Back Issue Box: Action Comics #549

Last week I was thrilled to review Action Comics #548, the first part of a two-part story that really dove into some Kryptonian history. This was a crazy story which had Vrangs hell-bent on revenge against the world that repelled them, heading to Earth to kill Superman and Supergirl. It has Phantom Zone villains escaping their prison after taking a sacred vow to the Colossus of Hadrad. And it had Clark, Lois, and Jimmy on the trail of some news stories which seemed unrelated.

Action Comics #549 was written by Cary Bates and is just as fun as part one. This one still has a lot of Kryptonian lore in it. We get an in-depth flashback of the Vrang invasion. We get the Phantom Zone villains and learn how they hate the Vrangs even more than the Els. It all ends in a battle in deep space that Superman has very little action in. For a Superman historian like me, this was a big win. 

Now I have to admit that to get to the meat of this story, the Vrang/Kryptonian battle, we have to take a few crazy story leaps. As I said before, this book seems to be padded to fill two issues. So some of the things the Phantom Zone villains do make little sense. But I won't complain.

The art is again by Alex Saviuk with inks by Vince Colletta. But the splash page is inked by Pablo Marcos making me wonder if this was an added page. In last issue's review, Isamu Yukinuri said this story was meant to be one big 46 page story for the European market. That means this second splash would definitely be new material. Saviuk is a fine artist but he feels very 'old school' for a time when people like Perez and Simonson were crushing it on other titles.

If there is one complaint about this story it is the complete lack of Supergirl. A story that hinged on Vrangs discovering Argo City and steeped in Kryptonian lore should have included Kara.

On to the book!

Back Issue Box: Action Comics #548

Sometimes you find your joy in the bargain bins. 

Action Comics #548 was sitting in my local comic shop's buck box. There was a whole brick of Superman books from just before the Crisis reset. This was a time when I wasn't reading the Superman books. So these were new to me and that meant I bought a bunch.

But of the ones I have read, Action Comics #548, the first part of a two part story, is my favorite. As a Supergirl mythos fan, as a Superman amateur historian, and as a reverb to the ongoing Kneel Before Zod book, this one just hit me. Too much fun.

Where else will you get a story with Phantom Zone Villains, Jewel Kryptonite, Argo City, the Colossus of Hadrad, and Vrangs? Break out the Superman encyclopedia! Luckily, legendary writer Cary Bates gives us a bit of primer on all these things in this story, filling in gaps for people who aren't as invested in lore as me. 

Surprisingly, despite all those things being in this book, the issue is incredibly padded with Superman stopping muggers, Superman saving people from a scientific experiment gone awry, and the Daily Planet staff getting seemingly random stories to investigate.

Artist Alex Saviuk brings a sort of stiff, old school feel to the proceedings. The usual complaint of this era of Superman books is that it feels antiquated. Indeed, the Byrne reboot injected some life in the Man of Steel. Unfortunately, Saviuk's art is a throwback and definitely added to that sort of dusty feel.

Still, for me, this one is a huge win. Even if Kara isn't exactly in this story, as a Supergirl fan and a Superman fan, this was a find.