I really enjoyed this arc. This had a lot of things I like about Superman/Superwoman in it and will definitely recommend for Superman fans.

Netgalley kindly provided me a copy of this volume, which I read as soon as I'd finished Superman: Action Comics, Volume 2: Welcome to the Planet. This story is closely linked to the Superman one, so it helps to read them concurrently.

There is no way to write this review without spoilers, so tread carefully.

The story starts with an introduction to our two Superwomen. Lois Lane and Lana Lang were hit by New Earth's Superman's solar energy when he was killed. Subsequently they absorbed parts of his abilities - Lois has his more traditional powers, while Lana conducts electricity. They form an unlikely partnership as Lois looks to Lana for mentorship. Turns out, on this world, Lana and Clark Kent/Superman were close friends and Lana helped him reign in his powers. Lois just wants the same help.

The two women work for competitive media houses - Lois at Daily Planet and Lana, newly joining The Daily Star for their science segment. Just when they're getting used to their new lives, a strategic power outage cripples the armour of self-declared Superman, Lex Luthor, leaving Lois and Lana to do the rescuing.

This attack opens a can of worms - why were only Luthor technologies hit? While the Superwomen attempt to rediscover the truth, Lana's health begins to take a dive. And then... Lois is killed right in front of her, by a B-Zero. Apparently, that's a thing,

Turns out, these B-Zero-S work for an unknown antagonist - Lex' little sister Lena, thought to be dead, but in actuality in a coma, resting not-so-peacefully in a hi-tech dungeon below ground. Lex tried to use Superman's harnessed power to revive her, but instead made her into a monster. She captures Lex, cripples him, then commandeers his armour to place her disembodied head in, ostensibly to wreak havoc on Metropolis.

Superwoman, along with her boyfriend Steel, Steel's niece Natasha, Natasha's girlfriend Traci 13, Natasha's ex-flame Leti, Lois Lane's ghost, a defective B-Zero, Kryptonite Man's head, purple Skeletor dude, Daily Star's news producer Nadidah (a hijabi!, I'm so stoked) and random people, must come to the rescue. Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds.

In the end, the good guys win, Lex looks like the bad guy he is, the ghost of Lois Lane haunting Lana turns out to be the living Lois Lane (I've given up trying to understand that) and everyone is happy till Lana Lang dies the same way as Lois. Or well, we think she's dying. Who knows. These are comics - trust no death.

In the history of reading comic books, never have I read one that felt verbose and overlong - till this one. It is packed with words, most of which say the same thing over and over. The interplay between the two Superwomen was the best part, but Lois is bumped off in the very second issue. Far too many pages were dedicated to drawn out action sequences, none of which showcased much creativity, in fact they were often confusing and confounding.

An epic number of pages is dedicated to purple skeletor dude yelling that he won't go back to prison because they're torturing the prisoners, but instead of Superwoman and Steel simply saying, 'stop firing at people, we won't take you back there, tell us what you know', they keep attacking him, and not listening to him, thereby prolonging the scene and the length of the book for no valid reason.

The panel placement needed work - you never knew which direction to read in, and even when you did, there appeared to be gaps in the conversations or thoughts.

Continuity-wise, these characters seem to have been plonked in for convenience. Superwoman, neither of them, was mentioned by Lois or Superman till Lana actually showed up. And given that Lois was Superwomaning for a while, how come Superman never tried to engage with her?

Throughout this volume, Lana mourns the loss of her best friend Clark Kent, who died as Superman, but it was proven in the Superman rebirth comics that Clark and Superman were two different people on this Earth. But, Lana never discusses this, nor does she go looking for Clark (who has been captured by Lena Luthor, by the way. For what reason, I don't think they even tried to clarify). I don't think the authors of this series spoke to the Superman ones.

Since this comic is written by a primarily all-male team, and their protagonist is a woman, she is given several handicaps that do not allow her to be the sole hero fighting the good fight. She's talked down to almost constantly by Steel, who never respects her wishes. While a crucial fight is going on, she's at home having nightmares.

She is the sole enemy of the big bad, which makes no sense at all - why would Lena even have a vendetta against this woman? She hates her brother, make an example of him, take over Lexcorp and be the most powerful person on the planet! Nope, the writers conjure up a convoluted, incomprehensible plot where Lena wants to take over the world (or something) by becoming a machine. All while leaving her brother alive. She maligns his name, but doesn't take advantage of the same - it's daft.

And how does Superwoman tackle her? By giving her a nonsensical, condescending, gender-based spiel that makes no sense to anyone but the writers of this.

It's important to note that we have a Superwoman, who is addicted to prescription drugs, is scared to bits all the time, doesn't listen to anyone, sides with a known sociopath (Lex Luthor, don't ask) and has no empathy for prisoners being tortured. As mentioned, she also gets talked down to by her boyfriend in a public place, several times... I just can't even with DC. Seriously.

The prison torture stuff is thrown in to show how bad Lex is and I'd be fine with Lana not caring about some discipline on convicts, but experimentation and torture is unacceptable. And, she reveals her disinterest in their pain despite Steel reminding her that he has a brother in that same prison. What?

This entire volume was torturous, and it's a real shame, given that a Superwoman is a nice deviation from the all-male comics we usually get. But if it's going to be this substandard and have such little respect for the character and for women in general, we'd be better off not having it in the first place. Let's just head back to the Birds of Prey, at least they're a fun lot with rounded characters.

Who killed Superwoman? With this in hand, who gives a flying one? Unreadably bad. As if all the Rebirth dross hasn't done enough to Supes, this is one more nail in his coffin. And in DC's. The narrative is awful, some of the pages are just plain impossible to read, and with this number of Super characters to flap around and/or get killed off, interest soon vanishes so fast that Supes himself couldn't keep track.

Lots of action but almost TOO much plot and TOO many characters.

very cool superwoman book and story. my daughter (7) loved the look of the new superwoman and I enjoyed this part of the story arc.

While interesting, Superwoman just wasn't my cup of tea. She is definitely a strong female character, though, and I do like that!

I’ve been a fan of comics for a while, more so in recent years as women have finally been getting increased attention in a male dominated world. Any time there is a female centered story I have to jump at the chance to read it; having daughters I’m constantly on the lookout for reading material for them that showcase women in a positive light. In that regard this story does that well.

The plot is interesting but at times it felt like I was missing something as if there were other stories I should have read prior to understand the full context.

The illustrations are well drawn and full of color so they jump out to catch your attention. They are drawn in a way that enhances the story line instead of detracting from it.

I loved many things about this first volume. I loved the relationship between Lois and Lana. I love how it stood up to the task of not just making another Superman Family story, but something really original within those constraints. I love the resurrection of Steel as a compelling character, and I love even more that he does not take importance away from the Superwomen in this book, including the awesomeness that is embodied by his niece.
BUT
I still hate how inconsequential most of these (female-led) stories feel for overall continuity and even the destiny of the Superman franchise. It is, by design, another fringe story to the Superman Universe, the way Batgirl is in the Batman franchise. This, I think, is NOT the author’s fault. Probably not even DC’s fault, it’s about how gender diversity is still largely misunderstood in mainstream comics. But I digress.
While I had fun reading this book, I found that two things about it were especially difficult: first, I grew quickly tired of the protagonist voice and narration and I also found the adventure-action part of this book somewhat lacking. Most of the real action feels left off-panel and neutered overall. I don’t know if this is due to the art-style or some weird (I hope not) idea who is reading it and why. This is an action title, and, as it damn well knows, women can kick ass too.
Still, it IS fun, and it has a lot of plusses. I just need it to maybe gel together more properly, and perhaps I need the title to be just a bit more daring.

As a fan of Dc especially superman, I was very skeptical of superwoman who in a sense essentially inherit the mantle of our fallen previous superman, but its done right and I enjoyed the graphic novel greatly. You felt the pain of the characters through their various trials and tribulations but you also feel the undying love they had for superman. This is a graphic novel worth reading not because its an after of super man but because its a start of the healing of these two woman and what they do to honor the one they loved regardless of the consequences. You will enjoy the art work and as well enjoy the story, it flows right and picks up pace at the right moments. Its worth the purchase and to add to anyone's collection, if you want one reason to add it, lets says it adds a dynamic story to your ever increasing collection but he ties up loose ends to that fallen one.

I love a good epic woman duo. Its crazy to me that Lois Lane has super man's powers but she is one bad ass chick fighting to save Metropolis. The story seemed to move nicely and the characters were butt kickers. I loved the art and the layout. It was beautifully created.