Covers Action Comics #8, Superman #8

Action Comics # 8

 Well, Action looks great. Love Brainiac's design, as you know.

Superman#8

This is the first Superman cover that I have seen that makes me want to open the book.

Cover for Justice League # 7

Cover by Jim Lee. From #7 Jim takes a break from interiors and Gene Ha will be doing drawing duties. Lee is back on #9. This is when JL joins the present time-line. Is it me, but I like reading about the younger versions and wished we could stay in the past for a while longer.  The older versions of the heroes are all very serious or, as in Superman's case, on the mopey/bland side. I really want to see how Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns write Superman five years later.

Cover for Wonder Woman # 7

A powerful cover by Cliff Chiang.

Jim Lee T-shirt Design

 Coming in stores in May 2012. It's the new DCU JL. The team lined up and on an open page of the comic. Love that one of the panels is the one where Clark is staring distractedly at Diana.

Oh Clark

Yeah, ya big, dense Kryptonian lug. It's a question fans have been asking for damn decades!

by RobOsborne

How About That Beer, Babe?

Love this. Very funny. Bet many ladies can relate. Mind you, Clark Kent has been broken in and well trained by Ma Kent. He'd cook, mind the baby and have his honey sitting with her feet up at super speed. You gotta love Darkseid's head up  on that wall.

Merry Christmas 2011

by

FairyKitsch

Random Thoughts on Action #4 by NSW

by

NinjaSleepWalker

This is too hilarious! NSW's thoughts had me giggling. Love Kal's new t-shirt! Real men wear pink, you know. And little flowers too. ;) And her depiction of Brainiac in homage to my review of Action Comics # 4 is pure gold.

Krypto Loves Diana

Just fitting for the holiday season. Can you blame Krypto? Smart doggy!

by Franchesco

Action Comics # 4 Review

Well, this issue is all action. It's at break neck, heart pounding pace. All the characters are feeling it on these panels. From the start where Lex is trying to save his self-preserving hide from a rampaging Corben to Clark seeing the Terminauts and wisely suggesting to everyone outside the factory to "RUN!"

While the Terminauts call for Superman, and the mayor, Maxwell Minor, decide now is not a bad time to beg for the alien's help, we glimpse Professor Irons who has his own armored suit at home; it is waiting to be used should there be an alien invasion.

Superman battles the Terminauts and he's in a white t-shirt this time. And the police typically want to try to arrest him amid all this madness. Clark dares them to arrest him and if not, to just let him do his job. But it's a tough battle for young Superman. To compound matters, Lois and Jimmy get into the thick of things and, of course, the mandatory get into the line of fire just like the train and the elevator.

Corben faces off with Superman and we learn Lois broke his heart and he really is a wuss. The mustache he shaved did not do the trick and now he's possessed by an alien consciousness. Can't say I care nor do I believe this guy would listen to Red Hot Chilie Peppers. I just want Superman to kick his sorry ass.

Clark is overwhelmed and is about to be collected when Steel makes his appearance. And while he takes Corben down, Metropolis vanishes.

 

Brainiac has collected the city and the way he's drawn is awesome. The caterpillar/centipede design looks really creepy yet almost whimsical. I almost expect him to pull out a hubble bubble pipe and smoke it while he observes his collection. Of course Lois and company are part of the collection now and her father, General Lane, begs for Superman's help. He eats humble pie here but clearly he did not allow it to digest since he is hostile and rude to Superman in the other title five years later. Can't say I care for Sam Lane either.

Steel is awesome in his backup story. Superman needs a friend and the city could always do with another hero. A Steel Driving Man is just the guy for it.

This issue was entirely enjoyable. Rags owns the art in my opinion. I love his raw,mobile style. His action sequences just makes you breathless. And in the Steel backup feature Walker and Ramos' art is very beautiful.

I would give this 4.5 out of 5.

Best Panel : There were many to choose from (Clark in battle, Steel, that panel of Brainiac) but once more I am indulging myself. It's has to be this: a glimpse of Superman's sexy abs under that torn t-shirt. Rags just drew that for me, didn't he? Hee! Here is to him losing more t-shirts along the way!!!

SuperCharles Talks Lois/Clark Courtship

One of the accusations hurled at our Superman/Wonder Woman ship is that Clark is only meant for Lois and no one else can compete. That means even if writers put him with another woman , be it Lana Lang, Lori Lemaris, even our own Diana, Clark does not love them as he does Lois. They believe she alone is his one true love. Which, to me, is ridiculous for a long lived, essentially immortal character who had barely begun to live or had the chance to mature emotionally, physically and psychologically at the age he met,wooed and married Lois.

I believe in love. Love is something so vast and complex; it is simplistic to even claim we know what it feels like for someone else. We know how it might feel personally and for many of us, we do love more than once in our lifetime. I believe love and the person we love gives us what we need at that particular time in our life. I also believe love and life choices are dictated by circumstance. Love and relationships can be unhealthy and or uplifting. The best loves are those that help us evolve into better, stronger individuals.

I for one believe if Lois is not around, Superman can still exist and be a hero and he has always been one full of optimism and hope and full of vigor...if things get tough...Superman will, at some point, pick himself up, dust himself off and live his life. That to me is the gift of his humanity and what he would have learned from us-resilience. Or simply, good writing can make it so.

With the relaunch of the new 52 in 2011, and reboot of Superman as single, came the end of the married Superman's story. Many fans of the marriage strangely argued that DC could not do this and doing this was disrespecting evidence that Superman was always supposed to marry/be married to Lois. We know there was always some kind of Lois and Clark dynamic for decades, and Superman did not always end up with Lois in other stories. He romanced other women and ended up falling in love and even marrying them.

One fellow Superman fan, C.J. Charles,a well read and knowledgeable gentleman and published writer, decided to go on a journey of exploration and investigation. He is also known as SuperCharles and on tumblr as countryboylife. He decided to pick up Superman from the 1980ties. The genesis that led ( according to some) to Lois as the one true love and wife. His findings were very interesting and it seems that the eighties were distinctively flavored with Clark and Diana while there were even other women in Clark's life.

"Into the missions of what might be"

SuperCharles begins,


"I have to confess that I haven’t sat down and read Superman during the 80’s for a long time, and certainly not comprehensively ie issue by issue in chronological order. 
However that’s exactly what I’m doing.
One of the things I’m told by certain folks is that Clark and Lois relationship was changed after the reboot. That it’s fair to dismiss the pre 86 status quo & fifty years of canon unrequited love / doomed relationship on the basis of 3-4 years of books following 1986 reboot. 
So I approached the read through with the expectation to see some foreshadowing of the engagement/marriage. However the results are really surprising.
Apart from this first panel from the Man of Steel mini series in 1986 - there isn’t any romance. No steady build up - no real foreshadowing."

SuperCharles article continues here.

 Lois and Clark's romance pre-engagement and marriage

His conclusion was this:

"Simply in a few months November 89 to February 90 Lois has gone from not paying much attention to Clark and taking him for granted all this time to seeing through the glasses. As Batman might say. Pass the Jumping Shark repellent spray."


Much food for thought I would say and for many Superman readers ( who are not all Kal/Diana shippers, by the way) this reboot is another chapter in the book of Superman's life. Unabashedly we would love for Clark and Diana to find each other.We understand they are young in the current DCU and their iterations are slightly different. But this chemistry they share has been so evident for so long, it's about time DC really explore it this time around and no jumping the shark for us. We'd like it done organically please.

Thanks

Thanks for the follow jlo. :)

This Is Why The Undies Had to Go!

Truly priceless.A super-wedgie has got to hurt!

Superman and Diana Prince

Love their expressions. I bet she knows this is Clark Kent and he knows this is Wonder Woman. Seems like a cute thing our couple would do.

by mpr1m3

Superman's Red Briefs

Oh,boy, I love this. For those moaners who think he is less of a man/hero having lost his red underpants.

by

eolay

How Dare You Change A Classic?

Makes you really wonder when fanboys/girls whine if we really know what classic means? There is good and bad art/writing but really there is no such thing as a real/classic Superman or Wonder Woman who are decades old and have undergone so many changes. I-Ching and the boutique, anyone?

by tremary

Superman # 3 Review

Reading this book is a chore. I love to READ. I love George Perez. But this book is a chore to read. It's long winded, boring and repetitive. Issue number three might have well been number one and/or two. It follows a very old school formula that is very out of sync with a modern Superman. This is not the man of tomorrow. It's the man of yesterday. He does not feel like a young man of today. The dialogue is clunky and retro. Again. We get monster/freak of the month. Again. We get long winded exposition from the news team and Clark. Again. We get Superman acting like a slow top when it comes to his powers.

In a nut shell, the news-team wastes pages to recap Superman's early days and while they all realize he is on the side of good, the amount of death and destruction and bad guys he attracts...is he a Messiah or Menace? We see Heather Kelly and of course, we wonder about her role. She is set up predictably as a blond Lois-lite. But by story's end, we are not sure if she is friend or foe.

Superman fights an ice entity this time and let's say I cringed all the way through the battle at his inner monologue and his dialogue. Just shut up and do what you have to do for crying out loud!

Three things noted in this issue.

1. Superman likes to say repeatedly... "No!" or "Oh no!" or "Lois!" Along with his clunky speech/thoughts, it's like nails on a chalk board.

2. Lois and Heather have retinal issues. Yeah, DC , those purple eyes make Lois look weird like she's possessed.Least Heather is alien from the look of things..

3. Superman remains dense. He fought alien entities who mentioned Krypton and he says it's a mystery for later. Oh that advanced genius brain. When one said it, didn't he consider it was strange. When the second one said it, still it wasn't mysterious. Third time's a charm.

This book I give frustrating 1.5 out of 5.

Nicola Scott's art was nothing special. This is not her best work. She does not make the costume look any better than Merino. I would say Merino's Superman looks better by far.

Best Panel : I could not even decide on one really cause this book really did not make me care. The homage to Action Comics with him trying to stop the locomotive to me was the best.

Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

When heroes can really make a difference. Remember, early detection is key.

by

Halfy

Thanks

Thanks NSW for the follow. :)

Justice League # 3 Review

I have been waiting with bated breath for this issue because Diana was going to make her appearance and Geoff Johns, who has not written Diana that well in the past, really surprised and made me enormously happy! This new iteration of Diana he got perfectly! She is young, strong, and enthusiastic. Fresh off the boat. I love the stranger in a foreign land angle as opposed to the silly she is not human crap. She is curious about her new surroundings and she wants to help by doing what she does best. She is a trained warrior and she is seeing threats that she knows she can deal with. As we know parademons are coming in via boomtubes and kidnapping people and if you know who they are and why they take humans, you know that is not good. Diana is being kept in a government facility and she finally has had enough and throws off her leash. And she makes a stunning entrance.

Why she is there I am not sure but we know Steve Trevor is back into continuity and younger and her liaison.  I expect he fell onto Themyscira but I really hope Diana did not leave to chase after him. Least she does not seem to be crushing over him just yet and he comes across more like a den mother. Anyway, Diana discovers the joy of ice cream. It was a lovely little character moment and she is so unconscious that her sword, which is clearly just a tool to her, intimidates the already paranoid public.

Diana leaves Steve to go and fight the creatures. I bet he didn't fuss about her getting hurt then. Anyway, we see poor Vic Stone badly burned and dying (after being hit by a boom tube last issue) and his father refusing to give up and allow him to die.  The rest of the heroes, Green Lantern, Flash,Batman and Superman are in Metropolis fighting the seemingly infinite hordes of parademons, who all are like crazy suicide bombers when they shriek "For Darkseid!" Yeah, they are bent on death and destruction and I seriously doubt amid all the madness anyone could reason with them. So seeing the boys take them out and try to prevent them from kidnapping innocent people? Go team!

It is sheer pleasure to see Superman in action. The guy is a powerhouse and he uses that power. Enough with the whining already from the people who claim Superman does not kill. First off all, that is an incorrect statement. Superman has destroyed many forms of consciousness ( energy monsters, vampires, robots etc) and he killed Doomsday and was always pretty ready to kill and do other questionable crap like turn time for Lois. So the use of lethal force here is relative. You try not to kill but if you have no choice, you do must do something.  If the parademons are not technically alive, then why shouldn't he cut loose? He sliced off limbs and wings and used his heat vision in a kids' cartoon. Anyway it was funny to see Hal try keep up with him and Flash discover Batman was just a normal guy and not a vampire.

The moment Diana joins the battle with the boys is a classic. They are all stunned at her beauty and strength. Hal, the cocky one, naturally calls dibs. Barry, the well behaved one simply goes "Wow". And then there is her brief interaction with the tough one. He gives her an assessing look and states matter of fact, "You're strong". She retorts, giving him also an assessing look, "I know." The glint in both their eyes signal that something has flared between these two. All Superman Wonder Woman shippers hold their collective breaths. Are we going to get what we have been praying for years? Are we going to see a romance? I really hope so. But I want it to develop organically and no repeat of Action 600 (huge cop out) and just like how sparks fly here...give us more of that. It makes sense. Two strong personalities, great contrasts of the curious new comer who happens to be a royal princess and warrior with the standoffish, rough around the edges social crusader and reporter. Come on DC, make it happen.

We get to see the creation of Cyborg and somehow Vic seems to be able to get a vision of Apokolips and it seems Darkseid senses this. It's quite a nice, teasing shot of an enemy we love to hate.

The battle spills over to the seas and of course we sense something is coming.

And,boy, is it worth it when it does. Just to note that Jim Lee just aces it with the pencils in this. Everything is so damn pretty to look at and that is a plus. Kudos to Alex Sinclair as well. And here he comes. Bold and larger than life and full of attitude. I love the jewellery. He looks like a pirate/explorer, exactly what I expect of a young, arrogant king of the seas.

I give this issue 4.5 out of 5.

5 out of 5 for art and anticipation again.

It just keeps getting better and better. It's entertaining stuff. The only down side is that it feels too short and one has to wait too damn long for the next issue. But that is good, right?

Best Panel: Yes, the double spread of Diana is gorgeous and probably deserves it. But as a Kal and Diana shipper, I reserve the right to indulge myself.

It's the one where everyone else is looking at the retreating parademons and he is a mite distracted and simply staring at her. You can just about imagine the thoughts going through his head.

Wonder Woman # 3 Review

Well, this cover alone was a foreshadowing of what was to come. The clay baby origin has been turned on its head. The so called 'perfect' Amazon birth we learn was a lie. Diana suddenly becomes one of us, even though her birth still remains quite something. I mean, she is now the daughter of Zeus himself. That's not normal but the circumstances leading to it is so full of humanity. Triggered by passion and then motivated by maternal love. An affair with a man followed by a desire to protect the child conceived from that affair. Sounds familiar. What makes it now interesting is that man being the King of the gods who has an insanely jealous and powerful wife. The morale of this story so far is you don't get to choose your family. But does that really stop one from being a hero or what they represent? Not at all. Clay or the daughter of Zeus, Diana is still a daughter of Hippolyta, an Amazon and a brave, compassionate, strong, and confident young woman. It is simply right now it hurts. Hurts as any skeleton that comes out of the family closet that changes everything. At least until one come to terms with it.

Strife continues to be insidious. She is turning out to be such a dangerous and yet delightful foe. Stirring trouble and enjoying it. It was actually novel to learn that not all the Amazons liked Diana and she was called "clay". Again that little detail sort of makes any of us who were teased as children understand how that kind of thing can hurt.

Hermes continues to show that he is one of the few gods, so far at least, that truly cares for Diana and the Amazons. And even amidst all this drama, Zola gives us a light chuckle worthy moment.

Chiang's art is so good and really compliments Azzarello's script. The love scene between Zeus and Hippolyta was so well done as was the almost dangerous glint in Strife's eyes when she said "Lets be." Here we see two beings succumbing to passion. Two equals. Hippolyta's character has always been a woman of strong passions and at times she displayed poor judgement as with Heracles in the Perez origin. This was not rape. It was good old fashioned hot sex that they both enjoyed.

It was a beautifully written heartfelt scene here when Hippolyta explains to Diana why she kept her birth a secret and here it seems Hippolyta even allowed Diana to spread her wings because she understood that she needed to. I loved that. She always seemed to want to mollycoddle Diana and keep her in a kind of gilded cage. But Diana is very hurt. And very angry. She leaves the island, vowing never to return, with her little rag tag group. (It is so funny to see Strife casually stroll with them)  Where are they going to go and what is going to happen next? I can't wait!


5 out of 5 stars

Best Panel: Hippolyta's anguish. What a difference a day makes.

Adam Hughes' Superman and Wonder Woman

Action Comics # 3 Review

Another nice issue. The only weakness is the pacing as it cuts and jumps all over the place at times. But we begin with the new DCU version of Krypton. I just fell in love with these pages done by Gene Ha. It's clear a lot of thought went into the way the architecture and clothing looked and the planet is not cold and sterile. It's an advanced society, with relationships just like ours, there is love and friendship and gossip...it is so wonderful to see baby Kal-El surrounded by this warmth. A testament to the two people and race that sired him.

We learn that Jor-El is not only a controversial scientist but he is heroic himself. Lara is brave and beautiful.And Brainiac is now linked to Krypton's destruction.  We also see a fierce Krypto.

We see Clark, now as a reporter, continued tangling with the police. His exposure of corruption is not making them happy because it causes trouble. Great to see Clark with attitude. Superman's presence in Metropolis is still troubling to the public and Glenmorgan is trying to deflect his shady doings by focusing on Superman and stirring paranoia. You really feel for Clark in this issue. You get a sense of what he lost and how he is struggling just trying to do good and fight for justice. You feel his isolation and his passion. And he does not have to mope to do this by the way.

Lois is trying to get Clark over to the Planet and for now he does he does not want to because it is owned by Glenmorgan. Again Lois thinks Clark is following her to get scoops as if she is the only one who has that monopoly, I guess.  Lex as we expect is wheeling and dealing with Brainiac. And we see John Corben volunteering to be a super soldier. Not really impressed by the way the man who would be Metallo is depicted so lame and his motivations are now to impress Lois.


Best Panel : Clark asleep in his messy room. Looking exhausted, and vulnerable and like a real young man.

Art was a little rushed at times.Clark's face looked like it was melting a little in places but I still loved Rag's art. Contrast it with Ha's and you get the different feels for Krypton and Metropolis. Kal-El is now down in the mud with us humans and it isn't pretty. Oh and it seems Krypto's ghost is keeping vigil over Clark.

I give this issue 4 out of 5 stars.