Action Comics #957 review

In Metropolis, Special Crimes Unit boss Maggie Sawyer and Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen are at the scene of a siege. No one knows what the masked men want, but a familiar symbol heralds their capture. 
It's Lex Luthor, announcing himself as replacement for the recently killed Superman - an apparently noble idea, but he can't resist having a pop at the hero he only ever saw a stinking alien. 
Across the nation, as they prepare to move home after having their location discovered by Intergang, Clark, Lois and Jon White watch the scene on TV and Clark's reaction is instantaneous. 
He rushes to Metropolis and challenges the man he knows has to be a villain. A fight starts and Jimmy decides he's not able to cover it - a trained reporter is needed. And one shows up. 
And high above the city, another supposedly gone figure awakes...

Whew! Dan Jurgens doesn't let the grass grow under this script. I was expecting months of Luthor pretending to be a good guy, winning over Metropolis, before the pre-Flashpoint Superman confronts him. Having read the solicitations, I was expecting hints of a second Clark Kent before he emerged from the shadows. 

But no, it's all here in a pitch-perfect script, one that's beautifully realised by artist Patrick Zircher. The character voices are spot on, with Clark and Lois's evolution into Jonathan and Martha Kent when it comes to giving their newly Super son advice lovely to see. 
And I love that Jurgens doesn't pretend we haven't all realised the current and coming Superman Family books are nodding to the Nineties Reign of the Supermen sequence.

The shaving scene, meanwhile, is a direct lift from the Silver and Bronze Ages, Kryptonian rocket ship screen and all.  

So I guess Lex, with his super-suit, gets to fill the Steel role. 

And how brilliant to see Maggie Sawyer back in the daylight of Metropolis after her decades-long sojourn to Gotham. 

Zircher's a hugely underrated talent and hopefully his work on this launch will make people realise what a gift he is to comics. The compositions are thoughtful - look at the silhouetted  camera phones, that says so much about today's society. The facial expressions are marvellously nuanced - Lex hasn't looked so determinedly Lex in years. The bits of extra business really add stuff - the White family's dog, watching the excitement. 
And this being a superhero book, great action sequences are key, and Zircher delivers - it's novel to see Superman get up close with a for, but Zircher makes it work. 

The colours of Tomeu Morey complement script and art perfectly, with Morey helping Zircher nail the big moment when New Old Superman flies off to Metropolis. He looks ridiculously heroic (mind, why he's wearing a version of New 52 Superman's costume, I have no idea - trunks please!). Rob Leigh, a stalwart of the Superman line for years, is still around and I'm happy with that, he's a fine letterer with an especially nice line in title fonts. 
I'm disappointed not to see a Zircher/Morey cover - the main image by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Sonia Oback is great, and the variant by Ryan Sook a dream, but come on, we have premier artists inside the book too

Mysteries, humanity, action ... a little humour and we'd have the perfect Superman comic. As it is, we have a hugely enjoyable, terrifically illustrated beginning to a new era - and the return to the original Action Comics numbering system is the icing on the cake. Superman really is back. 

Comments

  1. I suspect the unitard look is an editorial constraint, but that's my only nit and I'm not really picking at it.

    This was a Superman story for sure! Oh how I've missed these! The pacing was great and c'mon, Maggie is a Metropolis woman through and through. Total agreement on Patrick Zircher's abilities. The subtle staging by by him and Jurgens in setting up the fight between Lex and Superman Classic, allowing for each to legitimately lay claim that the other started it, was masterful.

    Next!

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    1. Oh yes, I understand the lack of shorts editorially, but there should be a line in the story trying to excuse it.

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  2. I think the shaving was actually introduced by John Byrne, post-Crisis - From the Silver Age it was decided his beard doesn't grow under a yellow sun (which makes no sense but that's the way it was, haha!)

    THoughts on the extra Clark? Young Supes back already? A proper Quarmer? Manipulation by Mr. Oz or Dr. M? A robot? A Hoax? A Dream? An Imaginary Tale? Ready to stop me yet?

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    1. Ah, you obviously missed Superman getting a Silver Age shave from the combined heat vision of Krypto and Kara - back then, still an aspect of X-Ray vision. I'm not making this up!

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  3. Terrific! I loved seeing the dog watching him fly away, that was a great touch.

    As regards the costume, a friend suggested it's Clark's way of honoring the legacy of New52 Superman and his sacrifice, by blending their two costumes into a single design. It's not the trunks I miss most, though - it's the boots.

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    1. That makes sense, and you're so right about the boots. Ohhhh, DC are so nearly there as regards giving us classic Superman.

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  4. Is the numbering picking right up from the last Action Comics series? Or is it including the 50 plus issues that came out after the New 52. I'd check… but math.

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    1. It's incorporating the 52 issues of the New 52.

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    2. Hello Murray, and thank you Rob!

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  5. Great review, as always!
    Loved this issue. Tons of tiny homages.
    I think the shaving was a Byrne thing.

    The big mystery is who is Clark??

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    1. My guess it's just a way to put the secret identity genie back in the bottle.

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    2. I think you're right there, Steve, but what might the details be? In the old days it would be a deluded Superman robot, or a Bizarro-Bizarro...

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    3. Given Batman's on the cover for no readily apparent reason maybe he and Clark arranged to break out the disguise kit for a situation like this?

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    4. Thanks Anj, and Simon, I suppose we should be grateful they didn't grab Jimmy Olsen's all-girl disguise kit.

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