Great Pages: SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #2

From Superman Confidential #2 (2007)

From Superman Confidential #2 (2007)

During one of Superman’s early adventures, he found himself in over his head. While attempting to stop a raging volcano from destroying a nearby village, Superman plunged deep into the steaming lava while he looked for a way to redirect the flow. When the pressure pushed the burning plasma deep into his lungs, the Man of Steel freaked out, afraid that his vaunted invulnerability didn’t extend to his insides. He did survive the experience but a scared and weakened Superman only knew one person to go to for comfort: His mother.

This page, written by Darwyn Cooke with art by Tim Sale, shows a diminished Man of Tomorrow turning to his mother for support. The vulnerability in his eyes in the middle of the page and his body language as he absentmindedly bunches up his cape shows a regression back to the Clark Kent of his youth. This man in Martha Kent’s kitchen is not the Man of Steel. He is just her little boy who was lost and scared.


Comments

  1. Tim Sale is great and Superman Confidential was really good!

  2. This is 100% Superman to me. Reminds me a lot of the novel by Tom DeHaven.

  3. Superman Confidential was and still is a very underrated series. It’s pages like this that make it the de facto ‘Young Superman’ story for me.

  4. Wow, Superman’s face makes ME want to hug the poor guy, this is some really great cartooning right here

  5. Getting told that he’s so scared because he was chin-deep in lava kinda ruined the mood of the page for me. WHAT IS THAT COSTUME MADE OF?

  6. Although it was beautifully drawn this story just didn’t connect with me. Alongside Batman Ego it’s the only work by Cooke that just didn’t work for me.

  7. Well, that’s just creepy. I was literally just driving home, listening to last week’s POTW podcast, thinking “I wonder what the guys had to say about Superman Confidential (which I loved)?” and lo and behold, I see this posting. You guys freak me out sometimes…