Convergence: Green Arrow #2 - A Review

To say that Oliver Queen wasn't prepared to meet the son he never knew he had would be an understatement. And he really wasn't expecting to meet an older version Dinah Lance from another timeline and her daughter when he and Connor Hawke were suddenly transported to an abandoned Metropolis. But this odd family reunion must be put on hold as one truth becomes clear - father and son must battle mother and daughter for their fate of their respective worlds.


Christy Marx wrote a wonderful script for the second half of this special. The fight between both pairs of heroes is a satisfying bit of action, but what really sells this story is the character work. All of our heroes are portrayed as being intelligent and competent, with Marx perfectly capturing both Ollie and Dinah as experienced strategists who know how to play off of one another's weaknesses. This is incredibly welcome given how often they're both portrayed as hot-headed idiots who can't plan their way out of a paper bag. And I really like Marx's take on Olivia "Black Canary III" Queen, who gets more characterization and personality here than she ever did in the Kingdom Come tie-ins.


I've been a big fan of Rags Morales since his work on Geoff Johns' Hawkman and the work we see here adheres to his usual high standard.  Hopefully we'll see him on another monthly title soon enough. Claude St. Aubin and Nei Ruffino also do a fine job in finishing up the artwork for this issue.

Convergence: Green Arrow #1 - A Review

I know I said I was done with Convergence last week. And yet, I felt compelled to give the Green Arrow tie-in a shot. Not just because it's Green Arrow but because I wanted to see how Christy Marx - who authored the excellent Conquests Of The Longbow adventure game - wrote my favorite Robin Hood inspired hero.


It is another place. Another time. And it came to pass that Oliver Queen found himself in Metropolis at a time when he was feeling lost and without purpose.  The raising of the dome gave him some purpose as the only costumed hero in town. But Green Arrow is not the only one protecting the city...

Elsewhere in Metropolis, a young monk named Connor Hawke also fights to protect the weak and helpless from a new gang - the racist Brothers Of Purity. Hawke is something of a Green Arrow fanboy and is overjoyed when he finds evidence that his hero is in Metropolis.  When circumstances force the two men together, a dark secret will be revealed - that Connor Hawke is Oliver Queen's long-lost son!


Marx spins a wonderful Elseworlds tale here about how Oliver and Connor might have met under decidedly different circumstances.  Both characters are written true to form, with subtle nods in the script and artwork pointing to hidden sides of both characters. For instance, I loved seeing Ollie crafting a trick arrow, as many writers rarely depict Ollie as being capable of making his own arrows and forget that Ollie was an amazing engineer when it came to weapon design back in the day.

The only real flaw with the script - and I can't fault Marx for it - is a subplot built around the idea originally proposed by Brad Meltzer in The Archer's Quest that Oliver Queen was a deadbeat dad who knew about Connor years before the two met. I've gone into the general impossibility of this conceit elsewhere so I won't repeat that rant here. Suffice it to say this storyline adds nothing to the larger narrative, existing only to create artificial tension before the action truly begins.


The artwork for the issue is generally good, though there are a few oddities. Rags Morales has been a favorite of mine since his run on Hawkman though some of his pages here seem rushed and I'm not sure Claude St. Aubin's inking style is a good match for Morales' pencils. And the color art by Neil Ruffino is uneven, with the shirt sleeves of Ollie's costume alternating in whether or not they match his jerkin.

Action Comics #18 - A Review

There is little I can say about this issue - or indeed the entirety of Grant Morrison's Action Comics run - that I have not said before in part or in whole.  As before, Rags Morales, Brad Walker and their respective inkers do a fine job of capturing and displaying the action of Morrison's script, which is a fitting summation to the whole series with a callback to every major storyline.   While Morrison's conceit of a battle to destroy Superman fought across five dimensions is a complex bit of writing, it is the simplest images - like a Superboy and his dog victorious - that hit the reader the hardest. 


Simplicity is also the rule of Never-Ending Battle - the back-up story by Sholly Fisch. Told entirely without spoken dialogue (but not without words), this story set in the 23rd century shows how Superman's example continues to inspire heroism in the most unlikely of places years after his passing.  Fisch's subtlety is welcome here, given that social issue comics on subjects like bullying tend to be anything but.  The lack of dialogue only adds to the power of the images put forth by Chris Sprouse and Karl Story.   


This last story alone makes this comic a must-read, even if the larger part of the issue is largely inaccessible to those who haven't been reading Action Comics since the first issue.  Never-Ending Battle is Eisner-worthy for how well it captures spirit of heroism - not just in superhero stories, but in the human spirit itself.  I'd encourage any comic fan to buy this book.  Even if you're not a Superman fan.  Especially if you're not a Superman fan. 

Action Comics #17 - A Review

With Action Comics #17, the phrase "never-ending battle" has taken on another meaning.  It seems like Grant Morrison's final storyline for this series has been going on forever and the novelty of Morrison's conceit for this story - an assassination attempt executed through multiple points in space, time and probability - has begun to wear thin.  This entire issue feels like filler up until the final pages, where Superman finds himself with a most unlikely ally in his darkest moment leading into next issue's conclusion.


The back-up story by Sholly Fisch is far more enjoyable.  Indeed, I'd recommend this issue just for this story alone.  Stories about Clark and Pa Kent having a good father/son chat are hardly new but Fisch's story here - centering on a time-displaced Superman being given a chance to talk to the dad who never got the chance to see what he did with his life - seems both brand-new and touching.  It reminded me of a similar story that J. Michael Straczynski penned for Amazing Spider-Man #500 yet it still comes off as it's own unique tale.


This book continues to be blessed with top-notch artists across the board.  Brad Walker?  Rags Morales?  Chris Sprouse?  You'd be lucky to have one of these artist's illustrating a story, never mind all three of the working in concert!  While I may grow annoyed with Morrison dragging his feet, I cannot complain about how this book looks even as it seems we are treading water in terms of the plot.

Action Comics #16 - A Review

It's folly for me to attempt to describe the story of Action Comics #16 beyond what I already explained in my review of last month's issue.  Reality has begun to break down as Superman faces attacks at multiple points in space and time, all thanks to the plotting of a Fifth Dimensional being.  Thankfully, Superman is not without allies even in futures just born into existence which should not be.  A new addition to the morass this month includes a version of the Legion of Superheroes from a future where a tyrannical government born of a villain from the past now threatens of all creation and their only hope is a desperate trip back in time to aid Superman in his greatest battle!


It's a damning statement on the condition of the New 52 Legion of Superheroes books that - despite Morrison not focusing on their characters - the vision of The Legion we see here is far more accessible and far more likeable than any of the characters I saw in Legion of Superheroes or Legion Lost.  Let that thought sink in for a moment - a story by Grant Morrison about reality collapsing and the text of the story reflecting that is more lucid and easier to follow that Legion Lost.  That statement goes double for the enjoyable back-up story by Scholly Fisch, in which we see the LOSH at a point in their past where they accidentally set their dark future into motion by stopping a political assassination.  


The art teams for both sections of this series continue to excel.  Walker and Morales continue to paint vivid pictures of reality running together as Superman's enemies begin to attack time itself.  Chris Sprouse's stylized pencils show us a Legion as fun and as colorful as the team at the height of their popularity.  High quality, all around.

Action Comics #15 - A Review

If there is any writer in comics capable of telling a story in five dimensions, it's Grant Morrison.  Okay, maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that he tells the main story of Action Comics #15 in five dimensions.  Yet he does tell a story that is multifaceted, taking place at several points and several perspectives in time. 

The main portion of this tale is told by Superman's landlady, who it seems is actually a princess from The Fifth Dimension and is/was/will be aware of everything Clark Kent is/was/will be.  Meanwhile - or perhaps 'Previously' or even 'In The Future', a group of Superman's greatest enemies hunt him through multiple points in history.  And that's ignoring the greater cosmic threat that even now threatens multiple worlds at multiple points in space and time, including Krypton!

Confusing?  No more than your average Doctor Who episode and this is just as enjoyable to those with the right mindset.


Easier to comprehend but no less enjoyable is the back-up story by Sholly Fisch.  This story tells the tale of one of the villains now hunting Superman.  More importantly, it tells the story of the hero who stopped him once before and even in death seems to be setting up the means for Superman to survive.  The hero?  Mister Mxyzptlk.

Fisch spins off of Morrison's conceit, keeping in line with the original portrayal of the character, that Mister Mxyzptlk isn't malicious.  He may annoy Superman with his antics but ultimately likes the Big Blue Boy Scout.  There's a bit of a retcon here, recasting Mister Mxyzptlk as a court wizard/jester for the King of the Fifth Dimension, who did what he did to Superman as a way of amusing his bored king and whose antics wound up winning him the heart of a princess.  It's a marvelous conceit and though the idea is a throwaway, it's one I'd love to see explored in a regular series. 

The artwork, as always, is top-notch.  Brad Walker and Rags Morales are formidable creators on their own.  Together, their work blends into a wonderful artistic alloy.  Chris Sprouse's cartoonishly stylized work in the back-up story is gleefully glorious and a joy to behold.  All in all, Action Comics continues to be one of the best values on the market and a darn good dead.

Action Comics #14 - A Review

Action Comics #14 tells two different stories drawn from today's science news headlines.  One story is set on Mars and centers upon the themes or exploration and wonder invoked by our recent landing of a rover on Mars.  The other story goes further afield than our solar system yet hits much closer to home.


The first story centers upon Superman making a journey to Mars to help protect Earth's first colony there from an invasion of The Metaleks - the all-consuming mechanical creatures we first saw several issues ago.  It turns out that they are the least of it and that the Metaleks are on the run from an even more insidious threat known as The Multitude.  Since they appear on the cover, it spoils nothing to say that The Multitude have the appearance of angels with fangs and claws. 

Grant Morrison's story seems well-paced enough but at the same time seems awfully derivative of his previous work.  Morrison famously explored the base idea of Superman fighting angels during his now-legendary JLA run and one can't help but think of that story here.  And even with Morrison's take on Superman being more of a thinker than a puncher, I still can't help but think this story would be more appropriate to Doctor Who than Superman.  Rags Morales injects his usual energy into the proceedings with his excellent artwork but that doesn't change the fact that we've seen this story done before and done better.

The second story, guest-starring famed astronomer Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, has less action yet hits the reader much harder.  DC Comics made the headlines recently when they asked Dr. Tyson to try and find a real-world place where Superman's homeworld of Krypton might have existed.  Tyson obliged and this story details his efforts to give Superman a glimpse of home as thanks for everything he's done to help the Earth.  Injecting real world figures into a superhero comic is always a risky affair but Sholly Fisch - ironically enough - manages to keep things down to earth.  The artwork by Chris Sprouse is crisp and clean, yet oddly stiff and posed.  In a more action-packed story, this might be problematic but it fits this story well enough.   

Action Comics #12 - A Review

How is it possible that the best bits of a book called Action Comics have nothing to do with action, much less the action of the main story? Such is the magic of Grant Morrison, whose run on Action Comics has delivered plenty of what the title has promised. But as in so much of his earlier work, it is Morrison's unique ideas that capture the hearts and minds of the readers rather than the standard superheroics.



Case in point: the main thrust of this issue sees Superman attempting to protect Lois Lane's niece from alien abductors and what is apparently the New 52 version of Captain Comet. Little Susie Lane is apparently a Neo Sapien - an evolutionary flash-forward with powers atypical of what humanity will eventually evolve into. This may seem like fairly standard stuff for a Superman story but you'd be wrong. Morrison drew great acclaim for playing with the powers of Superman and everything they might encompass during his All Star Superman mini-series and he does much the same here, as Superman finds a way to out-think an enemy he cannot possibly outwit. Morrison also pays tribute to the Superman stories of yesteryear, restoring an old chestnut I don't think has been used since the Silver Age - Superman's infinite capacity for knowledge and ability to read at super-speed.



It is the moments such as these that make Action Comics one of the best books on the market today and the best Superman title to come out of the New 52 revamp. With the precision penciling of Rags Morales backing Grant Morrison's splendid scripts, this is one to keep on your pull list!

Action Comics #11 - A Review

I don't know how Grant Morrison manages to cram so much information and wonder into a single issue of Action Comics. I'm just glad he does it.

With Clark Kent having "died" in the last issue after a professional assassin discovered the connection between Clark Kent and Superman, Superman has adopted a new secret identity - a fire-fighter named Johnny Clark, who is a complete blank apart from his day job. The good news is the job does give him plenty of opportunity to help people apart from being Superman. The bad news is... well, he feels out of touch with people he's helping, having traded Clark Kent's cheap apartment for the satellite which once housed Brainiac. Of all people, he vents about this to Batman in what is a surprisingly effective character-building scene for both heroes and the first time I've really seen the two acting like the World's Finest heroes since the reboot.

Oddly enough, this has nothing to do with the main plot of the issue, which involves Lois Lane's niece turning out to be a nutant - a delightful Morrisonian term for a human who is evolved far in advance of modern-man by 100,000 years. The build-up is surprisingly understated but promises some exciting action in the next issue. The back-up story by Sholly Fisch is another amusing slice-of-life story, depicting a Metropolis T-Shirt shop which claims to be the place where Superman buys his t-shirts. Of course our POV characters - a tourist and his friend, the local - are skeptical, even as the owner tells the story of how Superman saved him from a robber and earned himself a discount.

I've written before about my love of Rags Morales art and my joy that he is back on a monthly book. His work on Geoff Johns' Hawkman was seriously underrated and it is good to see him on a prominent, monthly book like Action Comics again. The back-up story art by Cafu is also of high quality.

Action Comics is something DC Comics has needed for a long time - a Superman book that shows why Superman was the inspiration for an entire genre. It is a must-read for all fans of superhero fiction.

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..

Action Comics #7-8

I usually start my reviews by talking about the writing.  This time, I'd like to start with the artwork.  Consider if you would this silent page.





I've been a Rags Morales fan since his days on JSA and Hawkman and while it may be hyperbolic for me to say that this is the best work of his career, I'll stand behind the statement.  Morales is a highly underrated storyteller and it's amazing how much action and character he can put into a single page.  Here we see Clark Kent, pushing himself past limits he's never dared consider, attempting to leap off of the Earth itself in pursuit of the alien menace that just stole an entire part of the city of Metrpolis.  Does he stop to marvel at the sheer wonder of what he's just done?  Does he pause to gaze at the astonishing beauty around him?

No.  His focus remains upon his target and finding the foothold he needs to get  there.  Without a single word of dialogue to assist him, Rags Morales has conveyed the essence of Superman as a character and showcased his greatest power in one page.  It isn't flight or super strength or heat vision - it's his selflessness.

This core idea - that Superman's greatest power is his truly selfless nature - was at the core of another great Superman series, All-Star Superman.  Not surprisingly, both that mini-series and this book are written by Grant Morrison, who has a fair bit of experience writing Superman and being an amazing writer in general.  What is surprising, however, is that despite his time and experience writing Superman, Morrison still finds new things to say with the character and new ways of looking at the classic mythos.

As I noted in my earlier review of the Action Comics series, Morrison has managed the amazing trick of retelling the Superman origin story while still making it seem entirely new and exciting, despite working with the exact same props and characters.  For instance, it was not much of a surprise that the electronic alien menace that stole part of Metropolis was the classic Superman baddie Braniac.  What was a surprise (and a very amusing one, in my opinion) was Morrison's depiction of this robotic A.I. as less of a super-intelligent genius and more of an obsessive collector - a personality I'm sure most comic readers are familiar with.



  
That is but one surprise of many that has been sprung upon we readers within the past two issues.  I shan't tell you of exactly how Brainiac came to Earth, the origins of Superman's new costume or the identity of Clark Kent's mysterious informant.  Why?  Because I want you to have the treat of discovering these mysteries and more for yourself.  The collected edition isn't due out until August, so if you can't wait for a nicely bound edition, I'd suggest checking the on-line stores for a digital copy..  You'll be glad you did.

52 Catch-Up: Action Comics #1-6

If Action Comics can be said to have a constant in the New 52, it is that one never knows quite what to expect. This should, paradoxically, be expected given that Grant Morrison's writing - particularly his writing of Superman - usually encourages us to expect the unexpected yet leaves us gaping slack-jawed at the wonders on every page. Exceptionalism has become the norm. Thankfully though we expect much we're rarely disappointed. How could we be with the likes of Rags Morales and Andy Kubert lending their pencils to Morrison's prose?



The first issue serves as a prime example of the paradoxes Morrison frequently puts into his writing. In taking Superman back to his Great Depression era roots as a rabble-rousing champion of the common man, Morrison has given us the perfect hero for the era of the Occupy Movement and the 99%ers. No more The Big Blue Boy Scout, this Superman will gleefully dangle a corrupt businessman over a ledge to put the fear of God into a worshiper of Mammon. Despite this, he is still recognizable as our Superman - faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap reasonably tall buildings in a single bound.





It is said that a great storyteller can tell you the same story more than once but make it just as enthralling as the first time you heard it. Morrison accomplishes this feat with apparent ease. All the elements of the Superman origin we've heard time and time again are contained with these opening issues. But with a tweak here and a stitch there, Morrison manages to make this classic tale seem new again. And yet, Morrison still finds the time to throw in his own little additions to the Superman mythos.

Case in point - in Issue 2, Superman is captured by Lex Luthor - a scientific genius and freelancer who is currently in the employ of the US Government. For reasons that are explained hilariously later, they believe that Superman is a shape-shifting alien and that the body of a deformed calf is a deceased member of Superman's species in its' true form.





This is a moment of high comedy but it also reveals something of the characters involved. Namely...

1) Lex Luthor does not like being laughed at or being made to look the fool.
2) Superman has brains to match his strength, proving to be no mean tactician and to be knowledgeable enough about science to figure out how his various vision powers work.

I also have to give Morrison props for his logical expansion of Superman's powers here. Morrison did a lot to improve Aquaman's stock during his run on JLA, postulating that anyone capable of controlling fish brains would also be capable of wrecking havoc on the parts of the human brain responsible for controlling balance. Here, if we can assume Superman's heat vision is based on focused microwave emissions, he should also be able to scramble electronics the same way a radio jammer does.

This trend continues into Issue 3, where Morrison looks a bit more closely into the life of Clark Kent. Here we find that Clark is just as much the altruistic hero as Superman, using his limited power as a journalist and blogger to try and expose corruption in the local government and big business to the point where he's harassed by the police on a regular basis.



Issue 3 also gives us a closer look at Clark's friendship with Jimmy Olsen, who works for a rival paper along with Lois Lane. Oddly, out of all of the supporting cast, it is Lois and Jimmy who get the least development time. Then again, as the most well developed members of the supporting cast (and, arguably, the best known supporting comic book characters of all time) one could argue they need the least amount of page time. Suffice it to say, Lois is as ornery, independent and all-around awesome as ever. And Jimmy? Still everyone's pal.




Issue 4 gives us the greatest number of cast expansions, providing us our first glimpse of John Henry Irons as Steel, John Corben's transformation into a heartless robot man (he has yet to take the name Metallo) and an oddly familiar alien robot stealing away part of Metropolis for his collection of bottled cities. The issue also brings us our first back-up story, written by Sholly Fisch who gives us an in-depth look at John Henry Irons even as he depicts, in detail, the battle in which "Steel" saves Superman from John Corben.




If this seems somewhat familiar, you may be thinking of the episode of Superman: The Animated Series, in which Steel premiere episode pitted him against Metallo to save Superman's life. There are some differences here, though, as John Henry Irons didn't originally work for Lex Luthor, though his strong ethics do cause him to resign his job and to use the technology he designed to help undo the damage he caused.

Issue 5 shifts gears completely, giving us another retelling of just how a young Kal-El was sent from Krypton to Earth. Little seems to have changed from the recent retelling of this story in Geoff Johns' Superman: Secret Origin, save that The Kents were just barely able to get away from the spaceship crash-site with the baby, never mind carry the rocket off unnoticed.




This sets up a call back to issue 3 and a tangential storyline, where we learn the history of the rocket after it was discovered by Clark Kent, who had no idea as to his alien origins until then. This issue also gives us another Sholly Fisch back-up story, in which we see the early life of Jonathan and Martha Kent and learn of their struggles to have a baby up until their one-in-a-million-encounter with a child from the stars. This is another story that has been told before, but Fisch manages to make it fresh, making Martha and Jonathan into realistic and sympathetic people. Of particulate note is a scene in which they visit their pastor, who tells them that he is certain that God would not deny two loving people like them a child and that He must have big plans for them.




Issue 6 continues right on from where Issue 5 left off, as we jump forward a little bit in time. And yet, we don't. The action here focuses upon a future Superman, who has traveled back to his first year as Superman with some of his friends from the Legion of Superheroes in tow, in order to stop the Anti-Superman Army of his time from traveling back in time to steal the Kryptonite-powered core of the spaceship that brought him to Earth.

Yeah. You can tell Grant Morrison used to be a Doctor Who writer, can't you?



Fisch's back-up story this time is another fine character piece, this time centering on Clark Kent examining the house he grew up in one last time before leaving Smallville for college. There's a few details here that will be of note to Superman scholars who like to know how every incarnation of Superman is different, like the fact that Pete Ross is aware of Clark's "special gifts" in this reality.



Action Comics is a must-read title for all fans of comics in general and Superman in particular. Though there's nothing really new here, Morrison and Fisch have found a way to make these stories seem new in the telling. And the artwork is amazing, with top-notch teams working on both parts of the book every month. Rags Morales, Andy Kubert, Brad Walker & ChrissCross are all masters of the genre. If you aren't reading this one already, you are missing out.

52 Pick-Up - Week One

Since my recent Internet outage has left me somewhat behind, I've opted to do something akin to the old Fast Thoughts reviews from my old blog regarding all of the new DC Universe books I was trying again after the first month of 52 new #1s.

Welcome to the first installment of 52 Pick-Up.


ACTION COMICS #2 - Captured by Lex Luthor and General Lane, Superman must endure some horrific tortures as he bides his time waiting for an opportunity to escape. Morrison and Morales continue give us the best Superman comic in recent memory as they reestablish the key elements of the Superman mythos. We see our first appearance of John Henry Irons and John Corben (a.k.a. The Man Who Will Be Metallo) and what I think is the first appearance of Brainiac in this new reality. But Morrison still finds ways to bring something new into the mix, not only giving us a plausable-sounding scientific explanation for how Superman's heat vision would work (i.e. focused microwaves) but finding new uses for Superman's powers, such as using his microwave vision to scramble electronics. Highly recommended.


GREEN ARROW #2 - Concerned about Green Arrow's success in taking out their party pals, a group of celebrity supervillains make plans to draw out the Emerald Archer. We get a lot character scenes this time around, watching Ollie go through a typical workday. Not surprisingly this involves as little "work" as possible, opening with him playing basketball with the local star athlete, meeting with his personal assistant briefly to bump back as many appointments as possible and then heading to the lab to test-drive the new trick arrows. Still an enjoyable book, with plenty of action in the beginning and end. And bonus - the last page promises we'll see Black Canary next issue!


STATIC SHOCK #2 - Recovered from his apparent injury at the end of last issue, Virgil is as shocked that his powers apparently let him reattach a severed limb as we are, figuring that the only thing that saved him was his attacker using an atom-thick blade that cut so neatly his electrical powers automatically fused the flesh back together. While this is a cool explanation that cements just how powerful Virgil is, it still seems like a total cheat. There's still no explanation for why Static has two sisters now, though we do find out that one of them is a clone of the other and that Virgil feels responsible for it... somehow. This book is stumbling a bit but the action scenes are still great, though McDaniel's pencils are getting a little sloppy on the long-shots. I may give this one another issue but this may be moving to "Wait For The Trade" status.

Action Comics #1 - A Review

We’ve all heard the complaints. Superman is boring. Superman is too powerful. Superman is too much of a goody-goody. Superman is irrelevant today. Such is the perception, not only of the public at large, but most of the comic-buying community. Small wonder then that Grant Morrison would seemingly choose to directly tackle these complaints in his revamp of The Man Of Tomorrow.

Indeed, I heard a new batch of wholly new complaints about this issue before I had a chance to read it. Superman confronts a corrupt executive without any proof of wrong-doing! Superman is on the run from the police! Superman isn’t wearing his red underwear on the outside of his tights! Superman isn’t even wearing tights! And perhaps most shocking of all… Superman Doesn’t Fly!

I don’t know why people are so surprised. Grant Morrison is renowned for his ability to distill the complicated continuity of comics into its’ most basic elements and turning the world on its’ ear while doing so. He did it to the JLA with the simple idea of having DC Comics greatest heroes teaming up to face threats no one hero could face alone, just like in the original Silver Age comics or the Superfriends cartoons. He did it to X-Men by expanding upon the idea of what a growing mutant population would realistic entail by treating mutants like any other oppressed minority group, developing their own culture in response to the society that hated and feared them. And now he has revamped Superman for the modern world by taking him back to his roots as a hero of The Great Depression.

Does that sound a bit contradictory? Time for a quick history lesson, kids.

While the Superman of today is synonymous with the phrase over-powered, the Superman of 1938 – as originally created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel was a relative weakling by comparison. No juggling planets this hero! The Golden Age Superman could barely lift a car over his head and – while far faster than a normal man – lacked the speed to travel back in time. Perhaps the introduction to the Superman radio show at the time said it best.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet!

More Powerful Than A Locomotive!

Able To Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound!

Most fans don’t know the source of the above quote but it is probably the best summary of Superman’s powers and their limits in popular culture. As such, it is only natural that Morrison used these exact standards to test the new Superman.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet? Definitely. When he bothers to dodge them.

More Powerful Than A Locomotive? Probably. He’s called to test it by issue’s end.

Able To Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound? Depends on how tall it is.

Morrison has returned Superman to his Depression-Era roots in another less obvious respect. While the Superman of today is widely seen as a duty-bound, law-abiding Boy Scout, the Golden Age Superman had a much looser moral code. He still acted to preserve life above all else but was not above terrorizing the wicked in order to see justice done. The Golden Age Superman was a liberal activist, focusing his crime-fighting efforts upon greedy businessmen and corrupt politicians (i.e. those responsible for The Great Depression) rather than bank robbers and muggers. Indeed, comics scholar Roger Sabin described Superman as the embodiment of "the liberal idealism of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal", with Shuster and Siegel originally designing Superman as a champion of social reform as well as a crime-fighter.

Much of this first issue is taken up by two extended action sequences, with Superman fleeing the police after forcing a confrontation with sleazy businessman Mr. Glenmorgan. Monitoring the pursuit are General Sam Lane and independent contractor Lex Luthor – both charged by the US Government with bringing the so-called Superman to heel by any means necessary. This opens up the third act, where Luthor’s plan to draw Superman into the open unknowingly puts Clark Kent’s best friend Jimmy Olsen and rival reporter Lois Lane in harms way…

The plot is fairly standard stuff for those familiar with Superman, yet Morrison makes it all seem new again. Ironically, he does this by bringing back the classic elements of an older Superman into play. It is also ironic that while Luthor and Lane do their best to dehumanize Superman verbally (referring to Superman as “The Creature” and “It” rather than “He”), their actions only serve to humanize Superman all the more, as he risks his life and freedom to save the tenement-dwellers endangered by Luthor’s plan.

Of Rags Morales’ artwork, I can say little. I think the accompanying scans speak to the skill and craft of Morales’ work far better than I ever could. I can’t really think of any way to describe Morales’ style except to say that it is active. You’ll rarely see a posed panel in a book drawn by Rags Morales. Everything is always in motion, to the point where you swear you can see the wind rustling people’s clothes in the panel. In fact, there are some points where the panels CAN NOT contain the action!

Morales has been creating fine quality work for DC Comics for quite a while now, yet hasn’t seem to have gotten the name recognition of other artists. Perhaps this is because, apart from a run on the highly underrated Hawkman with Geoff Johns, Morales has mostly worked on mini-series and limited series. With any luck, this book will finally give him the recognition that he deserves as one of the finest illustrators in the business.

Think Superman is dull? Think Superman is boring? Think again. Morrison and Morales have crafted a masterpiece of modern comics while giving a nod and salute to what came before. This issue is a Must Read and you can bet this book will be on my pull list from now on.