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Superman (2023)

Superman, Vol. 3: The Dark Path

If there’s anything that makes Superman uneasy, it’s magic. But the events of Knight Terrors and the defeat of Insomnia have taught Kal-El he doesn’t have to face everything alone, either. Enter Zatanna, the mistress of magic! She’ll join Superman as they take on a new threat from powerful forces led by none other than the highly pragmatic and strategic Amanda Waller! An Absolute Power absolute must-read! From writer Joshua Williamson and artists Jamal Campbell and Tom Reilly! This volume collects Superman #16-21.

Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2024

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Joshua Williamson

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5 stars
37 (8%)
4 stars
112 (27%)
3 stars
196 (47%)
2 stars
57 (13%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
Profile Image for Scott.
2,414 reviews294 followers
August 22, 2026
"What the hell happened here, Zatanna?" -- Lois Lane, inadvertently speaking for the readers

As a fan of the under-appreciated DC super-heroine Zatanna (prominently featured on the cover art) - as well as enjoying the previous two volumes in this series - it was a quite a bit of a let-down that Superman, Vol. 3: The Dark Path was not more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap a tall building with a single bound.😉 It features two non-connected adventures, with the latter being a standalone narrative (featuring guest appearances by Supergirl and Aquaman) that was highlighted by artist Tom Reilly's Silver Age-inspired illustration style which was reminiscent of work from the late, great Darwyn Cooke. The initial tale, however, was initially promising and ostensibly continues the on-going storyline from the aforementioned two volumes . . . but annoyingly DC began this narrative in a book (House of Brainiac) that was outside of this numbered sequential series. It was great to have the unique duo of Superman and Zatanna working together under unusual and taxing conditions - she's given nice dramatic moment comparing the aspect of secret identities vs. being publicly known - but they were ill-served by the editorial decisions made with this volume.
Profile Image for Khurram.
2,512 reviews6,695 followers
January 17, 2025
I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars. I might have rated this book higher if I had read Absoulte Power as this book is a companion set after Absoulte Power #1 and to up to Absoulte Power #4.

Superman is powerless in and must confront one of the few things he was vulnerable to even when he had his powers magic. Luckily, he has a guide who still has her knowledge but not her powers, Zatanna. Now, they must travel the Dark Path to gather allies and survivors.

The second part of the book is from Knight Terrors Superman books. Superman is trapped in his nightmares whilst his and almost all the people's of the world's bodies sleep. Who will look after the world with the heroes asleep.

Apart from the companion to Absoulte Power, the book does have a preview of the next thing to come. I was hinted at before, but it is coming. The book finishes with a thumbnail varent covers page.
Profile Image for Paul.
3,008 reviews20 followers
July 24, 2025
3.4 stars

This volume of Superman is comprised of ‘event’ tie-ins, from Knight Terrors and Absolute Power, and the stories feel a little unnecessary as a result, with all the main action going on elsewhere. The artwork, however, is really nice.
Profile Image for Rory Wilding.
837 reviews32 followers
May 15, 2025
Following the crossover story arc that was House of Brainiac, Clark Kent finds himself in another crossover event as this latest volume of Joshua Williamson’s Superman run is mostly a tie-in to the excellent Absolute Power by Mark Waid and Dan Mora.

If you have read Absolute Power, in which all the heroes and villains of Earth have had their power taken away by the ruthless, strategic methods of Amanda Waller, you will have a better appreciation towards this trade, despite being a bit of a placeholder. With the powerless heroes taking refuge at the Fortress of Solitude, many of them are split into various teams as they rebel against Waller’s superhero ban, including the pairing of Superman and Zatanna who travel to the Dark Roads to gain a magical advantage.

While you have the odd, but sweet team-up of Superman and Zatanna that takes a plunge into the dark magical side of the DC universe, as well as informing the former’s own complicated relationship with magic, this makes great use of the cast of characters we’ve known throughout Williamson's run. From the continuing romance between Jimmy Olsen and Siobhan Smythe/Silver Banshee to Mercy Graves showing a more human side than we usually expect, you also have Lois Lane rocking a mech suit, which seems like a fun prelude to her current status where she actually does have powers.

Another welcoming aspect is Jamal Campbell, who was the primary artist during the initial issues of Williamson's run. As before, Campbell retains the classic look of all these characters, but with modern art techniques, and considering Superman’s world leans more towards sci-fi, Campbell’s vibrant coloured art shines in exploring the magical side with the various creatures and surroundings.

The remaining issues of this trade are tie-ins that Williamson wrote as part of his own crossover event from 2023, Knight Terrors. There isn’t really much to write about as we have seen previous storylines that have placed Superman in a dreamscape, but perhaps the most notable thing is the art by Tom Reilly who brings a kineticism to his simplistic character designs. Although he is currently drawing G.I. Joe for Skybound, these issues alone make you wish Reilly was doing more Superman.

Once again, this is more a placeholder, but this still a decent read, though Joshua Williamson is bringing out the big guns as the next big arc for his run features the return of Doomsday.
Profile Image for Roman Zarichnyi.
747 reviews44 followers
July 18, 2025


Третій том рану Джошуа Вільямсона на Супермені залишає гіркий присмак. Після доволі амбітного старту й цікавими ідеями з Лексом, корпорацією Supercorp, загадковим Прикутим і вторгненням армії Лобо, він виявився не кульмінацією, а незграбною добіркою тай-інів до подій «Абсолютна влада» і «Лицарські жахи». У підсумку ми отримали фрагментарну структуру, яка працює як додаток до інших подій в цих випусках.

Так, у томі є вдалі моменти. Пригода Супермена з Затанною крізь темні магічні виміри цікаво підсвічує його уразливість до магії й водночас додає глибини образу. Також тішить людяність персонажів, Джиммі, Лоїс та інших. До художньої сторони узагалі претензій нема, вона є, і робить свою справу.
Profile Image for Dakota Morgan.
3,682 reviews58 followers
June 2, 2025
Being wholey composed of Absolute Power and Knight Terrors crossovers, I fully expected The Dark Path to be a bleak example of corporate demands trumping creative expression. Fortunately, it's not that - the Absolute Power stuff engages nicely with Superman's weakness against magic and the Knight Terrors stuff plays a darkly compelling vision of Superman's greatest fears. Both tie-ins are short and sweet (mercifully) with solid art.

Certainly not the best volume of Superman but also could have been so much worse. Skippable, though (remarkably) you don't have to skip it.
Profile Image for Adam Fisher.
3,776 reviews24 followers
August 11, 2025
3.5 Stars.
This Volume (other than having the two Knight Terrors tie-ins for Superman) is really intimately tied with Absolute Power, which I still have not read. I'll speak more about this Volume once I read that.
Profile Image for George Zakka.
248 reviews6 followers
August 20, 2025
A very weak link, out of place event round-up that collects issues from multiple different events.
Profile Image for Trevor.
233 reviews10 followers
July 9, 2025
I just wrote a review for the Absolute Power trade complaining about how leaving out the tie-in issues (or even just summaries of the tie-in issues) made the story feel incomplete there. Now here we have a Superman collection that is made up only of tie-in issues to two different events...the Superman issues of Absolute Power, but also, confusingly included AFTER those, the two tie-in Superman comics from the "Knight Terrors" event that happened BEFORE Absolute Power. So this collection is not only chronologically a mess, but also suffers from only including issues that are pieces of a larger whole. I wish DC would learn that stuff like this can be left out of the numbered trades of particular titles.
Profile Image for Matthew Rose.
3 reviews2 followers
April 15, 2025
I read this on the plane in one sitting- but not in a good way. I just wanted to get this done and move on. It is a mishmash of crossover tie ins. Campbell and Williamson have a few good moments with Zantana, but from there it is all over the place. I am sorry for anyone just trying to read Superman and getting confused with this one.
Profile Image for Mariano.
771 reviews13 followers
May 4, 2025
Tie-ins para todos y todas! Los de Absolute Power y los de Knight Terrors, para meterlos en algún lado. Legible pero medio intrascendente. Me sigue gustando un montón el arte de Jamal Campbell, sobre todo el dibujo. Que laburo que le pone, todas las estrellitas para él.
Profile Image for Anna  Quilter.
1,985 reviews72 followers
April 24, 2025
Absolute Power tie in takes Superman down a magic path...
plus Knight Terror issues.
101 reviews
August 31, 2026
3.5 stars. Superman: The Dark Path is Superman's obligatory involvement in Mark Waid's Absolute Power crossover. Well, he does lose his powers and is shot out of the sky right at the start of that event, so these issues do address what happens to Clark in his own book. And, together, it reads a bit disjointedly as each issue occurs somewhere inbetween each of the Absolute Power issues rather than flowing together. And that's even if you've read Absolute Power, like I have.

Original artist for this series with Williamson, Jamal Campbell, returns to draw this volume, and it involves Zatanna. I suspect Williamson asked what future Zatanna writer-artist Jamal Campbell really wanted to draw, and it was Z, so they developed together a story about Superman and Z utilising the remnants of magical artifacts to reconvene with Lois, just before the Absolute Power finale.

Given Clark's vulnerability to magic, Williamson uses magic as a theme to explore what Clark really feels about all things magical. It's OK, weaving a bit about Clark in his own book, by writing about Justice League Dark-like material with Z.

The other story written by Williamson and collected in this TPB, are two issues of a prior DC crossover called Night Terrors. It's about a villian invading the nightmares of each.of the DC heroes, and the art by Tom Reilly is very classic-Superman, and is worth remarking about. Reilly gets to draw Superman, Aquaman and others, and it's a real treat. However, taken together with the disjointed AP crossover issues, the story's inclusion feels a bit arbitrary and like filler. This is a 'crossover' volume rather than a strong continuation of Williamson's Superman. Stlll, enjoy the art.
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 32 books172 followers
September 15, 2025
Woe is us that we have the modern conception of the "multi-event tie-in" volume, where crossovers have become so common at the big two that they sometimes create a trade paperback that contains multiple crossovers and anniversary events that are relatively worthless for the main storyline of the book.

This one is Absolute Power + Knight Terrors.

The Absolute Power issues are about Superman's history with magic, and him and Zatanna trying to find a map to lead people through magic without The Wall finding out. It's actually pretty good EXCEPT for the fact that there's a bunch of stuff happening before, after, and between all the issues, leaving them fragmentary (as much as Williamson tries to fill you in).

The Knight Terrors issues are horrible, just like all the other Knight Terrors. I'd say it's the worst crossover since Bloodlines in the '90s, but some of the Bloodlines issues were actually readable, whereas I have not yet met a Knight Terrors issue that I wasn't skimming within a few pages. Garbage.
Profile Image for S.E. Martens.
Author 3 books48 followers
April 3, 2026
It's hard to say if this is where the wheels fall off this run, or if it's just a blip. I doubt Williamson had a choice in getting dragged into the Absolute Power and Knight Terrors crossover events and they severely derail his story.

I don't hate the Absolute Power issues - Jamal Campbell's art is fantastic, plus it's fun to see Zatanna and Superman team up. I like the little flashback sequences of Clark being into magic as a little kid and then coming to hate it because it's one of Superman's weaknesses. The real problem is that we don't get any resolution to this plot, because the story continues in Absolute Power and other comics.

Meanwhile, the Knight Terrors tie-in issues (in which all of the DC heroes were trapped in nightmares) are very bland disappointing.

Overall, this volume is just kind of pointless (unless you're picking up the other Absolute Power books? Maybe? I've heard a lot of mixed things about the event over all.)
798 reviews4 followers
June 13, 2026
I read this as part of my kindle unlimited subscription and it encapsulates what I hate about company wide events in that they derail the ongoing story. None of the tales here really fit into the continuity of the previous two volumes and we're stuck with what feels like "annual" material. If you were reading "absolute power" or the "knightmare" events this may make more sense but even then it's just snippets from the main story with no overall conclusion present.

It reminded me why I stopped reading the monthly title when these events intervened and it's a shame I've encountered them again. I will at least power through to the next volume and hope the title regains it's momentum.

The saving grace here is the art by Jamal Igal - what a talent and I didn't realise just how much love they have for Zatanna. It's as if he'll only do a DC book if she is in it.

If you don't mind some event linked filler, this volume is acceptable. However if you are not a fan then this volume is entirely skippable.
17 reviews
January 18, 2025
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Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 8 books128 followers
December 21, 2024
Actually titled The Dark Path and collecting #16-18 and the two issue Knight Terrors miniseries.

This volume's a bit of a placeholder. The Knight Terrors mini is...fine, if inconsequential, and then the three issues of the main series are tie-ins to Absolute Power, detailing the struggle of Supes and Zatanna as they use magic to get around Amanda Waller's superpower ban. These tie-in nicely, and are a good focus on Superman amongst the chaos of Absolute Power, but going straight from House of Brainiac into another crossover is a bit much.
Profile Image for Shivesh.
306 reviews10 followers
August 4, 2026
Williamson’s Superman run has been consistently strong, but The Dark Path is definitely a softer spot in the larger arc. Part of that isn’t even the book’s fault. When you have universe‑wide events like Absolute Power crashing through the line, they inevitably siphon momentum away from individual titles. You can feel that here—this volume reads like it’s trying to maintain its own identity while also clearing space for the bigger machinery of DC’s current initiatives.

The premise itself is intriguing. Zatanna’s involvement adds a welcome shift in tone, and the idea of hidden realities, dark pathways, and a magical undercurrent beneath the everyday world is always fun territory for Superman. But the power dynamics get muddy fast. Superman’s overpowered nature, combined with his skepticism toward magic, creates inconsistent stakes. Sometimes magic is portrayed as an existential threat; other times it barely slows him down. The tension never fully settles into something memorable or cohesive.

What does keep the volume afloat is Jamal Campbell’s artwork. His layouts, panel flow, and sense of motion make even the weaker narrative beats easy to move through. Campbell has a way of making Metropolis feel bright and kinetic even when the story dips into darker territory, and that visual clarity helps smooth over some of the pacing issues.

Still, the story itself doesn’t linger. It’s not poorly written—Williamson always has a good handle on Superman’s voice and emotional center—but it feels more like connective tissue than a fully realized arc. A bridge to get us from one major storyline to the next. There are interesting ideas, but none of them land with the weight or resonance of the earlier volumes.

In the context of the run, this is a serviceable chapter: readable, good‑looking, occasionally intriguing, but ultimately overshadowed by the larger events swirling around it. A decent installment, just not a standout.
Profile Image for Chad.
11.2k reviews1,108 followers
August 9, 2025
At least DC put all of the skippable content into one trade. The three regular issues are part of Absolute Power. Superman is depowered and running around with Zatanna to find her some magic. Then we get the Knight Terrors miniseries from the crossover of the previous year. (Who thought it was a good idea to tack these on a year later?) It's not even one nightmare that tells a single story. It keeps flitting around to a gazillion nightmares that are just touched on. Honestly, it's a waste of paper.
Profile Image for Memphis Evans.
192 reviews5 followers
December 5, 2025
This isn’t bad writing or bad art. It’s pretty good.

The problem is that I’m pretty sure I already read these in Absolute Power and Knight Terrors collections.

It’s only a collection that makes sense if neither of those collections had been released and/or you ONLY read collections of Superman.

Also, the whole Knight Terrors thing? Nightmare is one of the most boring, senseless bad guys Marvel has to offer and now there’s a DC version? Ugh. Who’s next? Arcade? Blech.
Profile Image for Batusi.
265 reviews
February 4, 2026
Solid but uneven with strong ideas that don't always land as powerfully as they should due to the crossover disruption.

Superman teams up with Zatanna to form an opposition to Amanda Waller's group and then is confronted by nightmares that assault his senses.

The artwork in the first part of the volume with Superman's team up with Zatanna does some heavy lifting, but the entire volume ultimately feels unfulfilling with only a part of the story.
Profile Image for Ross.
1,680 reviews
March 9, 2025
Goodreads has this titled wrong..
(this collects issues #16=18 and the two Knight Terrors: Superman issues)

#16-18 are Absolute Power tie-ins and as such focus on Superman's role in things after being depowered by Amazos. (probably the best story coming out of Absolute Power)

Knight Terrors? Freddy Krueger wannabe stories that needed to be collected, I guess.
Profile Image for Néstor Vargas.
448 reviews
July 19, 2025
Being a tie-in volume, it slightly diminishes its overall quality. I had read the main Absolute Power story before this, and while the tie-ins are enjoyable, I don’t believe they were absolutely necessary for the main plot. The Knight Terrors one, in particular, loses focus on the second issue.
290 reviews
July 22, 2026
Disjointed volume since half is Absolute power storyline and half is the nightmare garbage. Insomnia is a terrible character and I didn't care for that back when I read so it I didn't need any more of it. Art is solid though
Profile Image for f.f 🪻.
135 reviews
August 19, 2026
Una de las cosas que más me molesta de los comics es que un arco se ramifica en 10 spin offs que abarcan 7 personajes diferentes y sí no los lees todos entonces la historia queda incompleta… ¿por qué carajos estoy de regreso a Absolute Power?

No me molestó el team up con Zatanna
Profile Image for Josh.
288 reviews
April 2, 2025
Skippable tie-in issues to two different events. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Profile Image for alex :).
29 reviews1 follower
September 19, 2025
Same rating as ‘Absolute Power’. Overall enjoyable read but just a LOT going on with some missing elements. I enjoyed seeing Superman and Zatanna team up again!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews