Apr
20
2016
0

Superman: American Alien #6 Review

Written by: Max Landis

Art by: Jonathan Case

Publisher: DC Comics

Every so often, you encounter a comic series that contains a brilliant story and piques your interest in ways previously unknown. Most of these entertaining comics follow an unknown property, much like The Sixth Gun, but occasionally one will pop up that takes an established figure in an entirely new direction. Max Landis has managed to do just that with his series Superman: American Alien. This series has consistently surprised readers with dozens of cool moments and many more genuinely intriguing storylines. After five branching issues, Landis has reined in the story of American Alien #6 just a tad. Don’t worry though; this issue is still pretty great.

Unlike previous issues, American Alien #6 follows a more confined story with very few characters. Clark Kent is hosting two friends from Smallville, and it’s his job to prove that he hasn’t become too egotistical since the big move. Unfortunately, these friends already have some preconceived opinions, so most of Kent’s efforts are in vain. The unfortunate thing is that these disagreements lead to some massive arguments between the friends and one major confrontation.

Actually, most of these arguments make up the majority of American Alien #6 and take the story away from fighting crime or encounters with Batman. You would think that this would make the issue less entertaining than previous entries, and at first I had those exact same feelings. However, I reached a point during the story where I stopped viewing the arguments as tiresome and started understanding why Landis actually inserted them into the story. That realization led to an appreciation of the overarching story and the focus on small-town relationships in a big and crazy world.

Of course, it also helps that Landis continuously inserts DC references into each issue, similar to how the CW shows tie together. The main difference is that Landis can use more properties than the TV shows because there are no issues with actors or mixing universes. Early issues had appearances by Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen, and these moments make the story even better. I can’t say what Landis does in this issue—for obvious reasons—but rest assured that his story doesn’t disappoint.

If you haven’t jumped on board with American Alien yet, you should probably correct that mistake. This absolutely entertaining series puts a new spin on a classic hero and makes him more relatable than previous iterations while still managing to forge ahead with a universe-building story.

I can’t wait to see where this adventure goes!