Superman Unlimited #15 Review
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Lucas Meyer
Colorist: Giuliano Peratelli
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artist: Taurin Clarke
Variant Cover Artists: Zoe Thorogood & Fernando Blanco
Editors: Jillian Grant & Paul Kaminski
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock
Release Date: June 15, 2026
Jon left Lois Lane as a boy, but returned a man. She missed watching her son grow up. But when a masked man brought Jon back to her, de-aged to how Lois last saw him before he returned as an adult, her journalistic instincts kicked in. Lois isn't alone in doubting that young Jon is her son. As Jon Kent disguises his features, "Tomorrow Man" struggles to see himself in the boy. Yet, Jon's return hits Damian Wayne hardest. He lost his friend. And when young Jon returned, he showed no interest in resuming their friendship.
Regardless of how others feel about him, young Jon seemed committed to being a hero. Then he saw what Lois and John Henry did to Beppo. And suddenly, the boy realized what the people responsible for protecting him planned to do to him. Can anyone control an enraged Superboy? And how are John Henry and Lana doing after the accident at Steelworks? Let's stop by a phone booth, leap into Superman Unlimited #15, and see!
Story
While Green Kryptonite can exert a toxic effect on Humans, it doesn’t normally empower them. Yet when Dabney Donovan’s clones injected Beppo with a Green-K serum, the chimpanzee became stronger than Jon Kent. After how Ultraman tortured him, Superboy identified with the chimpanzee. But instead of returning him to Bibbo Bibbowski, John Henry Irons incarcerated Beppo in a red sun enclosure. So, when young Jon discovers that Irons and his “mother” plan to incarcerate and experiment on him, the boy who was tortured in a volcano grabs John Henry’s hammer and attacks Tomorrow Man.
While Jon Kent tries to reason with his younger self, Superboy feels betrayed in Superman Unlimited #15. Jon suspects that this boy isn’t him. Yet they look the same and share similar fears after Ultraman tortured them both in a volcano. While young Jon feels betrayed by Tomorrow Man and Lois Lane, Damian Wayne is also outraged. When Jon Kent returned older after a trip through time, Damian felt like he had lost his best friend. Damian sees the boy as an imposter who defiles his memories of Jon and likely intends great harm to his world.
While young Jon experiences the pain of betrayal and rejection, Beppo's blood sample spurs explosive growth in John Henry's stockpile of El Calderan Green Kryptonite. The results of John Henry's scientific research endanger Lana, altering his wife's metahuman form. Just as young Jon demonstrates unrivaled superstrength when angry, Dan Slott’s action thriller reveals the dangers of El Calderan Green K. Far from being gifts to Jon and Humanity, young Jon and the mountain of Green K threaten to extract a heavy toll on Earth in Superman Unlimited #15.
Art
As Superboy attacks Jon Kent with his hammer, John Henry Irons activates the controls to ensure Beppo doesn’t break free of his containment. Yet crystals sprout from the floors, walls, and ceilings of the building. While threatening everyone, a blast shield traps Beppo in a windowless container where he can be impaled without warning. Agitated, Lois's breath condenses inside her transparent helmet as she speaks into her cellphone. Jonathan and Martha listen to the landline receiver in their home. As Krypto and the Supermobile soar into the sky, Jonathan touches a tablet, activating nearby severe weather sirens.
As giant Green-K crystals also erupt from the ground outside, Giuliano Peratelli adorns Lucas Meyer’s apocalyptic visions with vibrant color in Superman Unlimited #15. While the red containment field imprisons a raging Beppo, Superboy’s eyes glow red as his hammer hurls Tomorrow Man into red shadow. Yet when Superboy’s ire cools, his blue suit links him with Batman as two people who suffered childhood trials and wish to protect others from experiencing similar horrors. While red links Robin and other heroes, the green portions of his suit shine as vibrantly as Lana Lang. Yet in this story of overcoming obstacles and transformation, the shape of Robin's cape and its interior color indicate that Tomorrow Man was thinking of yesterday when he chose his new costume.
Dave Sharpe places uppercase black dialogue in white dialogue balloons and offscreen dialogue in colored narrative boxes. Words grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and shrink for lowered voices. Shaky lines of text and slithering arrows suggest shock and fatigue. Sound effects accompany hammer blows, midair collisions, and alerts as laughter fills the air. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
Jon Kent risked a reality-threatening paradox to mentor a younger version of himself. Yet Batman, who suspected young Jon’s identity all along, congratulated his son for recognizing a villain in disguise. As “Superboy” unleashes his anger on “Tomorrow Man” when he believes he betrayed him, heroes confront the dangers of seeing ourselves in others in Superman Unlimited #15.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside see my preview of Superman Unlimited #15.
For what happened last time, see my review of Superman Unlimited #14.
For what happened before that, see my review of Superman Unlimited #13.
For what happened even before that, see my preview of Superman Unlimited #12.
For how this story arc started, see my preview of Superman Unlimited #11.
No comments:
Post a Comment