Action Comics #18 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Rags Morales & Brad Walker (pencils), Cam Smith & Andrew Hennessy (inks), Brad Anderson (colors)

The Story: Does anyone know which dimension we’re in?

The Review: Morrison is a complicated writer.  We all know that and many of us even love that.  But there are times when he’s complicated with purpose, and there are other times when he’s just complicated.  Unfortunately, I think his stature has gotten to a point where DC just greenlights pretty much everything he produces without much interference (quite a contrast to the treatment given other, lesser-known writers, if rumors be believed).

I don’t mind it when content and substance have layers that require a little more effort on your part to parse through and appreciate.  I cannot, however, abide needlessly confusing structural choices.  By far, Morrison’s worst problem is that characters frequently don’t seem to actually respond to each other’s lines.  Take Ferlin, son of Mxyzptlk and Nyxlygsptlnz, accusing his dad, “It’s your fault my dear mother’s blood stained this foul item I’ve treasured in her memory.”

Action Comics #17 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Brad Walker & Rags Morales (pencils), Andrew Hennessy, Mark Probst, Cam Smith (inks), Gabe Eltaeb & Brad Anderson (colors)

The Story: Superman lives the worst days of his life all at once.

The Review: If you’ve decided to be a Morrison fan, then you’ve already resigned yourself to the serious highs and lows that kind of commitment requires.  Because when the man is on, he is on and you have the pleasure of reading something that can very well remain a part of comic book history.  And when he is not so good, it really is a crisis of faith, isn’t it—where you begin to reconsider whether Morriosn really deserves the reputation attached to him.

But I’m projecting.  My point is, you read Morrison knowing he aims high, so there will be falls along the way.  The worst is if he makes the descent at the end of an arc, when his trajectory should be in the opposite direction.  Most unfortunately, that seems to be the case here.  Though he spent the last year laying all kinds of bombs set to go off at this, Superman’s finest (thus far) moment, the release of energy here is chaotic and confused, with almost no sense of control.

Action Comics #16 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Brad Walker & Rags Morales (pencils), Andrew Hennessy & Mark Probst (inks), Brad Anderson (colors)

The Story: God among men versus god.

The Review: Mr. Morrison, I know you’re probably too wily and experienced to succumb to the temptation of perusing the internet for remarks on your work, but your probably know already the general criticisms about your work.  “Confusing” is the operative term you likely most often hear, but I think a more accurate description is “headache-inducing mind bogglement.”  Granted, you don’t want to alter your craft on public whim alone, but sometimes, the public has a point.

Because this issue is a prime example of what people are talking about when they complain about the obtuseness of your work.  Now, I know what you’re about to say: this is a story about time and space going bananas at the shenanigans of a fifth-dimensional being so of course the narrative will run off-kilter.  Unfortunately, that’s not where my point of contention lies.  Your reality-warping nonsense is your fictional style at its most classic and actually the best part of the issue.  The real problem lies elsewhere.

Action Comics #15 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Brad Walker & Rags Morales (pencils), Andrew Hennessy & Mark Probst (inks), Brad Anderson (colors)

The Story: Hey, even extradimensional beings can have a Shakespearean romance.

The Review: Sadly, one of my favorite moments from Morrison’s run on New X-Men was “Magneto” giving Jean a massive stroke on a planetary scale.  It was the most ingenious way to kill a being of her power I’ve seen.  That scene clued me into the scale at which Morrison develops his ideas.  He’s the only one who can embrace the sheer lunacy of the Silver Age and give it enough sense and logic to work for our highly technical generation.

In this issue, Morrison takes his ideas train into overdrive, almost flippantly tossing delightful bits of imagination at us.  Tesseract mines which release a new predatory environment when triggered may seem wonderfully bizarre at first, but they have nothing on the fifth-dimensional material which follows.