Action Comics #876A lot has been made of the current run of Action Comics, DC's most venerable ... well, at least their most aged title. Frankly, I thought it was a bit silly to make so much of it, considering they've already done the whole World Without Superman schtick - way back in the Death of Superman days.
Back then, they came up with a fun, engaging storyline - the Reign of the Supermen was an action-packed mystery with superheroes, all claiming to be Superman. It was great, even though I didn't like the Death story at all.
Today, I was more skeptical, having been through the first time around, and figuring there would be little they could do to top the Reign of the Supermen.
But still... so far, so good. I'm not saying this does the trick and tops that great story. But it's good so far. Greg Rucka is a wonderful writer, and in his hands, the book is building a solid foundation for the entire run.
Briefly, this installment is kind of a long fight scene - but in it, we do learn some interesting and intriguing things about our new main characters. The new Nightwing and Flamebird (a takeoff on the waaaaaay olden days stories of the heroes of the shrunken city of Kandor) turn out to be one of the Kryptonians and none other than Lor-Zod, the son of Ursa and Zod, but whom we all know very affectionately as Christopher Kent, the foster son of Lois and Clark Kent. Chris has grown up quite a bit. Literally. He's, like, years older than when we last saw him. Still a very young man, but a man, not a little boy any more.
Ursa goes hunting for them and when she learns it is her own son in the Nightwing outfit, she shows her displeasure and disappointment in the boy by attempting to murder him with a kryptonite dagger. Unfortunately for Ursa, Chris (as he insists she calls him), having been born in the Phantom Zone, does not react to kryptonite quite like other Kryptonians. He also has some other strange quirks, which are not fully explained.
The story is well-written and fast-paced without feeling rushed. The art... well, I have to say that there is a two-page spread that I know was intended to be very dramatic, but... It was just too much. First of all, I'm tired of all the blood flying everywhere all the time. It's just like a My Chemical Romance song - "Give them blood, blood - gallons of the stuff! You can give them all you've got and it will never be enough!" Between this trend and the Red Lanterns barfing it up all the time (great superpower... oy), I've had about all I can take. On top of that, the anatomy was really hard to make out - it was a large enough spread that everything should have been crystal clear, but there's so much extraneous stuff going on that even though I scrutinized it hard, I was unable to find Ursa's "payoff" hand (the one holding the knife), and unable to distinguish whether or not she had hit home with her blow. Artists - note: you're supposed to be drawing an action, not a pinup poster for your portfolio. No matter how cool you think it looks to shower us with a gazillion unnecessary details, the first thing on your mind - and on the drawing board - really should be the action you are illustrating, and making sure that action "reads" coherently.
Please don't dismiss that notion in favor of putting out eye candy. I will remind you of the Image stable - most of those guys are now working for others, and the Image-style, over-rendered, overdrawn, overblown action pinups is not really the vogue these days. I point now to Andrew Robinson's vaguely spooky cover on this issue. Not a lot of action. Not over-rendered. But evocative, and highly effective, imho.
Overall, I'm looking forward to finding out what is happening to Chris Kent, how Ursa will fare knowing she's being poisoned by the kryptonite she's been carrying, and how Greg Rucka pulls his story together over the next few issues. It's a good read, even without Superman being featured - it does have the flavor and spirit of a Superman book present and accounted for. This issue is a bit bloody for little kids, so keep it to teens and up.
The Walking Dead #60
Let me just make it clear one more time that I really don't like zombie shit - I am just not a fan of the whole genre.
That re-established, The Walking Dead is one of my favorite comics, and goes to the top of my Read list every month.
Why?
Because, most of the time, it's not about the zombies. It's about what's left of the human race surviving alongside the zombies. Zombies are brainless, shuffling, creepy, nasty nothings. But people are fascinating.
And again, that said, in this issue, the zombies are front and center, and the number of times I had to shift in my chair shows just how uncomfortable that made me. As Rick, Abraham, Carl and Morgan try to get back to camp, they are beset by a gigantic "herd" of them. The shuffling horrors are relentless, and in numbers like this, almost impossible to elude. Rick wants to take a different way around to camp to avoid leading the herd right to it, but they soon realize that a direct approach is the best - they must reach camp and help everyone escape as quickly as possible, because this herd is too large and too close to take any chances with. Meanwhile, back at camp, Dale wants to settle on this lovely farm they've taken refuge in. He figures the twins will flourish here (though they are picking at the remains of a dead cat or something awful like that) and doesn't want to keep moving. Maggie and Glen finally talk about "the elephant in the room" (her suicide attempt), and she affirms she wants to live after all.
It's nice that Robert Kirkman can visit these characters very briefly and really create a feeling that is personal and real and touching in the midst of the horrors all around. For Kirkman's survivors, finding the will to go on can sometimes be a real challenge, and he really nails that point in very poignant ways. I would like to find out a little more about the Doctor in their midst - the guy who supposedly understands so much about these zombies. He's been around several issues now, and we know precious little more than we ever have after five years. That's a minor gripe in general, not about just this issue, which is intense and exciting from cover to cover.
That's right - five years! That's quite a milestone for a black and white comic, by any standards! Charlie Adlard's consistent work makes the book a breeze to read - very much in contrast to some of the more popular superhero books.
This book is HIGHLY recommended for adults. Though it is thankfully presented in black and white, it is far too graphic and intense for children, even some older ones.
Okay, that's all I got right now. Except...
Are you watching Harper's Island? That's a bit of fun.
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