In the first issue of Superwoman, writer and artist Phil Jimenez delivered a fantastic twist about the title character and a cliffhanger ending. If you’re not up to date with the series or don’t want to know anything about the second issue, consider this your spoiler warning!

Before we get into the story, it has to be said that this is a great looking comic book. Jimenez’s figure work is second to none, and he packs his pages with more panels than we typically get in a superhero comic. It makes for a very dense read, even though the issue is only 20 pages long. A few of the pages may be cluttered with text, but that’s a trade-off that we’re willing to make. We appreciate the fact that Jimenez isn’t overly reliant on splash pages to pad out the issue. There are only two splash images in the book, and they’re both saved for important moments. When Jimenez cuts down on the panels to five or six per page, the primary images tend to really pop as they do in this page with Lana Lang’s Superwoman and her boyfriend, Steel.

While we’re still not entirely convinced that the apparent death of Lois Lane’s Superwoman won’t be some kind of swerve, this issue treats it like a permanent change and it thrusts Lana Lang into the spotlight as the sole remaining Superwoman. Jimenez seems to have a good handle on Lana’s character, and she has some very human moments of panic and doubt. However, the issue needlessly sidelines her at one point, which meant that Steel and his niece, Natasha Irons, had to pick up the superhero slack. The Irons family is a welcome addition to this title’s supporting cast, but they shouldn’t overshadow the lead.

One thing that Jimenez absolutely nails is that this comic feels like a Superman book without Superman, Lois, or Jimmy. Jimenez takes the time to reintroduce some of supporting characters in Metropolis, including Maggie Sawyer, while almost treating Lex Luthor as the book’s secondary protagonist. Lex didn’t always come off well in the issue as he was constantly thwarted by the mystery villain. But under Jimenez’s pen, Lex was almost sympathetic.

However the mystery villain reveal was a little flat, mostly because the first two issues of this series did very little to establish them. Sure, Superman fans will recognize who this person is. But if anyone is coming into DC Rebirth without the benefit of years reading these titles then it’s not going to mean anything. If we were to only judge that revelation on this issue alone then it would be a failure. We’d like to see future issues flesh out this villain so they aren’t one dimensional, but it’s hard to get too excited about this issue’s cliffhanger compared to the previous issue’s ending.

We definitely enjoyed Superwoman #2. It may not be the home run that the first issue was, but it’s a very solid read and we want to know where Jimenez is going with this title. To be honest, we’d almost buy it for the art alone.

RATING: 3 OUT OF 5 BURRITOS

What did you think about Superwoman #2? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

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Images: DC Comics