Review: Knight Terrors Action Comics #2

Knight Terrors Action Comics #2 came out last week, a split issue telling us two stories. One story is the extended Super-family fighting the Cyborg Superman in a horrific tale of despair and blood. The other is Power Girl fighting her Symbio-ship and herself to escape a sterile environment. 

I'll start off by saying the Super-family story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Mico Suayan, and Fico Ossio is incredible. Knight Terrors isn't exactly a must-read event. I don't know if this story will ripple into the main Superman books. But it is a great character piece for Otho and Osul. There is a brutal ending to the Cyborg Superman, showing us his greatest nightmare. It ends with a Wizard of Oz homage. And the art by both artists is just incredible. This is a horror story first and foremost, something I can't say about all the Knight Terrors books. This is terrifying. Fantastic. And the art is the right mix for this story. I'll be gushing throughout.

I'll also add that Johnson reminds us of a couple of things which came out of the Warworld saga which have been pushed a bit to the back regarding the twins. So I just ate this up with a spoon. 

The Power Girl story, by contrast, seems to fall flat. I honestly don't know what writer Leah Williams is doing with 'Paige' anymore. We went through a back-up story in the main Action Comics book where Power Girl seemed to come to terms with who she is. She even changed her name to Paige. She was a troubled, lost soul not the confident Peeg I am used to. But I thought at the end of that story we were in a better place. Instead, this issue plays up Power Girl's self-loathing. A self-loathing Power Girl?? I have never seen that .. ever ... in all her history. Vasco Georgiev's art is subtle and slick. But this seems way wrong.

The Superman Knight Terrors books have been, for the most part, successes in my mind as they have probed into the characters' minds in a way that builds on the main books. The Johnson/Suayan/Ossio story is so spectacular, it elevates this whole issue.

On to the details. 

Review: Knight Terrors: Superman #2

Knight Terrors: Superman #2 came out this week and was a fantastic story for fans of  the super-family. In particular, this issue really did a great job showing how close Superman and Supergirl are, at least in writer Joshua Williamson's mind. To see the super-cousins working together, talking to each other like colleagues, and saving the day. There's even some fun Lois moments. And Aquaman and Mera are the real heroes!

As I have said recently, the last year has been wonderful for me as a Supergirl fan. The bad taste that Tom King's Woman of Tomorrow mini-series has sort of been cleansed from my psyche by Joshua Williamson and Phillip Kennedy Johnson. Kara often seems wiser beyond her years, 'the smartest person in the room', and a fierce fighter of injustice. We get a ton of that here, as I'll show. But there is an unfortunate downside to all this upside ... more on that later.

The art by Tom Reilly works well with the story. There is something rough and ready with the art which amps up the nightmarish parts of the story. It has the feel of Chris Samnee, very much a compliment. I love his take on all the Supergirl variant zombies. The cover by Gleb Melnikov works well with the cousins getting ready to throw down.

I don't know if I needed Knight Terrors as an event. It makes little sense overall. But the two Superman mini-series have really utilized this little break to explore the characters and their motivations in a way that can only help the main titles. I enjoyed this a lot, especially as a Supergirl fan. 

On to some details.

Review: Knight Terrors: Action Comics #1

Knight Terrors: Action Comics #1 came out last week and was an interesting mix of horror stories.  Superman and Supergirl are carrying the horror in the Superman Knight Terrors book. Action has been an anthology book recently. So we get two stories here.

The first is a Power Girl story by Leah Williams and artist Vasco Georgiev. I wasn't a hundred percent keen on Karen becoming Paige, the psychic counselor. It feels like perhaps the psychic side of things may be waning in Williams approach to the character, even if Lilith remains a key supporting cast member. But what I like about this story is that Williams really seems to be leaning into Power Girl history. Her nightmare is a warped view of her origin from the 70's Showcase arc by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton. Now old timers like me know this story but Williams is playing a bit coy, not filling in the backstory here. It feels a little padded, as if a few pages could have been shaved off. But overall it was a good read. I don't know Georgiev but the art is breezy and strange as it should be.

The second story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Mico Suayan give us truly horrific story, driven by Osul's fear of the Cyborg Superman. This one truly reads like a horror comic with jump scares, terrifying shadows, and a story of robotics taking over a body (cue memories of the scary robot lady in Superman III). It is interesting that the Supers seem capable of sharing nightmares, perhaps showing how close they are. And Suayan's are is the stuff of nightmares.

I don't know if Knight Terrors is going to amount to anything. And I don't think I needed these stories. But both were brisk, entertaining read.

On to the details.

Review: Knight Terrors: Superman

 Dawn of DC seemed to be firing on all cylinders, at least the books I was reading and I felt like the DCU was finally picking up some momentum. So when Knight Terrors, a 2 month cross-company horror based event that no one asked for, was announced I worried. It seemed like all this was going to do was pump the brakes on some titles that were really clicking. In particular, for this site, both Superman and Action Comics are solid right now. Do I need a break?

Knight Terrors: Superman #1 came out this week and I have to say allayed a few of my fears. You can think about these books in two ways. 

One, you can think about the main title. A villain named Insomnia is wandering through hero's nightmares looking for the Nightmare Stone to rule the world. Frankly, I don't care. I am not sure if this is going to impact anything in such a way that it warrants a two month mega-block.

But the other way you can look at this is it allows creative teams to take a hard look at the title characters. If each book is going to be a deep dive into character's fears, it gives the creators some room to explore. It gives the reader a sense of what the creators think of their charges. We are just seeing what writer Joshua Williamson thinks of Superman in that book. So why not have us see 'under the hood' as it were, learning what Williamson thinks is Superman's greatest fears. We learn it is being alone. And that is interesting. We know family is important to Clark. He loves his world. He loves his friends. Of course, isolation would be terrifying. 

Add to that a major Supergirl subplot and Williamson has created a book that I very much enjoyed as a Superman fan. I don't know if I am a Knight Terrors fan ... yet. But this worked.

Gleb Melnikov gives us a moody cover of Superman of Superman falling through the night sky. Tom Reilly does the inside art and  nails it. Reilly has a sort of Chris Samnee/Michael Cho classic feel to the proceedings. Things are scary when they should be. But his inclusion of some classic DC images made me smile. And, of course, the Supergirl stuff is great. 

So far so good here. On to the details.

DC August 2023 Solicitations

The DC August 2023 solicits came out last week. As August was month 2 of the Knight Terrors event, I wasn't expecting much but those books. But it turns out there is a decent amount of super-material coming out this summer. 

Now I will admit that I don't think I am really interested in the Knight Terrors mega-event and might avoid most of it. But if you want to see all the solicits, including those books, head here:
https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-comics-august-2023-solicitations-covers/

But the best news about the month is we finally get a Supergirl spotlight, her first since Woman of Tomorrow ended.

ACTION COMICS PRESENTS: DOOMSDAY SPECIAL #1
• Written by DAN WATTERS
• Art by EDDY BARROWS
• Cover by BJÖRN BARENDS
• Variant covers by LUCIO PARRILLO and PUPPETEER LEE
• 1:25 variant cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
• 1:50 variant cover by JON BOGDANOVE

• It is a creature beyond reason—and the only force in the universe strong enough to kill Superman. It’s Doomsday, the living embodiment of death, destruction, and evolution! In the wake of Dark Crisis and Lazarus Planet, King Doomsday now sits on a throne of skulls across a river of blood, holding court over the demons that swarm in the depths of Hell…and he may have just found a way back to the land of the living. It’s now up to Supergirl and Martian Manhunter to drive the beast back and see that he never again returns to our earthly plane—even if they must die to do it! Plus: the return of Bloodwynd, the debut of the Doomhounds, and a clue to the next big Superman event!

I wrote about this issue here but there is a little more to unpack here.

One, I am very very sad that the Jon Bogdanove, Meatloaf-inspired cover is a 1:50 variant, basically meaning I won't be getting it.

Second, Doomhounds sounds like a fun concept in theory. Hope they pull it off.

Lastly, I hope that somehow this doesn't lead to Supergirl being stuck in Hell, Queen of Hell, wielding a Hell-Axe or any other nonsense.

I have high hopes for this book. I have yet to be disappointed by Dan Watters.

Now the rest of the books!