Action Comics #10 - A Review

Grant Morrison's scripts are usually chock-full of ideas but for the first time since he started on Action Comics, this is not to the benefit of his script.  Don't misunderstand me - I loved this issue as I've loved the entirety of the series since the start of the new DC Universe.  Morrison is one of the few writers I feel truly gets the heart of Superman and has made a true effort to do something new with the character. 

The problem is this issue does so much to play with the ideas of who Superman and Clark Kent are while setting up various future plot points that it winds up devoting very little time to its' nominal plot - a hunter named Nimrod attempting to track down and assassinate Superman.  Compared with the spectacle of Superman confronting a child killer the cops won't touch, Superman attempting to find a pair of hamsters a new home (don't ask) and a Justice League meeting where Superman all but outs Batman's secret identity completely by accident while nagging the team about becoming a greater force for social justice (Superman/Green Arrow team-up soon?  Please?), the more mundane plot involving Nimrod can't compete... even when his job is blown following the apparent death of Clark Kent.

I've said before that I always felt Rags Morales was one of the most underrated pencilers that DC Comics employed and that it was a fine thing to see him on a monthly book.  At the risk of being repetitive, I'm saying it again here.  Really, I cannot stress strongly enough how much I like Morales' work on this book.



The back-up story by Solly Fisch is as enjoyable as ever, depicting a number of Clark Kent's associates and friends paying tribute to their colleague after his apparent death.  I can't say a lot about this story without revealing some substantial spoilers.  I will say that if it weren't for the mid-book credits, you'd never have known this was a separate story, so seamlessly does it blend into Morrison's narrative style.  Cafu's artwork on this section is also complementary of Rags Morales' style, offering a shadowy and more detailed look at the characters that is fitting of the introspective tone of the tale.  


This is a lackluster issue of Action Comics but even a mediocre issue of this book is better than the best days of most other comics.  If you aren't reading this book, you should be.  Even if you aren't a Super-Fan, you owe it to yourself to give this book a shot as Grant Morrison isn't writing your daddy's Superman.  Heck, he's not even wriitng your older brother's Superman.  This is Superman done right, for the 21st Century..