Revelations

Superman #695
Written by James Robinson
Art by Bernard Chang

I love the Superman books right now! I really can’t get enough of them. Robinson’s threads are coming together slowly but surely and it is so fun to see how tightly plotted everything is here. Steel wakes up from his coma, Jimmy is alive, the Legion has been behind a lot more then we thought…there are so many revelations in every issue of this book and I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. This book is much better then Robinson’s awkward Justice League writing, if only it got a regular artist. I miss Guedes’s Metropolis.

Intertwined

Action Comics #883
Written by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann
Art by Pere Perez
Co-Feature by Rucka and James Robinson
Art by Cafu

The Superman books are some of the best intriguing, story-driven, and exciting comics I have read in a long time. Robinson and Rucka have crafted such a wonderful mystery here and I will keep saying it again and again. We finally get to see the Nightwing entity in action this issue albeit briefly. I love the new Nightwing and Flamebird costumes. They are simple and visually appealing and I like how they honor Superman on their belts. I hope these costumes stick around. Jimmy Olsen’s (possible murder) disappearance is investigated by Perry White. I am surprised that that plot point is being followed up here instead of by Robinson over in Superman but that just goes to show how tightly intertwined the books are right now. The Captain Atom co-feature makes great use of continuity by referencing Superman/Batman and Captain Atom’s time as monarch. I love continuity shout-outs like that! I guess that is why my blog is named what it is. Anyways, the art was fantastic and so was the writing on it. Great issue.

7734

Superman #693
Written by James Robinson
Art by Fernando Dagnino

We finally get to see more of General Lane’s base of operations, 7734, and it was rather cool. Lane has planned for everything and is gaining power to stop the Kryptonians in a war he believes will happen. Mon-El withstands torture, both psychological and physical, and still won’t become a member of Lane’s team. I like how Lane mocks the Superman symbol, I suppose that will be the reason why Mon-El is going to put it on his costume – to make sure that people are still inspired by that famous S. People really need to be reading the Superman books right now, as this is all so wonderfully plotted and leading to something huge.

Sam Lane Makes A Great Villain

Action Comics #882
Written by Greg Rucka and Sterling Gates
Art by Pere Perez
Co-Feature by Rucka and James Robinson
Art by Cafu

This is part 3 of the Hunt for Reactron storyline that began here and continued here. I didn’t expect Reactron to kill the entire Squad K – especially when I was starting to really like their leader. This little crossover has been a lot of fun and action-packed so far and I can’t wait for next week’s conclusion. The Superman books are the best they have been in years – even without Superman. Sam Lane is the ultimate villain. The Captain Atom back-up finally explains why Captain Atom went crazy and became Monarch in Countdown – he was being controlled by Mirabai. Now I am not sure why she sent him into the multiverse to do all those crazy things – but Countdown was so poorly thought out that it doesn’t really matter does it. Major Force shows up and when that asshole shows up you know things are bad. It was good to see Natasha Irons as well.