Action Comics #6 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Andy Kubert (penciller), John Dell (inker), Brad Anderson (colorist), Sholly Fisch (feature writer), Chriscross (feature artist), Jose Villarrubia (feature colorist)

The Story: Now you know where all those little voices in your head are coming from.

The Review: I don’t think I’m the only one, but I sometimes give Morrison a lot of flak for being purposely obscure in his writing.  The combination of his strange ideas, highly stylized choice of words, and loose playing with time and space often leave me bewildered, unsure if I’m reading genius or gobbledygook.

After reading this issue the first time around, I sat back, my mouth slightly agape, and murmured aloud, “Am I high, or is he?”  Maybe I read it too quickly or too carelessly, but I could not make head or tail of it.  On the second reading, I sat back again, this time my mouth pursed in thought.  All the pieces I had found so disjointed, wordy, and confusing the first time around had come together and made a deep impression on me.  Or, to be accurate, I should say it impressed me.

For one thing, Morrison amazes, as he regularly does, with the boundless enthusiasm and scope of his ideas.  Who else would come up with a plot involving tesseracts that allow objects to be bigger inside themselves than out, allowing Superman’s enemies to hide and plot within his very brain?  Who else can give a rocket ship character, actually making you feel invested in its fate?  When it comes to sheer creativity, this issue beats all preceding ones by a mile, and that alone makes it truly memorable for the first time since this series relaunched.

That’s not to say there aren’t flaws.  It’s still baffling why Morrison chooses to tell this particular tale smack-dab in the middle of a story arc where T-shirt Superman already has his hands full against the Collector of Worlds.  The fact that his rocket ship plays a significant part in the issue also throws you off track, since up until #3, the military still had it in their possession.  Also weird is the presence of Drekken, or Erik, or whoever that shapeshifting foe is; he doesn’t do much other than get in Superman’s way, and you never find out where he came from.

Action Comics #5 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Invasion of the Space Babies!  They’ll overwhelm you with their cuteness!

The Review: The coming of Superman to Earth as a babe rocketed from the doomed planet of Krypton is probably the origin story of origin stories, one which still retains a lot of its purity and sense of wonder to this day.  There’s just something inescapably poignant about the idea of a mother and father doing all they can to save their child, putting their trust in an unknown world to foster him, and him becoming its savior in return.

It’s a great story, but one that’s been told and retold so often, and with so little variation in the telling, that it’s become a bit tiresome to hear.  Weariness is the predominant feeling you get when reading through the first half of this issue.  For anyone who knows anything about the Superman mythos, nothing Grant Morrison writes will surprise you.  The classic details are all here, untwisted, and while that’s a relief on a lot of levels, it’s also rather dull to read.

The changes Morrison introduces to the story are few and subtle in nature.  Lara has a more critical role in Kal-El’s sojourn to Earth; she helped Jor-El build the saving rocket, and she’s the one who arrives at their last, desperate option to save their son when Jor-El freezes.  You discover that before they put Kal into the rocket, they attempted to save themselves by escaping into the Phantom Zone, only to find it already occupied by the worst of Krypton’s sadists.

While a lot of the issue is at least readable, if not refreshing, Morrison dives into some very exotic turns of phrase when writing the voice of the rocket’s Brainiac A.I.  I’ve never liked it much when Morrison puts on his beat poet hat; it just seems distracting and sometimes confusing: “Then blinding gulfs of superspace.  Of un-time.  Exquisite calculations.  The last son of Krypton dreams.  And searching.  And now!”

And that’s before you get to the completely baffling sequence involving a time-traveling chase of the Anti-Superman Army by Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and grown-up, body-suited Superman (as opposed to folksy Superman).  This scene not only breaks into the middle of the “Collector of Worlds” arc (which doesn’t continue this issue), it delivers puzzling language of its own: “This, all the K in the universe—the colored isotopes synthi-K and Kryptonium…”

The Legion of Super-Heroes #3 – Review

by Paul Levitz (writer), Yildiray Cinar (pencils), Francis Portela (pencils & inks), Wayne Faucher (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), and Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story: Earth-Man is forced to go on his first mission as a Green Lantern and the Legion finds itself pitted against Saturn Queen.

What’s Good: I absolutely love Earth-Man under Levitz’s hand.  He adds a really fun dynamic to the team, his dialogue is consistently dickish, and Levitz continues to tease new developments for the character.  I’ve really enjoyed Levitz’s placing Niedrigh in increasingly uncomfortable positions, and when, this month, he’s forced to save the lives of some tiny lifeforms on a far away planet, it’s really amusing in a “fish out of water” sort of way. Earth-Man’s constant tone of dismissive disgust is fun, but I’m starting to become increasingly interested in a possible redemption further down the road for the character, which may very well be the route Levitz is taking him.  It’s promising stuff and honestly, the more Earth-Man I get from Levitz the better.

Beyond this, much of what has made this Legion relaunch so successful this month recurs.  The large cast is handled aptly with all the characters feeling natural and in possession of their own unique voices.  Furthermore, by modern comic standards, this is another issue that is packed with content; a lot of narrative movement occurs.  While it’s not quite as ridiculously crammed as the last two issues, it’s still heftier than most comics and feels a bit more settled.

The Legion of Super-Heroes #2 – Review

by Paul Levitz (writer), Yildiray Cinar & Francis Portela (pencils), Wayne Faucher & Francis Portela (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), and Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story: Earth-Man joins his first mission with the Legion as the Legionnaires deal with the fall of Titan.  Meanwhile, Saturn Queen returns to wreak havoc.

What’s Good: In his return to writing duties, it’s clear that no one gave Levitz the memo about decompression.  Thank goodness for that because the result is that the Legion reads like no other book on the stands right now.  This book is thick.  It’s a 30 page story, but that doesn’t do justice to how dense it is.  Levitz somehow manages to perfectly balance the Legion’s notoriously large cast with around four to five sub-plots.  Much like last month’s debut, it’s mind blowing how much actually happens this month as well as how many scene changes there are.  This issue is so ridiculously packed with content and story that were it $2.99, I’d feel like I was short-changing DC.

What’s particularly remarkable is that Levitz never loses control.  Things never feel scattered.  More remarkable still is that Levitz finds time for a good amount of characterization.  All of the many characters carry distinct voices.  Braniac 5 in particular remains a total blast under Levitz’s pen.

Much like Levitz wonderfully manages his multitude of characters, he also is able to make every single of his sub-plots engaging.  Every plot strand left me wanting to know more and left me wanting next month’s issue.  What the heck is going on with Saturn Girl’s kids?  What’s Saturn Queen up to?  What’s going to happen to Titan’s refugees?  Individually, each of these plots is standard fare, I suppose, but when weaved together, the result is overwhelming.  It’s really fun to find so many corners of interest in a single comic.

I also enjoyed Levitz’s use of Earth-Man even more than last month.  Indeed, Earth-Man, for me, is the most intriguing of Levitz’s many threads, if only because so many questions abound, particularly regarding his Green Lantern ring and what he’ll end up doing with it.  Levitz is quickly fashioning Earth-Man into a fully realized, three dimensional character who is showing the potential to be more than a simple, xenophobic asshole.

I have nothing negative to say about Cinar’s work on this book.  It’s clear that he was the right choice for the Legion and he manages the book deftly, with a good mix of modern sleekness and the old school vibe that’s a necessity for a sci fi book like the Legion.  It’s nothing overly fancy, but it also remains friendly throughout.

Adventure Comics #2 – Review

By Geoff Johns and Michael Shoemaker (writers), Francis Manapul and Clayton Henry (artists), Brian Buccellato and Brian Reber (colorists)

The Stories: Johns opens the book on a squadron of military helicopters searching for Brainiac and Luthor, who have both just escaped. Brainiac and Luthor are in cahoots and nothing good is going to come of this. Flash forward to Conner getting ready for Cassie to come over for supper. They each have issues to struggle through. The second story is about the Legion of Superheroes. Mekt Ranzz (Lightning Lord) will tell the Legion where all the supervillain safehouses are if Lightning Lad will talk to him in prison. Seems easy, right? Wrong!

What’s Good: Johns did some very solid character work on the Superboy story. Connor  is wound up, worrying about how he looks, and he’s hopelessly transparent, yet perfectly believable. I also really like the clever use of Conner’s obsessive little lists. What did Superman do? What did Luthor do? The amount of time he spends looking at those two columns and comparing himself to them show how worried he is about who he is. Johns also did really deft work on Cassie and Conner catching up. That year apart put a lot of space between them. This character work sounds like it would be dull, but it’s exactly the opposite because both characters are so likable with their desires so obvious.

Johns and Shoemaker pulled some more fine writing out of their hats for the Legion story. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to follow the Legion, so I don’t remember Garth being so spun up, but Johns sets up the characters so even a long-absent fan like me can understand everything. The human supremacy movement was an interesting touch (not original, but interesting), as were the words that Garth and Mekt shared. I didn’t see that surprise coming.

Manapul’s art was brilliantly page-slowing for me. I’d be done with the words, but reluctant to turn the page, because I wanted to keep admiring the art. The double splash page opening the book was awesome and I loved the realism combined with the rough, almost old-school pencil lines that Manapul left for strategic shading. Brainiac sitting in his control chair, wires sprouting from his head, Luthor standing in prison browns with smears of blood on his wrists… All memorable and awesome…Also Manapul’s and Buccellato’s work on Cassie and Conner under a pink, starry sky was just great.

What’s Not So Good: I had no complaints whatsoever about the Superboy story. However, I wasn’t wowed by Clayton Henry’s pencils on the Legion back-up story, nor was it easy on my suspension of disbelief to see super-powered prisoners manacled in their cells in costume.

Conclusion: This issue is worth buying just for the Superboy story. Little action on the outside, but lots of action on the inside. Buy this book.

Rating: B

-DS Arsenault

Legion of Super Heroes #38 – Review

By: Jim Shooter (Writer), Francis Manapul (Pencils)

I’m a big fan of Jim Shooter’s work – especially his Valiant stuff. When I heard he was coming back to comics to work on Legion of Super Heroes, I immediately ordered the title. The problem is I know nothing about the Legion! Upon reading his debut issue (#37), I was completely confused by the story and its characters. I just couldn’t follow it! Those familiar with the book seemed to love Shooter’s story, so I decided to continue buying the book. Besides, Francis Manapul’s art is utterly gorgeous.

Issue #38’s story is much easier to follow for newbies like me. I still don’t know much about the characters or why Lightning Lad ‘s so stressed out, but the action that takes place on Triton’s pretty cool (nicely done, Mr. Manapul), and the wanna-be new members that apply for the team are hilarious. But where is all this going?

It’s got to be leading somewhere, but from what I’ve seen so far the plot is giving me no indication on what’s gonna happen next. It’s almost like Shooter’s making this up as he goes along. The only thing I can surmise is Lightning Lad’s inevitable breakdown. I can always count on Manapul’s art to be good, but if I’m still confused by the end of next issue, I’m probably going to drop this book. (Grade: C)

-J. Montes