Superman #671

History

Superman #671 falls near the end of Kurt Busiek's roughly two-year exclusive run at DC that began after Infinite Crisis, a tenure that was frequently disrupted by art delays — most notably on the sprawling 'Camelot Falls' storyline — and by editorial reshuffling around concurrent Johns/Donner stories in Action Comics. The 'Insect Queen' arc at #671–673 represents Busiek's final self-contained story arc before handing the title off to James Robinson with #677, and was personally curated by Busiek when his run was later collected in the Superman by Kurt Busiek Book Two hardcover. Peter Vale, who had already contributed fill-in work to Superman #659, served as penciller and cover artist on this issue, with Jesús Merino on inks and Kanila Tripp on colors.

Trivia · 9 facts

• First appearance of the Modern Age (New Earth) Insect Queen, a post-Infinite Crisis reimagining of the character introduced in Superman #671 (cover date February 2008, on-sale December 12, 2007).
• The Modern Age Insect Queen was created by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Peter Vale — distinct from the Silver Age Insect Queen (Lana Lang), who was created by Otto Binder and George Papp in Superboy #124 (1965).
• The story is titled 'Insect Queen, Part 1: A Fall of Moondust' and opens a three-part arc concluding in Superman #673.
• The alien Insect Queen comes from the All-Hive civilization, and the issue establishes her prior off-panel deal with Lex Luthor involving Kryptonite collection and a LexCorp moonbase.
• Lana Lang — now serving as CEO of LexCorp — is kidnapped by the Queen in this issue and taken to the moonbase, where the Queen uses Lana's DNA as a template for her human-hybrid form.
• A parallel subplot follows Chris Kent (Lor-Zod) experiencing dangerous, uncontrolled power fluctuations, a thread that pays off across subsequent issues and ties into the 'New Krypton' editorial arc.
• The issue features guest art by Peter Vale (pencils/cover) with Jesús Merino on inks — Vale having previously drawn Superman #659 — while Kanila Tripp provided colors and Comicraft handled lettering.
• The Insect Queen's DNA injection of Lana Lang in this arc carries long-term consequences, later driving the Supergirl story in Supergirl (vol. 5) #40 and #45–50, where the Queen resurfaces possessing Lana's body.
• The full 'Insect Queen' arc (#671–673) was collected as part of Superman: Shadows Linger, the trade paperback wrapping up Busiek's run, and later in the hardcover Superman by Kurt Busiek Book Two.

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