Binker
Superhero
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 7,118
- Reaction score
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- Points
- 73
ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #10
Writer-Geoff Johns & Richard Donner
Art by Art Adams, Joe Kubert, Pete Woods, Rags Morales, Kevin Maguire, Eric Wight and Tony Daniel
Cover by Adam Kubert and Joe Kubert
Variant cover by Gary Frank
Editor-Mark Idelson & Nachie Castro
PLOT:
Five stories and two special features, this annual of Action Comics gives readers insight to Superman's world that is now primary after the aftermath of Infinite Crisis.
REVIEW:
As we wait for the next Action Comics issue, we're given the return of annuals. They stopped a few years back but have resumed again. It started with Batman back in winter '05 and then Superman/Batman in mid 2006, and now Superman has one. Annuals are special issues, and after DC got hit with Infinite Crisis this annual hopefully would give us the insight of Superman in the post-IC universe.
The first was "The Many Deaths of Superman". This storyline has Lex Luthor talk to "us" about his intentions to kill Superman. He explains that since Superman's presence, he sees the world relying on him and him only and fears everyone will go "fatter and lazier" and that he is pointing out that its for people inside earth to inspire the rest, not outside it.. He continues showing us that while Superman is powerful, it does not mean he can not be killed. As we all know, otherwise Superman would be very boring to read. We see the three deaths: death by magic, brutal force and as always, kryptonite.
My thoughts on it is that it provides us with what is inside Luthor's mind on Superman and in turn shows us the three main types of deaths and the general idea its suppose to work. I'd say it works well as I expect this annual to be for new readers as well.
Second story is "Who is Clark Kent's Big Brother?". In this one, Clark tells us what happened on a monday during his (looks like junior) high school years and how he and Mon-El met. Since Mon-El said "Jor-El, Krypton" among other things, Clark insists he is from krypton. Yet, its his father that advises not to be too quick on him. Days later, Mon-El has nightmares and tells Clark to take him to the basement where all of Clark's stuff relating to Krypton is. He shows Mon-El a box with kryptonite inside protected by lead. But its the lead that affects Mon-El and thus he remembers who he is. He is not kryptonian but from the planet Daxam who sent himself to earth to see where and what was inside the last ship to leave Krypton before it exploded. Because of the lead, Mon-El is dying and asks Clark to send him into the Phantom Zone until there is a cure for him. Clark still remembers Mon-El and wishes it were Monday again.
The story about Young Clark Kent gives us a bit of insight of the "super-boy" mentioned in the Busiek Superman title issues. It seems his powers came to him as a kid, as he can fly and do things that before took him a while until adulthood to get. Clark is similar to the Clark Kent from Smallville, he has knowledge of krypton from knowing Jor-El to having the phantom zone projector. Also, similar to how Clark wears clothes that are a prelude to his costume on the show, Clark here decides to wear a Smallville football team's t-shirt with an "S". The rest is simply Superboy. From him wearing the glasses, which is both (in my opinion) a reference to Superboy and Superman Returns, and the public beign told that people are being saved from a "superboy". Also from the movies, Ben Hubbard exists in the DCU now. If this issue feels like you've read it 5-6 times, it due to not only is it a remake of a Superboy story but its art is what makes it Silver Age-like. I liked it.
The third storyline is short. A thanagar police crusier goes to inspect what has destroyed three other crusiers and it comes under attack by three Bizarros and behind them, a cube shaped planet earth: Bizarro World. That's it. Of all the stories here, this was the less interesting. Its set up to be a tease for us, but at the same time I feel there should've been a better idea to use here. Maybe Superman discovering Bizarro World and probably answering if Luthor's Bizarro clone still exists in this timeline would've been better. There still would've been a tease as the question would be if Bizarro World would come up again in a future, Silver Age homage, storyline. Again, the art is very '50s Silver Age-like. But trust me, this part can be skipped if you have the book.
The fourth storyline gives us Krypton before it was destroyed: "The Criminals of Krypton". Told from present to flashback and back, Jor-El imprisons General Zod, Ursa and Non. At the point they escape, we see what happened before that when Non and Jor-El, friends, were conducting their tests on Krypton and hoping to save everyone from its destrucation which was to happen in ninty days. General Zod and Ursa come to arrest Non and Jor-El under reasosn that are completly false, and take them to the council who warn them to cease their work. Zod and Ursa find out the real truth about Krypton and that the council had taken Non and made him mindless. Zod urges Jor-El to join him to take over the planet from the council, but Jor-El doesn't want to that. The three cause death in their wake before being captured. Back to the present, the kryptonian military come in as backup and subdue the three villians. Avoiding death, Jor-El uses the Phantom Zone projector and sends them away.
The Krypton story was something I didn't expect. I was expecting the same olde stuff, even from the films. I wasn't expecting Jor-El and Non, Ursa & Zod to be friends, and Non to talk like smart guy. That was....freaky. As from we can see from the planet, Krypton is not like the movies. The only thing they share is the crystal technology, the rest is an warm enviroment. If the whole Zod/Jor-El seem familar, its because its somewhat based on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto from X-Men. In that they both had a goal, but had different approaches to it. That is better than the well known relationship from the films where Zod hated Jor-El because he was imprisoned by him. Theres more here. Also to add, Krypto was seen next to Lara and Kal-El in one scene. Another good story from the annual.
"The Deadliest Forms of Kryptonite". In this final story, Lex Luthor goes through (like he did in the first story) the different forms of Kryptonite. Green kills Superman by killing his cells at a time. Red causes bizarre changes, Blue works on Bizarro like Green does for Superman and Gold makes sure Superman can not get the power fromt he yellow sun. And while he doesn't mention it, black is also seen (and still around) as it causes Superman to split to good and evil. At the end, Luthor starts up his Superman Revenge Squad and first thing: upgrades Metallo into using all the kryptonites listed above.
So the final story is kryptonite and now in today's DCU, theres more than green. Its not the first time various kryptonites appeared in the modern stories, besides alot of versions being on Smallville. Red K appeared in the story arc where Clark prosed to Lois, only it was created by Mr. Mxyzptlk. Then if you go back to the first arc of Superman/Batman, the meteor of kryptonite that exploded let out alot of many colored kryptonites. And finally, black kryptonite was used in the first arc to Supergirl. So even before Infinite Crisis, more started to appeared besdies green. Now I like the multi-colored kryptonites now, before I really didn't. The reason was the same as everyone else who hated the idea of more than one: there were ALOT of them. Now we have the total of five kryptonites, better than before was fourteen total. This was another good one, alot of good info for our post-IC DCU.
Added also were two specials. The first was my favorite: inside our originally movie now comic version of the new Fortress of Solitude. Now the movie Fortress was something I always wanted to know what was inside. Because it seemed liked there were other things inside but it was difficult to figure how they were in somethig like this or where you would get there. While this Fortress isn't exactly the one from the film, at least we see whats inside which is stuff from the Silver Age (kandor, robots of Superman's allies and the Legion of Superheroes) and the films (memory crystal console). The other was Superman's Most Wanted list. It sorta stands in for the profiles for the villians.
So thats the 10th Annual to Action Comics. Overall, this was a good issue and something many should get if they didn't already. Now the obivious question, something that I keep mentioning in my reviews like the Confidential titles: continuity. Its a mixture of everything. From the Silver age to the films. Like for one, when we see Mon-El looking at what was caught from Krypton exploding , we see Kal-El's ship from Birthright. This goes into conflict with the ship from Superman Confidential #1. More reason why we need a new origin series for Superman. Despite the fact that we got things from teases, and some questions weren't answered, we still got very good things like whats inside the Fortress and got an overview from Superman's world.
RATING: 9/10
NEXT ISSUE: Continuing "Last Son" into Part 3, Superman faces off against the three vilians who threaten the world and the new adopted son to Lois & Superman.
Writer-Geoff Johns & Richard Donner
Art by Art Adams, Joe Kubert, Pete Woods, Rags Morales, Kevin Maguire, Eric Wight and Tony Daniel
Cover by Adam Kubert and Joe Kubert
Variant cover by Gary Frank
Editor-Mark Idelson & Nachie Castro
PLOT:
Five stories and two special features, this annual of Action Comics gives readers insight to Superman's world that is now primary after the aftermath of Infinite Crisis.
REVIEW:
As we wait for the next Action Comics issue, we're given the return of annuals. They stopped a few years back but have resumed again. It started with Batman back in winter '05 and then Superman/Batman in mid 2006, and now Superman has one. Annuals are special issues, and after DC got hit with Infinite Crisis this annual hopefully would give us the insight of Superman in the post-IC universe.
The first was "The Many Deaths of Superman". This storyline has Lex Luthor talk to "us" about his intentions to kill Superman. He explains that since Superman's presence, he sees the world relying on him and him only and fears everyone will go "fatter and lazier" and that he is pointing out that its for people inside earth to inspire the rest, not outside it.. He continues showing us that while Superman is powerful, it does not mean he can not be killed. As we all know, otherwise Superman would be very boring to read. We see the three deaths: death by magic, brutal force and as always, kryptonite.
My thoughts on it is that it provides us with what is inside Luthor's mind on Superman and in turn shows us the three main types of deaths and the general idea its suppose to work. I'd say it works well as I expect this annual to be for new readers as well.
Second story is "Who is Clark Kent's Big Brother?". In this one, Clark tells us what happened on a monday during his (looks like junior) high school years and how he and Mon-El met. Since Mon-El said "Jor-El, Krypton" among other things, Clark insists he is from krypton. Yet, its his father that advises not to be too quick on him. Days later, Mon-El has nightmares and tells Clark to take him to the basement where all of Clark's stuff relating to Krypton is. He shows Mon-El a box with kryptonite inside protected by lead. But its the lead that affects Mon-El and thus he remembers who he is. He is not kryptonian but from the planet Daxam who sent himself to earth to see where and what was inside the last ship to leave Krypton before it exploded. Because of the lead, Mon-El is dying and asks Clark to send him into the Phantom Zone until there is a cure for him. Clark still remembers Mon-El and wishes it were Monday again.
The story about Young Clark Kent gives us a bit of insight of the "super-boy" mentioned in the Busiek Superman title issues. It seems his powers came to him as a kid, as he can fly and do things that before took him a while until adulthood to get. Clark is similar to the Clark Kent from Smallville, he has knowledge of krypton from knowing Jor-El to having the phantom zone projector. Also, similar to how Clark wears clothes that are a prelude to his costume on the show, Clark here decides to wear a Smallville football team's t-shirt with an "S". The rest is simply Superboy. From him wearing the glasses, which is both (in my opinion) a reference to Superboy and Superman Returns, and the public beign told that people are being saved from a "superboy". Also from the movies, Ben Hubbard exists in the DCU now. If this issue feels like you've read it 5-6 times, it due to not only is it a remake of a Superboy story but its art is what makes it Silver Age-like. I liked it.
The third storyline is short. A thanagar police crusier goes to inspect what has destroyed three other crusiers and it comes under attack by three Bizarros and behind them, a cube shaped planet earth: Bizarro World. That's it. Of all the stories here, this was the less interesting. Its set up to be a tease for us, but at the same time I feel there should've been a better idea to use here. Maybe Superman discovering Bizarro World and probably answering if Luthor's Bizarro clone still exists in this timeline would've been better. There still would've been a tease as the question would be if Bizarro World would come up again in a future, Silver Age homage, storyline. Again, the art is very '50s Silver Age-like. But trust me, this part can be skipped if you have the book.
The fourth storyline gives us Krypton before it was destroyed: "The Criminals of Krypton". Told from present to flashback and back, Jor-El imprisons General Zod, Ursa and Non. At the point they escape, we see what happened before that when Non and Jor-El, friends, were conducting their tests on Krypton and hoping to save everyone from its destrucation which was to happen in ninty days. General Zod and Ursa come to arrest Non and Jor-El under reasosn that are completly false, and take them to the council who warn them to cease their work. Zod and Ursa find out the real truth about Krypton and that the council had taken Non and made him mindless. Zod urges Jor-El to join him to take over the planet from the council, but Jor-El doesn't want to that. The three cause death in their wake before being captured. Back to the present, the kryptonian military come in as backup and subdue the three villians. Avoiding death, Jor-El uses the Phantom Zone projector and sends them away.
The Krypton story was something I didn't expect. I was expecting the same olde stuff, even from the films. I wasn't expecting Jor-El and Non, Ursa & Zod to be friends, and Non to talk like smart guy. That was....freaky. As from we can see from the planet, Krypton is not like the movies. The only thing they share is the crystal technology, the rest is an warm enviroment. If the whole Zod/Jor-El seem familar, its because its somewhat based on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto from X-Men. In that they both had a goal, but had different approaches to it. That is better than the well known relationship from the films where Zod hated Jor-El because he was imprisoned by him. Theres more here. Also to add, Krypto was seen next to Lara and Kal-El in one scene. Another good story from the annual.
"The Deadliest Forms of Kryptonite". In this final story, Lex Luthor goes through (like he did in the first story) the different forms of Kryptonite. Green kills Superman by killing his cells at a time. Red causes bizarre changes, Blue works on Bizarro like Green does for Superman and Gold makes sure Superman can not get the power fromt he yellow sun. And while he doesn't mention it, black is also seen (and still around) as it causes Superman to split to good and evil. At the end, Luthor starts up his Superman Revenge Squad and first thing: upgrades Metallo into using all the kryptonites listed above.
So the final story is kryptonite and now in today's DCU, theres more than green. Its not the first time various kryptonites appeared in the modern stories, besides alot of versions being on Smallville. Red K appeared in the story arc where Clark prosed to Lois, only it was created by Mr. Mxyzptlk. Then if you go back to the first arc of Superman/Batman, the meteor of kryptonite that exploded let out alot of many colored kryptonites. And finally, black kryptonite was used in the first arc to Supergirl. So even before Infinite Crisis, more started to appeared besdies green. Now I like the multi-colored kryptonites now, before I really didn't. The reason was the same as everyone else who hated the idea of more than one: there were ALOT of them. Now we have the total of five kryptonites, better than before was fourteen total. This was another good one, alot of good info for our post-IC DCU.
Added also were two specials. The first was my favorite: inside our originally movie now comic version of the new Fortress of Solitude. Now the movie Fortress was something I always wanted to know what was inside. Because it seemed liked there were other things inside but it was difficult to figure how they were in somethig like this or where you would get there. While this Fortress isn't exactly the one from the film, at least we see whats inside which is stuff from the Silver Age (kandor, robots of Superman's allies and the Legion of Superheroes) and the films (memory crystal console). The other was Superman's Most Wanted list. It sorta stands in for the profiles for the villians.
So thats the 10th Annual to Action Comics. Overall, this was a good issue and something many should get if they didn't already. Now the obivious question, something that I keep mentioning in my reviews like the Confidential titles: continuity. Its a mixture of everything. From the Silver age to the films. Like for one, when we see Mon-El looking at what was caught from Krypton exploding , we see Kal-El's ship from Birthright. This goes into conflict with the ship from Superman Confidential #1. More reason why we need a new origin series for Superman. Despite the fact that we got things from teases, and some questions weren't answered, we still got very good things like whats inside the Fortress and got an overview from Superman's world.
RATING: 9/10
NEXT ISSUE: Continuing "Last Son" into Part 3, Superman faces off against the three vilians who threaten the world and the new adopted son to Lois & Superman.
