Superman #681

The "New Krypton" story is one that's loaded with significance for fans of nostalgia.

It brings Kandor, the bottled city, back into Superman's continuity (although it wasn't bottled for long).

In its original appearance in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Superman wasn't able to restore Kandor to its normal size, so he kept the city in his Fortress of Solitude while he tried to discover a cure.

Finally, in 1979, he actually solved the problem and restored Kandor to normal size - but he did it on another world, so the Kryptonians could start a new life. All this was done away with after the first Crisis on Infinite Earths.

In the storyline unfolding now, Superman rescued Kandor from Brainiac's ship and placed it next to his Fortress, and now he has about 100,000 Kryptonians for neighbors. The story of their experiences on our world is unspooling in upcoming issues of Superman, Action Comics and a number of special issues, including next week's Adventure Comics Special.

Another nice touch is the return of the numbering system in the small Superman diamond on the cover - a throwback to the time some years back when each month's story wound through each Superman title, rather than each title having its own separate stories.

Writer James Robinson is doing an excellent job of building the tension here. In the wake of a devastating attack by the Phantom Zone criminals, how will the people of Earth react to a city full of super-powered aliens? And if the tension isn't enough, wait 'til you see the last page of this issue!

I haven't been a huge fan of Renato Guedes' pencilling so far, but it's starting to grow on me. There's a nice variety to the layouts, and my only quibble is the repeat of panels two and three on page 12 for no apparent reason.

The story continues to show lots of promise, and though it's been light on action so far, the next chapter promises to correct that oversight.

It's such a treat to have a Superman story I actually look forward to. Now there's a tingle of nostalgia I didn't expect!

Grade: B+