DC Direct: Last Son Superman

DC Direct Last Son Superman

June 1, 2013 officially marks the beginning of Superman month as the release of the highly anticipated Man of Steel movie is just around the bend (June 12, 2013). It's a coincidence that I am writing this entry with a content that would touch upon the highly popular and fan favorite Superman film director Richard Donner's surprise co-writing chore for a Superman comic book. Read on below

Superman Last Son toy line from DC Direct

Superman's relaunch after the events of Infinite Crisis proved to be a huge success as the story arc Up, Up, and Away relaunched Superman in a huge way by incorporating some of the elements taken from the Superman Movies and the recently released Superman Returns movie. The relaunch was spearheaded by Geoff Johns' masterful writing by giving us a Superman story that was big on action, but without sacrificing the tight story writing. For his next story arc, Johns would pull a rabbit in the hat trick by bringing along highly acclaimed 1978 Superman (starred by Christopher Reeve as Superman) movie Director Richard Donner to share the writing duties. Donner, who never had the chance to finish Superman 2 as he bowed out from directing the movie midway through the filming process, crafted a story arc that could have possibly been his Superman 3. Titled Last Son, Johns and Donner introduces to the Superman comic book community Superman's Kryptonian foes; General Zod, Ursa, and Non. Johns and Donner also brought in a Kryptonian child to the story (more on that later) in a move that would give credence to the Superman Returns movie's plot of having Superman and Lois caring for a child. Revelations of the Child's origins however came as a big surprise to Superman fans as the Last Son's story arc basically took a life of its own. Fans of Donner's Superman movies can easily access Last Son as Donner's unofficial Superman 3 story. I personally highly recommend purchasing a copy of this graphic novel if you happen to be a casual Superman fan who's facts about Superman is limited only to the Superman movies. 

Adam Kubert's Superman

Credit can also be given to Adam Kubert for providing the Art chores for Last Son. Adam is one half of the popular Kubert brothers (the other one being Andy), who are the sons of legendary DC Comics comic book artist Joe Kubert. The Kubert siblings however were mostly identified with rival comic book company Marvel Comics for most of their careers and signing an exclusive contract for DC proved to be a huge surprise that brought a lot of excitement to longtime DC Comics fans. Andy went on to work for the Batman titles. Adam on the other hand, was assigned to illustrate Superman: Last Son. His stint with DC however was short lived as he battled health problems which caused Last Son's final issue to be delayed for almost a year. But despite his short lived tenure with DC, his art for the story arc were influential enough that DC Direct decided to produce action figures based from his work. The Last Son Action Figure series is composed of four action figures (Superman, Zod, Ursa, and Bizarro), all of which were based from his art. Though I like his Superman art, I personally believed that the best choice for this project should have been Gary Frank (more on him in my next entry) as he illustrates his Superman with the likeness of Christopher Reeve. If Gary Frank illustrated Last Son, then there's no doubt that this story arc would have been cemented as the official sequel to Donner's Superman movies. 

Superman

The Action Figure: DC Direct basically nailed Adam Kubert's illustrations here as the action figures faithfully adhered to Adam's art. The sculpting of the action figure were done carefully to match Kubert's art. DC Direct time and again has hit the nail right. This figure helps us forget about that godawful Superman action figure that was said to be based from Jim Lee's art. I will only be reviewing Superman here as the other figures deserves to have their own separate entries (I'm still kinda disappointed that DC Direct didn't gave us a Non action figure and opted for Bizarro instead). Adam's Superman illustrations gives us a depiction of a strong man Superman as he is illustrated with defined bulk. A lot of casual Superman toy collectors opts for this Superman as their definitive Superman in their toy collections. And as usual, since this is a DC Direct action figure, we are given again limited points of articulation. He sports a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, pivot hips, and hinged knees.The paint works are pretty much solid. The figures also comes with an "S" Shield base stand that would really look good with the figure. I apologize though that I wasn't able to take photos of those base stands as I usually put them in storage. I'll update this review though once I'm able to find time in searching where I put those base stands. My verdict for this Superman? It's a must have for those who wants to have a Superman action figure that likes their Superman looking mean and large. 

Last Son Superman

Superman based on the art of Adam Kubert

Ursa, Zod, and Bizarro from the Last Son Action Figure series

Superman: Last Son

Defining comic book in my collection featuring this action figure: When I knew that Richard Donner would be co-writing Last Son, I immediately forgot about his writing partner Geoff Johns. While Geoff Johns is a brilliant writer, Donner's involvement in this story arc struck my fancy as I have been a huge fan of his Superman movies. It did not help that he stated in his interviews that Last Son would have been his planned Superman 3 movie if he was given a chance to complete his vision of a Superman movie trilogy. In Last Son, Superman is surprised to find out that a space pod bearing a Kryptonian kid has crashed landed on Earth. Christening him as Christopher Kent (an interplay of words taken from Superman actor Christopher Reeve and Superman alter ego Clark Kent), Superman takes him as his own with the help of Lois, serving as the kid's foster parents. A few days later, three more space pods arrived, this time bearing Superman's Kryptonian arch enemies (from the Superman 2 movie), Zod, Ursa, and Non. Zod and his crew had arrived on Earth in search for his and Ursa's son, the Kryptonian kid that Superman adopted, as well as to get his revenge on Superman and rule the Planet Earth as his New Krypton. Lex Luthor meanwhile sends Bizarro to kidnap the Kryptonian Kid, Superman victoriously foils Luthor's plan but had his hands full when Zod and his crew finally revealed to Superman their presence. Zod has Superman sent to the Phantom Zone when an invasion of Kryptonian Criminals from the Phantom Zone broke free. Superman could only watch helplessly as Zod and the rest of the Kryptonian criminals overtook Earth, easily beating the Superheroes that were left to save Earth. Superman comes across Mon El in the Phantom Zone and with his help, Superman breaks free from the Phantom Zone and returns to Earth.

Superman Returns from the Phantom Zone

Superman approaches his arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, for help as he believes only Luthor has the capability to combat the Kryptonian invasion. Luthor builds a team that he calls his Superman Revenge Squad that is composed of Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, and himself. Superman teams up with them and wages a battle against Zod and his Kryptonian criminals. Lois Lane meanwhile discovers Luthor's ulterior motives. Luthor has planned to harness the Phantom Zone projector and banish all of the Kryptonians on Earth including Superman. As the battle between Superman and Zod nears the climax, Luthor activates the Phantom Zone projector and all of the Kryptonian invaders were recalled back to the Phantom Zone. Superman was on the brink of being sent back to the Phantom Zone but Chris Kent, the Kryptonian kid, saves Superman by sacrificing himself in place of Superman. The Phantom Zone projector closes and Superman is left wondering whatever happened to Chris Kent as he peers thru the windows of the Phantom Zone, asking Mon El if he had seen Chris Kent. The story closes with Superman losing his and Lois' adopted kid. Last Son pretty much gave us a great Superman story that involves Kryptonian invasion. Since Johns took over the book, majority of his stories had Superman encounter his Kryptonian roots. Johns would follow up this story with Superman's epic adventure in the future with the Legion of Superheroes. The story arc Superman: Brainiac would follow, setting the stage for General Zod and the Kryptonians' return in New Krypton. This will be featured in my next entry.

Superman v.s. Bizarro

General Zod and Ursa confronts Superman

Superman teams up with Bizarro

Superman v.s. General Zod

Superman

I think it's a shame that Johns and Donner's Last Son story arc were not realized on the big screen. It would have been an epic storyline to close out Donner's Superman movie universe. But with the impending arrival of Man of Steel in the big screen, I think Last Son's premise about Kryptonian invasion will be very much highlighted in the Man of Steel movie as so far we have seen the trailers about a Kryptonian invasion. Meanwhile, more Kryptonian invasion madness will be featured in my next entry. Stay Tuned!