Review: Action Comics #1100

Action Comics #1100 came out last week and was a sort of turning point for all the Superman books. As a result, this jumbo issue has elements of all the Super-titles and therefore has a multiple stories from all the writers of the super-books. We are closing the book on the Reign of the Superboys and we are heading into the Kingdom of Zod.

The main story picks up the Superboy arc that Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge have been crafting, showing up how Clark became Superboy in Smallville. How he learned about his powers. How he fell in love with Lana. Waid uses this anniversary issue to basically give a quick primer on Superman's history and sort of closes the book on our Smallville arc.

The remaining stories set up the upcoming arc. Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere give us the return of present day Superman being found and heading back to the present with ... Superboy?? Sophie Campbell and Dan Mora show us Supergirl forming her super-team to head to El Caldero and the meeting between Superboy Prime and Conner Superboy (I've been waiting). Dan Slott and Lucas Meyer send us to El Caldero to show us what is going on there and revealing the super-villain of the next arc.

I love the fact that DC has used this issue to showcase all the Super-books and how they all are going to fold into this next event.

On to some particulars!

Review: Action Comics #1099

Superboy has taken over Action Comics but Superman is due to return in next month's Action Comics #1100. This made me think that this week's Action Comics #1099 might be the ultimate or the penultimate chapter of this remarkable run. 

Interestingly enough, this felt like a normal issue of this Superboy run. Yes the current story of some JLAers in the past fighting the time villain Epoch. This issue does push the plot forward quite well. But it doesn't feel 'almost over'. We had two new plots introduced in this issue! So is Superboy continuing as a back-up? As a new book? Or is Mark Waid going to rush to the end next issue?

Enough worrying about next month. Let's celebrate this month. Waid does such a great job of showing the emotional swings of an adolescent male like Clark, as he goes from anger to losing his powers to joy of getting to be a 'normal kid' to back to maturity and recognizing his need to regain his powers. We get two Lana plot threads! One, she finally seems to see Clark as a possible romantic interest. And second, we see what her father has been up to. And we get to see the problems of time travel up close as our heroes literally fade from reality. So much fun.

The art is split by Skylar Patridge and Patricio Delpeche. Patridge just sings in the small town Smallville stuff. Her Lana has been luminous, showing why Clark would be smitten. I don't know if I am ready to not see more of this stuff. Patricio Delpeche has a very different style, rougher and looser. His pages are mostly in a Metropolis lab and that style works well there.

All in all another fantastic issue in this run. On to some details.

Review: Action Comics #1098

Action Comics #1098 came out this week, another great chapter in this look back at the early career of Superboy. Given recent announcements about Action Comics #1100 we may be nearing the end of this mini-run which feels shortsighted by DC because this has been great. If DC announced a Superboy book by this creative team, I would be there.

Mark Waid has done a great job on this book, showcasingClark's early super-heroics and discovering his powers as they develop. Just as important though, he is showing the emotional side of these early adventures. The Kents' history. The Lana love triangle. The Pete Ross mystery. All great.

This issue shines a light on the earliest origin, the landing of the rocket and the Kent's adoption of Clark, leaning a little more to the classic origin and a bit away from Byrne. Waid uses a time-travel villain to make the exposition a plot component so it isn't forced. I have talked about how the Lana stuff has been very nostalgic for me, remembering my early loves in high school. The scene in this issue is fantastic.

The art is split between Skylar Patridge and Patricio Delpeche. Patridge is a cleaner style which works for the Smallville scenes, especially the Lana stuff. I was hoping that Delpeche would do only the flashback pages to keep a sort of thread to the art. But the artists are mixed throughout the issue. Both artists are great.

Onto the book.

Review: Action Comics #1097

Action Comics #1097 came out last week and was another fun chapter in this ongoing Superboy run in which Mark Waid explores the earliest days of Clark's super-heroics.

This is a fun chapter as three time-tossed heroes from the present find themselves in the past, meeting a very young Superboy and navigating the troubled waters of time-travelers and a delicate timeline. That happens from both sides of the equation. Mary Marvel, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter are trying not to relay too much to Clark. And Clark and the Kents are trying not to ask too many questions. It is that tightrope everyone is walking that is the strongest part of the issue for me, even more than the battle with Epoch, the Lord Of Time. I love this Martha and Jonathan because frankly, given my age, I think I relate to them. 

There are even some philosophoical and emotional moments involving Booster Gold that made me think for a while. I don't usually think of Booster spurring on deep thoughts but that is the magic of Mark Waid. 

Skylar Patridge is back on art and continues to shine here. Patridge has always excelled in showing us the quiet moments. But here, her action pages really sing.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1096

Action Comics #1096 came out last week, another chapter in Mark Waid's look at Superman when he was a boy and part of the 'Reign of the Superboys' event. I have thought this whole look back as a sort of 'Superman Year One' has been pitch perfect. This issue has a little bit of timey wimey stuff that was a little tough to follow but continues to show how Superman became Superman.

Waid continues to put a modern sort of take on classic elements of Superman's mythos. Pete Ross knows the secret identity, Lana loves Superboy while Clark pines, General Lane has always been suspicious. It all works. In this issue, we see Superboy dealing with the fact that there is always an emergency he could be dealing with. How does he go about his own every day life when he could always be heroing?

The cliffhanger definitely brings up a time travel conundrum of how Superman doesn't remember meeting other heroes in his past? Hopefully Waid answers that question.

Skylar Patridge is back on art and continues to shine. Clark looks like a teenager. Lana looks like that perfect 'girl next door' who would entrance Clark. And the action continues to be dynamic. To be honest, if there was a 'Superboy's girl friend Lana Lang' special with Patridge art, I would be there!

Dan Mora's cover is fun, with Superboy lacing up his Chuck Taylors. But who is the ghostly hand? The post-KO Superman? Or one of the guests we see at the end.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1093

Action Comics #1093 came out last week and was another fun chapter in this Superboy stint in the comic. Writer Mark Waid has been giving us some nice looks into these early days of super-heroics, including how the ethos of Superman was created. It is a mix of Kent-wisdom and experience that clearly are forming who this young Clark will become.

One of the questions that always plagued me as a kid reading comics is why Clark would allow the Kents to financially struggle. Or what would he do if the Kents were about to go bankrupt. Can't he wring diamonds out of coal? Waid specifically answers that here in a fun story that also shows how Superman has learned to work around laws of discovery and care. We are done-in-one here! Classic.

Another plus for the issue is the return of Skylar Patridge on art. Patridge brings a youthful look over the whole tale. As I have said, I especially love her take on the young Clark, Pete, and Lana. The art shines here.

On to details.

Review: Action Comics #1091

Action Comics #1091 came out last week, bringing a close to Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge’s first Superboy arc in the book. This is an extremely early adventure in our hero's career. I guess is it's his first adventure! And it comes with the 'is he a bad guy' Captain Comet angle as well.

The Captain Comet angle comes to an interesting end here with another lesson imparted on Superboy. But I have some questions about it. We'll get there. Waid continues to add some depth to the 'new' Smallville. This is the first time we have had a Superboy timeline in a while. So seeing Lana, Pete Ross, and Kenny Braverman interact feels fresh. Waid understands the character so seeing Clark figure it all out feels right.

Skylar Patridge remains on art and continues to bring a completely fresh, clean feel to the book. It perfectly fits these 'simpler' younger days for the character. I have said it before and I will say it now. The high school pages by Patridge are incredible. 

I think Waid has said that he had at least a year of Superboy stories in his head. So it will be fun to see the next arc and how it picks up.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1090

Action Comics #1090 came out last week, the next chapter in Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge's look at the earliest adventures of Superboy. It is the big picture for sure. Clark is testing the limits of his powers, trying to reconcile having a secret identity, having a first love, discovering he has a weakness, and trying to understand the motivations of Captain Comet. Because we are looking at a teen boy exploring his boundaries and learning about life, it really resonates with this old man. 

Waid is having a blast with the work, weaving in humor, the trials and tribulations of being a teenager, all while bringing us super-heroics. It is a sort of 'Superman Year One' now that Superboy is back in the continuity. But if I have to be honest, it is the Smallville High stuff that I am loving most. Especially the Lana stuff. 

And speaking of Lana, Skylar Patridge's art, especially the Smallville High stuff. Patridge seems to know all the things that would drive young Clark into fits and she infuses Lana with all of it. The action stuff is fun too, including some cool looking robots throwing hands.

I am really getting a kick out of this, partly because I can see a little of myself in poor Clark pining for Lana. On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1089

Action Comics #1089 came out last week, the next chapter in the Superboy story weaving through the title. And, not surprising given the quality of the earlier issues, it is a very good book. 

Writer Mark Waid is showing us Superboy at his earliest. What I like about this issue is that it shows that Clark was, by no means, perfect. With his powers manifest and a second identity to use them and soak up the adulation of others, we see a more confident Superboy. But that means it might be a little harder to accept being the 'normal' Clark Kent. Suddenly he is acting sullen to his parents, standing up to bullies a bit too much, and ready to smash the landscape to cut loose. Most adolescents rebel a little. I guess a super-adolescent might super-rebel.

On top of that, Waid introduces Captain Comet as a former super-hero perhaps trying to warn Clark not to lose control, not to get a god complex. But there is more to this Comet than meets the eye. There is something nefarious.

It makes for a good read and humanizes our hero. He is human in many ways and he shows it. Waid just seems to understand Superman.

Skylar Patridge remains on art and gives us a very nostalgic, very sweet appearing, very polished look. In particular, her Clark and Lana pages just sing. But there is one page that again showed me why I love this medium, a mix of art and words that perfectly captures the moment.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1088

Action Comics #1088 came out last week and continued the look at Clark's earliest adventures as Superboy. I don't think I realized how much I wanted this story until I started reading it. It is the oldest writing tip - don't give the audience what they want; give them what they need.

Writer Mark Waid is truly giving us the first adventures of Superboy. Last issue, we saw Clark have to reveal himself to the world, earlier than the Kents were hoping. This issue we see some of the fallout of that reveal. How was he named? Where do the glasses come from? How powerful is he right now? How does this impact how he acts as Clark? Does he get training in his powers? All of these pieces of Superman's legend have been told in bits and pieces over different continuities. But here, reading them all in one place, has been so refreshing and fun.

In particular, I am going to be interested in seeing how Waid integrates Lana and Pete Ross into the mix. Both make appearances here, hinting at more to come.

The story is perfectly complemented by Skylar Patridge's art which just feels 'young' and 'nostalgic' but also modern and gorgeous. You'll see a page in the review with Lana which is so beautiful and perfect that I lingered on it for a while before turning the page. When the art is so wonderful that I pause the read, you have a win.

I have heard Waid talk that he has at least a year planned for this Superboy run in Action Comics. I am here for it.

On to the details.

Review: Action Comics #1087

Action Comics #1087 came out last week, the first issue in this look back to Clark's earliest adventures as Superboy. If there ever was a story that needed to be told ... or is it retold ... it is this. With all the soft reboots, hard reboots, and reimaginations of recent years, I frankly don't know whether Superboy existed or not. It is time for DC to put their foot down. There was a Superboy, the adventures of Superman as a boy, who was part of the Legion. Classic.

Who better to write this tale than Mark Waid who also has been handed the difficult task of writing the upcoming History of the DCU. What started the universe? The hand Krona saw? Perpetua? Did Argo City survive Krypton's explosion? What about the Legion? 

I have the sense that Waid will do the right thing. I certainly saw it here. We get a Legion reference. We get a loving Ma and Pa. We get some Pa Kent wisdom. And we get to see a very green Clark whisking into action for the first time. We see him realize these fights are real; he gets a bit battered. We see him get an understanding how powerful he is. It really feels fresh.

Skylar Patridge is on art and brings a very appropriate feel of youth and vitality to the book. I especially love her 'cobbled together' costume with beach shorts and red high tops instead of trunks and boots. Patridge seems perfect for young characters (she was the one bright point on the recent Mariko Tamaki Supergirl stories) so is a great fit.

On to the book.

Review: Action Comics #1081 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1081 came out last week ending the weekly run this book has had over the last three months. That means the Mariko Tamaki Supergirl back-up also comes to an end.

I wish I had positive things to say about this story. But I don't. I am not even sure if I could tell you what it was about. I can definitively say it did not have a satisfactory ending. Never have I read a story where so little happened over so long a time. Worst of all, Supergirl isn't even a star in her own story. She fails time and again.

Was there a theme to this tale? Some subtext I am missing? Some epiphany that should have struck me? If there was, I didn't recognize it.

12 issues. 10 pages an issue. 120 pages. That's a 6 issue mini-series! Think of any effective mini-series you have read and compare it to this mess.

As always, Skye Patridge's art is beautiful. I can only hope we see more of her work later.

I try to be positive about all comics. But this was a mess. And as a Supergirl fan that makes me a little discouraged. Because who would read this story and want to read more Kara adventures.

On to details.

Review: Action Comics #1080 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1080 came out last week and for the 11th straight week I get to review an underwhelming Supergirl chapter by Mariko Tamaki. Our winter of discontent ends next issue. 

This has been a maddening sort of Supergirl story for many reasons. Her lack of effectiveness, agency, or intelligence in this solo story stand in stark contrast to how she has been shown in the main story in the title, the Superman title, and even the recent Superwoman Special. She is an afterthought in her own showcase.

Moreover, the underpinning of this whole thing, the secretive nature enforced by Superman, the mandatory need for this to be a solo mission (underdone by Tamaki's insertion of Power Girl these last few weeks), why Supergirl was the only person who could do this mission ... all the reasons why it had to be Supergirl have not paid off. And I doubt they will in the last chapter.

And once again, this week, Supergirl basically doesn't do much here other than be tossed about mentally and physically. Also, what about the mission she was put on to bring this being to justice/jail. Will she do it?

Once again, I will ask you all to think about this as a Supergirl story and  think about what has happened. Outside of a Power Girl mind meld (which defeats the 'solo' need), if you pulled Supergirl out of this story and replaced her with any space-faring superhero the story would read the same. This could just as easily be a Jade story. Or Hawkgirl. This isn't a Supergirl story.

If there is one bright part to this whole thing it is Skye Patridge's art. I did not know Patridge's work before this. It has a sort of 'Bilquis Evely meets Guy Davis' sensibility which works for me. 

On to this chapter.

Review: Action Comics #1079 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1079 came out last week, the tenth entry in Mark Waid's Phantom Zone story. That means we are finally nearing the end of the Mariko Tamaki Supergirl story.

Incredibly, something actually happens in this chapter. There is a little action. There is a couple of nice moments for Kara. But as usual, Supergirl still isn't the hero in her own story. Still, this is probably the best chapter we have had so far.

But there are problems. We are in chapter ten. There are two chapters left. Let's assume that the last chapter is a wrap-up, Kara back home on Earth. That means this whole space story has to wrap up next week, in ten pages. No way we get a satisfactory ending.

Next we have to think of all the other things. What is Kara's mission because right now she seems more like a friend than a warden to this being. Why did Superman send her alone? Who are these beings? 

This story meandered so much I fear it will take a miracle to tie off everything that has happened (or not happened) here. And given the previous chapters, it probably isn't going to happen.

Skylar Patridge is back on art and there are some well constructed pages in this part. Supergirl looks very good here as well. Hope to see more of Patridge somewhere. But we are again saddled with a meaningless opening splash with a circular object, this time the planetoid. Ten percent of this story has been opening splashes that have not added to the proceedings.

On to the story. 

Review: Action Comics #1078 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1078 came out this week, the ninth issue of this weekly turn for the title. 

That means we are 9 parts ... 90 pages ... into Mariko Tamaki's Supergirl story. I thought this was only a 10 part Supergirl story but I was wrong. This is a 12-parter. Perhaps I was deluding myself?

This chapter is just as confusing and tedious as the prior eight. We are three quarters of the way through and we haven't been a lot to go one here. I feel lost some times, bored most times. Worse than that, Tamaki brings Power Girl into this story with a bizarre take on the Kara/'Paige' relationship that hasn't ever been seen in the near 50 years of the two characters being around. 

I will again ask how this slog made it past the pitch stage let alone be pushed to print without editorial taking the reins to tighten it up.

Skylar Patridge is back on art and brings her airy style to things. I like Patridge's work here. But she also has been plagued a bit with the script. This chapter has 3 splash pages but only one of the depictions (the spooky last page) deserves the big art. In fact, Tamaki has really padded this whole story with opening splash pages of eyes, scepters, circuitry, and other banal pieces of the story.

Buckle up. This is a bumpy ride.

Review: Action Comics #1075 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1075 came out last week, a 'special milestone 1075th issue'! I don't know why that number deserves the extra attention but here we are with special trade dress.

It also is the 6th chapter in the Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge Supergirl story meaning we are officially at the halfway point of this plodding story. 

Once more we have a brief, sparse, boring chapter with nearly no progress to the story. Tamaki seems to be treading water in this tale, stretching out a story idea until it is so decompressed it is difficult to read. Worst than that, Supergirl again has almost nothing to do in this story. Every conflict that has arisen in this story is solved by someone else. Supergirl seems ineffective, inept, lost. And even more worse is that as of this chapter - six chapters in mind you, you could pull Kara out of this story and replace her with any other character and it would read the same. Yes, Superman keeps saying that this is a mission that only Supergirl could pull off but we have yet to read why. And even Kara doesn't seem to know anything about it either.

As a Supergirl fan this is frustrating. She doesn't get many solo stories. She needs to shine when she is given the chance. And this story isn't that. 

The art remains top notch. I like Skylar Patridge's breathy style with an ethereal sort of style. Her Kara is fantastic. The cover by Clayton Henry highlights some memorable scenes from Action Comics history including a shot of Kara leaving her rocket (Great Guns!). 

So on to this story, another "Supergirl" story. 

Review: Action Comics #1074 - Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1074 came out last week, including the fifth part of the Supergirl back-up story by writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Skylar Patridge. 

Frankly, I am frustrated with this Supergirl story. 

We are five parts into this 'mystery mission' of Supergirl escorting a prisoner with universal threatening power. But who is it? And why does she need to do it alone? Tamaki has given us nothing to go on in five issues. Instead we get confusing story-telling, empty dialogue, and worst of all, a boring take.

This is supposed to be a showcase solo story for Supergirl. She is completely ineffectual in this story. As of now there is nothing that makes this a Kara story. Take her out and put in Natasha Irons, Starfire, or Hawkgirl and it would read completely the same. She has not even been a hero in this story. She is confused and helpless. In the Supergirl Special Tamaki wrote, the most action we saw was Supergirl eating a cupcake. In this story, we have Supergirl lose every encounter she is in, whether it is a physical altercation or an intelligent conversation. 

If this is supposed to drum up interest in the Supergirl character, it is going to fail. Because she is an afterthought in her own boring story. It is frustrating.

It's a shame because I am a fan of Skylar Patridge's art. And this Mark Spears variant cover is a killer too.

On to the indecipherable story points.

Review: Action Comics #1073 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1073 came out last week, another of the weekly releases for the title during this Mark Waid main run. 

I was excited when I first heard that Supergirl was going to be the backup for this weekly run. But when the writer was announced as Mariko Tamaki, I had some trepidation. Other runs of hers, and in particular her inscrutable and boring Supergirl Special, made me worry this wasn't going to be a strong arc for Kara.

We are now four chapters into this Supergirl story and, I suppose not surprisingly, it is inscrutable and boring. Supergirl has been sent into space on a secret mission. But the details have been left unknown to the reader as well. I suppose Tamaki thinks a big reveal at the end will be a jolt for the reader. Unfortunately all the coy dancing around the actual plot has made this feel like a slog.

This chapter we get to finally see the prisoner Kara has been sent to fetch. There is a lot of vague dialogue from the villain that is more maddening than mysterious. It seems to imply there is some connection between Kara and the prisoner but there isn't a whiff of specifics.

Supergirl as a character doesn't get a lot of room to shine on her own in the DCU these days. Features like this are a sort of showcase for her, perhaps to drum up support for a new solo run. But a story like this (and like that Special) do the opposite. Kara doesn't shine her. She doesn't do much at all. She seems almost like a side plot device in her own story. And as readers we aren't invested because we don't know what the heck is happening. It's a shame.

As always, I like the art by Skylar Patridge. While there isn't much action in this chapter, there is some fun contrivances that allow Patridge to stretch a bit. The art is definitely the high point of the story.

On to the details, the few there are.

Review: Action Comics #1072 Supergirl Back-Up

Action Comics #1072 came out this week, the third weekly issue and therefore the third part in the Supergirl back-up feature by writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Skylar Patridge. 

I have exactly liked this story so far. As a reader, I still have little idea of what Supergirl's mission is, why she needed to be alone to do it, and what (if anything) Superman knew before he sent her off. She has hypnotized friends. She has asked questions that don't lead to information. And she has been mostly ineffective in accomplishing much of anything.

Alas, this chapter is more of the same. We get, maybe, a small crumb of information about the 'prisoner', at least a concept about them. But not much more. A question I had from last issue is answered here, explaining something I thought was a plot contrivance. But another plot point is added that makes this story feel even more dodgy. For the most part, Kara is basically ineffective. She asks a lot of questions and is otherwise failing on every aspect of her reason for being there. 

Honestly, I really feel we are treading water. And there is nothing I have seen so far that makes me understand why this had to be solo mission. That is the crux of this story and three parts in, I have no clue.

Maybe by the time we get to the end, Tamaki will have made this ride understandable.

As for the art, I remain a fan of Patridge's work. I feel like her work is a wonderful stew of other artists I love. This issue I felt there was a sort of Joelle Jones feel to things. We get more action sequences here and I liked how those flowed.

But still, this is mostly a slow boil. And I was hoping for more.

Review: Action Comics #1071 Supergirl Back-Up

I have been away on vacation and so will try to catch up on reviews over the next couple of weeks.

Let's start right off with the Supergirl back-up story from last week's Action Comics #1071.

I struggled a little with the first part to this tale. From the lack of details to Supergirl's hypnotic mind-wipes of her friends, it was a bit of a riddle. Mariko Tamaki's story telling remains a bit dodgy. I hoped that things would pick up. 

But this second piece of the story just made me ask more questions. We still don't know much of the details about Supergirl's mission. In fact, she doesn't seem to know much about her mission either. That makes me question just what Superman knew about it before he sent her. If he knew nothing, it is a rough mission that he sending her out alone to do. If he does know more, then he is withholding information. That doesn't feel right either. 

But there are other questions about this story that stuck out to me. Things that happen, or don't happen, which make very little internal sense to me. The dreaded 'this happened to move the story along' thought creeped into my mind more than once. And in a short back-up story, that is never good. 

Skylar Patridge continues to be the star of this show. With a sort of rough pencil style that seems part Guy Davis and part Bilquis Evelyn, the art is quite captivating. The brief action in this chapter feels fast and violent. 

So far, however, this story hasn't grabbed me. On to the details.