Aw yeah, it’s time for a Superman review! I think we all remember how that Unchained review went after all. Suffice to say, this one isn’t quite at that level of awesomeness, but it’s still a fun comic from back in the day. We get to see why Superman deserved to have such power as he teaches others about humility and perseverance. He certainly does have a lot of power within.

There are really two big story arcs to be found here. The main one is about two factions who are fighting for power. One group believes that Superman is the messiah and that he has come to help them. Many miracles start to occur and they gain special abilities. The other group believes that Superman is the Anti Christ and he has come to lead people astray. They have no special abilities, but they do possess great weapons, which can harm the Man of Steel and even destroy him. They are ready!

This story was interesting because of the Christian elements involved. We do know that an Anti Christ will appear and seem to have remarkable abilities. In that sense, it’s interesting to see so many people actually become suspicious. There is a plot twist involving mental suggestion, but that’s how I would expect us to be when the Anti Christ shows up. In this modern era of skepticisim how will he trick us? We do know that he will trick many people so I just may not be able to comprehend exactly how he will do it. I suppose that a few heroic feats can go a long way. If he stops a terrorist attack or something, that would win him a lot of fans instantly.

Well, back to the comic. The humans certainly don’t look great as they believe in Superman so quickly. The twist involves a certain villain of Superman’s who wants to understand the human race a little more. This is all just an experiment to him. Unfortunately, Superman only gets into a small scuffle with the guy before he leaves. Superman was batted aside rather easily, but you can make the case that he was startled and not really ready for a fight. Next time, Superman would be victorious!

At least he got to prove to his religious fans that he wasn’t God during that moment. He showed them the light and that they had to lead their lives without thinking of Superman as always watching over them. Superman stopped a war in the making and showed us why Metropolis is still such a great place to live. This plot were mainly told through one page stories, which was a unique twist. Hopefully they came out daily as you would have had to wait through around 50 installments to see it through to the end.

The second story is not quite as engaging, but we are in more familiar territory. Lex Luthor has ordered a suspicious belt from someone that allows the wearer to enhance his/her abilities 1000 fold. His receptionist receives the package from a dying man and her brother decides to put it on. They suspect that Luthor is a little shady and their hunch turns out to be correct. The girl’s brother already had some telekinetic abilities so now he is a powerful figure. Will the power corrupt the boy or will he help Superman stop Lex?

This comic seems to have taken place after some kind of political action in the real world. Superman ended up demolishing an army from the place that we were fighting. Likely for some war propoganda and hopefully we were the heroes through and through. Superman is a little unsure of whether he made the right call, but we have to have confidence in the Man of Steel and trust that he did the right thing. The people from that culture who live in Metropolis certainly don’t like Superman anymore. Superman gets blasted by the kid on two occasions before the kid realizes that Superman is all right.

The kid got a lot of hype as his abilities were enough to even hurt Superman. Superman’s superior speed should still help him claim victory in a fight, but the kid certainly gave it his all. The climax has them team up as a large UFO is planning to wipe out the world (or the country) so Superman takes it as far as he can and then the kid erects a barrier over the city. It cost him (most of) his powers though, but it was worth it. The ending is pretty happy though as the kid can eventually grow up to be a protector for those who need one.

The art is nice and retro. You can definitely tell that these stories were published quite a while ago. It’s nostalgic to see things like this and you can also appreciate how much everything has changed. Perry was still there, but most of the other reporters are new or vastly changed. Lois looks nothing like she does nowadays and this was back in the times where Lex Luthor was actually very overweight. It’s cool to see the old cast and at least Clark Kent was the one constant that you could depend on.

Speaking of which, it’s also good to see Superman portrayed as strong, but also intelligence. He uses his deductive skills to figure out who the culprits were in the first case and he uses his abilities in useful ways. He scans an entire physical database in seconds with his x ray vision and the dialogue says that he can essentially see to the ends of the earth when he concentrates. Likewise, he can hear everything in the city when he concentrates. It’s always good to see this. It’s why Superman is always ready to stop a crime, but also why he can’t be everywhere. There is a crime every minute so if he was constantly focused, he could keep on trying to stop them, but he would never have any peace. It’s why he still spends some time as Clark Kent and doesn’t stop everything. It’s a tough moral issue that is tackled in other comics, where I would likely go into it more. Still, Superman does the best that he can and he is still the best comic book character out there. That’s why it’s always exciting to read a new Superman story.

Overall, The Power Within is a fun Superman collection. It’s a stand alone story that doesn’t really have anything to do with…anything so it’s very easy to just jump in and read. I had never heard of this collection before I read it, which is always a fun way to be introduced to something. At times, it can be hard to buy the fact that the alien weapons from a certain planet can be so lethal to Superman, but I suppose that it’s a decent change of pace from Kryptonite. Superman also doesn’t give in and he could likely have taken down both armies rather easily despite their armaments. Superman tries to find a nice balance on being a hero while being careful not to let the people think he’s more than that. He has trouble with moral dilemmas just like the rest of us. The collection is rather short and you can finish it really quickly, but I imagine that the price shouldn’t be too high. I certainly recommend picking up this title and you won’t regret it. Batman is even mentioned so be on the lookout for that reference.

Overall 7/10