Father and son have unfinished dino-business in this Superman Special exclusive
One of the high points of Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s run on Superman is their “Return To Dinosaur Island” two-parter, which pays tribute to the late, great Darwyn Cooke by sending Superman and Superboy to Dinosaur Island. The story builds on plot points from Cooke’s classic DC: The New Frontier miniseries as the father-and-son duo meets Captain Storm, the last survivor of The Loser, a team of World War II soldiers who met their end on this island of prehistoric predators. Tomasi and Gleason’s run ends with next week’s Superman Special #1, and after wrapping up their big storylines in the main Superman title, they’re tying up some loose ends with a standalone tale that sends Clark and Jonathan Kent back to Dinosaur Island to save Captain Storm.
This exclusive preview of Superman Special #1, on sale May 16, sees Tomasi and Gleason reunite with artist Scott Godlewski and colorist Gabe Eltaeb, who worked with the writers on a Kent family road trip last year. This excerpt gives a handy rundown of past events for any readers who need a refresher, ending with a page of Superman in action before he heads off on a new adventure with his son. Eltaeb’s smooth coloring works very well with Godlewski’s clean line work, and the use of blue in these pages is especially effective for distinguishing Jonathan’s sullen mental state from his dad’s heroism.
This issue also features two stories by writers Ian Flynn and Mark Russell with art by Kaare Andrews and Bryan Hitch, bringing in some big-name talent for Tomasi and Gleason’s send-off. Gleason will be sticking around the Superman titles as the artist on Brian Michael Bendis’ Action Comics, but hopefully Bendis will bounce story ideas off his collaborator because Gleason’s run with Tomasi shows how much he brings to the table as a co-writer.