Superman Unchained #5

   So I've read all five issues of this series and continue to be surprised that it's really not working for me.

   Jim Lee's art is exceptional as always, but what's unexpected is that Scott Snyder's script isn't working for me - which I wouldn't have expected, since his work on Batman has been exceptional.

   But Superman Unchained is trying so hard to be a dark examination of the Man of Steel (rather like the film was, I suppose), that it doesn't seem to be a Superman comic at all (again, like the film).

   This issue even makes the cardinal mistake of pointing out the mortality of Superman's friends - which isn't true at all.

   Oh sure, in the real world Lois and Perry and Jimmy would age (perhaps Clark would, too) - but the reality of it is, they don't age at all. They've been around since the late '30s, after all, and they all seem just as young and vial as they were then (I'll grant that their fashions have changed).

   Add to that the menace of Ascension (whose motivations aren't clear at all), an alternate history for the Earth's technology,  and the menace of the Wraith, a coldblooded version of Superman.

   Perhaps what the series needs is some humor - a ray of hope. Right now, it's all darkness and gloom.

Grade: B

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