Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Action Comics #41
DC Comics
Pak, Kuder, Morey & Hi-Fi
Superman gets a new direction with this issue of Action Comics. The comic book sets out to be world-building and character driven. As such, the book has very little action and appears to use the new direction for Superman as the plot. The comic book is an average read and doesn't seem to instill too much faith that the book will become interesting in future issues.
Superman is now powerless (mostly) and his secret identity has been revealed to everyone. Superman spends some time in Alaska wandering around and dealing with those that are looking to pick on him a little now that he's powerless. Eventually he heads back to his city because Jimmy passed him the signal that there is trouble. Superman arrives to find a section of the city has taken up a cult following in Superman's honor. The comic ends with Superman fighting some sort of shadow monster, which turns out to be a distraction.
The direction here does not really bring a lot of excitement to the character. They've taken away the supporting cast, his adoptive parents, Lois, Perry, everyone except Jimmy, they've taken away his powers and they've taken away the charm of him trying to balance Clark Kent and Superman. This allows DC to rebuild the character from the ground up. The problem is he has no personality. No charisma. There isn't anything about this character that sets him apart from any other character. If you were to pick up any number of super-hero-in-the-real-world comics you would find they all read a lot like this one. In fact, I'd argue that this comic book takes from another comic book character.
Bruce Banner and the Hulk have done very similar stories for years. Banner loses the Hulk power, Banner tries to hide in Alaska, Banner gets hate from the common folk, Banner gets alienated and on and on. DC is trying to turn Superman into The Hulk. The misunderstood strong man that is a loner no matter what he does. This makes the book feel like a retread and the story makes it read as a boring one. Pak, being a master scribe at The Hulk, is the perfect choice if the goal is to make a DC-Hulk.
The artwork is very nice. The comic has a bunch of clever panel layouts that help to get this book read a little differently. The comic has some great visuals that capture the new look and depressing setting that Superman seems to now occupy. Overall, the visuals help this book feel alive.
Action Comics tries to establish the new Clark Kent/Superman situation with a character driven book that has limited action. The comic is a dull read that is more because the character is lifeless than because the book lacks action. A de-powered Superman living in a world where his identity has been exposed sounds interesting but it actually isn't. DC has successfully taken away everything interesting about the character and turned him into a cookie-cutter hero that you can find in dozens of other books from DC, Marvel, Image, among others. Pak provides some nice internal monologue to help the reader understand what Superman is thinking at key moments but it isn't enough to grab a reader for the long haul. Additionally, the comic's villain is something that is introduced in a future issue of another book. That's right, the shadow monster gets an editorial note that Superman first tangled with them in the next issue of "Superman" and not "Action Comics." I can't recommend this comic book and I can't see coming back for more. This is a very average comic book.
2 out of 5 Geek Goggles
