Adventures of Superman #627-640 Review

Come one, come all to the Countdown before Countdown! We are post Identity Crisis, the powder keg paving the way for the event to end all events. I will stand here and say that this era of the DCU might be the most unified and exciting it has ever been (though a close second would have to be 2016-2017 Rebirth era). I would even dare call Countdown itself an event with how much impact it has line wide. With Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, and Judd Winick at the helm maneuvering all the power players into the places they need to be, there's not much that can go wrong!

 [Superman : Unconventional Warfare] ~ {Written by Greg Rucka}

• Adventures of Superman #627 - Battery, Part I : "Girls, Guns, & Replikons" = Interesting. Rucka sets the stage for Superman and his supporting cast: Clark seems to be working with other reporters as correspondence at the Metropolis Police Headquarters, Lois gears up to report on an American invasion of Umec (Unidentified Middle Eastern Country, hilarious Rucka), and Superman deals with a wonderful bronze age pull in the form of Xum, the Replikon! Matthew Clark's art fits the tone Rucka is going for, and I'm eager to see who the major villains will end up being (if there are any).
• Adventures of Superman #628 - Battery, Part II : "You Used To Be A Reporter..." = Not much to say since not much happened, but I will defend Rucka's slow burn style of story-telling. I felt a little ambivalent at the start of his Wonder Woman, but once the train catches steam it does not stop for anybody! I think the dialogue is the strongest part of his books, and the fleshing out of new characters like Lupe and Jerry is done in an extremely smart and competent way. Some creators can get obnoxious with their OC's, but Rucka makes it so seamless that I have to check and see if they were pre-established before this run. The Replikon stuff is ok, but I enjoy the nonchalant cameos of Diana and John Stewart that emphasize the interconnected-ness of the DC universe at this time. Who attacked and killed Replikon's family? Who is the "weapons test" at the end of the issue? Is it another Replikon? Finally, the Lois/Clark sequence was brilliant: the stakes are there, Clark can't save her if stuff goes down since Superman can't be seen in the midst of a war (a very interesting angle). You can really tell that Clark is trying to suppress his concern and let her do her job, but he just wants to keep his wife safe! If you didn't already know, Rucka frekaing rules.
• Superman Secret Files and Origins 2004 - "Suicide Watch" = Very much a mixed bag. The idea of clandestine agencies colliding with the White House in the DC universe sounds awesome to me, but man are both the script and art rough. Jim Fern looks better suited for Japanese manga, while Johns' dialogue is bogged down by having to work with his brother (I assume?). I enjoyed the Pete Ross stuff, but Amanda Waller's dialogue sucked, and the end sequences made no sense at all whatsoever. Amanda didn't want to rat anybody out, but she did to Clark so the Daily Planet could take the credit? Who was Nemesis working for? It has to be Checkmate because of the chess piece calling card, but does that mean Maxwell Lord is behind this? Is that who threatened President Horne at the end of the issue, and does that mean that the blueprints we see are for Brother Eye satellite?! As for the Rucka Mxy story, holy smokes that was so much fun! Jon-Bog killed it with the pencils and the fusion of the two imps has me hyped for his appearances in this upcoming run.
• Adventures of Superman #629 - Battery, Part III : "War-Zones" = Lois seeks truth in times of war, a hostage alien fights against an unknown puppeteer for his own free will, and Superman comes face to face with... sexual tension? Even though nothing crazy is happening, the pot is still stirring, seeds are being sown, and Rucka continues to kill it. Lois writing to Clark at the beginning of the issue was some beautiful prose, while her shenanigans in UMEC are entertaining as mess. The fact that the Replikon we see is the son of Xum is depressing, and it really puts into perspective the fact that Rucka took a Bronze Age one off and debased his entire family to prop up a villain. Who is this mysterious entity with a hate boner for the Man of Steel?
• Adventures of Superman #630 - Battery, Part IV : "Villain Interruptus" = The best issue yet, and one of the best Mxy stories I've ever read! What can't Rucka do?! The use of Mxy is so much fun and I loved how they embraced the meta 4th wall breaking nature of his character, referencing STAS, the Matrix, and even whatever's happening in the other books of the Superman line. My favorite page had to be Mxy's warning, which essentially amounted to him spouting self-reflexive nonsense that incorporated titles of various events from that era. I loved his  short term memory, the ballistic nature of his concentration, with Clark having to remind him every couple panels. Matthew Clark does a phenomenal job with the visual gags, something I was not expecting since I had gotten so used to his gritty and grimy style from the first couple issues. The check-in on Lois was great, and I'm surprised we've been introduced to Ruin this early, but his motivation sounds interesting; animosity because Superman's powers steal solar energy? Loved the reveal of Replikon's weapon charging Ruin's battery (the title of the arc), and as for Mxy's final tip: who or what are the twins?
• Adventures of Superman #631 - Battery, Part V : "Casualty of War" = Fuuuuuuck! I wish the cover didn't spoil it! Without a shadow of a doubt, Lois' segment in Umec stole this issue. Her and Beau pinned down at the mercy of a lone sniper created some wonderful tension that one would never expect to find in a Superman book of all places. It's perfectly juxtaposed with Supes getting trashed by Xlim and Ruin. Matthew Clark's pencils were great in the Star Labs scenes, but Renato Guedes carried the weight with Lois' plot. Even the little moments like Clark stopping Xlim from killing Ruin echoes one of my favorite Superman quotes: "Vengeance is not Justice" ~ Action Comics #796 (Joe Kelly). Lois looks like she got tagged around the heart, but will being faster than a speeding bullet get her to proper medical attention in time?
• Adventures of Superman #632 - "Time Elapsed" = I think this was the issue that cemented Rucka's work on Superman so far as one of the most compelling I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Paired with the brilliant Paul Pelletier, this book is simply unstoppable. Everything about this was awesome, not a single page wasted, not a single dull moment. Ruin continues to develop as a fascinating villain while Superman shuts out the world, locked on to Lois' heartbeat. We finally get who the twins Mxy warned us of are, Ruin's motivation, Wally dressed up like a GI, and a cameo by the best JSA member, the chad himself Pieter Cross Doctor Mid-Nite! Best sequences were the prison transport, Jimmy and Perry, and that heartbreaking final page.

[Superman : That Healing Touch] ~ {Written by Greg Rucka}

• Adventures of Superman #633 - That Healing Touch, Part I : "Twin Parasites" = Wonderful opener to this arc, very interested to see how the twins play into the grand design of Ruin's plans. Did he always plan for them to get doused in chemicals? I assumed that the explosion occurred from Mxy removing that one piece from the battery, but maybe Ruin was going to use the chemicals on them anyways? I loved the interaction between Lupe and Supes, while the cat & mouse style hunt for Ruin is something I'm constantly fascinated by; I've said this before but, Jesus, you never see this kind of stuff in  Superman comic and I love it! Don't care for the melo-drama with Lois' family, but I enjoy that it's reflected onto Lois and Clark since they're sick of it as well.
• Adventures of Superman #634 - That Healing Touch, Part II : "Narrative Interruptus Secondus" = Jeez if that boy Mxy is tweaking about how it ends, I have no idea what cataclysm is approaching! Loved the sequence where Mxy interacts with the early 2000's DC bullpen, I felt as if I was traveling back in time to that era while still being immersed in the present plot. Rucka is able to pull off this fourth wall break so expertly as to not jump the shark, and it doesn't feel forced at all. The twins are interesting enough, but Mxy stole this whole issue. 
• Adventures of Superman #635 - That Healing Touch, Part III : "Drained" = Even though I've had a lot of fun with this arc, I will have to admit that it has been the low point so far (and that's just a testament to how good "Battery" was). Loved the John Henry cameo as well as the Lupe confessional, while the fight with the Twins ended up being some dumb fun even with their flimsy motivations. Matthew Clark continues to kill this book, and I'm excited to see this Superman/Ruin confrontation.

[Superman : Road To Ruin] ~ {Written by Greg Rucka}

• Adventures of Superman #636 - Road to Ruin, Part I : "Identity Compromised" = HE KNOWS! Is this when Batman first finds out? Or did he know at the end of Identity Crisis? This was absolutely fantastic, even if the whole issue was Supes getting dunked on. I love moments like this where the Trinity has to go head to head on the difficult decisions, and it's just so cool to have creators like Johns, Meltzer, and Winick on the same page as Rucka while they all simultaneously craft an epic throughout all the books DC is releasing. Rags on art was the icing on the cake, and Ruin is working for Luthor!
• Adventures of Superman #637 - Road to Ruin, Part II : "Two Truths & A Lie" = Not a fan of Renato Guedes art, but at least we got some Matthew Clark in there. Besides that, while not much happens, we still get some wonderful set up on a couple of fronts. I'm not sure if the Luthor/Pete flashback took place prior to "Ending Battle" since Manchester Black erased the secret identity from Luthor's mind at the finale, but they're definitely doing a whole lot to set up Pete as the prime suspect of Ruin. The Lois subplot seems the most interesting, and if her shooting was really connected to Ruin, then Clark is in much more trouble than he thinks. Getting Jimmy to hit on Jerry was hilarious, but tragic that he got dunked on immediately. Laughed out loud about that final panel since I'm pretty sure this next issue is a Mxy one: super-antics ensue! 
• Adventures of Superman #638 - Road to Ruin, Part III : "Narrative Interruptus Tertiarius" = YES YES YES! I live for these Mxy issues! Revelations from the trickster, invisible string cast across times not yet passed, a slot machine of futures to unfold! Composite beast villain, which of his rogues gallery will strike!?! Superman and Lois, mother and father of DC Comics, everything really does happen because of them!
• Adventures of Superman #640 - Road to Ruin, Part IV : "Exposed" = God damn was that a good comic. I love it when writers and artists try to experiment with the storytelling format, and this definitely reminded me of how Wolfman and Perez interspliced the Harbinger sequences with the main narrative during the final issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Very interesting that the top half was presented through various forms of media after the fact: newspapers, security footage, cellphones, web images, live television, etc. Makes you wonder who was watching? Lex? Max Lord? The REAL Ruin? Lois's narration stole the issue, and it really makes you wonder; how many red herrings on top of red herrings are we being fed? Lex to Pete to even Emil Hamilton, suspicion unbound! But this reveal, there's no way it's over! He's a pawn!