Action Comics #23.1: Cyborg Superman – Review

By: Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Mike Hawthorn (artist), Daniel Brown (colors)

The Story: The Cyborg Superman wrestles with what it means to be perfect and what it means to be alone.

The Review:  Spinning out of the dramatic reveal of last month’s Supergirl, this Villain’s Month one-shot shows us how the rivalry between two brothers created a monster.

Gone is the Fantastic Four pastiche and lovable, death-seeking Hank Henshaw and instead Michael Alan Nelson has tied the Cyborg much tighter into Superman lore. I expect that this choice will be a somewhat controversial one, however, let it not be said that he doesn’t make a good showing of it.

Unlike old standbys like Two-Face or the Joker, the Cyborg Superman can get by on a showcase issue. Though the story isn’t terribly complex, the two timelines of the issue are each engaging enough to hold a reader’s interest. Those who favor the archetypal power of comic book plots will particularly enjoy this one; however I wouldn’t blame anyone who prefers complex character work that feels that this issue is just a bit shallow. To those readers, I will merely say that while the issue favors the broad strokes of the Cyborg’s story, Nelson’s skillful writing backs it up and makes it feel alive.

Supergirl #5 – Review

By: Michael Green & Mike Johnson (writers), Mahmud Asrar (artist), Dave McCaig (colorist)

The Story: It’s a hard fact of life, Supergirl: Daddy won’t always be around.

The Review: A year or so ago, I read over a collection of old Silver Age tales starring Supergirl, and I came away a bit wistful at the bright, cheerful lass she used to be, especially in comparison to the oft-times dour young woman of recent years.  But lately it occurs to me that for Kara, her story of a being rocketed from a doomed planet is in many ways much more tragic than her cousin’s, and so if she’s repressive and emotionally raw, she has good reason to be.

As this issue emphasizes, the glory of Krypton is but a recent memory for Kara, and it’s made all the more bitter when she unexpectedly discovers the last remnants of her world and its pathetic end (“…the population dead under the last gasps of an artificial atmosphere.”).  Green-Johnson have definitely put Supergirl on a roller-coaster ride of emotion, and here they’ve mingled hope and despair indiscriminately.

Most painful of all has to be her last vision of her father, which pans out as tragically as these last messages from one’s parents tend to do.  In the end, his efforts to preserve any part bit of Krypton comes to nothing; even the sunstone carrying all the planet’s history, the fruits of his research, and “the truth about what happened to—” disintegrates, leaving only Kara’s memory and whatever artifacts her cousin inherited as the sole relics of their homeworld.

After all she goes through, it’s hard to see how she’ll get over these traumas and become the heroine she’s meant to be.  Whether or not she takes the path of the righteous, we’ll leave to a later date.  For now, she already has plenty to worry about: Simon Tycho, who’s not down for the count just yet, as seen last issue; the unseen individual who murdered Kara’s father in the sunstone recording (an act which most likely defeated any last hope for Argo City’s survival); and these Worldkillers, living Kryptonian weapons who claim to live up to their name.