Review by Karl Verhoven

With Superman absent from Earth he’s asked the similarly powered Mon-El to protect the planet. Despite the Kryptonian sounding name and a similar array of super powers, Mon-El isn’t Kryptonian and a weakness to lead that led to decades of protective confinement in the Phantom Zone has been countered by a serum. Unfortunately, that serum’s downside is that it’s slowly killing him. The opening story, though, concerns his ancestry, and is a functional exercise in providing a planetary history, but not greatly thrilling, although that’s not down to artist Javier Piña. Far better is a look at how Mon-El’s undercover police career is progressing, a cleverly paced series of conversational snippets over seven pages illustrated by Matt Camp. As with everything here, it’s written by James Robinson.

Those are both exceptions to the ongoing continuity, and anyone taking the logical step of coming here directly from Superman: Mon-El, will make the unfortunate discovery that a lot has happened in between. Don’t worry, though, as it’s largely just background. As seen in Superman: Codename: Patriot, Lois Lane’s father is a military zealot and xenophobe who’s manipulated events to make him seem a hero and cast Kryptonians as murderous villains intent on conquest. So where does Mon-El fit into this? Well, he’s now held captive at Lane’s whim, and Robinson has Lane lay out his vision, assuming Mon-El will buy into it. “I do not side with liars” is a decisive rejection.

While what’s going on with Superman runs in the background, Robinson keeps the focus on Mon-El, and those with long memories will have already realised that his allies from a previous continuity are hanging around in the 21^st century, and that becomes increasingly relevant.

The artists are all solid enough, with the sample art being from Bernard Chang who pencils the final hundred or so pages. In places there’s an ugly effect of exaggerated bones and muscle Chang uses to show the effects on the body of flying at super speed (see sample art), but otherwise he takes on board a greatly expanded cast and delivers excitement.

Robinson’s put a lot of thought into a clever finale, tying together Mon-El in the 21^st century with the cities Brainiac shrunk and abducted, and the 31^st century Legion of Super-Heroes. Robinson even manages to filter in other DC obscurities, yet in a way that it doesn’t matter if you don’t know who they are, because they’re all part of the wonder. Mon-El’s story is neatly tied up, while what’s happening with Superman and other associated cast members continues in New Krypton Volume Four.

It’s an up and down collection, but more up than down and boy does Robinson succeed in writing some hateful villains.