The Weekly Panel of Steel #7

So there was a bit of intrigue with the Superman books this week, as the solicited story for Superman #712 was suddenly changed at the last minute with an in-continuity story, circa 2006, that never saw print.

I don't really care if it was muslims, kittens, or both that led to the last minute change-- I'm just thankful that the intolerable Grounded storyline is now only a ponderous thirteen issue part storyline, instead of fourteen.

And as elated as I was to read something other than walking Supes, imagine my surprise when it was the long delayed Krypto story from Kurt Busiek's post-Infinite Crisis run, that was originally promised to us 54 issues ago!

Kurt Busiek, in my opinion, got a bum deal on the Superman titles. His run suffered so much from trying to tap dance around the Kubert delays on Action and Pacheco's slowness on Superman, that he never got a chance to get a straight narrative going with any sort of momentum. And then to see his obvious frustration with the delay and eventual shelving of his Krypto story, I was almost relieved to see him move on as the Superman editorial team wasn't doing him any favors.

So as you can probably imagine, there's no way that I'm not making a panel from this issue of Superman the Weekly Panel of Steel.

This issue takes place after the events of Infinite Crisis, with Krypto coming to terms with the death of Superboy. It's a touching tale that's wonderfully illustrated by Rick Leonardi, and even though it's 5 years out of continuity, it still makes a great read and I'm glad that I finally got the opportunity.

I couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Krypto, as seeing him mope around for the whole issue, looking around in all of the familiar places where Conner always was, only to come up empty is what it's felt like to be a Superman fan these last two years. Month after month I'd dutifully check the Superman books for Superman, only to come up empty as well.


Take heart Krypto, as we only have to wait another three months.

Script by Kurt Busiek
Pencils by Rick Leonardi
Inks by Jonathan Sibal
Colors by Brad Anderson
Letters by Comicraft

Superman #712
Lost Boy
August 2011
Copyright (c) DC Comics