Action Comics #974 Review and *SPOILERS*

And You Thought Flash Moved Quick

Written By: Dan Jurgens

Art By: Patrick Zircher, Stephen Segovia, Art Thibert, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: February 22, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Just when you thought that the human Clark Kent couldn't get any creepier, he went and surprised Lois in her office with coffee and flowers............ Yeah, that's not all that creepy, but after Lois witnessed him disappear into thin air after walking into his apartment building........ and the fact that he wanted a date in return for said coffee and flowers......... well, in my book all that adds up to a big fat creep factor that no one should want to be around.  With all that going on, we also saw Clark and Steel try to help Lana Lang with her power problem, you know since they're killing her and all that and that led them to the Fortress of Solitude.  Too bad that with Steel's slow ass tagging along behind Superman that Hank Henshaw was able to track where they were coming from.  So yeah, we've got our duel story continuing here so let's jump in and see if Lois Lane can get to the bottom of this human Clark Kent by going out on a date with him and let's see if our Man of Steel is able to save Lana Lang before she goes all 'splody like the New 52 Superman and Lois Lane did.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Superman and Steel at the Fortress of Solitude, where they just can't seem to get to the bottom of what's wrong with Lana Lang.  If that wasn't enough to worry about, Supes also get the message that someone is invading the proximity of his Fortress in the Himalayas, which was formerly in Colorado, but we won't get into that and it seems that he's okay with the intrusion though because there are security precautions in check to take care of it............. Yeah, we never see any of those security features because for some reason Hank Henshaw's men are able to enter the Fortress, get immediately controlled by the telepath "Blanque", who releases him and the whole Fortress goes kaput in a mysterious explosion that gets Henshaw and his men to get the hell out of there, leaving Blanque to be back in the world and be a goddamn headache for Superman in the future.  

It's not all Fortress explosions and villain escapes here though; no, we also have Superman coming up with an idea to save Lana Lang and that's to put her in the Kryptonian battle armor that we saw Supes rock in the Reign of Supermen arc back in the 90's when his powers weren't all the way back yet and while I like the reference with this, I also think it's weird that this happens to be in the Fortress when there's no Regeneration Matrix to be found, but either way, it's there and Lana Lang is safe for now while the body armor attempts to heal her.  

In the end, we see that Clark is even crazier than he previously seemed because not only did he pull out all the stops for his date with Lois Lane......... from the limo, to the fancy restaurant, but he also went and bought himself a ring because he intends on making Lois his bride to be.  Yeah, she's not having any of that nonsense no matter how much she wants to get to the bottom of what and who he really is, but rejecting this strange man of...... flesh might not have been the best recourse because he follows Lois home and sees her interact with her Clark and her son Jon and this development seems to drive the human Clark a bit crazy because he sees these people as obstacles standing in his way of Lois and him being together........... Which is weird as hell because with how much he really believes that Lois and him should be an item, it seems like something out of the Pre-Flashpoint continuity because nowhere in the New 52 did Lois and Clark have that kind of connection.......... So yeah, our mystery deepens, while our doppelganger gets dangerous. 

That's it for this issue of Action Comics and for the most part I liked this issue, but goddamn did the human Clark Kent go from somebody that I thought was just mild mannered as the title of this arc suggested to a goddamn lunatic out of nowhere.  I mean, for how subtle he's been throughout the run of this series to going full out stalker is crazy.  It's funny too to me because I wanted so bad to find out what was going on with the human Clark Kent, but after seeing this drastic change in the character, it feels a bit forced and now I'm turning my attention to the Lana Lang and Hank Henshaw part of the story because at least for the most part that feels like it's not going to change course and become crazy just to get it out of the way.  I like the art in this book though and I still love how we're getting a duel story throughout this series, I just hope that we can get a decent conclusion to this human Clark Kent story without it feeling rushed because like I said, it's something that I've been waiting for since this series began and for it to be forced to a conclusion would be a shame.  

Bits and Pieces:

While I've been loving that we've been getting two stories going on in this title, I have to say that after the developments of this issue, my main focus on which story I care about has changed because after waiting so long to get an answer to a mystery here, things seem to be getting rushed to a conclusion and the story just feels off because of it.  The art is still great though and I'm still interested in this arc, I just hope that things can wrap up in a satisfactory manner. 

6.8/10