Comic Review: ACTION COMICS #4
God I’m trying so hard to like this book...
God Im trying so hard to like this book. It does so many things right but then it goes and messes on itself a couple of times and like a tired parent I get frustrated from having to tidy it up. This is one of the most action based issues of the series so far however it has some quite odd and little nonsensical moments that bring me back to square one.
The storys pace has finally picked up and we have hit our first punch up between Superman and Braniac (or rather his possessed drones, one being John Metallo Corben) as he decends on Metropolis. Its an enjoyable scene however the pacing became jarring at times (more on that later).
One of my favourite parts of this issue was the exploration of Braniac as a villain as an entity. Ive always been quite a fan of this villain and Geoff Johns Braniac arc is one of my favourite Superman stories ever. A cognitive hive of intelligencealways fascinated me, but Braniac was never truly used to the best of its abilities (especially visually) and struggled to pull off a timeless version of the character. Im glad to see the Johns/Frank cocoon design to Braniac make a return (if not a bit more parasitic than previously but thats not a deal breaker). Im a little bit cautious about the direction Braniac is leading to but I would be lying if I said I wasnt excited about where Grant Morrison is taking the character, especially with his tentative team up with Luthor.
This issue sees the debut of Action Comics back up story starring Steel. The backup story alone is an enjoyable read from Sholly Fisch & Brad Walker. We get a strong feel of John Irons personality, his ambitions and its an enjoyable introductory ride for the audience (including people who have no previous experience with the character). The problem I have is how the core story leads into the Steel backup. Near the end of the issue, Superman is fighting a Braniac possessed Corben and (SPOILERS) after some heavy contemplating at home, Steel come to Supermans aid to finish the fight. A page of fighting occurs and a small editors note emerges saying that this battle continues in the back up story, the main story then jumps forward X amount of time to where Corben is defeated and Superman is elsewhere, to discover how Corben was defeated you have to go to the back up story. This small jump forward in time quickly followed by another jump back to show off the fight in the backup gives the issues flow a bit of an uncanny feel and spoils the climax for me as I was pulled out of the moment more than once while reading.
I could forgive Steels introductory issue if he had simply guest star in a linear, oversized issue of Action and then have their separate stories for every further issue. However from separating what is essentially the same scene from different perspectives (while being used to introduce a character) makes everything feel a bit disjointed. Morrisons focus feels entirely directed on Superman and its understandable if Steel is a second thought for the book. I just hope that Steels story will detail his own adventures in the future rather take slices from Morrisons story, all the latter will bring is clunky storys and oddly collected hardcovers.
Thankfully art has picked up throughout this issue. Rag Morales is back on solo art duties, in previous reviews I criticised Morales ability to draw talking heads but thankfully things are beginning to improve (its helped by this being an action heavy issue between men and robots). My only real gripe with art (and sorry if people take offence because believe me it is a small one), did the colourist forget Supermans shirt if blue? Superman fights with a white version of his shirt throughout the entire issue and it is never acknowledged. I wouldnt mind if someone said they ran out of blue shirts at the printing shop (as hes still using t-shirt prints at this point) but its never acknowledged and that grated on me. Petty yes but people would get annoyed if Batman suddenly started fighting in pink all over again.
Looking back on the reviews first sentence I remember coming into this article being a pretty frustrated but thankfully over the course of writing and re-reading this issue, my opinion has become more favourable. The action is enjoyable, the pace is gaining speed and honestly Im glad they chose Braniac as the debut villain for Superman and what is essentially the entire DCU. Braniac is a great origins villain for Superman due to his momentous link to Krypton without getting too personal to Superman (something that can be overplayed in Zod at times). Hell there were moments in this issue that made me jealous that Braniac isnt taking a starring role in 2013s The Man Of Steel, that means it must be doing something right.
rating: 4.0
