Action Comics Annual #13 – Review

by Paul Cornell (writer), Marco Rudy & Ed Benes (art), Val Staples & Jason Wright (colors), and John J. Hill (letters)

The Story: A young Lex Luthor finds himself the unwilling “employee” of Darkseid and, in the back-up, the disciple of Ra’s Al-Ghul.

What’s Good: First things first: this issue is $4.99, but it’s a big, quality package that ultimately earns that price tag.  That being said, this isn’t just a double-sized issue of Paul Cornell’s Action Comics.  It has Lex Luthor, sure, but this is something different, something that allows for Cornell to show his range as a writer.

Cornell does a fantastic and very subtly nuanced job of writing the young Lex Luthor.  It is most definitely Lex, but it’s a Lex that’s more brash, fearless, and arrogant.  He’s like the first LP of your favourite band: more raw with both his flaws and strengths more readily apparent.  Sure he’s brave to the point of lunacy, but he also has a near pathological hatred of being dismissed – his inferiority complex is never clearer.  All told, young Lex makes for a compelling protagonist.

The main feature is all kinds of kooky, having a tone not unlike the old, sci-fi/cosmic adventures of the past.  It’s a kind of pure, wacky sci-fi that makes for a distinctly different read.  Helping this along is Cornell’s Darkseid, which is all kinds of awesome.  Cornell clearly has the time of his life writing the character, who is a classically bombastic “muhuhahaha” villain.  This makes for a fantastic adversary for Lex, one who clearly functions at a different level.

The generally fun artwork of Marco Rudy is a perfect fit for this story, playing up the goofy retro tone while drawing one hell of an Apokolips.  His work is a sort of noir acid trip and it ends up being quite a bit of fun.