Action Comics#999 Spoilers and Discussion

[Robotman]

Uhhh... did Supes just basically Black Mercy one of his enemies?

Haha! I was thinking the same thing!

I guess it’s a better solution than the Phantom Zone but I think in the long run it will make Henshaw even crazier. He’ll eventually snap out of it and be even more angry and depressed about his current situation. I was hoping they would have Supes come up with a way for Henshaw to put his powers to use for the good of humanity. Nope, just sedate him with good memories.

The ending was a bit too 180 and saccharine.

The story wasn’t that great but I loved Conrad’s art. I just can’t believe that gave the cover to Action #999 (itself a landmark issue) to Bret Booth, whose style is divisive to say the least. It really is a bad cover. Superman looks like he’s dancing or something.

[Kuwagaton]

I only have a digital copy for now, but I plan on getting the variant which seems to fit the idea of a #999 rather nicely.

[adkal]

Are there supposed to be three covers to this issue - the credits box lists someone else as the artist for the variant cover

The main cover evoked scenes of Ross and Hulk. It also (to me) kind of flipped the classic shots of Superman standing in front of a hail of bullets, including, for example, Lee's cover to Superman 205, only here Superman is suddenly feeling the sting of the bullets and is desperately trying to get away.

Story-wise, I don't understand why Superman wouldn't release Henshaw in the containment room (or even at the doorway to, if the metal might potentially interfere with the Projector) rather than risk parts of the Fortress getting smashed up (again), as they did.

With regards to her father's concerns, Lois knows that Kal has been possessed, controlled and used by those who do not have his altruistic approach to humankind, so she should at least understand the need for defence mechanisms to be developed etc. She doesn't have to like it but she should understand it.

Sam, at least, stated that he knew and accepted that Superman had done a ton of good over the years - it's a shame he didn't highlight some past events, though, as it would have given us some insight into what might be in continuity (King of the world is out, I guess ).

Which article are they referring to, though? The one from Morrison's Action run?

[Kuwagaton]

haha, yeah I was going to say it almost deliberately sounded like an exclusion of King of the World.

[adkal]

haha, yeah I was going to say it almost deliberately sounded like an exclusion of King of the World.

Exactly - the pre-New52verse Sam Lane would just need to remind Lois of that event to underline his point.

It's a shame, that was a good story

[Robotman]

i'm glad they had Sam Lane acknowledge that Superman has done some good things. it makes him less of a zealot and more rational. they logically would need some deterrents. Supes has been brainwashed and controlled numerous times.

one of the things i liked about the Scott Snyder/Jim Lee Superman story was that the military has a whole line of weapons specifically designed to stop Superman. i was kind of hoping they would touch on that.

[TruthAndJustice]

As someone who never liked the "King of the World" storyline...yeah I don't mind that one being erased. (Virtually every Superman story from 1999-2006 has clearly been erased...it still feels kinda odd to me...)

Remember, Sam Lane was dead before the 2011 reboot, so he should just be happy he's in a timeline where he didn't commit suicide!

Now we just need to find out where the hell Lucy Lane is and if she's still married to Ron Troupe.

[TruthAndJustice]

And yet Cyborg Superman has his original look, with the tights, in the flashback. Superman not having trunks in flashbacks when he should have had them was an understandable art error early on, but I'm not sure how it keeps happening.

A terrific issue, but I was a bit let down that we didn't get an explanation for how Hank Henshaw became human again in the Superman Reborn timeline, something I doubt we'll ever get now that Jurgens is leaving. I guess I'll just have to concoct some explanation in my head, like "Mr. Oz held back the effects of the Pre-Flashpoint and New 52 Superverses merging on Henshaw in order to protect Clark".

Dr. Manhattan rewrote reality. "Superman Reborn" rewrote it again, undoing parts of what Manhattan did. Everyone's memories now accord to what they were prior to Manhattan's rewrite.

That's the short and long of it.

[Atlas]

Dr. Manhattan rewrote reality. "Superman Reborn" rewrote it again, undoing parts of what Manhattan did. Everyone's memories now accord to what they were prior to Manhattan's rewrite.

That's the short and long of it.

And apparently, Action Comics 1000 and/or Bendis' Man of Steel will rewrite it further.

[Kuwagaton]

As someone who never liked the "King of the World" storyline...yeah I don't mind that one being erased. (Virtually every Superman story from 1999-2006 has clearly been erased...it still feels kinda odd to me...)

Remember, Sam Lane was dead before the 2011 reboot, so he should just be happy he's in a timeline where he didn't commit suicide!

Now we just need to find out where the hell Lucy Lane is and if she's still married to Ron Troupe.

I loved KotW but don't mind a little streamlining.

Last we saw Ron in Johns run I think, he was completely removed from Lucy and rather like a new character

[Sacred Knight]

And apparently, Action Comics 1000 and/or Bendis' Man of Steel will rewrite it further.

Not necessarily. It MIGHT happen, lord knows there's enough precedence for it in DC's recent history with the character, but, there's also the chance that Bendis just fills in some of the copious amounts of empty space Superman Reborn left us with. Which would in essence be contradicting nothing of the past two years. That would be ideal and proper. But then again, there's that precedence to worry about.

[Miles To Go]

Bendis only cares about continuity he creates.

[Sacred Knight]

I understand that to be his reputation, yeah. But, different publisher could come with different rules. Is his leash as long with DC as it was with Marvel? We'll see. That reputation combined with DC's reputation with Superman though, if one were to ask me can I see the concern, the answer would be hell yes.

[JAK]

Pretty solid issue, but that's not what I find interesting about it.

So Jurgens has stressed that Action Comics Issue #999 will be set up for 1000. Outside of the chance of Cyborg Superman getting out of this therapy session to find a new way to half robot punch Superman in the face (really, really, really, really hope that's not the plot of Jurgens and Tomasi's 1000 stories), this issue, at first glance, seems pretty neatly packed up. However, I think the devil is in the details, and there are at least two major details that I spotted.

The first, and largest, being the fact that Superman is finally addressing the idea that he's basically sending people to purgatory just because it's convenient and relatively effective. Cyborg Superman seems to represent the first step of what seems to be a new approach to Superman taking care of criminals, killers, and general threats on a "put them in the Phantom Zone" level. Superman on his social worker grind is a pretty classy and topical idea. The fact that it's topical kind of makes me think of Bendis and all of his comments on us needing a Superman now, and how Action Comics 1000 will be the introduction to a new status quo for Superman. Suppose that new status quo includes the idea that from here on Superman has a no Phantom Zone policy, and maybe this is only the tip of the ice when it comes to his new outlook?

Yep - this is CLASSIC Jurgens at his best. This totally reminded me of Clark fighting for the man about to get the death penalty (a 90's story). Such a damn shame that Jurgens seems to be hitting his stride and will now be gone. Funny enough, I noticed a big up-swing after Berganza left. Maybe he was the one wanting so much decompression? The pacing of this felt a LOT more comfortable.

I'm sure we'll see more of Henshaw: I imagine someone will break that crystal and Henshaw will be pissed at Superman AND whoever got him out. Also like that Henshaw going into his memories was so much like when he was standing in the rain with Lois in #78. Back when they had me fooled into thinking he was Superman (at the time, I thought they'd generate new skin eventually to cover up the metallic parts and they'd eventually either forget he had them or have a whole other "hidden" power set.)

But damn, I loved this issue. If only the execution of all of it would have been as good as this and "Men of Steel". The mindset he has for Superman here is exactly what drew me to Superman as not just a set of powers, but as a character. And I really hope Bendis continues that.

[Embryonic Superman]

Dr. Manhattan rewrote reality. "Superman Reborn" rewrote it again, undoing parts of what Manhattan did. Everyone's memories now accord to what they were prior to Manhattan's rewrite.

That's the short and long of it.

But Henshaw was human Post-Reborn. The Superman Revenge Squad storyline kicked off with him retrieving the faux-Infinity Stone to transform himself back into the Cyborg, having become a human again at some point following the Post-Crisis stories featuring him that are now back in continuity.

I think it was a concession for it to not be too jarring for the reader (Jurgens had been setting up the New 52 human Hank Henshaw as a possible antagonist going back to Lois & Clark, bringing him back into play in Action Comics shortly before Reborn), but, last we left Cyborg at the end of Revenge, he definitely needed the stone in order to "be" the Cyborg. Ironic, considering his whole M.O. before Flashpoint was loathing being the Cyborg and wishing he could die.

As someone who never liked the "King of the World" storyline...yeah I don't mind that one being erased. (Virtually every Superman story from 1999-2006 has clearly been erased...it still feels kinda odd to me...)

We know some mutated form of OWaW happened, since Imperiex was in the large group shots of Superman's Rogue Gallery at the end of Superman Reborn and the two issue epilogue.