Action Comics #1068 came out last week and was another crackling good issue with two very entertaining stories in the issue.
In the opening story, writer Gail Simone and artist Eddy Barrows give us another very Bronze Age feel tale of Superman thwarting aliens who are putting Superman through a series of contests he must overcome. The reason? Gambling! Last issue was a love letter to Superman Vs Muhammad Ali. This issue continues that early 70s feel from invulnerable capes to Lois demanding to be called Ms. to Jimmy's signal watch, it screams Bronze Age in the best way. Barrows art is dynamic with more action lines than you can shake a stick at. We end on a great cliffhanger. I have loved this more than I thought I was going to.
Just as entertaining, but in a different way, is the back-up written by Rainbow Rowell with art by Cian Tormey. Last issue, Lois took Clark off the Superman beat. This issue we see the fallout .. personally, professionally, heroically. This is a great story as I can understand both sides of the professional story. I appreciate seeing how this seeps into the marriage. And it ends with another great cliffhanger. Cian Tormey brings a very thick-lined approach to this grounded story which works very well.
No complaints here on this very entertaining issue. On to the specifics!
Last issue ended on an overly silly cliffhanger. The aliens had floated an aircraft carrier above Metropolis to host the boxing match. With the fight over, they drop it.
Simone brings some reality into the Bronze Age, having Superman realize that he can't just carry the ship from the middle or it'll snap. So we get to see an intelligent Superman utilizing his strength and speed to slow down the fall and drop the ship into the water.
I like a smart Superman. And Barrows shows this in a slick way with multiple images of Superman in the panels.
As the ship plummets, we see Lois and Jimmy trying to hold on for their lives. Suddenly, we see them safe on the top of the Daily Planet.
This was one of the few low points in the book. It is hard to go from them on the carrier to on the roof without a panel showing the super-rescue or an explanation.
But this is a quibble.
With Superman out of it because a ship landed on him, Lois and Jimmy are brought to the alien mother-ship, a sort of floating casino.
It is clear that the aliens don't like losing and plan to pit Superman against a few more challenges. Lois wonders if the games are rigged.
I do love the 'It's Ms. Lane' line, a sort of throwback to the ERA movement and women needing to demand it. We've (sort of) come a long way baby.
Superman joins the party and is faced with the next game. The bottled city of Kandor is about poised to get ripped to shreds by a dozen robotic weapon arms.
Simone gives us a tender moment. Lois tells Superman why she became a reporter. To fight injustice. This is the moment Superman fell in love with her.
I am quite smitten with this groovy Lois!
With Lois and Superman gearing up to tackle the challenge, Superman's other second ... Jimmy ... sneaks off to try and figure out what he can do to help.
How great is this? Luthor has hacked Jimmy's signal watch!
Lex would've died had the carrier hit the city so I like that he has decided to help here. But there is something delicious about Lex not only knowing about the watch but tapping into it.
In a bit of old school invulnerability, Superman covers the bottle in his super-cape, blocking the weapons and keeping the city safe while he disables the traps.
I haven't thought about the invulnerable cape in a while. But it fits the theme here. It is a bit of a cheat but it isn't like these aliens are playing fair.
One more challenge coming up .. a Daxamite.
So much fun all around here.
But I think I might have liked the back-up more.
Lois basically demotes Clark to general stories, off the Metro beat and Superman.
Feeling spurned, Clark clams up at home, not talking to Lois and not even sharing the same bed.
I like Lois putting it frankly. Clark the reporter is her employee. Clark the husband is ignoring her. And Superman is a story, one being covered by intern Mariposa in a less than flattering way.
I can see Lois's side, the conflict of interest. I can see Clark's side too. I'm not surprised they are squabbling at home.
But seeing Clark covering things like a dog show is a sad. He must feel humiliated.
(I laughed out loud at the 'did you call her Lana' line. Best moment in the whole issue.)
(I laughed out loud at the 'did you call her Lana' line. Best moment in the whole issue.)
When Superman saves Mariposa and Jimmy from a fire which started with a fight with Atomic Skull, she asks him a provocative question. She is trying to blame the villain's acts on Superman's presence.
He flies off without answering.
Superman and Clark has some power in this dynamic. Superman can stop being a story for the Planet.
Fascinating.
I have liked Rowell's recent work on She-Hulk. But this story is electric.
So a very very good issue, top to bottom.
Overall grade: A
6 comments:
I have to admit I like the back up better too. The art is good at action but it really soars with emotional panels. The story is one of Rowell's best and explores a dynamic I don't think anyone else has ever approached and does it deftly.
The lead story again left me cold though. Is it set on the revived Earth 1 from Convergence? It's also hurt by trying to make Jimmy work in a modern setting. Jimmy is dead weight and has been for decades. Worst of all, none of Simone's humor and slight whimsy is here. It's not as bleak and depressing as Uncanny X-Men #1 and might have worked for another writer, but without even a panel of Simone's usual style it feels lesser.
Jimmy's "did you call her Lana" line had me rolling on the floor laughing too. I respectfully disagree with Steve about Jimmy being dead weight. No other character in the Superman universe could credibly deliver that kind of bemused everyman commentary. He's also proven incredibly flexible over the decades going from Silver Age bumbler to Kirby's youthful adventurer into the fantastic to Mr. Action and drawing on all three templates at different times since. His basic likeability and good intentions and sometimes surprising competence when the chips are down make him an always welcome mainstay to this longtime comic book fan.
Too review! I agree we should have seen Superman deposit pal and gal on the Planet roof but we did see the motion of him grabbing them before they fell to their deaths, at the bottom of page four.
Anyway, another great issue. I loved the people of Metropolis helping Superman out of the bay, the silent Lobo cameo in the bar, the unusual - these days - omniscient narration, and the Jimmy as Flamebird reference. I had no problems with the cape saving Kandor, that’s a totally valid piece of Superman’s kit, especially in a Bronze Age homage.
But what was Wildcat doing in this issue, on page five? He’s never been a local resident, has he?
The back-up was fun, but the premise that if Clark isn’t covering Superman, it’s dog shows and world record attempts, is ridiculous; this is Metropolis, he’s meant to be an investigative reporter, there’s loads of stuff to do… what was Lois’s area before she took on Perry’s role? Clark could do that.
And what did I miss in the funeral panel, why might it have been newsworthy?
Stunning cover!
This issue was one of the most purely magnificent representations of what makes Superman truly super that I've seen in a while. That's because while part of the character's remarkability will always come from their possession of superpowers and by extension the ability to perform extraordinary feats that inspire awe via the sheer spectacle of their extraordinary defiance of the limits of reality, another part of Superman's greatness rests in his sheer moral force. Anybody could hypothetically be given the kinds of powers Clark has and perform extraordinary feats. The implication of the comics has always been though that of all the people who could have been given these powers, Clark is truly super because he takes the powers and uses them purely to try and help the world around him become the best possible version of itself. In so doing, he become the noblest possible version of himself. For Clark, doing good is as natural as breathing, and that remarkable impulse towards goodness as much as his powers is what truly makes him Superman.
What's crucial about that nobility is it's also the reason Lois loves him, and thus the reason why the relationship between Lois and Clark is so special. There are any number of women on Earth who could love Clark because of his looks; because if they know he's Superman they're in awe of his power; or simply because they're attracted to the concept of being a Superhero's girlfriend. Lois alone loves him because she loves that pure, unique decency. That's why the Clark and Lois relationship is genuinely special. At the end of the day, it's a romance between two people who love each other because they mutually respect the best possible versions of themselves that they can be and want to help each other be that best version. Lois running into Clark's arms, confessing the reason she became a reporter and by extension her love for him, and the snapshot of, "the moment attraction became devotion," is a masterful encapsulation of the emotional force of everything that is endearing about the Clark and Lois relationship. That alone makes this a great Superman story. If the next issue has even one moment as powerful as that one, that will cement this tale as one of the best Superman short stories ever.
As for the backup, it's an outstanding continuation of the "present day" plot for Superman. Although some reviewers apparently seem to disagree with this, Lois is absolutely correct to note that Clark's reporting on himself is a serious violation of journalistic ethics and that he should think of the Daily Planet as more than a means of giving him a cover identity. Forcing him to grapple with the nitty gritty of everyday journalism is an excellent way of showing Clark that he can't just expect special treatment in his professional role because of his dual role as Superman, and in turn helps to reenforce that journalism is a calling not just a profession. My interpretation of Lois doing all of this is to demonstrate that real journalism is often a tough, thankless profession that requires true spiritual dedication to the job of informing the public to genuinely appreciate. Hopefully, Clark can come out of this experience with a renewed respect for the tough work his non-superpowered colleagues put into the job, as well as a sense of gratitude for the immense privilege of writing for a major newspaper.
Beyond that, the one point I'll note is that it's telling in the home scenes from Rowell's story that the Super Twins are completely absent while Jon is present. Maybe there's a benign explanation for that, but I'm taking it as a sign that Superman writers have stopped trying to account for them, and by extension the twins have effectively been shoved out of the mythos. Maybe that's reading a bit much into this, but it just seems that this and other stories written after PKJ's departure from Action Comics have effectively erased the twins. At this point, the main question I have regarding them is whether they'll get an actual send off or if their erasure won't even be remarked upon.
Gail Simone, "Makes Superman Special Again" I can pay her no higher compliment. Maybe the storyline has been done before, but Gail still manages to extract some value from it, and as usual, set up another one of her signature cliffhangers. Count me in as well as an admirer of the Lois Vs Superman back up, that story works because "they are both right" and the argument flows from their deepest held convictions....which is always a good start for great storytelling.
JF
Thanks for all the comments!
I missed that panel Mart of Superman heading to Lois and Jimmy, that would have helped me a ton.
And glad everyone else is enjoying the back-up feature. Solid storytelling and pathos there!
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