Action Comics #991 came out last week, the finale of the long-awaited The Oz Effect storyline. We have seen Oz manipulating events since the Geoff Johns/JRJR issues. We recently learned he was Jor-El, plucked from Krypton by Dr. Manhattan (we assume). We know that Jor-El knows something terrible is coming to Earth and he wants his family safe, humanity be damned. It all has been steamrolling to a cataclysmic ending.
Unfortunately, it ends with more of a whimper than a bang.
Writer Dan Jurgens ratchets up the contrast between Oz and Superman in this issue, again hammering home the difference in these two men's thoughts. Kal thinks mankind is inherently good. He has hope. Jor thinks humanity is evil and beyond help. There is little place to go from such a difference than a throwdown. And there can be no easy resolution to that either. So we get something of a quick and somewhat unsatisfying ending to this whole thing. Maybe I am being too harsh.
Artist Viktor Bogdanovic is on art here and I have loved his issues on the Superman books. He really captures emotions and action very well. The ending of the book is very dramatic and the images totally sell it. I can only hope we see him again soon.
On to the issue.
Just as ironic is Superman looking at his father as the villain of the piece. Gone is iconic imagery, the statue holding up Krypton . Instead, this is a person responsible for untold death from the chaos around the globe. Again, this is family destruction, not salvation.
I hope that Jon's fears from what grand-dad told him isn't swept under the rug once this arc is over. This should be something gnawing at Jon, keeping him awake at night. And I like Lois trying to play peacemaker. She knows all too well that a fight between fathers and their kids doesn't end well.
But once here, the gloves are off and two Kryptonians can start to slug it out. It brawl carries them into Mxy's prison. Now Clark knows it was Jor-El who was responsible for the New 52 conundrum!
A few issues back I wondered how Jor-El could be surviving with a chunk of Green K for an eye. I suppose I should've known that it would be a weapon.
Jor-El's body was evolved to control Green K. And, of course, he can shoot eye beams with it.
Suddenly this discussion about the good of humanity has become a life and death struggle.
There is something very Cable about this now. I suppose Rebirth was supposed to remove the Extreme and Grittiness of the New 52. Maybe this coarsening of Jor-El is a reminder of the impact Watchmen had on comics. Maybe this is what Jor-El would look like in that grungy world?
Jor-El continues to hammer away at Superman with Green K until, finally, Superman seems to get through to his father.
How can Jor-El be simultaneously trying to save Kal and kill him with Green K? Who will save Superman from his own father.
It is an eye-opening line and we see the shock of realization on Jor-El's face. Even better, all we see is the unscarred side of the face. It is the 'human' part that comprehends. Great art!
Superman flies in and snaps the odd scythe Oz has been carrying. The staff has been giving off toxic energy, which may or may not have been controlling Jor-El.
That seems too easy an answer. Manhattan was controlling Jor-El with the staff? Did Jor-El sleep with it? When did he get it? How does it work?
I don't know. It just felt like that came out of left field.
But once the staff is broken, Jor-El is suddenly in a better state of mind.
He talks of recognizing what Superman means to Earth. The S-shield reflected in his eye is a nice touch (but shouldn't it be backwards?).
Unfortunately, the staff was also keeping the Kryptonite from poisoning Jor-El. I guess he didn't really 'evolve' like he had said a few pages before. He's dying.
I don't know ... also a bit fast. The staff becomes everything.
But before Jor-El can actually die, the place becomes awash in Manhattan Blue. Jor is pulled through a vortex and Superman is left standing in front of the wall of monitors (like Ozymandias') before he is blipped back to the Fortress.
Will we see Jor-El again? Is he dead? Will he be part of Doomsday Clock? Was he really being controlled by Manhattan the whole time? Did he not have any of those feelings for humanity?
I guess we have to wait. But this also was fast.
Think about it. In the span of a few pages, Jor-El uses Green K, tries to kill Kal, realizes he's trying to kill Kal, has his staff broken, breaks free from control, begins dying of green K, and disappears. Whew!
Superman heads back to Metropolis where Jon and Lois are still on the roof of the Daily Planet. In a fantastic page, not shared here so please buy the book, we see Superman weighed down by word balloons showcasing the horror happening all around the world. It is a splash, Superman small, the balloons almost crushing him.
But he can't let people lose hope. He heads back out to work. But he isn't smiling; this isn't iconic. He has a flat expression. His shoulders seem slumped. This is like a job right now, one he is weary of.
Maybe I was expecting too much out of this. I mean how could this end well? Superman killing Jor-El? Jor-El realizing his errors and becoming a cast member? Was this plot too big a task for anyone to end well?
The back and forth at the beginning was very good. That half face panel is brilliant. Even the arc up to know has been intriguing. But the ending ...
Overall grade: B-
6 comments:
You're right, there couldn't be a good ending to a story that uses the image of Jor-El to such awful effect. I also think it was hobbled by a Monarch Manoeuvre... I mean, does anyone who saw Mr Oz debut in the Johns Superman believe he was intended to be Jor-El, used in this way? I'm convinced whatever Johns' original plan was got dropped when he left, but realising they had a dangling mystery man, he was shoehorned into Rebirth.
Bring on the Doomsday Clock, so we can move on.
What did you make of the cover? A Macy's parade wink? Talk about bloated.
And does that cover say $3.99? I thought the fortnightlies were still $2.99 - I buy digitally, and the price tag is taken off.
"Unfortunately, it ends with more of a whimper than a bang."
Definitely. Before the beginning of the arc I thought it was a bad idea, and I guessed right.
"Perhaps the most twisted thing Oz has done in this story is try to break apart Clark and his family."
Given that he killed his own brother right before...
By the way, he talks about saving his family... but apparently his niece isn't a part of it. This feels like a meta-commentary to Supergirl's current situation. She interacted with Kal more times during the New 52 era. Let us think about it.
"For no apparent reason, Jor-El transports Kal and himself to his prison land, a place between time and space, a place which will be a safe haven from the destruction coming."
I thought Superman didn't remember anything about the split?
And since Superman Reborn has been brought up, do you remember Superman visiting his extended family and asking them help to fight Mr. Oz? What happened?
"Maybe this coarsening of Jor-El is a reminder of the impact Watchmen had on comics. Maybe this is what Jor-El would look like in that grungy world?"
Well, nearly every Krypton since 1986 has been all but a dystopia...
"I don't know ... also a bit fast. The staff becomes everything."
Yes, it's a bit too easy. I guess it's a better option than Jor-El being a broken bastard, but... then why telling the history in first place?
"I mean, does anyone who saw Mr Oz debut in the Johns Superman believe he was intended to be Jor-El, used in this way? I'm convinced whatever Johns' original plan was got dropped when he left, but realising they had a dangling mystery man, he was shoehorned into Rebirth."
My thoughts, exactly.
"Bring on the Doomsday Clock, so we can move on."
Yes, so far it's been disappointing.
Given that Berganza has been ousted, I wonder who the next Superman editor will be. Will he/she know and respect continuity? Will he nudge the writers to depict a close Superman family or Supergirl will remain ignored?
And for God's sake, don't bring Bendis in!
Lenticular cover -$3.99
Perhaps Superman meant 'blue energy' being the big threat and not Oz.
I think DC wanted Cyborg Superman Zor-El to simply be gone, especially with Jurgens bring back Henshaw. So Zor-El became a good bullet.
Bring on Doomsday Clock!
I still have hope for Doomsday Clock despite whatever this was. Jor-El was a better character dead. If they really wanted this arc written, why didn't they use Zor-El? He already has the traits of Mr Oz. Then they wouldn't have had to create a contrived magic staff of evil mind control and turned Dr Manhattan into a demented wizard puppetmaster.
I'd say I'm glad this is over, but...
"I hope that Jon's fears from what grand-dad told him isn't swept under the rug once this arc is over. This should be something gnawing at Jon, keeping him awake at night."
If this was done well, this could be interesting. But given the next two months' solicits & all of the heavy-handed "Jon is DESTINED to be a villain" BS, it'll just be used to justify insisting he's a bad seed and wasting a character who could be super interesting (my money is on wasting him Lian Harper style, frankly). I don't trust the current creative team at all to treat Jon as an actual character, only as another source of angst for his dad. Especially Jurgens, who really doesn't care about the family dynamic all that much except where editorial demands it.
"I think DC wanted Cyborg Superman Zor-El to simply be gone"
A verily noble goal which I fully support.
"Then they wouldn't have had to create a contrived magic staff of evil mind control and turned Dr Manhattan into a demented wizard puppetmaster."
That's the thing. Why Manhattan is doing all of this? It doesn't fit...
... unless he has been turned into a giant meta-commentary to denounce character derailment (Parallax Hal Jordan, Dark Supergirl, Hydra Captain America... why did someone think they were good ideas?)
" I don't trust the current creative team at all to treat Jon as an actual character, only as another source of angst for his dad."
The sad thing is, Jurgens created him.
My theory is Jurgens thought no more stories featuring "his" Superman would be written, so he decided to pull a "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" and give him a family... but that story's popularity caught him and DC out of guard.
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