PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Robotman]

Oh wow. Somehow I read it as:

My mind just dropped in words that weren't even there!

Haha I totally meant to write a “Superman fan”. Now it just sounds like I want Clark to be a deadbeat dad.

[Vordan]

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...487sLx_4UoiJsQ

The focal characters will move around from arc to arc and one of them will always be Clark. This arc the most crucial subplots were Metallo and Jon/the Twins. The others will get love soon, to include in backups

I’d love a Kon & Kenan backup myself.

[Mantis-Ray]

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...487sLx_4UoiJsQ


I’d love a Kon & Kenan backup myself.

Ah so we are getting more backups centered more on the characters directly involved in the story

It would be a good idea to give characters like Kenan their own subplot in a back-up

[The Frog Bros]

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...487sLx_4UoiJsQ


I’d love a Kon & Kenan backup myself.

Ah so we are getting more backups centered more on the characters directly involved in the story

It would be a good idea to give characters like Kenan their own subplot in a back-up

I like this idea of rotating focal characters in the main story as well as the backup. Not only does it give all characters their due, hopefully it will help avoid having the main line story always feel overstuffed with the large cast.

Wonder if they’ll always have the format of two backups?

[Vordan]

I like this idea of rotating focal characters in the main story as well as the backup. Not only does it give all characters their due, hopefully it will help avoid having the main line story always feel overstuffed with the large cast.

Wonder if they’ll always have the format of two backups?

Just the other day I was thinking with a cast size this large the best way to spotlight everyone is to rotate. So this time it’s Clark & Jon/Super-Twins, next maybe it should be Clark & Kon/Kenan, then Clark & Kara, etc. The characters who actually have their own books (like how Kon and Steel have their own minis) should probably wait for their turn, so I guess Kara should be up next after this arc. But for me as long as Clark + whoever the main villain is are getting focused on and fleshed out, I’m content.

I’d rather just have one backup and give the extra pages to PKJ for his main story.

[Vordan]

As big Metallo fan. I feel a bit mixed about current arc. Look is solid, fantastic characterization (gun aspect is perfect) but those weren’t his issues imo. The problem was post-Crisis he’s been sub-villain to bigger villain. That’s still looking like the case at his modern peak

Hang in there, book ain’t over. I’ve felt the same way about Metallo in the past

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...487sLx_4UoiJsQ

Doubling down on my prediction that Tracy is going to die and Metallo is going to go nuts, kill Henshaw and go on a rampage.

[Kuwagaton]

Hot damn. I lost interest somewhere around the Bendis Romita stuff and Johnson didn't wow me. But I like this new era so far and I might pick up the gladiator stuff in trade

[Thor-Ul]

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...487sLx_4UoiJsQ

Doubling down on my prediction that Tracy is going to die and Metallo is going to go nuts, kill Henshaw and go on a rampage.

Or Metallo will die and then Tracy will become... Metalla!!

[Vordan]

Hot damn. I lost interest somewhere around the Bendis Romita stuff and Johnson didn't wow me. But I like this new era so far and I might pick up the gladiator stuff in trade

Which parts didn’t you like? His weakest part was at the start with The Golden Age crossover and then the three issue filler arc of Superman, but his Action Comics has been great. Really kicks into high gear once Superman & the Authority actually arrive on Warworld in issue 1036 (if I remember the chronology correctly).

[Mantis-Ray]

Which parts didn’t you like? His weakest part was at the start with The Golden Age crossover and then the three issue filler arc of Superman, but his Action Comics has been great. Really kicks into high gear once Superman & the Authority actually arrive on Warworld in issue 1036 (if I remember the chronology correctly).

Wait what was the Golden Age crossover?

[Quinlan58]

- Something neat I didn't notice the first time I read this: Clark's heat vision only shows his eyes glowing and then his enemies getting hit, whereas Kara's heat vision shows as a full beam. Wonder what that means. Something to do with his power boost?
- They're really going all-in on Metallo as a xenophobe, and I love it.
- An interesting bit of framing: When Kara gets hit by the suicidal Necrohive, both Clark and Steel are looking at completely the opposite direction, whereas Conner (and somewhat Kenan) are looking at her. Some sort of subtext of Clark and John Henry being too focused on their lofty goals? During the attack on Steelworks earlier, it was also Conner the one to realize something was wrong.
- I really wish this story arc had given us anything with Kara to properly feel something when she's attacked. Instead it's just... nothing. More interesting for how Conner reacts (which is great, mind you) than because of Kara.
- I appreciate PKJ writing Clark with those all-loving morals while also making it clear that even his own close allies (Conner and Kenan) don't really share those to that extent. It makes both Clark (for holding himself up to those standards) and Conner/Kenan (for being more "realistic"/"relatable") come off stronger in that scene.
- If I were Clark, I'd have decked Lex in the face for going all vague in that scene.
- Sandoval and Herms really outdid themselves in the Metallo scene. The corpses, the cybernetic gore, the skulls just laying around, Metallo at his most monstrous looking as pitiful as he's ever had, so expressive when he no longer has a face to emote with... all great.
- And fake Tracy has finally done away with those pretenses. Good, I got tired of that from the second it was introduced.
- I really wish we had seen any sort of Warworld refugee besides Otho and Osul. Didn't even need to be a proper character, just a panel of a bunch of aliens sitting in a building while there's protests outside, or something. If nothing else, it'd really make Otho's anger more tangible, whereas it feels distant here.
- Thank you PKJ for doing something worthwhile with Jon.
- But really, every little detail in that scene is just great. Clark not even glancing at Jon while talking about visiting the farm with Otho and Osul, too busy in that moment to really notice what his son is asking for. Jon picking up a childhood toy as he reminisces over happier times just as Otho puts her own childhood toy down, ready to confront the events that are unfolding in front of her. It's just... everything in that scene. I even like Osul for once!
- But it's Otho the one who closes the issue and it's such a great moment too, the culmination of everything building up with her in the past few issues, the line about her potentially killing someone reminding us (or at least me) that she already had "iron" when Clark arrived at Warworld. I can't wait for next issue.

Overall, it's the best issue of the current Metallo arc, and PKJ's best handling so far of the huge cast he's been dealt with (even if that still comes with some notable failures). The trade-off, because of course things can't be perfect, is that both back-ups are the weakest they've been so far, lol.

[Vordan]

I did have a chuckle at how Earth 0 Clark is slipping up with Jon by missing the blatantly obvious regarding Jon’s feelings about the twins, just like how how S&L Clark keeps missing how his Jon is clearly hurt by all the favoritism he gives Jordan. Unlike the show however I expect PKJ will actually have Clark realize and make amends for his obliviousness.

Wait what was the Golden Age crossover?

It was that initial crossover between Superman #29 and Action #1029 where Clark and Jon fought aliens coming out of a Breach in space. DC collected it here:



It was fine but pure filler. PKJ got hit with a notice from editorial that they needed another month before starting the Warworld Saga proper in Action, and he had to come up with something to fill both of the Superbooks for a month at the last minute.

[Mantis-Ray]

I did have a chuckle at how Earth 0 Clark is slipping up with Jon by missing the blatantly obvious regarding Jon’s feelings about the twins, just like how how S&L Clark keeps missing how his Jon is clearly hurt by all the favoritism he gives Jordan. Unlike the show however I expect PKJ will actually have Clark realize and make amends for his obliviousness.


It was that initial crossover between Superman #29 and Action #1029 where Clark and Jon fought aliens coming out of a Breach in space. DC collected it here:



It was fine but pure filler. PKJ got hit with a notice from editorial that they needed another month before starting the Warworld Saga proper in Action, and he had to come up with something to fill both of the Superbooks for a month at the last minute.

Oh the crossover starter

Got confused cause the trade that collects it is titled "The One Who Fell"

[HsssH]

It is so nice to get multiple issues in a row done by the same artist!

Ah so we are getting more backups centered more on the characters directly involved in the story

It would be a good idea to give characters like Kenan their own subplot in a back-up

#1054 will have Steel backup so PKJ likely talking about it in that tweet.

[Last Son of Krypton]

The horror vibes of the current Superman comics is... unexpected.