Action Comics #900

Boy, the more I see and read about Action Comics #900, the more excited I am to see it. The DCU Source blog recently gave more details about all the goodies inside. Here is that link and some blurbs (in blue):
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/03/31/action-comics-900-all-of-the-many-many-details/

The 51-page lead story by Paul Cornell, Pete Woods and Jesus Merino sees Superman return to ACTION just in time for both the conclusion of the critically-acclaimed “Black Ring” story starring Lex Luthor and the start of the next act of “Reign of Doomsday”.

I'll be interested to see just what the page breakdown is going to be between Merino and Woods. I hope they are bunched. I'd hate to go back and forth between those two styles as that would be pretty jarring.

And just how will this Lex story end? Will the sudden turn of events of #899 be fleshed out? Will there be more LoisBot? And where does Doomsday fit in?

As a bonus, Dan Jurgens, Rags Morales, Ardian Syaf, Jamal Igle and Gary Frank are each contributing their artistic talents to special segments of this main story.

But wait, there’s more!

Okay, I was hoping that Jamal Igle's pages are Supergirl-centric since she will be involved in the Doomsday brawl. It would have been great to see some Igle Supergirl again. But on his Formspring, Igle said Supergirl wasn't in his scene. Bummer.

I have to assume that Dan Jurgens will be handling some sort of flashback page within the book looking back at the first Doomsday storyline.

But there will also be pages by Frank, Morales, and Syaf too!

Action #900 will contain short comic stories by:

- Damon Lindelof and Ryan Sook

- David Goyer and Miguel Sepulveda

- Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

- Paul Dini and RB Silva

I know I am being fanboyish but what a great collection of talent here as well. As a big fan of the Johns/Frank Superman work I can't wait to read that story. But Lindelof, Goyer, and Dini penned stories is an embarrassment of riches.  And I have droned on about how great I think Ryan Sook's work is in the past so I won't gush more. RB Silva just did the great Jimmy Olsen one-shot and Miguel Sepulveda is doing the Superman/Batman Annual this month and the advance pages have been sweet. So DC really has done a great job collecting talent for this landmark issue.

And that’s STILL not enough…

Richard Donner and Derek Hoffman collaborated on a story that’ll be presented in a screenplay format that we’ll run alongside storyboards by Matt Camp.

I love that Richard Donner still feels attached to the character of Superman. I have also talked in the past about how amazed I am that the Donner films have been a big influence on a lot of comic creators. It will be interesting to see how the screenplay format play out in a comic.

Matt Camp did great stuff as the ultimate Supergirl pinch hitter during the Gates run. As story boards tend to be rough sketches, I don't expect to see the usual perfect pristine Camp art on this story.

And one last thing ...

Brian Stelfreeze adds in a two-page spread showing the evolution of Superman throughout the decades, drawn in the art styles of some of Superman’s most well-known artists.

Okay, I used this as a cheesy excuse to post my Stelfreeze Supergirl commission again.

I also am a big Stelfreeze fan so this issue is like a smorgasbord of some of my favorite writers and artists.

I figure Stelfreeze will give us some Shuster, Boring, Swan, Adams, and Byrne. But who will he try to mimic from the 90s and 00s? Jurgens? McGuiness? Any other guesses.

The bottom line is I am glad DC is treating this issue with the respect it deserves. I will be trying to grab one of the Hughes variant covers.