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POTW Archive:

• August 28, 2013 - Batman / Superman #3
• August 21, 2013 - Wonder Woman #23
• August 14, 2013 - Thor: God of Thunder #11
• August 7, 2013 - Quantum and Woody #2
• July 31, 2013 - Indestructible Hulk #11

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Story by Mark Waid
Art by Leinil Francis Yu
Inks by Gerry Alanguilan
Colors by Dave McCaigl
Letters by Comicraft

Published by DC Comics | $2.95

I feel like I’m picking an Eastern Conference Champion in the NBA this week. The crop of books was so weak that they wouldn’t stand a chance against any other week’s books.

This week’s… uh, best book was Superman: Birthright #8. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a big fan of this miniseries (after it’s slow start and Clark finally made it to Metropolis) but there was just something about this issue that didn’t click with me.

Here we learn about Lex Luthor’s time in Smallville, and why he didn’t seem to recognize Clark Kent in previous issues. The Lex Luthor portrayed in this book is a super genius of Reed Richardian levels. He uses his superior deductive reasoning techniques to reveal his classmates’ secrets, he proposes to the mayor of Smallville a better way to do business, he modifies a metal detector to search for aliens… all the things that super genius teenagers do.

All of Lex’s hijinks were fun to read, but I just didn’t feel any kind of connection to him and his pain. Maybe this issue suffered from me having read it right after watching Smallville where Lex is exquisitely portrayed by Michael Rosenbaum, which wouldn’t be the fault of the comic so much as it would be this writer letting outside influences bias his opinion, but there you have it.

This mini series was originally billed as the definitive origin story of Superman. While I wouldn’t go that far (John Byrne’s Man of Steel is still that in my eyes), it’s still quite good and worth a look. If not now, then in the inevitable trade paperback form.

Did you read Superman: Birthright #8? Add a comment and tell everyone what you think about this week’s comics!