#last son

Absolute Power: Task Force VII #1 - "Last Son" (2024)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) x Superman (2025)

"One Last Son"

The champions of the Rock of Eternity are on the run!

So I heard that this is the best Superman story and while I think it's a good one, I disagree, I think it has its fair share of issues. I'm not going to bother keeping it spoiler free

Richard Donner was involved with it, that much is clear. Some of the characters are designed after the movie actors which is pretty refreshing to see but this isn't a Donner continuation, it's more of an alternate universe. The characters that are different from the movies look better actually. And I even saw some scenes where it was like "Oh, that's where that came from." This story has become a bit of an icon through its panels.

I think where it started to go for me was with the Zod chapter. It felt rushed for a comic but for a movie, it wouldn't have been too bad and I think that was my main qualm with it. I'm not sure if it was a potential movie or anything but I could definitely see those vibes, maybe Donner was thinking of it more like a screenplay. Of course he wasn't the only one involved though. Chris Kent was a cool idea, but it went an entirely different route than I expected with him being Zod's son, and while I still like that, I like the original potential more.

The Brainiac arc was odd. I liked that he collects cities and gets stronger by plundering planets, not to mention that he's been stuck in his ship and all the past Brainiacs were just copies. His ending was very fitting too, basically all the actual Brainiac stuff seemed right. I also liked that Kandor's on Earth now, it makes for a new and interesting development after so much flack from Zod and the guilt from Jor-El about losing their race, I definitely didn't see it coming.

But what was with Jonathan Kent's death? Like one minute he's saving Martha from the spear and says "Everything's gonna be alright." with the house blown up in the background. Then he grabs his arm, falls and dies?? Apparently it was a heart attack. What a way to go, I mean, it would be one thing if he jumped in the way of the spear (but then it would've blown up anyway, making it pointless) but he doesn't, he just moves Martha to the side, missing the spear and dies anyway.

I also wanted to complain a little bit about the format itself, I would have to experiment with reading from panel to panel because it wasn't always clear whether it continues to the one below it or to the one on the next page. Usually stuff like that is pretty easy with the visual cues, so I've never really had that happen before. I almost wish that I read the scans or even the individual comics themselves rather than the collection because of how it was cropped.

Adam Kubert’s cover artwork for his “Last Son” storyline in Action Comics, with a Script by Richard Donner and Geoff Johns. 

Action Comics

Volume: 1 Annual #11

Last Son

Writers: Geoff Johns, Richard Donner

Pencils: Adam Kubert

Inks: Stéphane Roux

Covers: Adam Kubert

Featuring: Superman, Mon-El, General Zod, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, Lex Luthor, Parasite, Metallo, Bizarro

Absolute Power: Task Force VII #1 - "Last Son" (2024)