Review by Frank Plowright

When published in 2006, the attraction of Strange Attractors was the return of John Byrne to draw the character whose mythology he’d resorted with an incredibly successful complete reboot in the 1980s.

There are charming small interludes, but Gail Simone tailors the scripts to what she knows Byrne delivers well including villains from his classic run. The opening chapter has cars falling from the sky, one of which crashes through the wall of the Daily Planet offices, delivered by Byrne as a glorious mess of tangled metal and rubble. Other artistic triumphs include a completely battered villain in Doctor Polaris, and the humanity supplied to the supporting cast. This comes with a phenomenal intuition when it comes to how best to tell a story, bringing out the emotion as well as the action.

Simone varies her genres, takes care with her cliffhangers, and writes a smart and fearless Lois Lane, joyfully confronting the wrongdoers of Metropolis and getting out of messes on her own. There’s a step into fantasy and all the way through she emphasises human stories, be it a cautious new reporter, the unpleasant experience of a mother and child visiting Metropolis, or her opening sequence of Superman in rural Africa. Any collection of monthly comics is likely to carry with it the curse of unresolved issues, and for Strange Attractors it’s Lex Luthor forming a gang of super villains. Black Adam is among them, as seen on the cover, and his appearance is beautifully poised hanging on honour despite opposing views.

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning write the only inclusion without Simone’s involvement, but their narrative tone fits, and Byrne supplies artistic continuity. It’s good for involving the supernatural, always a challenge for Superman, and for a great Lois Lane sequence, but the showdown between Spectre and a concealed villain is a little too easily resolved.

Despite that, this remains a very readable selection of Superman stories with humanity at the forefront.