Action Comics #37 Review

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Aaron Kuder
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 3, 2014

Skeleton Crew

I was a huge fan of Greg Pak's earlier issues of Action Comics.  He brought back a classic feel to the book and reminded fans how great Lana Lang is.  She's an electrical engineer, you know.  If you ask me, the Doomed story derailed a good thing and Pak has been working hard to get back on track since it ended.  This latest story involving a mysterious Mist surrounding Smallville may be all too familiar to Stephen King fans, but the combination of horror and action has been a welcome addition to this book and a nice post-Doom story.



Superman is where we left him last month, desperately trying to get through the Mist and out of Smallville.  This week he gets help from Hiro (aka Toymaster), if help means Hiro getting trapped as well.  I don't know if it's just me, but Hiro is starting to feel like the annoying neighbor that nobody likes, but keeps getting forced on the audience.  I'm looking at you, Urkel.  We then get another quick peek at the dark side of Smallville.  It's pretty scary.

We then get to the meat of the issue.  Pak gives the reader such a great flashback that shows how great a friend Lana has always been, but most importantly, gives us one of the most important moments in young Clark's life.  One that shaped Superman, himself.  Both come to play in this issue.

While Superman, Lana and Steel finally start to see that things aren't so kosher in Smallville, Hiro gets captured by a familiar tentacled monster and the story kick starts into overdrive.  Superman tries to save his little buddy, we get more of the tension between Clark and Lana and Superman tries to calm the crazy Smallville situation with the earlier flashback still on his mind.  However, the best part is action star Lana Lang (she's an electrical engineer, you know) going to town with her crazy space age shotgun.  The final page is a monster attack of biblical proportions.

I enjoyed this issue for the most part.  If you haven't guessed, I'm not a big fan of Hiro in this issue.  He's annoying and his presence feels forced rather than natural.  I did like the flashback and the interaction between Lana and Clark have been a highlight since Pak took over.  Eventually, they are going to have to work out their problems and I hope it's soon.  As far as the overall story goes, it has been more predictable than I hoped and that has taken away some of the tension and scares.  However, that final panel was so bad ass that I can't wait for next month just to see more of that awesome monster and how Superman escapes it, let alone defeats it.

Aaron Kuder's art is so good this month.  Everything looks great (including the continuation of Bearded Superman), but the monster in the last page just blew me away.  Aaron Kuder is meant for this book, but I also have to give a shout out to Wil Quintana for his amazing color work.

Bits and Pieces:

Action Comics #37 is a pretty good continuation of the "Mist" story.  While it is a bit predictable, I am enjoying the horror elements and the last panel was just amazing.  Greg Pak is getting his book back on track and Aaron Kuder's art is as awesome as always.  It may not be a classic story, but it's still good fun.

8.0/10