PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Vordan]

Goddamn this issue was like getting stabbed straight through the heart. After getting the crap kicked out of him by Mongul, Superman basically sees every belief he’s ever had get dumped on. His fellow Authority members are dead, enslaved, or scattered, and all of them have lost faith in his leadership after his failure. The Phaelosians saw him fall and they don’t think he’s still capable of liberating them either. I’ve talked a lot about my frustration with how writers use “hope” as a buzzword, but the last two pages were the first time in a long time I actually felt something when a Superman story namedropped “hope” because of how oppressive the feeling of despair runs through this issue.




This actually landed for me because the rest of the story shows how bleak the situation is. With everyone else turning on him, to see that Superman has actually managed to maybe reach at least one person DOES feel hopeful. Because maybe it’s the spark that will set off a fire that brings Mongul down where Superman couldn’t do it alone. Anyway I loved the issue and I can’t wait for the next one! Superman has needed something like this for a long time, a story that brings him low and strips him of everything so he can climb back out of the pit and demonstrate that he’s not just an optimist when everything goes well and life is good. He’s someone who still believes in others even when the world mocks him for it and flat out tells him he’s wrong.

[Korath]

It's especially marking because that Warzoon is actually in jail because he failed to capture Midnighter. So it really feels like Superman has lost all the peoples he came to Warworld with but may be started to gain new, native, ones.

[Frontier]

Goddamn this issue was like getting stabbed straight through the heart. After getting the crap kicked out of him by Mongul, Superman basically sees every belief he’s ever had get dumped on. His fellow Authority members are dead, enslaved, or scattered, and all of them have lost faith in his leadership after his failure. The Phaelosians saw him fall and they don’t think he’s still capable of liberating them either. I’ve talked a lot about my frustration with how writers use “hope” as a buzzword, but the last two pages were the first time in a long time I actually felt something when a Superman story namedropped “hope” because of how oppressive the feeling of despair runs through this issue.




This actually landed for me because the rest of the story shows how bleak the situation is. With everyone else turning on him, to see that Superman has actually managed to maybe reach at least one person DOES feel hopeful. Because maybe it’s the spark that will set off a fire that brings Mongul down where Superman couldn’t do it alone. Anyway I loved the issue and I can’t wait for the next one! Superman has needed something like this for a long time, a story that brings him low and strips him of everything so he can climb back out of the pit and demonstrate that he’s not just an optimist when everything goes well and life is good. He’s someone who still believes in others even when the world mocks him for it and flat out tells him he’s wrong.

Kind of reminds me of Apokolips War (setting aside how unlikely it is that Superman will get possessed by a demon and reformat his costume again or have to deal with losing Lois for the umpteenth time).

[Vordan]

It's especially marking because that Warzoon is actually in jail because he failed to capture Midnighter. So it really feels like Superman has lost all the peoples he came to Warworld with but may be started to gain new, native, ones.

Yep. I think Supes will have to win back the other Authority members one on one. Heh you know I just realized that this is PKJ having Superman “recruit” the Authority again for the people who didn’t read Morrison’s mini. If you didn’t read that then this will still give you another take on how Superman recruited each member and won them over to his point of view. Solicits have Supes living and training with the other Phaelosians first so we’ll likely get more of their perspective before we return to the Authority, but I hope we get to see what the other members are up to.

Kind of reminds me of Apokolips War (setting aside how unlikely it is that Superman will get possessed by a demon and reformat his costume again or have to deal with losing Lois for the umpteenth time).

You know this is just my personal opinion but I’m starting to believe Superman works better when he suffers like Spider-Man. Seeing him get torn down yet still persevere through the pain is more inspiring to me than all the speeches in the world. Apokolips War was on my mind, was wondering if they were going to brand Superman in this like Darkseid did in that.

[Frontier]

You know this is just my personal opinion but I’m starting to believe Superman works better when he suffers like Spider-Man. Seeing him get torn down yet still persevere through the pain is more inspiring to me than all the speeches in the world. Apokolips War was on my mind, was wondering if they were going to brand Superman in this like Darkseid did in that.

This statement is oddly reminding me of John Byrne's Post-Crisis Supes .

[Korath]

I don't think he needs to suffer - he just needs to not have a perfect life all the time.

I mean, Jon's doing good, but I'd rather Taylor makes him more impetuous like he was in his solo FS story or even in Bendis LoSH. There are hints of this, but not enough yet. It makes him feel less in control, able to make mistakes, honest ones also.

Here, PKJ is testing Superman's character and it works. He doesn't answer yes to Midnighter question. Helays down the terms : all lives are the same, they matters and he can't give up on any, no matter the odds, as seen with Lia also.

[Vordan]

This feels like a Chekhov’s Gun for two plotlines coming down the road, and I’m going to guess what they are:
1. Supes will resurrect any Authority members who died, such as Lia, using whatever means Mongul has access to of bringing back the dead, but the means of resurrection is tied in some way to Aethyr and the PZ, thus setting up that “Necropolis” tease from way back
2. I’m betting that Authority member who turns traitor is OMAC as many people including myself previously guessed, and the reason why is Mongul promises to resurrect Lia if OMAC kills Superman. Basically he makes the offer to OMAC that he just made to Superman above. OMAC is clearly the one who has the biggest reason to be pissed at Superman for how he botched their attempt at liberating Warworld. I just hope that it will end with Supes being able to convince them to rejoin the Authority.

This statement is oddly reminding me of John Byrne's Post-Crisis Supes .

Well Byrne’s Superman makes for the perfect contrast to Spidey since his Supes never suffers any personal loss

[Frontier]

Well Byrne’s Superman makes for the perfect contrast to Spidey since his Supes never suffers any personal loss

Well, more physical struggles, and love life problems than, say, losing absolutely everything but there are degrees .

[manwhohaseverything]

This statement is oddly reminding me of John Byrne's Post-Crisis Supes .

Not the only superman who can physically get his ass beat.Bursting shells can even tear through clark's tshirts,remember.I think, i have complained about clark lacking scars of battle while allmight is always coughing up blood.

now that was good..Especially loved the line about "Here is your savior.Pray to him while you can".Had me laughing.It's dark but funny due to selfaware nature of it.That look on clark's face when mongul gives him the axe and orders him.Yep! that's gladiator superman right there.Kinda reminded me of luffy punching celestial dragon..The look i mean and focus on the eyes.

[Quinlan58]

You know this is just my personal opinion but I’m starting to believe Superman works better when he suffers like Spider-Man. Seeing him get torn down yet still persevere through the pain is more inspiring to me than all the speeches in the world. Apokolips War was on my mind, was wondering if they were going to brand Superman in this like Darkseid did in that.

I'd agree with this statement with the caveat that it only applies to "constantly reminding us he's a symbol of hope" Superman. If it's Reporter/Social Crusader Superman or Science Hero Superman, I don't think they need to suffer to work as characters, but if they're going to keep shoving the hope stuff down our throats, then yeah, better show he can also walk the walk, and not just talk the talk.

As for the issue itself, it was great, and I agree with most of the statements by other posters. Will write something more in-depth once I re-read it.

[Ra-El]

This was really great! Mendonça's work here is amazing, really hope he lands in some good title after Federici takes over.

And I agree with the general consensus here, this is the first time in a long while that hope doesn't feel like a hollow word in a Superman story, after reading it in every single issue of Red & Blue it's a surprise how well it fits here.

Some things I would prefer to not happen on this story: 1) Justice League showing up to help; 2) United Planets showing up to help; 3) Jon helping; 4) Superman role amounting to just "inspiring" the warzoons to free themselves.

I want some real fight here, to see Superman brawling his way out of this situation and winning some combat. The power of love and friendship shouldn't solve everything.

[rpmaluki]

This was really great! Mendonça's work here is amazing, really hope he lands in some good title after Federici takes over.

And I agree with the general consensus here, this is the first time in a long while that hope doesn't feel like a hollow word in a Superman story, after reading it in every single issue of Red & Blue it's a surprise how well it fits here.

Some things I would prefer to not happen on this story: 1) Justice League showing up to help; 2) United Planets showing up to help; 3) Jon helping; 4) Superman role amounting to just "inspiring" the warzoons to free themselves.

I want some real fight here, to see Superman brawling his way out of this situation and winning some combat. The power of love and friendship shouldn't solve everything.

I agree about #1-3 but I suspect we'll see a combination of an all out brawl and #4. I think that's the better options all things concerned.

PKJ did good in working "hope" into this story after years of it being beaten to death through vapid writing. It's never enough to say something, you must show it and he's truly doing a fantastic job with this WWsaga.

[Ra-El]

I agree about #1-3 but I suspect we'll see a combination of an all out brawl and #4. I think that's the better options all things concerned.

PKJ did good in working "hope" into this story after years of it being beaten to death through vapid writing. It's never enough to say something, you must show it and he's truly doing a fantastic job with this WWsaga.

Oh, yes, the whole point of this story, as far as I can see, is showing Superman winning the hearts and minds of the Warworld slave by way of example, so ultimately the real win here would be getting the warzoons to rebel. I just want to see Superman winning some actual fights along the way.

[Vordan]

This was really great! Mendonça's work here is amazing, really hope he lands in some good title after Federici takes over.

And I agree with the general consensus here, this is the first time in a long while that hope doesn't feel like a hollow word in a Superman story, after reading it in every single issue of Red & Blue it's a surprise how well it fits here.

Some things I would prefer to not happen on this story: 1) Justice League showing up to help; 2) United Planets showing up to help; 3) Jon helping; 4) Superman role amounting to just "inspiring" the warzoons to free themselves.

I want some real fight here, to see Superman brawling his way out of this situation and winning some combat. The power of love and friendship shouldn't solve everything.

1, 2, and 3 I don’t see happening. At most you might see the UP notice that Clark is on the cusp of overthrowing Mongul, forcing Thaaros to send a UP contingent on some “sorry it took so long we were right on our way to help you!” bullshit, but as of right now no help is coming. The League doesn’t know Clark failed, Jon has no clue either and PKJ has said he won’t be showing up in Action again for a while, and the UP has been blocked from sending aid by Thaaros.

Now 4 is tricky. On one hand the Phaelosians need to play some part in their own liberation. I do want Clark to be the one to kick Mongul’s ass decisively, and solicits seem to be saying that’s what’s going to happen. But I don’t just want Clark freeing everyone by himself, this issue set up a powerful foundation to have the Phaelosians and some of the Warzoons join Clark’s side and end up fighting for their freedom themselves because of how he inspires them. It’s a balancing act that I’m eager to see if PKJ can walk.

[rpmaluki]

Yes, PKJ has to balance the two, Superman doing Superman things and whooping Mongul he becomes the one that was but also the Phaelosians and Warzoons breaking their own chains.