Superman #156

Superman #156 by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness and Cam Smith

The Plot: The Parasite attacks Superman as Lois's relationship to her husband grows ever-colder, and the arrival of two of Superman's female friends leads Lois into the arms of a very unlikely rival for her affections.

Loeb certainly plays well with the conventions of the Superman mythos. Despite my continued reservations about the overall direction of this title (due in large part, I suspect, to the edicts of the editorial office more than the creators themselves), Loeb manages to end every issue on a note that brings me back for the next issue.

The arrival of Ed McGuinness as penciler has not improved the series any over the work that was done previously with Loeb by artist Mike McKone. I know many people preferred the previous artist, but I was looking forward to McGuinness. Having now seen a few of his issues, I can say with confidence he isn't much better than McKone, and is often a bit worse.

McGuinness does some occasionally interesting things with panel layout, but his big, balloony Superman is often goofy rather than powerful-looking. McKone's work wasn't as flashy, but it was more consistent, and told the story more effectively. I'll grant you, he draws Clark Kent well, but I'm not much of a fan of his version of Superman himself. And in a book called Superman, well, that's kinda important, y'know?

While I'm criticizing McGuinness, what the hell is going on with Lana Lang's chest in the final panel of page 9? I don't want to turn into Ray Tate, an Internet reviewer fond of breast-focused reviews, but I don't remember Lana ever being so well-endowed as McGuinness makes her out in this panel, and it seems to me the hug in panel 1 of page 10 must violate some law of physics if she has the breasts presented on the previous page. Interestingly, Lana is virtually flat-chested in panel 1 of page 11. It's funny to joke about, sure, but also indicative of McGuinness's overall inconsistency.

There is a battle with the Parasite in this issue, for reasons hinted at but not made quite clear. Wonder Woman shows up, apparently to make even larger the rift between Superman and Lois. While I can figure out from Internet posts why Lois is angry at Clark and Diana, no real explanation of the event (which happened outside this title, despite DC saying this title would be more self-contained) is given, which detracts from any emotion the confrontation might have otherwise engendered. The fact that the editors choose on the letters page to highlight the cover of next week's issue of The Adventures of Superman, which I won't be buying, rather than the next issue of this title, which I might, tells me volumes about what their overall intent is.

So, as a reader who only buys Superman and none of the related titles, Lois storming off at the end rang sort of hollow. But the last page, as I hinted at earlier, is a stunner. I don't know what Lois is up to, but I am curious. If Loeb and McGuinness can improve the overall consistency of this title and stick to storylines I don't have to buy other titles to make sense of, I might even stick around long enough to find out what the hell is going on.