Wow, I can't believe it. We're now at the final stop to Superman (2025). It feels like only yesterday that I started this.
Superman: The Warworld Saga was a 2021 comic book story arc that was published by DC Comics and can be found in Action Comics #1030-1046, Superman and The Authority, Batman/Superman: Authority Special and Superman: Warworld Apocalypse (I'll provide a reading order after the review). The story was written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and was drawn by numerous artists. Daniel Sampere drew issues #1030-1033 & 1035-1036, Christian Duce drew issue #1034, Miguel Mendonça drew issues #1037-1038, Riccardo Federici drew issues #1039-1040 & 1042, then Dale Eaglesham & Will Conard were the artists for issue #1041, then Will Conard collaborated with Riccardo Federici for issues #1043-1944, Will Conard solely drew for issue #1045, Fico Ossio did issue #1046, and finally Warworld Apocalypse was a collaborative effort by Brandon Peterson, Will Conard, Max Raynor, and Miguel Mendonça.
The story is, Superman has discovered a group of enslaved people on Warworld have a connection to Krypton. After assembling a team to help him, they travel to Warworld but are captured and Superman is forced to fight in Mongul's gladiatorial arena. But he won't back down and builds an army of rebels to fight back.
- Negatives
I've got nothing.
- Mix
Let's start off with something that'll be sort of a warning. Now the overall story is really good, but this is an issue for the new readers. If you're planning on reading this you're not gonna get a lot of the references. Ya gonna be familiar with things like Future State and prior Superman stories such as The Golden Age. So if you do plan on reading this you gotta do some research first.
Then there's the pacing. While the writing quality is great the pacing sometimes varies. One moment it's nicely fast then it's pretty slow. The best example of this is the first part of the story Warworld Rising. It's a prologue just before Superman has to go to space to Warworld. I was hooked but the pacing did bounce around between fast and slow.
- Positives
My first praise goes to the world building. Phillip Kennedy Johnson impressed with the world building, at first I figured it was gonna be a fun action story, which it still was but Johnson added on to it. We dive into a mysterious race of people, a fragment that nearly brings Atlantians and humans to a war, and Johnson expands on Warworld by telling us just how much of a dystopian hellspace it is. Johnson added more to Superman's mythos in the best way.
Then we have the artwork. Particularly from Daniel Sampere and Riccardo Federici. No disrespect to any of the other artists they were good in their own rights but these two are the standouts. With Daniel Sampere we get strong action, expressive character designs, and a great bit of cinematic flair. With his action art he captures intensity with his layouts providing both motion and impact. Then there's Riccardo Federico. With Riccardo he's darker and has more of a painters style when compared to Sampere. And when I said painter I mean it, his artwork looks like paintings. His style brings a very epic fantasy style to the storyline, which is perfect because Superman looks more like a gladiator during this and looking less like his usual superhero self.
My last praise goes to the story. Phillip Kennedy Johnson wrote an amazing Superman story. So let's start off with the Man of Steel himself. Now a huge portion of this arc Superman has none of his powers. Despite that he still fights on. He's refusing to give up despite being enslaved and being mocked as the "Unblooded Sword". We see his unbreakable spirit shine through and because of this spirit he's inspiring others. But even with this badassery, we still get to see his emotional depth by his longing to return to his wife Lois Lane and his son. We also got a great story of the dangers of hero worship. Johnson spectacularly writes Mongul manipulating his followers to maintain his control, while Superman is inspiring through his actions/leadership. It's a great way to show example vs. coercion. But the biggest theme highlighted throughout the whole story is hope. Now I feel as though people have overused that word when talking about Superman cause often times it feels they use hope for every little itty bitty act Superman does. Like "Oh look he rescued a cat from a tree! He brought hope!" Here however Johnson actually has Superman bring hope. Not saying other writers didn't! The Warworld slaves hate Superman. They think his ways are weak compared to the status quo they're use to, because of that Clark is having to prove himself against an entire race of people who hate him. By showing his refusal to abandon his mission Superman shows Mongul's slaves they don't have to live this way and there is something brighter for them to strive for.
While not something for new readers to jump right into and having some pacing issues, The Warworld Saga is still some DC and/or Superman fans should check out.
My final rating is, Good.
Reading Order
NOTE!: The story is broken into separate parts and I'll tell which issues belong to those parts.
Part One - Warworld Rising
-Action Comics #1030-1035
-Superman and The Authority (NOTE!: This four issue miniseries is written by Grant Morrison, but it tells the story of how Superman convinced them to join his mission to Warworld.)
-Batman/Superman: Authority Special
Part Two - Warworld Saga aka The Arena
-Action Comics #1036-1042
Part Three - Warworld Revolution
-Action Comics #1043-1046
-Superman: Warworld Apocalypse
Well that was a great way to this Road to. And to think, the next thing I review that's Superman related is the newest movie. But that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jul 5th, my review of Jurassic World: Rebirth. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
