman has no choice but to return to Tapestry.   

8 year have passed since Superman was hurled through the wormhole. Clark Kent makes himself at home in a facsimile of the Kent farm he built in a section of Tapestry called "Kansas" while occasionally venturing out to the nearby city of "New-Ark" to continue being a superhero. 

The planet Tapestry is an Earth like planet where writer Christopher Priest leans hard into some very obvious political allegory.  The planet has been devastated by climate disasters but most of the inhabitants have established an near utopia underground but the citizens of New-Ark opt to live in their dystopia rather than concede than climate change wrecked their planet. 

OK, we get it, Priest. 

Back in the present, Lois is struggling with how to help Clark heal and adjust back to life on Earth. She reluctantly turns to Wonder Woman for help. 

Back in the past while Clark is continuing his existence on the recreation of the Kent family farm, Superman has an unexpected encounter with a Green Lantern. The power rings of Green Lanterns are capable of intergalactic travel and Clark has a way to get home.

Except...

The young woman named "Hope" has only recently come into possession of the ring after it was bequeath to her by the now deceased previous Green Lantern. Like Clark, Hope is far from her planet and uncertain how to get back to her home, let alone Clark's. She hasn't mastered the use of the ring or figured out how to communicate with it.   

Clark's alien friend Szhemi has doped out a way to get him back to Earth.   

Hope seems perfectly happy on the farm with Clark. And in a dark and shocking twist, she will kill to keep things the way they are.   

Well... shit! 

The last sequence in issue #5 is in the present where Lois uses Diana's magic lasso to show Clark the truth that he is home and safe. As Clark collapses in Lois' arms, maybe he is finally coming to terms with the trauma of his prolonged absence. 

We're half way through this series and we have more to explore about what Clark endured. What happened when he found Szhemi had been murdered? What did he do when he finds out Hope is the one who did it?  Will Clark be able to stop the divided planet of Tapestry from falling into total destruction? 

What sacrifices did Superman have to make to finally make it home? 

There have been a couple of issues where it felt like the series lost its focus for a bit but Superman Lost remains a compelling read with gorgeous art.