Since signing Geoff Johns as the regular writer of Action Comics, DC Comics seems to have made an effort to link the title a little more closely to the Richard Donner film version, first by including Donner himself as co-writer. Later, when Gary Frank joined as resident artist, he depicted Superman to resemble actor Christopher Reeve.
This has provided the character with a universally familiar tone. While many heroes have been tied closely with an on-screen counterpart, I’ve never seen one handled so well. The Man of Steel is familiar yet fresh, and is a perfect blend of comics and film.
The most recent story arc, Brainiac, features one of Superman’s most notorious villains as he is revelaed to be more than the sum of all his previous incarnations. As the tale progresses Through Action Comics #866-870, Superman journeys into a digital heart of darkness, past earlier variations on the Brainiac character, only to encounter what claims to be the definitive verion of one of the most feared beings in the DC Universe.
The story also reintroduces the bottle city of Kandor, and lays the foundation for upcoming conflict as Superman must reconcile what will become of the Kryptonian survivors.
The scope of the story is cosmic, while at the same time building to a very personal climax, and it is here that I begin to see fault with that particular story element was handled. It’s not that it was handled poorly by any means. I just feel – and I readily admit to personal bias – that it could have been related better by Johns and presented better by DC Comics.
SPOILER ALERT!!
At the end of Action Comics #869, (chapter 4), we are treated to a preview of the cover of the next chapter, depicting a grief-stricken Clark, while a lone Martha Kent stands behind him on a rather bleak landscape. It doesn’t take much imagination to surmise that the beloved Pa Kent will meet his end in the next issue.
Sure enough, in Action #870, as Superman is in final battle with Brainiac, Jonathan Kent succumbs to the oft-portrayed heart attack. By telegraphing the event in such a heavy-handed manner, DC Comics ruined what could have been an incredibly dramatic ending. Considering this funeral scene isn’t even featured in this issue, I believe the cover is inappropriate, other than to make it clear that Jonathan’s heart attack is indeed fatal.
In the 1978 movie, as Jonathan Kent collapses and dies, Clark utters a quiet “Dad?” This is a pivotal moment in the Superman mythos, and was portrayed on-screen in a heartfelt and touching manner. While Johns' Superman echoes the same moment, he refers to his father as “Pa.”
Perhaps the writer wanted to put his own spin on the scene in the Superman mythos, which I can appreciate. Personally, I think it would have been more effectively poignant to echo the film version.
The chapter ends with Superman and Martha cradling Jonathan in their arms, mourning with his mother. If this is the finale it is touted to be on the cover, it is far from satisfying. Readers must then follow events in the Superman: New Krypton Special one-shot.
New Krypton launches the next chapter, as Kryptonian survivors from the city of Kandor, which Brainiac had kidnapped en masse prior to Krpyton’s destruction, begin to make Earth their new home. The special begins with the laying to rest of Jonathan Kent and the emotional turmoil of Superman’s loss.
Often in fiction – movies, comics and books – funerals are depicted and then the tale moves on, almost in an “...And then the next day...” sort of way. But the funeral is just an event; the genuine emotion comes afterwards. Family and friends have left, and the survivor(s) are left alone in a house that is far too quiet. It is this moment that too few writers have been able to convincingly convey the suffocating grief and sorrow, though it is attempted in New Krypton.
Martha is shown sitting alone a dinner table, uneaten food in front of her, seemingly in shock. Sadly, in the wake of such tragedy, the fact remains that life continues for survivors. In the aftermath of my own father’s death, my mother told me, “I don’t remember anything I did that first year.” I think it would have been better to show Martha eating, but in an automatic, mechanical fashion.
Overall, the story is very good, as most stories by Johns are. It is dramatic enough to be entertaining without suffering from the hype that usually surrounds the departure of a supporting character. I just feel there too many opportunities to make a good story better were lost, but that may be me projecting my interests onto those involved in crafting the story.
Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com
