Action Comics #8, by Marc Alan Fishman – Snarky Synopsis | @MDWorld
April 8, 2012 Marc Fishman 0 Comments
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Rags Morales, Brad Walker, Rick Bryant, and Bob McLeod
Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, my friends… It’s Golden Age Superman! Well, if Grant Morrison has anything to say about it, it sure is. No other character has been given this much of a “back to square one” treatment in the DCnU. Action Comics has been thus far, a re-imagining of Kal-El’s origin retold with an eye on modern times. More specifically, Action Comics #8 ties up the first real arc of the series. And I have to say with trepidation… it stumbles and falls. The momentum created in the first 4 issues of the series are simply not bettered by the end of this 8 issue arc. Let’s dissect, shall we?
As I said above, the treatment of our beloved Clark Kent takes a knowing nod from the roots of the character to rebuild its once fairly convoluted backstory (the old DC Universe) by way of cramming all of it back down our throats in the first few issues. The first four issues of the series built an amazingly deep world of Metropolis. Morrison, ever a fan of the “throw it all at the wall” style gets carteblanche to cram his first arc with a seemingly never-ending wink and shove to fans of Superman. In 8 issues we get a shiny new take on Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olson, Brainiac, Metallo, Steel, the Legion of Super Heroes, the Phantom Zone, the bottle city of Kandor, the history of Krypton, a horde of Kryptonian villains-to-be (that frankly I don’t feel like scouring wikipedia for names), and of course… Superman himself. At the end of the arc, it’s hard not to gasp for air with all these characters, concepts, and plot threads weighing down on young Clark like the heavens on Atlas. Morrison pulls it off, but just barely.
Issue 8 deals with the climatic battle with Brainiac/Metallo against a still-rookie Supes. Using the same M.O. from yesteryear, Brainiac shrinks down Metropolis and attempts to add it to his collection of bottle cities. Superman obviously takes issue with it… and we get 8 or so pages of punching, eye lasers, and smirks. Morrison loves to write young Clark as a really cocky hero. And just about the time it wears out it’s welcome, Morrison smartly grounds things. It’s a testament to Grant’s abilities that even when I don’t like his end product, I can’t help but see the quality to his craft. The issue simply comes together too perfectly… too predictably. It’s done with style and flair, and because there was such sincere effort to flesh out as much of this pocket of the DCnU as possible, everything that ends here does feel earned. But it does feel like you’ve read 18 issues of the series as opposed just 8.
The scripting keeps things moving at a brisk pace, such that the book never reads as a bore. That being said, I felt like some of the dialogue missed it’s mark. A botched line isn’t the end of the world mind you, but it’s hard to believe Lex Luthor to be half as crass and blue collar in his conversations with Lois and Jimmy throughout the Metropolis Bottle Fiasco as presented. I’ve always preferred my Luthor to be the smartest guy in the room. In Morrison’s new world, Luther is smart… but shortly after his amazing debut in the opening gambit of the series, slowly declined in his ominous brilliance. More akin to a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain, less the powerful and brilliant man I knew him to be in other universes. What urps me is that we know Morrison can write an amazing Lex Luthor. See All-Star Superman, and thank me later. Suffice to say, Action Comics tries hard to stay out of the shadow of it’s All-Star brother… but thus far it’s not growing out from under it.
Beyond the plot and script issues delivered here, a special note must be discussed; The art this month around was preposterously putrid. As you’ve no doubt noticed above, there are 4 interior artists on this issue (and that’s not counting the two colorists). Please note that nowhere in the issue do we feel as if Morrison has called for an anthology treatment for the visuals. In the recent past, other books have adopted guest artists to fill in. Over at Swamp Thing, the transition was entirely seamless. In Action Comics? It’s jarring, ugly, and brings the book down at every page turn. Rags Morales started off the series with the best work of his career. By issue 8, he feels rushed. Panels are predictably laid out with uninteresting focal points. His careful line-work has been replaced with what could best be described as “acceptable” presentation. And for a flagship of the company, “acceptable” simply isn’t. At one point towards the end of the issue, the art team (I assume it’s Walker or McLeod) come in with a completely different style that is almost too-terrible for words. Superman’s costume is inconsistent with previous pages. Facial expressions are exaggerated to the point where my wife was heard to say “what’s with Super-Derp?” And because there’s no attempt at transition… just a page turn and ‘BAM! New Style!’… the notion that DC would sooner add more artists to a book to deliver it on time rather than wait a few weeks makes me wish they’d reconsider.
Ultimately Action Comics #8 was a bad ending to a very good story. Solid foundations have been built by Grant and Rags. I don’t plan on leaving the book anytime soon. My hope though is that the art team finds more consistency, and Grant suppresses his desire to dump 10 gallons of ideas into a 5 gallon book. Taking a page from his Batman R.I.P. arc, and All Star Superman would help keep this series moving methodically, instead of frantically. Certainly Grant shant fear he’d be bumped off the title. In the modern age of comic stories, there’s a bit more time to build a plot. Morrison’s throwback to the olden days of plotting needn’t be so apparent. All things considered, the book is leaping buildings in a single bound; But it has yet to fly.