Action Comics #23.4, Metallo #1, by Marc Alan Fishman – Snarky Synopsis | @MDWorld

October 6, 2013 Marc Fishman 0 Comments

Written by Sholly Fisch, Art by Steve Pugh, Colors by Barbara Ciardo and David Curiel

Thanks in large part to a grant by the sub-committee for ‘Reading and Reviewing Comics I Would Never Otherwise Read or Review’ (who threw me this book shortly before the government shutdown, mind you) I succumbed to DC’s villains month with a book that cemented just why I’m glad I’ve not read any others in this month-long gimmick. Metallo #1 is shoddy, predictable, loud, and wishes it were better than the sum of its parts. Get out the WD-40 kiddos, this is gonna be a squeaky autopsy.

I freely admit I don’t know the full history of the New52 Metallo. I read the Action Comics’ first arc, under Grant Morrison, before the book got too Morrisonny for my tastes. In it, as I recall, Army Man John Corben worked for General Daddy Lane, and ended up signing up for military experiments in order to become a metal-skinned Superman (by way of alien tech that shouldn’t have been messed with, but who’s paying attention) for the good ole’ US of A. Well, they boot him up, and wouldn’t you know it? Brainiac takes control, and we end up with a supervillain. Boom. Pow. Kablammo. He ends up helping (then hating) Superman, but ends up in a coma.

Catching up with Johnny Comapants, Metallo gets a reboot with a Kryptonite heart, and is soon doing his duty for his country. Never mind that he’s a mentally unstable super-soldier trapped inside a walking tank. Of course this leads to the obligatory “over-use of force in order to get the job done” super-soldier story we’ve seen/read a hundred times over. Cue the “blow him up, for his own good, but guess what, it doesn’t actually work!” story beat. Metallo takes a stroll under the ocean on his way back home from his “accidental” attempted death. He shows up at home-base, and cues the fight with “Metal 2.0”, his upgraded counterpart. I should note that within these upgrades, the US military still haven’t figured out how to make a helmet for their soldier. Far be it from me to nitpick, but what good is a walking tank with a pink squishy target unencumbered by armor? Get me a sniper, and I’ll give you a dead metal man.

The issue, as scripted by Sholly Fisch, is lackluster, and by the books. The use of inner monologue is an attempt to provide us a window to the mind of Corben, but the mind in the metal shell is as shallow and pedantic as every other “good soldier” you’ve read in numerous better places. He loved Lois, but guess what? She didn’t love him back. And Morrison didn’t do anything to make us believe there were real feelings there to begin with. Just the typical macho “I wanna put stuff in you” grunting wink and a nudge. Yawn. So, Metallo, or Metal Zero, or John Corben, or what-have-you comes across as a generic baddie. He has a ton of weapons and a Kryptonite heart, so I assume he’s a good punching bag for Superman in later issues. Fisch’s script is devoid of that which Metallo himself suffers a lack of – heart.

The John Corben of the far-far-better Superman: The Animated Series had a heart. In fact he was one of the best villains of the show (minus the random Steel episode they felt necessary to tack on towards the end of the series). Metallo of the animated universe was a man who was duped by Lex Luthor, and in turn lost his humanity when the process of turning him into a metal man denied him the senses he cherished as a man of flesh and blood. What good is immortality and super-human strength, if you can’t smell, taste, or touch? That little nuance made Metallo a being of considerable pathos. Here in the comics, his counterpart is merely a waste of ink and paper. He’s driven, and insane. The end. Hoorah.

Art duties this time around are by Animal Man draw-er-guy Steve Pugh. Several times, amidst the dark and briny deep, Pugh’s pens shine. He’s adept at filling his panels in rich detail. His characters are all identifiable. When taken to the extreme close-ups, Pugh truly shines. His Metallo (and Metal 2.0 later in the issue) carry the immensely horrific design aesthetic the New52 editorial staff get stiff over. He’s big, and bulky, and glowy when need be. Colors delivered by a pair of artists here stand to serve the art well. All the labs are cold and blue. The glow effects are prevalent, and well rendered. Explosions look cool too. Suffice to say, the art here outshines the banal script in almost every way. If there were depth to Metallo’s decreased humanity? The artwork would have served it wonderfully. Instead we get something DC has been putting out so often lately, it’s driven me far away from the comic shops; a book that is more concerned with looking cool in order to draw in non-readers… than telling a great story which would see them grow their audience the same way Image has continuously done now for the last couple years.

Metallo #1 (or Action Comics 23.4 if you’re so inclined) is bloated, boring, and pretty. Turn off your brain, and enjoy the ‘splosions. Or, if you’re smart? Watch the old cartoon, and remember the Metallo that actually mattered.