Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

Here we are, the end of another book. Just eleven pages and a short epilogue to go and another book has been read. We had the anticlimactic battle last week but there are still a few loose ends to deal with. Superman is back, but what happens to Clark Kent? What about Superman’s teen clone and the guy in the armor? If Eradicator is really gone how does he show up in later comics? How annoying will the Superman cult be now that he’s pulled a Jesus? (Took him longer than three days and he’s still not the most in-your-face Superman-as-Jesus analog.)

This will tie up the loose ends but the adventures would continue in the comics. But this has been a long story arc and a long experience for everyone. We’re going to need a satisfying ending before we move on.

Chapter 29: Reign Of The Supermen and book finale

Okay, I just had to say off the top that I really liked the scene where Superman is bouncing “how Clark Kent is still alive” ideas off of Lois. It’s fun, but practical to the situation. The situations are a bit of a stretch but still acceptable given that this is the DC Universe, and yet there are solid reasons nobody would buy any of them. It’s just a really good scene. Luckily a fateful coincidence solved that problem with a little help from a certain shapeshifter. We also learn that this whole book takes place about a month since that’s how long after the Doomsday attack kids were in the collapsed fallout shelter. That’s comic time for you. The story arc took place over multiple titles but it was…what, a year maybe our time?

We also have the Eradicator’s remains being taken care of by STAR Labs, so I guess there could still be a way for him to return to be in the comic stories he takes part in. Whether or not this is accurate to what happened to him in the comics I’ll have to research by next week, when I do a final commentary on this whole story line and how it’s affected death in comics both positively and negatively. Mostly the latter. Superboy finally takes on the name and actually acts like less of a jerk. That’s character growth, although he would still have a questionable attitude for many years. But while there’s still a lot to do, Clark Kent and his fiancé Lois Lane are going to spend some time together. A happy ending.

And yet Doomsday is still out there, waiting to bring about the events of Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey, which I’ve already reviewed. That means this weekend on The Clutter Reports I’ll give my overall opinion on the book. Next week here at BW in this slot I want to examine this story arc, as I said earlier. In two weeks a brand new book will be brought into Chapter By Chapter. Tell me, do you like Tom Clancy’s universe? No, he didn’t write the next book I’m going to review…but he is connected to it.

Actually, update over a week later: Turns out he did write it…or maybe he didn’t. The internet and the cover don’t agree. I shouldn’t have to research the author! That’s what covers are for!