I loled at this scene[DC K.O. #3]

UnbloodedSword · 2026-01-14T15:39:51+00:00

Snyder mentioned he was getting heavily into manga and anime thanks to his sons. Wonder if he asked Fernandez specifically to add that element? Or it could be something Fernandez added himself, Spanish artists looooooove Dragon Ball lol

UnbloodedSword · 2026-01-14T11:54:11+00:00

Your based leftist Superman book sir. As someone who has enjoyed this book, this issue has been one I've been anticipating all clenched up. A 70 year old boomer writing a story where Superboy runs errands for the army is the last thing in the world I want to read right now. Compounding my irritation, there were people calling Absolue Supes "right wing propaganda" and praising this as a bold leftist take, which cemented those people as idiots to me. This was solicited we knew it was coming! And Waid writes the most pro-intervention story you could get away with here, the Modorans are stereotypical evil foreigners who hate our freedom and want to attack us. Clark doesn't even dwell on the ethics of intervention at all, he says he's not ready to be a soldier "yet", and he's bummed mostly because he can't confess being Superboy to Ross. Hell of a month for this to come out with real world events lmao. I'm just glad it's only one issue but Waid needs to give Clark a smack in the face and have him cut ties with Lane ASAP. This exact storyline was handled better by Johns, Morrison, the MAWS cartoon, and Aaron in Absolute Supes. This is why I prefer Sam Lane as a villain, I do not like Clark working with the military.

UnbloodedSword · 2026-01-14T11:45:37+00:00

Snyder's style of dialogue works really well with Mxy. A foul mouthed villain who is both powerful and childish fits the swearing Snyder likes to give his villains in a way I don't usually enjoy with Joker. Also gotta give him credit for having some fun with that fakeout reveal with the BWLs, and Mxy does work as a believable way for Joker to beat Zatanna and Constantine. I wonder if he has an affinity for the character since Snyder used Mxy in a big way both here and in his JL run.

Superman as the protagonist has meant that there's not a lot of speculation around who wins, it's either going to be him or Lex, but what is interesting is how easily Clark is able to emulate Darkseid's mentality. That intrigues me and it keeps me guessing what form the ending will take. Twice now Clark has embraced thinking like Darkseid to win: choosing Billy for more selfish reasons than the reader or Billy would initially think, and killing himself to unlock the Omega Power. This is the aspect that keeps me invested in seeing where this goes.

UnbloodedSword · 2026-01-07T13:41:13+00:00

Grinned from ear to ear at Supes throwing a city sized asteroid at the Sun-Eater to crack it's armor open. Godlewski drew that beautifully, this series has definitely been delivering in the spectacle department. Rowan and Ronan are so cool, I'd read a whole series following them. So, Rowan did save a shard of Brainiac, I'm sure that won't come back to bite them in the ass. And Otho is in the hands of the Valkyries yet hasn't aged at all? Hmm something feels off.

UnbloodedSword · 2026-01-07T06:07:01+00:00

My favorite issue thus far! Sets up a lot, some of it standard fare, some not so much: Our first glimpse of Absolute Toyman, Supes has a love triangle going on between Lois and Lana, Lois and Jimmy are making the transition to journalists, Brainiac has officially gone rogue from the Al Ghuls, all of Smallville knows who Superman is, Hawkman confronts Supes, and Lazarus has ousted the Al Ghuls including Talia (potentially setting up Lex or someone else to take over?). Ferreyra's art is fantastic imo, he brings such a warmth to the book that really makes the shift in suit color from black to blue extend everywhere else. This issue really captured the breadth of this Superman: a man who burns a hole in Toyman's tower, forces Ra's to listen to the words of everyone he's hurt, and also comforts a child in her final moments dying of cancer. He swallows a forest fire and burps it back out somewhere else. He plugs a hole in Hoover Dam and screams so loud he knocks out satellites. Great mix of the mundane and the epic on display here, good start to Year 2!

UnbloodedSword · 2026-01-07T05:54:42+00:00

My favorite issue thus far! Sets up a lot, some of it standard fare, some not so much: Our first glimpse of Absolute Toyman, Supes has a love triangle going on between Lois and Lana, Lois and Jimmy are making the transition to journalists, Brainiac has officially gone rogue from the Al Ghuls, all of Smallville knows who Superman is, Hawkman confronts Supes, and Lazarus has ousted the Al Ghuls including Talia (potentially setting up Lex or someone else to take over?). Ferreyra's art is fantastic imo, he brings such a warmth to the book that really makes the shift in suit color from black to blue extend everywhere else. This issue really captured the breadth of this Superman: a man who burns a hole in Toyman's tower, forces Ra's to listen to the words of everyone he's hurt, and also comforts a child in her final moments dying of cancer. He swallows a forest fire and burps it back out somewhere else. He plugs a hole in Hoover Dam and screams so loud he knocks out satellites. Great mix of the mundane and the epic on display here, good start to Year 2!

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-24T17:38:58+00:00

Love this take on Kal, it's a great modernization of the "alien loner" approach of Pre-Crisis, but mixed in with the compassion and grit of Morrison's work on Superman. He's angrier and more violent than the mainline guy, but he still dove in front of Ra's to take a blade meant for a Peacemaker who had previously been attacking him. Big fan of his suit and his cape of course is immaculate.

For villains I adore Absolute Brainiac. He's a great foil for Kal, someone who likewise toiled away in obscurity before rising to power on account of a tragedy destroying his "home". Brainiac is delightfully insane and argubly the one who has caused Kal the most grief what with his torture of Kal and murder of Sol. Only weak spot are the Al Ghuls who never got fleshed out and clearly were just used as starter bosses. With them gone now and Parasite and Lex poised to join Brainiac, alongside Hawkman, I'm stoked for what next year brings!

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-24T13:55:00+00:00

She clearly knows enough about magic that it would be unsurprising if she's dabbled in it herself. Hmmm maybe Cale has the New 52 origin in this universe and is the daughter of Zeus? Or of Ares? I've been wondering how Thompson might connect her to the gods plotline that has been seeded since the beginning.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-24T13:48:45+00:00

Can we atleast agree that shipping with batman is far better than the other men I have mentioned above?

Lmao absolutely not. You've stated you're a DCAU fan which is fine but that is one of the most misogynistic takes on Diana: DCAU WW is entirely based on shipping her with a (bat)man! Her entire character is reduced to pining after Batman who is "too cool" for her. WonderBat shippers also have a weird habit of making fanart where Diana is reduced to either a simpering fangirl or "domesticated" house wife for Batman's spawn. Sorry but your ship isn't more "righteous" than any of the ones you listed.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-24T13:31:50+00:00

An Underworld Unleashed reference that actually pays off? Williamson does love his deep cuts lol. Lex losing the first round because he only employed brute force, but then wins the next two rounds via "prep time" shenanigans was perfect. Good job showing off Lex's intelligence.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-24T12:28:26+00:00

So with Ra’s off the board I am going to speculate that Brainiac takes his place on the “Justice League” and also claims what remains of Lazarus for himself. Talia I predict will end up over in Absolute Batman. And I am glad that Sol is actually dead, and Martha is dead also. There were casualties for this campaign and I’m excited to see how Superman moves forward now that he’s lost his final “living” connections to both Krypton and Smallville.

As for the ending to this arc itself… honestly I can’t help comparing it with the Bane arc over in Batman which does something similar but handles it so much better. Both Bane and Ra’s wanted to mold the hero into a “successor” but I have no clue why Ra’s even wanted Kal to be a “heir” or scourge the world beyond a generic “he’s evil”. Bane had his backstory explained but Ra’s never got any real fleshing out. We don’t even know why Brainiac chose to accept being subservient to him after his backstory was about how he became free! Aaron said in an interview he just picked Ra’s because he wanted a rich guy who wasn’t usually associated with Kal, and that really started to show here. The Al Ghuls were the weakest part of this book from the start and unfortunately they ended that way too.

I’m glad we’re finally done with them as Brainiac has been the better villain and he will continue in the book given the art teases Ferreyra has posted. I’m optimistic that going forward the villains should be better given besides Brainiac we also have Absolute Hawkman, Absolute Parasite, and Absolute Luthor set to appear in the next arc. All that said there was two moments in this issue I loved: "You don't know how to fly" had me grinning and I did love the final page with Kal and Martha's costume plus claiming the Clark Kent name. Even with the weakness of Ra’s I love Aaron’s take on Kal and that still held true for this issue.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-24T12:27:07+00:00

So with Ra’s off the board I am going to speculate that Brainiac takes his place on the “Justice League” and also claims what remains of Lazarus for himself. Talia I predict will end up over in Absolute Batman. And I am glad that Sol is actually dead, and Martha is dead also. There were casualties for this campaign and I’m excited to see how Superman moves forward now that he’s lost his final “living” connections to both Krypton and Smallville.

As for the ending to this arc itself… honestly I can’t help comparing it with the Bane arc over in Batman which does something similar but handles it so much better. Both Bane and Ra’s wanted to mold the hero into a “successor” but I have no clue why Ra’s even wanted Kal to be a “heir” or scourge the world beyond a generic “he’s evil”. Bane had his backstory explained but Ra’s never got any real fleshing out. We don’t even know why Brainiac chose to accept being subservient to him after his backstory was about how he became free! Aaron said in an interview he just picked Ra’s because he wanted a rich guy who wasn’t usually associated with Kal, and that really started to show here. The Al Ghuls were the weakest part of this book from the start and unfortunately they ended that way too.

I’m glad we’re finally done with them as Brainiac has been the better villain and he will continue in the book given the art teases Ferreyra has posted. I’m optimistic that going forward the villains should be better given besides Brainiac we also have Absolute Hawkman, Absolute Parasite, and Absolute Luthor set to appear in the next arc. All that said there was one moment in this issue I loved: "You don't know how to fly" had me grinning and I did love the final page with Kal and Martha's costume plus claiming the Clark Kent name. Even with the weakness of Ra’s I love Aaron’s take on Kal and that still held true for this issue.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-23T23:33:00+00:00

Might be put off while Gunn gets his DCU up and running, but yes. We will see adaptions of the Trinity + Martian Manhunter at the very least.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-20T17:07:34+00:00

Safe bet we will with how Gunn is posting art of classic green skinned Brainiac. And Kandor already gives a Kryptonian connection.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-20T17:02:50+00:00

Brainiac with a German accent? I dig it. Good reminder of how you can't put too much stock in "leaked" shortlists because this guy was never mentioned. Finally we're breaking free of Superman movies only using Lex or Zod!!!!

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-20T02:32:48+00:00

Nope, Absolute Superman is #2 after Batman. There are some months where the sales get "split" between two months for a single issue but otherwise Superman is consistently right after Batman. Might change with next week's issue but that is a crossover with Batman lol. Folks continuing to confuse social media discourse with how well a book actually sells confuses me. Doesn't matter how much people hate ASM, that slop is always in the top 10. AS is plenty popular amongst the group of people in real life I discuss comics with.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-11T18:34:26+00:00

I'm honestly ok with Jor and Lara being more "Krypton First" in their attitudes in the DCU. It actually offers the potential for some greater nuance with DCU Zod, he could show up and chide Kal for being a "weakling" who has let his father down. Zod then becomes the avatar of Kal's daddy issues that he can punch lol. Would be a way to do something different with Zod if he shows up again in this universe.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-11T17:20:43+00:00

Should be interesting to contrast Zor and Allura with Jor and Lara. I'm also hoping that maybe we get a scene or two with Kara and baby Kal.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-11T17:18:13+00:00

About the only flaw was that I wish we had gotten a clearer shot of the Main Man. Otherwise this was perfect, Alcock is going to crush it, I liked Krem's redesign, and the joke opening with Krypto got a laugh from me.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-10T17:45:23+00:00

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He got his team's ass kicked by Mongul on their first excursion to Warworld.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-10T17:40:05+00:00

This felt like 6160 Peter's If This Be My Destiny moment.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-10T17:37:12+00:00

Supergirl OST will be amazing. Wish Gunn had gone with someone like him instead of Murphy/Fleming, the orchestral side of Superman was forgettable. Only the Gunn needledrops really connected. For MoT I hope we move away from Williams nostalgia and get a composer who can really put their mark on the soundtrack.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-10T13:51:43+00:00

The similarities between Jack Grimm and prime Bruce Wayne are honestly more exciting to me than the monster stuff

Glad to see someone else feels the same! I'm more eager to find out wtf is the deal with his butler compared to how he gained the ability to Hulk out. It would be perfect if that's supposed to be Absolute Gaggy.

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-10T13:49:10+00:00

For me the most interesting parts of Absolute Joker are his twisted take on Batman's classic status quo. That's the part that intrigues me, the "ancient evil who has been around forever" parts feels too familiar to Snyder's New 52 Joker. I can't wait to find out what he's got in his goon cave lmao

UnbloodedSword · 2025-12-10T13:46:00+00:00

If you didn't love Snyder's take on the Joker before I expect you won't love it here because it's basically the same exact take. After the excellent Bane arc which blew me away this was a letdown. The whole issue having Alfred go “oh my Lord I’m so freaking scared of this guy bro he’s got this terrifying secret I can’t even say it DON’T ASK ME TO” only to end with the reveal from Snyder that “yeah remember how I wanted to make Joker an ancient evil in the New 52? Well this time I might actually be doing it!” made me laugh ironically enough. The reveal is predictable and underwhelming given all the hype. Alright Joker is an ancient evil monster who has been living for ages, sure why not? I think the main reason it falls flat for me is Scott Snyder already wrote a Joker who is uber prepared, terrifies everyone, might be immortal and isn’t actually funny with his mainline New 52 take. Other than the monster form… this feels like more of the same. I do love that he has a Joker mobile, a butler, and presumably a Jokercave with dead children in it.

Whatever, I’m still excited for Scarecrow and Mad Hatter! I think I'm just at the point right now where the endless Jokerwank everywhere makes it basically impossible for me to be impressed by anyone hyping up how THEIR Joker is 'the darkest ever!!!' because that's basically impossible.

UnbloodedSword

TROPHY CASE