Superman Special 1: Do Unto Others

Read this great issue here!

For Those Who Serve

Patrick J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason - Writers, Scott Godlewski - Artist, Gabe Eltaeb - Colorist, Rob Leigh - Letterer, Jorge Jimenez & Alejandro Sanchez - Cover, Andrew Marino - Asst. Editor, Paul Kaminski - Editor

Initial Reactions

Much like the entire run from Tomasi and Gleason, this issue is filled with a ton of heart!  Sure, there is plenty of dinosaur-fighting action like the cover suggests, but that is not the focal point.  At the core, it revolves around Superman and Jon going on one last adventure which doubles as a morality lesson.  If you have enjoyed Superman for the last 45 issues, this will be another satisfying installment in the series.

The Story

Like the Action Comics Special issue, there are two backup stories that we won't discuss here.  In my opinion they don't quite hold up to the main story but are still interesting to read if you decide to purchase the issue.  

The story begins in Jon's room, where he is unable to fall asleep.  He keeps staring at a wooden leg that he has left out to remind himself and his dad about Captain Storm, who's sacrifice allowed them to escape from Dinosaur Island way back in issues #8-9.  Jon continues to be haunted by the idea they left this brave man alone in such a dangerous place.

Meanwhile, Superman is making a standard deposit of criminals to the police department and flies into Jon's room.  He reminds Superman that they made a promise to get Captain Storm off the island, and they agree to this right away.  Clark leaves a note on his pillow for Lois, and they are off.  They go to the Fortress of Solitude where they figure out how to use Manchester Black's transportation cube.  Jon admits that he and Damian messed with it to see if it would work and his dad isn't impressed.  He apologizes, and Superman finishes the preparations on the cube so they can go.  Jon has some doubts at the last second, but his resolve to rescue Captain Storm trumps them, and they flash to the island.

We see Captain Storm on the run and shooting at a host of dinosaurs.  He holds his own, but he is backed up against a cliff with a T-rex ready to take him down.  As is there way, Superman and Jon arrive at just the right time, and actually teleport through the dinosaur.  This gives us a great page where Jon looks disgusted by having T-rex guts all over him.  Superman uses his super breath to clean him off, and Jon reciprocates.  When they tell Captain Storm he is coming for him, he happily comes with them.  We get some great action pages of them flying through giant dinosaurs and other creatures, which include flying zombies of his old unit, The Losers.  Before they leave the island, Storm insists they go back to his cave to grab the dog tags of his men.  When he gets home, he wants to give them to each of the families.  

When they return to Metropolis, S.T.A.R. Labs is able to give Captain Storm a state-of-the-art prosthetic leg.  He along with Superman and Jon walk out of the hospital and head to New York.  This is where Storm begins his tour to visit the families.  We also learn that he had to be briefed by the C.I.A. because of his unique position as a WWII soldier.  Storm mentions that once he returns the dog tags, he wants to take a position with the V.A. to help soldiers.  He is able to find the families because of the list assembled by a detective friend of Clark.

As he starts his journey, Storm stops at a motel for the evening.  He has trouble falling asleep, so he sleeps in the bed of his truck.  Storm has spent so much time sleeping in a cave, that the motel room just didn't cut it.  He wakes up and hits the road to visit the family of Johnny Cloud in Arizona.  

Back at Metropolis, Jon and Clark are still talking about Captain Storm.  Jon asks what he was most surprised about, to which Clark answered that it was that humans continued to wage war on each other.  He was saddened that we have a long way to go.  Clark and Jon agree that they made the right decision to rescue Captain Storm.  With that, Jon goes to sleep.  

In Lois and Clark's bedroom, he reveals that Lois is the detective who compiled the family list for Captain Storm.  Lois asks that the next time he and Jon leave the plane of existence to give more notice than a note on a pillow.  The story closes out with a touching conclusion, which they say, 

Lois:  "You forgot to shut the door, Smallville."

Clark:  "Consider it shut, Ms. Lane."

With that, Clark closes the door, both to the story and to Tomasi & Gleason's run on Superman.

Final Thoughts

Like I said above, this story is full of the heart we have been used to from Tomasi and Gleason.  This story wraps up a plot that had been left out there, but most importantly, it gives us a fitting end to this great run.  While I am excited for what is coming up from the new creative team, I will definitely miss the great stories from this team.

This story gives us a fantastic example of the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you).  Superman and Jon were saved by Captain Storm, but that meant leaving him on Dinosaur Island indefinitely.  They risked themselves to rescue him from the island, and selflessly helped restore his life in the present.  They were given a gift, and repaid the gesture in a great way.  To go further, Captain Storm uses his restored circumstances to bring closure to the families of his fallen friends.  We should all follow the example of everyone in this story and spread love to the entire human race.

What did you think of this issue?  I would love to talk about it with you.  You can comment below, or find me @behindthecapes on Twitter, or by liking the Behind the Capes Facebook page.  Also, something new, Behind the Capes has a group called Behind the Capes' Nerd Out Round Table, where we talk about a bunch of geeky stuff.  It is technically a closed group, but anyone can join if they agree to the simple rules laid out in the group.  I would love for this group to grow!