Book of the Week: Action Comics #890

What did we at Multiversity think of Lex Luthor’s new ongoing title? Find out behind the cut!

Matt’s Thoughts: I’ll be honest – I thought Action Comics as a Book of the Week was a “controversial choice” for us. Not in that it would stir up some kind of hooplah about costume changes or anything, but it seemed unconventional, even for us. The beginning of a Luthor centric ongoing story? Since when did we root for the villain?

Well, since Paul Cornell took over, that’s when. Action Comics is certainly not the only villain-centric book on the market, especially right now and especially from DC, but for my money’s worth it’s the best – and we’re one issue in. The reason I say that is because I trust Cornell completely because he has shown us his talents as a writer on such “minor” books before, like the Dark X-Men mini or the cancelled Captain Britain title. Cornell has a definitive knack for character and dialogue, and I was very curious to see how he’d put this to Lex Luthor.

The long and short of it is: Action Comics could very easily be my favorite Super-title if it is as good as this first issue was throughout. Action Comics was actually the first Superman title I ever really enjoyed due to Johns’ run, but when Johns left the title I did as well, and I stayed away throughout all of New Krypton. Coming back to the title, I feel incredibly at home as this is basically issue 1. Cornell does an amazing job of bringing you in and setting the stage for the story, including explaining what elements of Blackest Night he’s working with, and all of his new characters are explained in one way or another. On top of that, Cornell brings back a classic villain in a very triumphant way that had my incredibly amped for the upcoming storyline.

As I said earlier, Cornell is definitely a name to trust. While I’m not sure if many people are familiar with his work, he has a great knack for dialogue and this issue helps show it. His Luthor is appropriately snarky and villainous, but in a way that actually makes him endearing as a “hero” of the story. He’s still a despicable villain, and opens the story by murdering a man in front of his family, but Cornell writes such a sleek sense of dark humor into the book that the assassination almost becomes funny to a certain extent. It’s clear that Cornell is a good fit for this title, and his experience with writing villainous protagonists definitely shows.

On top of that, we’ve got Pete Woods on art detail. For those unfamiliar with his work, you should look him up because the man has done some great work. He’s particularly noteworthy on splash pages, as he can create some gorgeous scenery. However, this book is a tad more toned down. While there are a few intricate scenes in here, for the most part we get down to the nitty gritty with the panels, showing us scene by scene the day in the life of Lex Luthor. Woods is a great fit for the title as well, and you get the feeling that he and Cornell have a great working relationship because the art is a crystal representation of the story. Heck, even without any dialogue at all, the art alone would be worth buying the comic for, and I can’t wait for future issues where Luthor starts becoming even more of a mad genius and Woods has a chance to really do crazy arting a la some of the stuff he did in Last Stand of New Krypton (ESPECIALLY the third issue of that).

Needless to say, for those unsure of whether or not to jump in the Action Comics bandwagon, I’d recommend it. You’ve got a great writer, a terrific artist, and an incredibly intriguing premise and main character. There is a lot of angles to go on with this, especially since Luthor is now allowed to run around Metropolis without so much as a remote fear that Superman will show up. It should be a fun years worth of storytelling in Action Comics, and with the upcoming Superboy back-up by Lemire, Action Comics should definitely find a home in your collection.

David’s Thoughts: When I first heard Marc Guggenheim was going to take over Action Comics after all of the War of the Supermen business, I wasn’t excited. I wasn’t not excited…I wasn’t much of anything. I was pretty indifferent.

Then, he left the book (circumstances of the departure uncertain) and was replaced by Paul Cornell, a writer who I’ve long been enthused with thanks to his work on Wisdom and Captain Britain and the MI: 13. My excitement level skyrocketed, as he had always excelled with characters who were agile minded and sort of bastards deep down.

And who has a more agile mind and is a bigger bastard than Lex Luthor, really?

This issue just proves my belief in Cornell right, as Lex Luthor in one issue proves that he can carry a book by himself and said book can be very entertaining and very intelligent at the same time. Everything from the present/flashback/present structure to the characters to the Blackest Night tie-in aspects are handled well. We’re even given some very clever turns, like Lois Lane as Luthor’s closest confidante (or is she?), the way Luthor deals with insubordinate subordinates, and the big last page…which is a watershed moment for 52 fans.

Pete Woods has never been my favorite artist, but there is something about his art in this book that felt refreshingly complete. I’ve always had issues with his work because it felt rushed in my mind for some reason, yet this issue felt well crafted and was just a joy to look at. His work was a surprising hit with me this time, and I hope he continues to bring this rock solid effort to the table in the future.

This all amounts to what is a very promising start to Cornell and Woods work. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m more excited about this run than I am about JMS and Eddy Barrows’ run on Superman, and this issue just confirmed that my excitement was well founded.

Gil’s Thoughts: It took Lex Luthor to do it, but a Superman book finally hit Book of the Week Status. Helmed by Paul Cornell and drawn by Pete Woods, we get to see Lex Luthor’s outlook on the world as he looks for the remains of any Black Lantern Rings he can find. He’s absolutely obsessed with the idea of having a ring, even if it’s a ring that animates the dead and nearly wiped out life as we know it. But who cares? Lex is that arrogant to think that he can control it, and we love him for it.

We have a guest turn from everyone’s favorite Superman bait Lois Lane for a time until a twist catches you by surprise (and infuriates you if you’re Matt) and effectively tells you just how creepy and smart this guy actually is.

It’s an excellent jumping on point for any new fans of the Superman or anyone looking to see how the bad guy can do it. I just hope they don’t make him sympathetic. We love Lex as a bastard!

Walt’s Thoughts: Somehow in all my reading of comics, science fiction novels, and viewing of science fiction television, I have managed to avoid reading or watching anything that Paul Cornell has had his hands in. Don’t ask me how that happened. And so, after hearing much hype about the acclaimed writer, did I approach this new run with high expectations.

This first issue left me slightly uncertain. With all the hype I had heard about Cornell joining Action Comics, I really wanted to love this issue. Even more so considering Lex Luthor, one of my favorite antagonists, has now taken center stage on the title. But for some reason, I just couldn’t, and I’m not even sure why. Cornell has already shown us in the span of one issue that he really gets Lex’s character (or, at least, how that character has been portrayed recently). He has even already shown us that he has a great grasp of the pseudo-science babbling needed to make a Luthor-centric story really shine. Honestly, he has everything needed to give Lex the best story he has ever had.

So why didn’t it work for me? I wish I could give you a good reason. My main problem with this issue was its reliance on Blackest Night. Sure, it was a company-wide event, but it was a Green Lantern event first and foremost. Supposing that this arc ends up being as good as we all want it to be, if one later introduces a new reader to it then one will first have to explain “well, there were these zombie lanterns who attacked then Lex got and orange ring and blah blah blah.” I understand that this will always be a problem with serialized fiction, but that doesn’t mean it can be smoothed out a bit more (especially since Blackest Night hardly affected the rest of the Superman franchise).

While I have a big problem with that little detail, I’m pretty sure that’s the only problem I really had with this issue. I think my concerns with this first issue will only fade as more issues are published, especially considering that the more I write this review, the more I realize that I liked it. I only see this getting better, so check it out for yourself if you’ve always been interested in the most hardcore businessman of all time. Tony Hayward can suck it.