Review: ACTION COMICS #14

ACTION COMICS #14
Written by Grant Morrison and Sholly Fisch
Art by Rags Morales and Chris Sprouse
Release Date: November 7, 2012

Action Comics, since the launch of the New 52, has been an exercise in contradiction. We’ve seen some of the best characterization of a young hero just learning who he is and getting a glimpse of his potential — charming, but without the confidence or larger than life presence we normally expect from the Man of Steel. We’ve also seen story concepts from Grant Morrison that rival some of his best work, but the implementation of the concepts into solid plots has been a bit uneven from issue to issue. Art has shifted from one penciller to another, in some cases even within the same month, ranging from superior to middle of the road. Greatness has only peppered DC’s flagship title, but that said, there have been moments to savor.

The latest issue isn’t really diverging from this pattern, although it seems the highs and lows are bit more exaggerated than in previous chapters. Morrison lays out his plot in almost cinematic fashion, as Superman responds to cries for help from a threatened contingent of astronauts on Mars. Falling somewhere between a wink at the science fiction classic Lost in Space and an homage to some of the wilder episodes of David Tennant’s Doctor Who series, the defense and rescue of terran explorers facing off against the most uncanny of antagonists is extremely clever in concept, and this time, execution as well. I am particularly fond of the book’s opening sequence of events, a five-page summary of the threat, conditions and anticipation for what would be Superman’s larger than life arrival on the red planet. Where the story falls a bit short, unfortunately, is in the lack of aforementioned charm in the Man of Steel’s characterization. It’s almost as if we can’t experience both at the same time — brilliant ideas with pitch perfect personality — except that we do, in fact, know it’s possible. Anyone who’s read Morrison’s All-Star Superman can attest to such.

The second story, written by Fisch, is more of a day-in-the-life sketch, taking Superman from a battle alongside the Justice League to what appears to be a regular return visit to the observatory of popular astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. It’s a pretty clever story, again like the first one, but without encouraging any serious expectation for significant characterization. But two things do stand out: we now know pretty conclusively Kal’s exact age in the New 52, and we get to feel a little bit of his heartbreak at seeing Krypton explode in real time.

Morales’s pencils here are not the best we’ve seen from the artist, but where he takes the space and time to carefully render characters’ eyes and facial expressions — Superman’s or otherwise — the result is consistently pleasing. Sprouse’s pencils too are adequate to fill out Fisch’s tale, although not particularly dynamic. The sole two pages of action are a bit cartoony, but to be fair, the remainder of the issue is pretty static in activity. He does pull off one of the better representations of the current Superman armor, however, and I’ve come to believe that’s easier said than done.

Ultimately, we may look back at this first 18 months of DC Comics’ Action Comics relaunch as a bold experiment that only resulted in a small number of successful moments. Much like Superman himself, struggling to find his way in the early days of his career, this title’s been a bit rough around the edges, but offered some brief glimpses at something great. One can hope in retrospect that the intensity of those particular moments made it all worthwhile.

Verdict: 7.5/10

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