Action Comics 858

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Review
It's not hard to tell a good Superman story by me. I'm a relative DC newbie, so I don't need a whole lot to be impressed. If a writer can just fool me into forgetting that Superman is a tired, unimaginative character, they've succeeded. Geoff Johns did it with "Last Son" (well, the first parts anyway), and now he's well on his way with "Superman & The Legion of Superheroes."

After the failed quirk of "Escape From Bizarro Land," Johns uses the first third of the book to reset the status quo in much the same manner as a million other Super-stories: Clark is at odds with his human peers, is trampled on by them, struggles to fit in, then flies off to fight a giant robot. It's textbook stuff, and almost made me want to stop reading (if it weren't for this review, I might have). But as it turns out, his friends from the Legion have sent for him and he's whisked away to the 31st century, where chaos is ensuing.

Now, I'm not a fan of gimmicks to "de-power" Superman -- if you're always trying to bring him down a level, why'd you make him that powerful in the first place?!? -- but his arrival into the future and subsequent gathering of information is handled very well. There's a degree of irony in the whole thing that kept me alert and engaged, and it didn't seem like Johns was just throwing a power inhibitor into the storyline so it'd be halfway interesting. And just because it features the Legion of Superheroes, don't be deterred: the middle third of this issue serves as a retread of Clark's first meeting with the Legion, thankfully, so no prior knowledge is required of who the hell Saturn Girl is or why they'd need Superman. Almost everything is laid out for easy access, unlike that mess "The Lightning Saga" in JLA/JSA. It seems, actually, that Geoff Johns is giving the Legion actual personalities and using them to tell an interesting story. It's refreshing.

Equally refreshing is new penciller Gary Frank's art. He's an exceedingly talented artist who could probably draw the nutritional information on a coffee can and make it look beautiful, and he delivers here. However, maybe it's because of my familiarity with his Supreme Power work, but I do see a lot of similarity here. Braniac 5 looks a lot like Doctor Spectrum (complete with rainbow beams) and the spaceship crashdown closely mimic the opening panels of Supreme Power #1. (To be fair, it was a Superman satire to begin with, I just wonder if Frank got tired of copying the scene panel for panel.)

I'm not a Superman fan but I do believe he can be used to tell some good stories. From that perspective, Action Comics #858 is actually an enjoyable read. I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the arc, too, which says a lot. And best of all, we (presumably) won't have to wait months in between issues.

Action Comics 855

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Review

There may not be a happier marriage of artist and subject than Eric Powell and Bizarro. He already draws a Bizzaro-world landscape in his own monthly, The Goon. The folks at DC decided to do the obvious thing and have him draw the real Bizarro in Action Comics #855.

Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, director of the original Superman movie, are still writing Action Comics. They take a break from the “Last Son of Krypton” storyline (to be continued in Action Comics Annual) to dig into their new arc, “Escape from Bizarro World.” Bizarro abducts Jonathan Kent, Clark goes to find him, and finds that Bizarro World is now populated by Bizarro versions of everyone from Metropolis. Bizarro ambushes Clark, and things get uglier than a hotel heiress in a fast food commercial.

Richard Donner continues to do amazing things with Superman. His adaptation of DC’s original superhero is a continuous labor of love. He somehow makes Clark Kent a sympathetic character, which few writers accomplish. There’s a remarkable flashback where a young Clark is forbidden to play football with the other kids (so as not to accidentally chuck them into the sun), and his father comforts him by teaching him to use his new-found telescopic vision to watch a pig escape it’s pen (this is Kansas, they don’t get out much).

Eric Powell isn’t a great horror artist because he draws giant, Spanish-speaking lizard monsters. He’s a great horror artist because he understands the fine line between humor and fear. Powell’s truly unsettling moments aren’t the giant spiders with derby hats, they’re the maniacal grins and dilated pupils that are eerie no matter how many times you see them. With colorist Dave Stewart’s help, Powell’s shadowy idiom has never looked more convincing.

Worth the money? If you’re a fan of Eric Powell, The Goon, or Superman, yes.