Review: Action Comics #874

Action Comics #874 is the second of a three part story crossing over through the Action and Superman titles. This short arc really appears to be more of a prelude to the next year of stories in all the Super-titles.

We all know Mon-El and Guardian will star in Superman. We know Nightwing and Flamebird will be starring in Action. We know Superman will be on the World of New Krypton. We just have to get there.

This issue picks up right where the last issue of Superman left off. When Superman sees Zod sitting at the head of the Kryptonian military parade, he flies down to confront him. Zod's troops fly in to protect him.

One thing I thought was interesting was that despite Superman's clearly violent intentions, Zod's troops do not pummel him. Instead they merely restrain him.

Zod tries to tell Superman that much has changed since their prior encounters. There is no need for them to attack each other. The new reality is 'Zod on Krypton' not 'Zod on Earth'. Now that Zod is amongst his people, he doesn't care what happens on Superman's adopted planet.

Alura shows up and reminds Superman that history is written by the victors. If Zod had been successful in his attack on the Science Council on Krypton then space arks would have been built and countless Kryptonians would have been saved. Zod would have gone down in time as Krypton's savior rather than it's evil fascist.

Alura, as leader of New Krypton, tells Superman that she pardoned Zod and his men because they had spent at least 200 years in the Phantom Zone, a long enough sentence for justice to be served. And certainly more justice than normally seen on Earth where killers can walk free, for example Zor-El's killers.

We have seen enough of Alura now to know that she has turned the corner a bit. She is clearly in militaristic totalitarian mode. It is so easy for her to validate her reasons for allying herself with a sociopath like Zod.

One thing I really liked about this scene was Superman's asking how Kara is doing. It is one quick question but it shows how close they have become over the last year.

Do you think he would ever ask about Supergirl's welfare when she was in 'kill Kal-El' mode, when she was staying away from him ... in other words when Jeph Loeb or Joe Kelly were writing? Doubtful.

It just feels right for the super-cousins to be close, friendly, a team. I am glad the current super-teams agree with that sentiment.

Alura tells Kal that Kara us doing fine. And Zod tells him that 'Chris' Lor-Zod is of no concern for Kal-El.

Surprisingly, despite earlier proclamations that Superman should stay away from New Krypton, Alura now welcomes him back. She tells him that she hopes he will renounce Earth and rejoin the Kryptonian society. Zod states he also hopes Superman will 'come home'.

I doubt that Superman will renounce Earth but he probably feels responsible for the current Kryptonian society and where it is going. We know his answer is going to be to settle on New Krypton. But I doubt he will be welcomed with open arms.

But the Kryptonians have another mystery to ponder. Brainiac's ship has disappeared. And they have no idea who took it.

We know though. Somehow it is in area 7734 and in Luthor's hands; we saw Brainiac's ship there in Adventure Comics #0. In that issue we learn that Brainiac is more on-line than we have been shown. Most likely Brainiac took control remotely and brought it to Earth.

Given his nature I am surprised that General Lane is not asking Luthor more quetions about how Lex obtained it. Of course, Lane is probably more interested in weaponizing the tech than thinking about it's origins. If Brainiac's science 'made' New Krypton, certainly it has the potential to unmake it.

Earth isn't taking the nearby Kryptonian threat lightly either. The United Nations passed a resolution that bans all Kryptonians except Superman from Earth.

Kara is now no longer welcome on Earth. Hmmm ... maybe the Linda Lang identity is there to hide the fact Supergirl is on Earth. Maybe she will have to hide her existence again so the UN won't come after her.

Could we be looking at another era of 'Superman's Emergency Secret Weapon'? It would sort of jibe with the retro-fitting of Silver Age elements into today's comics. Could be interesting for a short term.

This UN proclamation also grabs to interest of Flamebird and Nightwing (now in Coast City). It looks like they are taking a tour of all the major cities in the DCU. What could they be hunting? Other renegade Kryptonians lingering on Earth?

Conflicted about what to do next, Superman takes Lois to the Fortress of Solitude to hash out his next step. Lois wonders aloud if Zod could have changed but Kal isn't buying it.

He has seen evil in Zod's eyes.

Before they can talk more, Mon-El begins screaming from the Phantom Zone. The Zone is being eaten away from the inside. A void is growing which has killed everyone in the zone except him. I wonder what has destroyed the Phantom Zone. At the very least, I guess that removes the Zone as an easy out for the creators ... a place to stuff the 100K Kryptonians.

Mon-El begs Superman to pull him from the Phantom Zone, preferring to die a man rather than a phantom. Superman acquiesces and pulls him from the portal only to have Mon-El collapse at his feet dying. Nice cliffhanger ...

There was also a 'Origins and Omens' feature about the Guardian which seems to hint the female clone he is raising as his daughter is not long for this world.

Overall this was an okay issue.

I know we need to position these characters so that this year's stories can unfold logically. The thing for me is that most of the storylines we see in this issue we already know the ending to. We know Mon-El lives. We know Superman goes to New Krypton. As a result, this felt like we were just killing time or taking baby steps in plot development.

It also didn't help that I found Pablo Raimondi's art somewhat murky and uneven here. Whoever the guest artists are, they will always be found lacking when compared to Gary Frank. But this was a pretty stark contrast, even to Pete Woods' detailed sharp work.

Still, the plot threads did move forward. And some plots will defiitely impact Supergirl.

Overall grade: B-

Back Issue Box: Adventure Comics #381

Adventure Comics was once a flagship title in the DC universe with anchors like the Legion of Superheroes and Supergirl leading the way. With the current retro-fitting of the DCU to a more Silver Age sensibility (after years of 'grim and gritty' fare), Adventure Comics is back and in a big way. Adventure Comics #0 was released last week, reprinting the Legion's first appearance and including a very interesting 'Omens and Origins' story about Lex Luthor and Kon-El.

With this rebirth of the title, I thought I would take a look back at Adventure Comics #381, Supergirl's first issue as the headliner and her first 'booklength' tale. The book was released in 1969, 10 years after Supergirl's first appearance in Action Comics. 'The Supergirl Gang' was written by Cary Bates and drawn by Win Mortimer.

I included the opening splash page because I think it is a very nice 'one stop shopping' review of Kara's history. In three sentences, a new reader basically knows the broad strokes of Supergirl's history and is also thrust into the issue's story.


The story starts out in Metropolis where Supergirl is patrolling for Superman while he is away on a deep space mission. While flying overhead, she hears a muffled explosion and comes across a gang of thieves robbing a safe. She has little problem overpowering them but is shocked to see that all the thieves are young women she recognizes from the Stanhope College campus. Even stranger, they all seem to be dazed and amnsetic when questioned at the police station.


After some simple questioning with the girls while in her Linda identity, Supergirl discovers that they all had enrolled in a local Detective School for women. Wanting to learn more, Linda goes to a demonstration the school is having where a woman dressed suspiciously like the women burglars shows her prowess in marksmanship, safe cracking, and martial arts.

Adding to the mystery, the school itself is made of lead-lined walls blocking any XRay vision reconnaisance.

Deciding to some old-fashioned detective work herself, Supergirl flies to Gotham and lets herself into the Batcave.

Can you imagine Batman just allowing Supergirl to rifle through his files in today's DC Universe? Not likely ... or not happily. It was a simpler time.

Still the legwork seems to have paid off. The man running the school is a known felon named Albert Maxom.

Of course, you would think the Metropolis Police should have figured this out as well.

Unfortunately, Supergirl doesn't think there is quite enough evidence to blow the case wide open. She also want to be able to produce some proof that the girls were not knowingly involved in the crime. The best place to gather that evidence is from the inside.

Linda joins the school and passes the first challenge, fighting back when confronted by some thugs. Since she was with other students, she could not use her powers. Luckily, the thugs were actually robots that shut down. Maxom uses the robots to see if his females students will fight back if confronted. If you don't try to fight back against his robots you are expelled.

After some snooping, Linda also discovers a plausible reason for the lead-lined walls. Maxom (who is posing as his legitimate twin brother) has a working nuclear reactor in the school. He is trying to create atomic weapons to fight crime.

An atomic reactor in a detective school? Sounds pretty suspicious to me but it makes Linda doubt her instincts that things are not on the level here.

I tend to chuckle a bit at things like this when looking at it from a 2009 sensibility. Who would approve a private nuclear reactor just outside of Metropolis and next to a college?

Despite being a new girl, Linda strives to head right to the head of the class, especially when she hears that a new crime might be being committed that night. Her only way to get on that squad is to dispatch the top student in the class, a blonde named Miss Barbour.

As you can see, Miss Barbour has a secret too. But more on that later ....

Despite being overmatched in martial art skills, Linda defeats Barbour who literally collapses from exhaustion.

Promoted to the upper echelon, Linda and the other girls are brought into a secret room where Maxom, dressed in a suit of mirrors, hypnotizes them into doing his bidding ... committing crimes and giving him the loot.

So let me see if I understand this Maxom guy. He has access to a nuclear reactor and robot thugs and can also mass hypnotize. And he thinks the most efficient way to use this hardware and skill set is to send female college students on daring break-ins? Seems at the very least he just should just send the robots in.

And doesn't Supergirl have enough information now to shut the whole operation down? I would think so. But instead she proceeds with the plans of robbing a Metropolis bank.

The girls, including Linda, are successful in robbing a local bank. Superman, who has returned from space is about to stop them when he notices Supergirl amongst the pack. She in turn leaves him a microscopic message telling him she knows what she is doing. Superman actually trusts Supergirl (near inconceivable back then) and lets the girls escape back to the school.

Supergirl finally decides to end the charade. She ties up Maxom's associates and let's him know she has uncovered the whole seedy mess. She even has time to grab her Linda Danvers robot to explain away how she was there for the robberies and yet is *not* really Linda Danvers.

But just as Supergirl is about to lead Maxom to justice, he pulls out his last ace in the hole. The robots seen earlier attack again but this time they expose Kryptonite they have hidden in their mechanics. Supergirl is suddenly incapacitated.

But Miss Barbour shows up in her own reveal ... as Batgirl ... and swings Supergirl far enough away from the Kryptonite that she is no longer effected. Get it .... Miss Barbour ... Barbara ... Barbara Gordon ... nice little unexpected twist.

Now I really have to question Maxom's crime prowess. He had access to Kryptonite wielding robots and he sent out barely trained college co-eds to rob banks? Couldn't he just sell the Kryptonite to the mob and live on the interest he would collect?

With the robots far away, Supergirl simply blows them apart with her super-breath. And Batgirl gets the honors of punching out Maxom. Another job well done by the female World's Finest team.

I have to admit the Batgirl reveal was a bit of a surprise when I first read this issue. A pleasant surprise.

And it was nice to see Supergirl finally get her own title rather than a few pages at the back end of Action Comics. As a result, this issue also has some historic qualities for the Supergirl fan, it being her first solo issue and all. I see this issue run between $15-40 dollars at conventions depending on condition. It is a nice piece to have in a Supergirl collection.

Overall grade: solid B