Action Comics #1028 Review

 

Play Free Bird!

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: John Romita Jr.

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 22, 2020

It's the end of the line for Brian Michael Bendis on the Superman books, but don't cry for him (Argentina) since he will be writing the Justice League book in 2021.  So, how does he wrap his story up here?  Well, a little bit of catch-up, some over-explanation...

Hey, did you read the Jimmy Olsen book by Matt Fraction that ended in July?  Well, Bendis finally caught up to it, and Jimmy owns the Daily Planet!  Yea, it only took four months for that surprise to hit, and that's just a hint at what this issue is all about.

After getting things straight at the Daily Planet, Superman receives a call from the Hall of Justice that the test results are in on Conner.  So, we head off to find out that Conner is a clone, should have a regular enough lifespan and might lose his powers someday.  All of this feels like Bendis answers questions nobody asked to show that he had a solid grasp on Conner.  The problem is, I think that Bendis got a bit mixed up because Conner has had a big problem, not with his lifespan, but not aging the same as others.

We do get a quick answer about why Superman doesn't remember Conner.  It's because Superman has traveled "a multitude of Multiverses" and must have missed out on Conner during a crisis reboot.  That doesn't make sense in concept and also doesn't explain how others remember him now.  Once again, Bendis shows he has no clue about the DC Universe.

As an aside, I know that some people reading this might think that I am bitching about continuity, but I'm not.  I am talking about understanding how the DC Universe works and knowing the characters in it.  Bendis consistently shows that he doesn't care to do basic research.  I'm so glad that gets you the Justice League book!

There are some nice moments in the issue, but after the endings of Young Justice and Superman, it's easy to see the formula.  Generic fan-service bits to try to make you feel good in a too little, too late fashion.  It's like a band playing out of tune the whole concert and then tuning their instruments for the encore.  Sure, you get a decent sounding last song, but that doesn't make up for all the shit you just suffered through!

Ending this, I can't figure out what I didn't like most about Bendis' run on the Super books, what we got, or what we didn't get.  Like most Bendis books, it will be up to the next writer (Philip Kennedy Johnson this time) to pick up the pieces and make this book readable again, but what happened to the thousand stories that Bendis pushed as the reason for the identity reveal?  I would have settled for one!!!  Oh,  John Romita Jr's art wasn't half bad on this issue, which is good because the ones before this were all bad!

Bits and Pieces:

Brian Michael Bendis finishes up his run on Action Comics by catching up to a maxi-series that ended four months ago and answering questions nobody was asking.  Besides that, it's filled with generic fan-service nonsense in place of any real character development or knowledge of the DC Universe or characters in it.  I know that change isn't always good, but in this case, it has to be!

4.0/10