I will state this from the start, if you’ve read my earlier reviews, I am a fan of Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics. Within Morrison’s run he’s shown us on how the new DCU first reacted to having someone with Super powers land on Earth. What makes this issue extra special is this is the debut of Steel. The origin of Steel is revealed within the Sholly Fisch written and Brad Walker drawn back-up at the end of the issue. I’ll give further thoughts though at the end of the review on that one.
Action Comics lives up to its name within this issue. Best way to describe this issue is a smart action movie. Every page of this issue of Action Comics builds upon the other. No filler, no padding, just straight story and action. Morrison gave Rags Morales lots of room to play on this issue. In my own opinion Morales does his some of his best work on this run so far. It’s at the level of the first issue if not better. The designs of the terminauts are impressive, strangely enough reminding me of the robots from the Fleischer cartoons. Which I have to say seeing Superman smashing robots within the issue gave me a sense of joy that you can only imagine.
I say though Grant’s way of showing you the determination of Superman was second to none. Even though the police nor military trust him, He’s still going to save the city. Leading to the debut of Steel within Action Comics and he gets a nice introduction. Of course his fight is saved for the backup of this issue. Getting further into the main story John Corben as part of this Terminauts situation makes him a nice sympathetic villain, considering what happens later in the issue. Grant does a nice job of setting up this gigantic battle which then shows you just what the Terminauts were up to. We won’t find out the answers to this until issue #7.
The Steel backup does the job well in showing you how John Henry Irons came up with the design for the Steel costume and what inspired him to this point. Sholly Fisch did a great job with his character. He’s clever, smart, and though he carries a giant Hammer, he can come up with other ingenious ways to save the day. Brad Walker’s art is perfect for this backup. The hyper realistic art style fits the intensity of the fight against John Corben in his steel soldier suit. It’s as if you’re feeling every clang of the hammer hitting in the fight. This backup will make an excellent addition to Action Comics.
There’s not too much else to say outside of this was a great issue of Action Comics. Nothing felt wasted, nothing felt padded, and every page just kept getting better. Grant Morrison has defined Superman nicely within the new DCU with his time on Action Comics thus far. It’s going to be sad not to have Rags Morales on the next two issue and not seeing the end of this story until issue #7. We do get two issues with Andy Kubert though with the Legion of Superheroes in the mix so I can live with this. I’m excited for the next two issues for Action Comics just keeps getting better.
