Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine seem to be able to do no wrong. Let off the leash, without continuity to fret about, they do the impossible and improve on their last zombie outing last year. Dead Planet has all you could possibly want – tragedy, top quality sci-fi, top quality superheroics and heart that doesn’t stop. Jon and Damian are now Superman and Batman, and Taylor’s voices for them are so spot on I didn’t miss Clark or Bruce for a second. The speed of this issue was so perfectly timed there wasn’t much of a chance to draw breath anyway.

It plays like an early Ridley Scott film – the DC heroes have to leave safety and return to earth to save Cyborg, but rather than mimicking a poor eighties monster movie it’s Jon Kent’s heroism that makes it unavoidable. Having President Lois sign that off for us is a masterful touch, and shows yet again how disastrous separating Jon from his mother in the Superman family books has been. Hairsine’s art is perhaps his strongest ever, effortlessly varying the tone from widescreen horror to dark humour to tragic horror, and inked by Stefano Gaudiano and Gigi Baldassini it’s tighter and more expressive than ever. Rain Beredo’s colours are sensitive to the occasion, letting the line work do all the work at times, muted to deaden the mood, then blowing the pages apart with reds, greens and yellows. I’m aware of Clark lurking in the sun, that Constantine has yet to make an appearance, but it’s Jon’s admission at the end that’s the stunner. I’ll take as much of this as the creative team are willing to throw at me.

writing	★★★★★
art	★★★★★
colouring	★★★★★
overall	★★★★★