It’s Halloween in the Fortress of Solitude and Superman’s got some pretty awful Trick-or-Treaters knocking on his door. Okay, I apologize for that. It’s not even really much of a Halloween story. Let’s just review this thing.
Written by Grant Morrison
Illustrated by Travel Foreman
Backup written by Sholly Fisch
Backup Illustrated by Brad Walker– You won’t want to miss the return of Krypto!
– Superman must face down a threat from the Phantom Zone — with the help of The Phantom Stranger!
– Grant Morrison makes a major change in ACTION COMICS in this special issue featuring art by Travel Foreman!
Let’s not split any hairs: Morrison’s “Action Comics” run has been a mixed bag of really cool moments, disjointed storytelling, and some definite head-scratching material. This issue is no different and Morrison is showing no desire to wrap up any sort of overarching story by the time his run ends with issue #16. That said, with the last few issues he has moved into exploring an aspect of Superman’s character that is often overlooked: the fact that his strength of will and goodness is as great as his physical ability. In this way, Morrison looks to favor the triumph of pure good vs. evil on Halloween over any spooky tropes or horror.
We begin with a sequence in which Dr. Xa-Du is sentenced to the newly-created Phantom Zone by Jor-El for crimes of science. As is typical of Morrison, these sequences are filled with crazy-wonderful idea nuggets about pseudo-science that the reader hopes will pay off later. When we get to Superman being “haunted” by Xa-Du in the current era, it’s clear that Morrison isn’t going to really set any clear rules about the science fiction he’s set up. This happens a lot in comics. Usually it’s something a reader can breeze by and just accept, but when the central idea is that Xa-Du cannot interact in the Phantom Zone and he ends up breaking these rules, it’s pretty important that the reader knows how. Even if it ends up being a B.S. nonsense explanation, the “threat” of the Phantom Zone is too important to gloss over how Xa-Du ultimately escapes.
But Xa-Du is a captivating villain, because Morrison highlights his scorn for those that live freely, while he has lived as a ghost for so long. The Phantom Zone is portrayed as a pocket universe within our very own, so he has lived and moved around it, without actually being a part of it. Now we’re getting to the part of the issue that Morrison handles really well. He highlights Xa-Du’s motivations for making everyone feel the way that he’s felt for the last 20 years – alone, powerless, and without purpose.
The latter half of the story features Krypto in an appearance that tugs on heart strings and uses the fact that he’s a dog as a really crucial part of the story. His sense of smell, his ability to hear high pitched noises, and his loyalty all come into play in ingenious ways that serve the story perfectly and don’t feel contrived. Fans of Krypto have to be thrilled and those that have never appreciated the idea of a “Superdog” will be won over by the way he’s so effectively folded into the story. In a story that features superhuman strength and supernatural willpower that defies the physical laws of the universe, Krypto provides a recognizable bit of heart to Superman’s character that we don’t often get to see.
On paper, Travel Foreman sounded like a good choice for a Halloween issue. He proved to be a master of the disgusting and the horrific on Jeff Lemire’s “Animal Man.” Morrison ends up only really paying lip service to the idea that it’s Halloween and so Foreman doesn’t really get to flex that muscle. Regardless most of his art in his segment is among the best work he’s ever done. He has a scratchy style that has traditionally stayed economical on detail, unless he’s needed to dial up the grotesque. This time around, he puts tons of noticeable detail into the Krypton and early Fortress of Solitude scenes. He seems to have as much of a knack for drawing unearthly technology as he does for the grotesque. In fact, his early work on the issue makes one wonder whether he’d be a nice fit for ongoing collaborations with Morrison, the way that Frank Quitely, Chris Weston, and Chris Burnham have been.
Continued belowBut toward the end of his segment, the quality and detail of his work dips. I mean significantly dips. Compare the final pages of the story with Krypto and Xa-Du to their appearances earlier in the issue and the difference is clear. Perhaps he was stretched a little thin, filling in on this issue.
The backup by Sholly Fisch and Brad Walker is pretty to look at and true to the characters, giving us more to enjoy about the relationship between Kal-El and his dog. Fisch’s unflashy backups have been a nice contrast to Morrison’s wacky big idea segments. They’re a satisfying palate cleanser, even for readers that are generally a fan of what Morrison does.
All-in-all, Morrison throws a lot to the wall and only some of it sticks. When he’s willing to whisk us through insane pseudo-explanations of what’s going on, it often works. He doesn’t even really bother with that here, but lucky for readers he does such a good job with the characters that the story ends up being worthwhile anyway. That’s been the tenor of his run. If you’ve been sticking it out, this lands softly in the middle of what he’s been up to.
Final Verdict: 6.8 – Buy it if you want two top-notch Krypto the Superdog stories.
