It’s the Summer of Superman, and fans of the Man of Steel are getting an embarassment of riches. Superman is a hit, passing Man of Steel‘s domestic gross in two weeks. The Superman comic has become a major part of the current DC publishing line, moving forward the big story of DC All-In. Action Comics is giving readers an untold tale of Superboy, and Superman Treasury Edition 2025: Hero for All brought back the old Superman Treasury editions in an exciting, engaging story. DC is doing everything it can to get people to buy Superman comics, and it shows how different their approach is to Marvel’s when it comes to movie and comics. DC Kal-El-Fornia Love #1 is a part of this and it’s a fun anthology comic that has a little something for everyone.
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DC’s anthology game has been on point in the last few years, and this comic is no exception. There are eight stories in this anthology and all of them are great little glimpses of the Superman family and why it’s so much fun. Right off the bat, you can feel how much this comic is connected to the movie, and it works. The humor in each of these stories is great, and each one has a little something that get you to laugh out loud. Superman has an amazing supporting cast, and this story shows that off, with stories that focus on Lois, Jimmy, Supergirl, Steel and his niece Tasha, Superboy and Jon Kent, Bizarro, and Power Girl. Readers also get appearances from Ice, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner, each of them getting a cool appearance in each of their stories.
It’s hard to pick a favorite in this book, because they’re all so good. The first story, “See Sport Fly”, stars Superman dealing with a kaiju that has swallowed Lois on their California vacation. It’s a cool little story that captures the feel of the kaiju fight in Superman, with the Man of Steel doing everything he can to save lives and make sure the beast itself, who fell from space, gets out of the situation alive. The next story is a Jimmy Olsen yarn called “The Gorilla Ex-Wife of Jimmy Olsen”, tying in to the wild old Jimmy Olsen comics. It plays off the lady’s man stylings of Jimmy in the comics, and sees Jimmy go up against Grodd instead of talk to Bruna, the gorilla he married in the Silver Age. Power Girl and Ice get a team-up in “Before Sunrise” — a name based on a classic ’90s movie that became a trilogy about a man and woman’s relationship — that sees the two heroines hang out and talk about their lives. Bizarro gets a touching story called “Against the Wind”; this one is probably my favorite because it shows that Bizarro is more than just the evil opposite Superman.
Lois Lane shows off her journalistic chops in “Bite of the Apple”, as she deals with a podcast host calling her reporting into question. Steel and Natasha (who is also named Steel as a hero) star in “Across the Room” where Natasha meets a nice girl but superhero shenanigans get in the way. The Superboyz (the Z is from DC and not me) finally get to bond in “Who Do You Belong To” in another touching story about Conner and Jon finally getting time together. Finally, Supergirl has a team-up with John Constantine in “Something In the Water”.
Each of these stories is good, but several of them are great — “The Gorilla Ex-Wife of Jimmy Olsen”, “Before Sunrise”, “Against the Wind”, and “Who Do You Belong to” all use the characters, their lives, and the concept of love to tell nice character focused stories with great art. In fact, the art is great throughout. There’s a cartoony style to most of them, and the best of them is easily “Across the Room”, from Juni Ba, whose style is the most unique in the book. I wouldn’t exactly call the art gorgeous, and there’s a little bit of repetition in the threats — there are a lot of giant monsters in this book — but the art does a fantastic job of selling the emotions of the stories and giving readers some cool action scenes.
DC’s Kal-El-Fornia Love #1 is yet another example of DC’s anthology dominance. It’s exactly the kind of story that should come out after a movie like Superman; much like the movie, it shows off how great Superman’s supporting cast can be. It’s lighthearted and fun, but also captures the power and heroism of Superman and his friends. If you have a friend who saw Superman and wants to read a cool comic without being inundated with lore they don’t understand, this is the best comic to buy them.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
DC’s Kal-EliFornia Love #1 is on sale now.
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