And On The Third Day......
Written By: Dan JurgensArt By: Patrick Zircher, Tomeu Morey, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 8, 2016
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
Since only writing reviews for DC Comics since the New 52 started, it's going to take me long as hell to get this classic numbering for Action Comics in my head so that it doesn't look so damn weird every time I see it. Besides for my frustrations with numbers though, we're living in a brand new day of Action Comics since........ well since Superman died. You should really know that going into this. We've got the Pre-Flashpoint Superman taking up the cape though so all should be fine and well with the world because even if we're one Superman done, we've got a spare in the trunk, but from what the solicits and this cover are showing, we might have too many Supermen because Lex Luthor looks to have taken up the cape as well. Equipped with his Apokoliptian power suit, it looks like Lex is going to not only be the hero of Metropolis we need, but since we're a bunch of assholes, he's probably the one we deserve too. Let's jump into this issue of Action Comics and see what's going on in a city devoid of its hero and see who's really Super in the end. Let's check it out.
Explain It!:
Our issue begins with a robbery/hostage situation that initially threw me off and this might just be because I'm a big dummy who missed something along the way, but for whatever reason Maggie Sawyer is in Metropolis acting as the lead of the Special Crimes Unit. It just came off as odd to me, but nitpicking aside since I don't even know if this was explained elsewhere, this intro is bad ass because Lex Luthor ends the situation by simply showing up and proclaiming himself Superman... which he then tells the people of Metropolis, which immediately gets on the news, where our Pre-Flashpoint Superman sees his archest of enemies rocking his shield and hiding out doesn't seem like much of an option anymore more. After years of looking into this Luthor and coming up with nothing that would make him be the villain that Superman knew his counterpart to be, it seems that Superman was just looking for a reason all these years to confront Luthor and I just imagine a caption that was cut out of the final product of this issue reading "That's All I Can Stands and I Can't Stands No More!" So with Luthor declaring himself Superman, Clark immediately runs upstairs and does his whole "heat vision shaving" thing that has always been nonsense to me and then immediately breaks out his costume to meet Luthor in Metropolis so that the world can see that Superman is very much alive and that Luthor isn't the hero. This all goes terribly wrong though.
Immediately, Luthor thinks that this Superman is an impostor and while he kind of is, this is the Superman we all want to rock the "S", but it's kind of weird though because when Clark breaks out his old costume to become the Man of Steel again, for some reason he has the New 52 Superman's costume and like Maggie Sawyer being in Metropolis, this came off as weird......... not to mention that Jimmy Olsen seems shocked to find out that Superman is dead, which is a shame because his reaction to hearing the news in the last issue of The Final Days of Superman was perfect so seeing him dumbfounded here just seems wrong. Anyway, with Superman and Lex arguing over who's actually Superman, a fight breaks out and it becomes a big dangerous battle that mostly consists of super powered finger pointing about who's fault this is as they wreck up the city. The strangest thing of all though is that Perry White needs a reporter on the scene since this is pretty big news and the reporter who jumps at the chance is........ Clark Kent? That's right, just when you thought we couldn't get anymore Supermen running around, Clark Kent shows up on scene and this is really starting to remind me of the Reign of Supermen arc after Superman originally died in the 90's and it's great because that's exactly the feel we're supposed to get....... we even have Lex shouting off possibilities about what the Pre-Flashpoint Superman could be.... Cyborg, Clone, Magical Construct.... it's pretty funny and works really well.
In the end, the battle continues and Clark Kent doesn't seem to be showing any signs of him being more than just a mild mannered reporter, which is weird because even Jimmy points out that everyone knows that Clark Kent was Superman so we've got a bit of a mystery on our hands. As our issue comes to a close though we realize that the initial robbery/hostage situation was just a diversion for an actual robbery going on in an upper floor of the building and whoever these thieves are...well, they weren't ready to transport their haul in their hover car because this thing begins tipping the flying machine and eventually destroys it when it breaks out of the metal coffin it was in and we see that right in the middle of a fight between Lex Luthor claiming that he's Superman now and the Pre-Flashpoint Superman saying "not-uh", while Clark Kent watches Doomsday, complete with his original containment suit is on the scene and I'm just left with my mouth agape.
That's it for this issue of Action Comics and this is a crazy ass issue...but that's not a bad thing. This was just the right amount of crazy, where I'm left intrigued as hell with where Dan Jurgens is going to take this almost throwback issue because while it had so many callbacks to the Death of Superman and The Reign of Supermen that I read as a kid, it has so much more going for it than just titillating my fanboy nostalgia. With only a few minor nitpicks like, Jimmy not knowing that Superman was dead, Maggie Sawyer being in Metropolis and the Pre-Flashpoint Superman having a New 52 Superman costume, I've got to say that for all the great Rebirth books we got last week, this while not technically a Rebirth issue, might have me the most excited for what's to come next because we've got everyone and their mama showing up it looks like and as we all know, it's not a party until Doomsday shows up........ Plus he's got his containment suit....... I love the containment suit! The art and colors in this issue were exceptional and I found myself glued to the page as soon as Luthor showed up with his Superman suit and I think everyone else out there in interwebs land will be the same, even if they don't have the same nostalgia I do.
Bits and Pieces:
For this first issue of Action Comics now that it's gone back to its classic numbering, Dan Jurgens is throwing everything except the kitchen sink at you in a wonderfully crazy way that somehow works beyond my belief. I had so much fun reading this comic because it bridged the gap between when I first started reading Superman to what we're dealing with currently and by the time I was finished with it I had to have someone slap the dopey grin off my face because that's how happy this issue made me. We've got great art, a story that intrigues the hell out of me so really, what are you waiting for? Go out and get yourself some Action Comics already. You won't be sorry.
Immediately, Luthor thinks that this Superman is an impostor and while he kind of is, this is the Superman we all want to rock the "S", but it's kind of weird though because when Clark breaks out his old costume to become the Man of Steel again, for some reason he has the New 52 Superman's costume and like Maggie Sawyer being in Metropolis, this came off as weird......... not to mention that Jimmy Olsen seems shocked to find out that Superman is dead, which is a shame because his reaction to hearing the news in the last issue of The Final Days of Superman was perfect so seeing him dumbfounded here just seems wrong. Anyway, with Superman and Lex arguing over who's actually Superman, a fight breaks out and it becomes a big dangerous battle that mostly consists of super powered finger pointing about who's fault this is as they wreck up the city. The strangest thing of all though is that Perry White needs a reporter on the scene since this is pretty big news and the reporter who jumps at the chance is........ Clark Kent? That's right, just when you thought we couldn't get anymore Supermen running around, Clark Kent shows up on scene and this is really starting to remind me of the Reign of Supermen arc after Superman originally died in the 90's and it's great because that's exactly the feel we're supposed to get....... we even have Lex shouting off possibilities about what the Pre-Flashpoint Superman could be.... Cyborg, Clone, Magical Construct.... it's pretty funny and works really well.
In the end, the battle continues and Clark Kent doesn't seem to be showing any signs of him being more than just a mild mannered reporter, which is weird because even Jimmy points out that everyone knows that Clark Kent was Superman so we've got a bit of a mystery on our hands. As our issue comes to a close though we realize that the initial robbery/hostage situation was just a diversion for an actual robbery going on in an upper floor of the building and whoever these thieves are...well, they weren't ready to transport their haul in their hover car because this thing begins tipping the flying machine and eventually destroys it when it breaks out of the metal coffin it was in and we see that right in the middle of a fight between Lex Luthor claiming that he's Superman now and the Pre-Flashpoint Superman saying "not-uh", while Clark Kent watches Doomsday, complete with his original containment suit is on the scene and I'm just left with my mouth agape.
That's it for this issue of Action Comics and this is a crazy ass issue...but that's not a bad thing. This was just the right amount of crazy, where I'm left intrigued as hell with where Dan Jurgens is going to take this almost throwback issue because while it had so many callbacks to the Death of Superman and The Reign of Supermen that I read as a kid, it has so much more going for it than just titillating my fanboy nostalgia. With only a few minor nitpicks like, Jimmy not knowing that Superman was dead, Maggie Sawyer being in Metropolis and the Pre-Flashpoint Superman having a New 52 Superman costume, I've got to say that for all the great Rebirth books we got last week, this while not technically a Rebirth issue, might have me the most excited for what's to come next because we've got everyone and their mama showing up it looks like and as we all know, it's not a party until Doomsday shows up........ Plus he's got his containment suit....... I love the containment suit! The art and colors in this issue were exceptional and I found myself glued to the page as soon as Luthor showed up with his Superman suit and I think everyone else out there in interwebs land will be the same, even if they don't have the same nostalgia I do.
Bits and Pieces:
For this first issue of Action Comics now that it's gone back to its classic numbering, Dan Jurgens is throwing everything except the kitchen sink at you in a wonderfully crazy way that somehow works beyond my belief. I had so much fun reading this comic because it bridged the gap between when I first started reading Superman to what we're dealing with currently and by the time I was finished with it I had to have someone slap the dopey grin off my face because that's how happy this issue made me. We've got great art, a story that intrigues the hell out of me so really, what are you waiting for? Go out and get yourself some Action Comics already. You won't be sorry.
9/10
Glad both superman titles have a good writer like Wonder Woman, the flash and green arrow because before nothing got me excited for those titles Exocet professor zoom for flash. Glad DC discovered we want great writers for your A list characters and not an awful writer like Scott Lobdell
ReplyDeleteI ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT SUPERMAN WAS OUT OF CHARACTER. I DO NOT REMEMBER THE PRE-FLASHPOINT SUPERMAN BEING SO OVER-REACTIVE AND COMBATIVE. HE WAS IN THE WRONG AND LUTHOR WAS IN THE RIGHT. HE TRIES TO RIP OFF THE "S" OFF LUTHOR AND THEN LUTHOR DEFENDS HIMSELF..... AND SUPERMAN BLAMES LUTHOR FOR STARTING A FIGHT? THIS IS A SUPERMAN WHO IN 5 YEARS FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF LEX BEING 'BAD' DESPITE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR IT, AND EVEN LOIS FAILED TO FIND ANY CRIME IN LEX'S PAST. YET DESPITE THIS, SUPERMAN FREAKS OUT AND PRESUMTIVELY REVEALS HIMSELF, IN PUBLIC AND START A FIGHT. FOR SHAME.
ReplyDeleteAND ON ANOTHER NOTE, DID YOU NOTICE HOW PRE-FLASHPOINT CLARK CHANGED INTO SUPERMAN..... AND HIS COSTUME HAD HIS SHORTS ON THE INSIDE? I'M CURIOUS AT WHAT POINT HE DECIDED TO DITCH THE UNDERWEAR? IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE OTHER UNIVERSE, WHY NOT THIS ONE?
Was thinking the same thing, Superman could have waited until a better time with a better strategy to confront Luthor. Seemed out of character but we needed a fighti guess.
DeleteI just took it as frustration for wearing the logo and it seems like the Cape maybe be New52 Supermans? Unless that got space dusted as well and I missed it , Lord knows I won't research it. Anyway I think it may just be over reaction from being put of the game so long too in the public eye. Who knows . Still loved this issue my favorite so far of Rebirth
ReplyDelete