Superman Review: Action Comics #7 By Grant Morrison and Rags Morales

Reviews, Top Story

Action Comics #7

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Rages Morales, Rick Bryant, and Brad Anderson

 

 

The short of it:

 

And we’re finally back on topic after two issues of severe tangent and people from the future going into the past to delay this book ever leaving the past to get to the present. Confused yet? Enjoy! Superman has to get into space to go after the Collector after the evil alien stole Metropolis, which leads to Superman destroying his makeshift costume and doing things he’s never had reason to attempt before. He gets a confusing and alien explanation of his history, nothing complete, but enough for him to finally find out he’s from Krypton and that the Collector has had many names on many worlds. Mini-Metropolis gets a giant metal spider problem, and Superman has to become Superman to save the day from….the hell kind of beast is that thing?

 

What I liked:

  • Superman has never been clocked over 600 mph and needs to go 25,000. How does he do it? Well, he’s never had to before so he has to give it a shot. I love that his limits are set like that, that he quite literally is holding himself back for lack of needing to do more.
  • When he opens his mouth, he might sound like a rookie, but I’ll be damned if he doesn’t sound like Superman. Optimistic, determined, completely unable to quit. He’ll fight for everyone, whether they love him or hate him, and he’ll do the impossible in order to do so.
  • Lex hasn’t gotten to do a whole hell of a lot, but I love the snarky attitude Morrison sticks him with. He’s better than you, you know it, he knows it, he has better things to do than worry about how he comes across to anyone.
  • Ray Palmer name drop!
  • Rags does a great job with the majority of this issue, and really nails the more human imagery that comes from street clothes Superman. He doesn’t look like the worlds greatest super hero, he looks like someone trying to do what he can. The battle damage is a nice touch. So are the spiders.
  • I really liked the backup story, even if Steel’s costume feels like the lovechild of Iron Man and Conduit.

 

What I didn’t like:

  • Wait, so his suit is a generic white outfit that changes colors and gets a logo just because he puts it on? Really?
  • So the Collector used Luthor, alright, I can get that, Lex screws up his first time with an alien. What I can’t get is that he turns into a whiny little bitch about it. Like being stabbed in the back is foreign to him.
  • Jimmy Olson. His purpose is to direct the story through his worlds. He tells people to follow Lex and the next panel tells Lex where to go. So why aren’t you leading, Jim?
  • My only issue with the art at all is that in some pages/panels Superman seems to turn into a 15 year old. His face randomly starts to look super young.

 

Final thoughts:

 

I liked the part where we find out what various different races have called the Collector over the years, and I was not at all surprised that Brainiac 1.0 is one of them. I mean, I’ve been calling him “Not-Brainiac”. C.O.M.P.U.T.O. was a fanboy moment, but finding out that on Earth we know him as “The Internet”? I damn near fell out of my chair laughing. That was awesome.

 

The outfit felt kinda like a cop out, I had these ideas of him finding some relic of the House of El, or something Kryptonian and putting his logo on it. I dunno, the idea of him putting on a generic white suit and it instantly turning into his suit just felt kinda cheap.

 

This arc is going on for FOREVER! I understand they took the two issue break with Kubert on art to give Rags some time, but this story just feels so long in an almost Bendis like way. Like it’s dragging on for the sake of being six issues, which unfortunately has made it into eight. Way more decompressed than I’d expect from Grant.

 

The backup story wasn’t bad, and it was cool to see Steel make a big super hero splash, but that costume is an eyesore. I do hope he becomes a main supporting cast character, and I also hope that he remains a superhero without a secret identity. It makes him a bit more unique.

 

That caterpillar/Metallo/Brainiac thing at the end of the issue made for a great visual, but a big WTF flag for just what exactly it was supposed to be.

 

I want to say that I liked the people of Metropolis cheering for Superman when he goes to save them, but at the same time I can’t really view it as them accepting him so much as they saw someone there to save them and were immediately gung ho about it. I bet we could have gotten a Booster Gold chant if it was him.

 

Overall: 7/10

A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.