Random Thoughts On... Brian Michael Bendis's Run on the Superman Books Part 2

So, where was I? Oh yeah, I was about to talk about villains and controversy.

A Bit Mixed on the Villains

We get some returning villains and new villains here, but I’m mostly focusing on the newer villains. First up, it’s Rogol Zaar who I already said my piece on. He’s okay, and unfortunately, we don’t learn too much about him here. He’s still on his hate boner for all Kryptonians. We don’t even find out how he possibly destroyed Krypton. Next, there’s Symnar Utopica, an alien from a part of the galaxy that has an orange sun. His deal was that his people turned him into a weapon to possible combat Superman. He instead turns on them and tries to kill Superman too. He was a bit on the “meh” side. We do get a villain named that shows up during the Doctor Fate two-parter, but that villain was so forgettable.

Yes, Zod! Beat the lameness out of Zaar!

Random Thoughts On... Brian Michael Bendis' Run on the Superman Books Part 1

I called it. I seriously called this one. When I heard that Brian Michael Bendis was coming over to DC, I wrote here that I hope they didn’t throw him on Superman first. Whelp, I think something screwed up with in the atmosphere or something because BMB came and did some Superman. Was it everything I was hoping? Dreading? Both? Meh? You’ll find out below.

For those not in the know, Brian Michael Bendis made his career with Marvel for a majority of the 2000’s. For whatever reason (I’ve heard various rumors), he left his exclusive job at Marvel and came over to DC. I think everyone was shocked by this especially me. I’m a BMB fan, but even I’ll admit that he has his low moments. Remember Civil War 2? While he was on the Superman books, he also helmed his own event (Event: Leviathan), revamped the Legion of Superheroes,  and handled a line of teen superhero comics (Young Justice, Naomi, and others). Anyway, his time on Superman came after what some would call a good period for the Man of Steel. His history was back, his marriage was back, and he had a heroic kid in tow. So, how does Bendis screw all that up? Well, he didn’t… sorta.

Here’s how it all panned out:

• Action Comics #1000 – a small side story that set up a new villain and the return of Superman’s other ally… his trunks.
• Man of Steel (not to be confused with Byrne nor Zach Snyder) – This set up the status quo with the Daily Planet and  with the new villain, Rogol Zaar, an alien who has a hatred for Kryptonians. We also have Lois and Jon Kent leave the book to hang out with Jor-El Debarge… yeah, I’m sticking with that name for this version. I talked about this mini last year.
• Superman #1-28 – With this book, Bendis pretty much goes cosmic on us. If you want Superman in space kicking butt and taking names, this was the book that had him on those adventures. First, we get “The Unity Saga.” Here, we get a Phantom Zone story that deals with Rogol Zaar and more recognizable Superman villains. Next, we get what is one of the first controversial moments with Superboy Jon Kent. The saga then concludes with the fate of evil Jor-El as well as some space shenanigans. After all that fun, we get The Truth (I touched on that here), more Mongul, a team up with Dr. Fate, and some more space fun.
• Action Comics #1001-1028 – As for Action Comics, it was more grounded and city-based. We get a lot of the Daily Planet here as well as a plot involving a gang called the Invisible Mafia. We get to see more of the new faces that were introduced in Man of Steel. While Clark is trying to figure out who the Invisible Mafia is, we also have Clark and Lois (who returns) go through some relationship woes. Add in a major tie-in to Event: Leviathan, and the return of Rose/Thorn. Next, we get a major fight involving the Legion of Doom, Leviathan, and Red Cloud (a new villain) in Metropolis, the meeting of the two Superboys (Conner Kent and Jon Kent), and John Romita Jr. unfortunately returning to Superman.
• Superman: Heroes and Superman: Villains – These two one-shots were basically the reactions of the different heroes and villains to Superman outing his double life.
• Superman: Leviathan Rising – This one-shot was basically another prologue to Event: Leviathan and other Superman-related titles. 

Random Thoughts On... Superman's Identity Revealed Arc from the New 52

Well, it has come to this. When I started this month, this was the first thing on the docket. I thought I would’ve gotten it out of the way first, but reading 30-something issues from this era of comics is a bit much. Still, I had to finish this race here. Last time, I said that this story killed the New 52 Superman. Was I right to say that? Not sure because I don’t know what DC’s plans for this version of Superman were. Still, you never know. Also… I kinda liked bits of this. Yeah, it’s actually a shocker.

So, what am I talking about today? After the Convergence event, DC transitioned from New 52 to “DC You.” Basically, the idea was to just go off the wall with certain things. Tom King was doing Omega Men, Hal wasn’t Green Lantern… again,  someone finally decided to give Starfire some frakin’ clothes (yeah, I’m bitter about how they treated my girl), Martian Manhunter got his own book, and Batman turned into a robo-bunny. Geoff Johns started up “Darkseid War” as well. This was a weird era.

As for Superman, someone had the “interesting” idea to out Superman’s double life as Clark Kent to the world. From what I can tell, it was mostly done for shock value. A lot had been done to this version of Superman. His parents were dead, he lost his marriage with Lois, he was in jeans during his early days, he hooked up with Wonder Woman, he got turned into a Doomsday (I’ll touch on that some other time), and he got a “totally rad” power called the solar flare. So, they decide to have Lois Lane out him, and not only that, he loses his powers. That’s a lot for one character, man.

TradeTales! - Superman: Up, Up, and Away

Well, I’ve finally gotten to the end of this themed month… at the beginning of October. That happens when one needs a root canal. This time, I think it’s time for a free-for-all. Instead of one villain taking Superman on, have an A-lister and bunches of B/C-listers take him on. There have been a few stories that have done that. Heck, they just did that recently in Action Comics. The one most think of is “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Since I’ve already did that one, I found another that’ll do the trick. You might even recognize aspects of it from another Superman property: Superman Returns.

Superman: Up, Up, and Away was a crossover between Superman (#650-653) and Action Comics (#837-840). It was a part of One Year Later, an imitative that moved the DCU ahead a year. The missing year was covered in the maxi-series, 52. During that year, Clark was powerless ever since his fight with Superboy-Prime in Infinite Crisis.  The story was written by both Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns. Pete Woods handles a majority of the art duties with Renato Guedes doing a couple of issues. So, if you want to see Superman Returns done better, keep reading.

Superman: Up, Up , and Away!

Writers: Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns

Artists: Pete Woods and Renato Guedes

Colorists: Brad Anderson and Renato Guedes

Letters: Jare K. Fletcher, Nick J. Napolitano, and Rob Leigh

Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Action Comics #775

Next up for the month is a pretty underused villain who was first an anti-hero: Manchester Black. The character first appeared in today’s comic, Action Comics #775 (2001). He has both telekinetic and telepathic powers. He was a part of a team called The Elite, a team that was basically a rip-off of Wildstorm’s The Authority. They were pretty much the “no holds barred” superhero team that killed their villains and caused lots of damage. While he has been underused a lot, that hasn’t stopped him from appearing in more recent stuff.

Today’s issue was written by Joe Kelly. The pencils were provided by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo. Then, we get to the inks which were split between six inkers. I’ll list them down below. This issue is listed by some to be one of Superman’s best issues. It even got adapted into a direct-to-DVD movie in 2008. So, let’s see Superman tackle a team that doesn’t follow the “no-kill” rule.

Action Comics #775

Writer: Joe Kelly

Pencils: Douge Mahnke and Lee Bermejo

Inks: Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, Jose Marzan, Wade Con Grawbadger, and Wayne Faucher

Colors: Rod Schwager

Letters: Comicraft

Editors: Eddie Berganza and Tom Palmer, Jr.

Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Action Comics #647-649

Next up for the month is actually a double feature! I have two villains for this post and they are pretty well-known: Brainiac and Metallo. Since Metallo is less complex, I’ll talk about him first. Metallo was first introduced in Action Comics #252 as John Corben, a criminal. After a fatal accident, Professor Vale was able to save Corben's brain and put it into a robotic body with a heart of Kryptonite. After John died, his brother ended up taking the role until the reboot in 1986. Then, John Byrne brought the original idea back and gave it a more Terminator edge in Superman #1. At this point, Metallo was deactivated and under Lex Luthor’s possession.

Then, there’s Brainiac. Where do I even start? Ever since his first appearance in Action Comics #242, he's been revamped and retconned in just about everything. Let’s just go with the Coluan background here. There’s no need to mention the fact that he’s been a Kryptonian A.I. too. In this iteration, He was a scientist from Colu who was executed via teleportation. His consciousness ended up on Earth and found Milton Fine, a circus performer who had psychic powers. He took control of Fine and fought Superman a number of times until he ended up becoming catatonic. He also ended up being under the care of Lex Luthor.

Today’s story is “The Brainiac Trilogy” from Action Comics #647-649. At this point, Action Comics was back to being a main Superman book. Beforehand, it was weekly and being shared by multiple heroes. We haven’t gotten to the point where the Superman books were tying right into each other yet. Roger Stern was the writer. The artwork was done by George Perez, Kerry Gammill, and Brett Breeding. So, sit back and see how Brainiac got his groove back!

Action Comics #647-649

Writer: Roger Stern

Artwork: George Perez, Kerry Gammill, and Brett Breeding

Colors: Bill Oakley

Letters: Glenn Whitmore

Editors: Jon Peterson (associate) and Mike Carlin

Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Action Comics #595

Next up for the month is one of Superman’s lesser known villains: Silver Banshee. Superman only has a few female villains and she’s one of them. Banshee, aka Sibhohan McDougal, was part of an old Gaelic clan. When she had once delved into the world of dark magic, her soul was dragged to the Underworld. When she was sent back, she caused a lot of damage and some of that was in today’s issue. She’s only made a few appearances in the comics since then, though. She did make it to other DC properties like Justice League Unlimited and Smallville. The place where she’s probably remembered best is on Supergirl where she and Livewire took on both Supergirl and the Flash.

She was actually one of John Byrne’s creations, first appearing in today’s book, Action Comics #595. At this time, Action Comics had pretty much became “Superman Team-Up” since a hero would guest star in the book. Today’s hero is my favorite dude, “Name Withheld.” The issue was written and drawn by John Byrne who was also working on the main Superman book at this time. Inks were done by Keith Williams.

Action Comics #595

Writer/Pencils: John Byrne

Inks: Keith Williams

Colors: Tom Ziuko

Letters: John Constanza

Editor: Mike Carlin

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman #423 and Action Comics #583

So, Alan Moore… he’s alright in my book. I haven’t read much of his stuff. He’s just a writer that really doesn’t draw me in with his stories. The stories of his I’ve read are okay in my opinion and that does include Watchmen.  Hopefully, I don’t gather some online trolls by saying that about Watchmen. I’ve read all of his Superman stories in the Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? trade. Other than Watchmen, Moore is also known for crafting a two-part imaginary story that ended the Pre-Crisis Superman.

“Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” is a story that is loved by a lot of folk. Moore was asked to end this Superman’s story and he did it with a bit of a bang. It’s usually at the top of every “Favorite Superman Stories” list. Is it at the top of my list? I don’t know since I haven’t even made one yet. Moore is the writer of both issues. Curt Swan, one of the most well-known Superman artists, pens the issues. George Perez inks the first issue while Kurt Schaffenberger inks the last issue. After this story, Superman as renamed “The Adventures of Superman” while a new Superman book was created.

Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Action Comics #13

Well, it’s time to get back to that Grant Morrison fellow. Just know that this isn’t the only Morrison-related story I’ll be looking at this month. I’ve already looked at most of his work on the rebooted Action Comics. Today is no different. I sort of looked at the first 8 issues a couple of years ago and at his “Death of Clark Kent” arc last year. Originally, I was going to look at Action Comics #9 (Black Superman ,ya’ll!!), but I’ve decided to look at Action Comics #13 today.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my family’s dogs, Spot, died from a heat stroke. Unlike most dogs we’ve had, Spot was around for the long haul. My dad got him back in 2001, I believe. He’s been at the house since then. He knew to stay away from the highway. He also tried to sneak in our house during thunderstorms. He was a cool dog and he will be missed. Anyway, Morrison was the writer of the main issue while Sholly Fisch handled the back-up. Instead of Rags Morales, Travel Foreman handles the art duties for the main story. Brad Walker pencils the back-up story.

Action Comics #13

Writers: Grant Morrison and Sholly Fisch

Artists: Travel Foreman (main) and Brad Walker (back-up)

Inker: Andrew Hennessy (back-up)

Colorists: Brad Anderson (main) and Jay David Ramos (back-up)

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin - Action Comics #10-#12

So, Grant Morrison... is bald... and looks like Lex Luthor! Don't worry, those could be considered to be good things as well.


In this post for the Month of Superman, I'll be coming to the 2010's and looking at a couple of issues from the Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics. Since I've looked at the first two arcs of his "good but okay" run last year, I'll be looking at Action Comics #10-12. Now, I can safely say that I'm a semi-fan of Grant Morrison. I've read  most of his recent DC stuff though I may be one of the only Superman fans who hasn't completely read All-Star Superman yet. I did enjoy the movie based off of the story though. I even liked Final Crisis which is something I'll be getting to later after I'm out of "Themed Month Rage." With all of that being said, let's see how this new Superman deals with Clark Kent being _____! By the way, I'm only looking at the main features, not the back-ups.

Action Comics #10-#12
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists (...): Rags Morales, Brad Walker, and Cafu 
Inkers: Rick Bryant, Brad Walker, Bob McLeod, CAFU, and Andrew Hennessy