jpartridgeiii:

jesus, it makes SO much more sense when you read it as a whole.

it’s frustrating just trying to remember all the plots and just pick up an issue.

i think the end of this is going to be something pretty special.

ACTION COMICS #9

Decent art, great characterization for this Superman who is very likeable, a nice self-contained crazy adventure, would’ve liked it to be less rushed-feeling, could have benefited from the main story taking 10 extra pages rather than the backup.
7.8/10

ANIMAL MAN #9

Good replacement artwork, fun characters, chilling story as usual. Not much else to say.
7.8/10

EARTH-2 #1

Really, really, really great artwork! Nothing wrong with the interpretations of the Trinity, but I’m upset about what happens to them considering how important they were marketed to be. Same goes for Batman’s true identity. Really clumsy and awkward inner monologue, there’s a slight lack of focus. This is definitely a Justice Society book and I’m looking forward to continuing the origins of Jay and Alan.
7.5/10

TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1

Missed Brett Booth’s art incredibly since the last underhwelming issue of Titans, but this MORE than made up for that issue’s shortcomings. Writing is fun and the cheezy dialogue is kept to minimum (not gone, but there’s very little of it here), and the art is beautiful. Love the concept of The Culling, this issue was very enjoyable.
8.9/10

Quality-wise, Action Comics has been an up-and-down trip. It’s never been bad, but it’s constantly dipped above and below the level of excellence. This is the latter, sadly.

Last issue I thought was great. It really made me have high-hopes for this one, and I was slightly let down. Slightly. It was still a good comic, though, it just didn’t wow me as much.

This issue was slightly rushed, I think. Either that, or too much time was spent with the confrontation with Brainiac, which left less time to spend on the resolutions of the arc. There’s lots of action here, but it’s not exactly SUPER-BADASS-CRAZY-EPIC action, it’s actually somewhat clumsy. But it IS more than just “I win because I’m stronger” and they come up with a somewhat clever way, but it didn’t blow me away.

I liked that they touched on everything I wanted them to with the ending, they didn’t forget about any plot-threads or anything, everything got wrapped up and I was satisfied. I liked everything they did with it. And the best part is we’re seeing stuff that the series will be dealing with in the future and that’s really cool. Superman’s character changes are subtle, but they’re very much there, and he’s definitely our Superman and it’s great seeing him step up. This is Superman.

The art was great as usual, but there’s a few changes to the artwork  in the middle, (they’re not too noticeable), but near the end it changes drastically, and it’s… mostly decent. It’s still inconsistent as heck, though. And this artist CANNOT. DRAW. SMILES. AT ALL. IT’S HIDEOUS. And this damn artist actually straight-up ruins what should be an awesome and touching splash-page with his derp-tastic facial expressions. Seriously, I can’t get over how ugly it was when a character smiled.

Also, I’m even more confused about Superman’s new outfit now… you’l see why when you read it. I’m assuming it’ll be touched on later.

And we get an epilogue at the very end (that’s not drawn by that artist I just mentioned, thankfully), and well… it’s pretty badass and I can tell it’s gonna be cool.

And another thing, I’ll never be dropping this book as long as Morrison’s writing. I want to be reading at least ONE Superman book and this one will forseeably be infinitely better than the main title. As long as it’s not awful, I’m happy. And with Morrison, it usually pays off big-time to commit to his run on a series/character.

My friends and I were talking about Morrison’s Action Comics and one of us deeply hated his run so far, and he just didn’t get what it was about and why Superman was “being written like Batman”. What my other friend Jordan said was put so nicely, I just had to mention it.

 It should go without saying that the man dressed in primary colors who saves kittens from trees is an idealist. I don’t want to imply in any way that makes Superman a bad character that needs to be more gritty and violent, far from it.

Because the whole moral of Morrison’s Action Comics is that the difference between the kind of person who wants to put Kony’s head on a pike and the kind that wants to adopt a Ugandan child isn’t necessarily their idealism, it’s their maturity. Young people pick pointless fights. Fuck, we’re doing it right now.

The wisdom and experience needed to truly be a good person comes from the ability to look at your past and say “the world has always had problems. No amount of rebellion will change that, it’ll just make me go through life looking like an asshole. But just because I’m not instigating anything doesn’t mean I can’t still help out anyone I meet along the way.”

Before, when bad writers made Superman more violent and gritty, it was usually because they thought that he was ineffectual, that he was an idiot for never doing anything to change the status quo. Morrison’s Action Comics doesn’t perpetuate that argument, it deconstructs and counters it.

Yes, this is the start of the new DC Logo. And I gotta say… it  actually looks pretty good. It could just be the banner there that makes it look better. But I like it.

ACTION COMICS #7

First thing’s first, why did they make the city one solid copper color on the cover? In the solicited version, it was fully colored and it actually looked like a bunch of buildings. Why’d they change it? Oh well. Cover changes aside, this was the best issue of Action Comics we’ve had in a while. Well, I enjoyed 6 a lot, but this returns to the main storyline and does a darn good job of progressing said story.

Rags Morale’s art here is probably the best so far in the series. There’s one panel of Superman’s face that just looks absolutely perfect. The lighting also lends a lot to its presentation, and you’ll notice that right within the first few pages.

Lots of super science-y stuff in here, and I once again, don’t wanna spoil the details of that. The entire issue has some really great scenes that I can’t really talk about without spoiling, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting issue and I can’t wait to see what happens next. (By the way, I said earlier that this issue was the end of the arc, and I was wrong)

RED LANTERNS #7

Pretty solid issue. The art is a bit different, but much better than last issue’s. And the story is pikcing up a lot faster than it has been. All three plots, that is. I really don’t know what to say, this was just a good issue, but nothing amazing. But it wasn’t without a few minor faults.

Guy’s dialogue felt a little… blunt, to say the least. People don’t typically open up to strangers like that and put on their Dr.Phil mustaches. And Bleez is supposed to be a very light blue, but her skin is just white, and that kinda bothered me. Also, I don’t remember the Sinestro Corps being “purged”… I guess they all died in Green Lantern #6?

But I really liked the action, the voice of the characters, and the revealation near the end is pretty grotesque. If you don’t like blood and gore, don’t read this issue ;P I also like how they do expand on the past of the Red Lanterns Corps a bit here. So overall, a pretty good issue.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Action Comics #7