ACTION #958 Discussion (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

[manofsteel1979]

Okay...chapter two of "Path to Doom" is here....




Spoilers ahead, so read at your risk!
















Issue opens with Superman recapping the situation (he working in secret for years, Nuperman's death, Luthor taking the mantle etc) as he and Luthor engage Doomsday, presumably HIS Doomsday, the one that killed him years ago on his earth. Meanwhile looking on and reporting on this is the mysterious "new" Clark Kent and an increasingly confused Jimmy Olsen. Also watching is Mr. Oz who is apparently knows a lot more than anyone else, and also watching on Television from the Smith farm is Lois and Jon (with Oz also watching him....you could say Oz is a "watch Man", eh?) Jon asks not only about Doomsday , whom Lois doesn't tell the full truth of the original fight, but of the mysterious Clark Kent on TV who looks just like his dad. Essentially the theme is confusion here.



Meanwhile the fight continues and Superman realizes he is outmatched. Luthor comes to his aid, risking himself, making Superman think that perhaps this Lex may not be the evil incarnate he knows from his world. Together they try to isolate Doomsday underground to no avail. As the fight gets more pitched and Superman decides to take the fight into space, Lois switches off the television and privately wishes briefly her husband would run...but quickly corrects herself, knowing that's not who he is. Superman doesn't run from a fight.

Superman's struggle to take Doomsday into space proves futile and Superman is knocked back to Earth, with the melee causing a commuter train to derail. Luthor and Superman quickly act to save the innocents. Superman offers to attack Doomsday while Luthor attends to rescuing the passengers but Lex decides to switch things up and attack Doomsday while Superman (along with Jimmy and "Clark") help with the passengers. Meanwhile, Jon, frustrated that Lois is not letting him see whats going on and worried for his dad, decides he's going to fly off to Metropolis to help, as Lois tries to stop him.
Things go quickly wrong as Doomsday quickly shatters Lex's armor and gets ready to kill him. Superman turns away from the train to rush in to save Lex.

With all the players about to make their move, Mr. Oz wonders what decision Kal-El will come to, and ponders aloud that only then he can make his move.



All in all I enjoyed it. Again the art kicked ass although not quite as strong as last issue,and the action heavy pace really is a stark contrast to the pace in SUPERMAN. Interesting questions raised on the identity of "Clark". (Nuperman reborn incomplete?), and Mr. Oz's motivations. Dialogue is a little wonky in places,but not bad for Jurgens. I give it a solid
8 out of 10.


Oh, and a quick shout out to JUSTICE LEAGUE #52. It explains whats going on with Luthor and is written by Jurgens and drawn by Tom Grummett, so fans of the Post-Crisis era should pick it up. Interesting stuff there and really does make you question your perception of New 52 Lex. Essential reading for this arc, I say.

[A Guy's Name]

Watch Man? That's terrible! spoilers:

BADUM TSHH!

end of spoilers
Issue was of lesser enjoyableness than that of the previous issue. Dialogue was wonky, as the good sir on top of the thread said. Wondered what CK meant by doing what he had to survive and then seemingly acted as if he had never been SM. Maybe that's just a mistake.
This part, of course reinforces the Katra theory, again. N-52 Superman split into at least 3 aspects of himself. Possibly.
Art was good. The LL/Jon scenes could have been less, what with the intense TV watching.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Better than the last issue, at least. Interesting implications for "Clark Kent", Lex gets some good moments. Though it's pretty hilarious that Superman's all "This guy fights like MY Doomsday!" (especially when he spends the rest of the issue going "this guy fights so differently from how I remember Doomsday!"). What kinda degree of variance is there to the mindless rampages of Doomsdays across the Multiverse that you can tell one from the other by their fighting style?

I'm betting a few Nuperman loyalists are going to be irked by the "My Doomsday. The REAL Doomsday!" thing from Superman, to the point that I cracked up while reading it thinking "This is gonna piss a couple people off like nobody's business". Really though, it's a totally reasonable thing for him to think in the heat of the moment; I was far more put off by the "he won't run away because he's Superman" bit. Yes, yes, he's not fleeing the scene or surrendering, he's successfully lived up to the bare minimum standard of what's expected of a superhero, let's all us unworthies line up to kiss the hem of his cape. Especially after him being a plain and simple asshole in the last issue, it's frustrating to get this sort of naked "let's make sure people know how great Superman is by having characters lecture about it, rather than showing him doing anything particularly impressive or interesting" treatment again (which - and I try not to be that guy very often, but I think I'm justified in this case - I called as coming under Jurgens months ago).

[Kuwagaton]

I give it credit for being wall to wall action, which is sometimes very cool, but I'd definitely say the last issue is better. I kept talking about how cool I think wrapping up the mystery is, because the bigger and more vague you make it, the more annoying it gets. It's... very Harras.

Not sure why the art quality has gone down.

[DragonPiece]

Better than the last issue, at least. Interesting implications for "Clark Kent", Lex gets some good moments. Though it's pretty hilarious that Superman's all "This guy fights like MY Doomsday!" (especially when he spends the rest of the issue going "this guy fights so differently from how I remember Doomsday!"). What kinda degree of variance is there to the mindless rampages of Doomsdays across the Multiverse that you can tell one from the other by their fighting style?

yeah, that's simply bad writing.

[Kuwagaton]

Yeah, writing wise to me it feels like padding. It's a little strange for the characters to be saying what they're saying. I guess Jurgens is in a tricky spot of having to assume and precede as if there are new readers. There are some who are completely in the dark about the Rebirth situation, but I think it could have been handled more gracefully.

[Prime]

Ugh...the dialogue...After Pak, this guys is just a downgrade...a really big downgrade.

[vasir12]

Clark Kent said two things that are really turning my head "I did what I had to, Jim, I did it to survive" and THEN he said "Fly? I told you, that's not me. That was never me." They seem so contradictory to each other. This mystery is so confusing and then we got Oz here doing some kind of experiment. Or rather, a really complicated plan that requires Superman to do SOMETHING.

Also, I'm really liking Lex's suit. It's nice.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Lex's suit is very well designed.

My personal favorite.

[Patrick Gerard]

Clark Kent said two things that are really turning my head "I did what I had to, Jim, I did it to survive" and THEN he said "Fly? I told you, that's not me. That was never me." They seem so contradictory to each other. This mystery is so confusing and then we got Oz here doing some kind of experiment. Or rather, a really complicated plan that requires Superman to do SOMETHING.

Also, I'm really liking Lex's suit. It's nice.

He's claiming he was never Superman and that he faked being Superman for reasons that we're not getting in this issue yet.

[StrikeJP]

The Good
-The action, I enjoy me a good Doomsday brawl. Love the pacing and how everything bounces around but feels coherent. Living up to the "Action Comics" title.
-All the mystery. Clark Kent? Oz? Is Lex really good? Where is Doomsday from?

The Bad
-The dialogue is wonky in some parts. Feels very dated at times.
-Jon better not be joining the fight.

The Ugly
-Nothing! Yay!

[Kuwagaton]

I'll have to dock massive points if Jon manages to shrug off Lois and join the fight. That would honestly ruin this whole arc for me.

[Rakzo]

It has less plot and more action than the last Jurgens' issue but at least the characterization is solid all-around with Clark and Lois being the highlights.

Great work from Zircher.

[vasir12]

I'll have to dock massive points if Jon manages to shrug off Lois and join the fight. That would honestly ruin this whole arc for me.

Gonna have to agree there. Jon needs to listen to Lois. He doesn't have the knowledge/history/experience for me to forgive anything else. I'll see how it plays.

[manofsteel1979]

I'll have to dock massive points if Jon manages to shrug off Lois and join the fight. That would honestly ruin this whole arc for me.

I wouldn't mind seeing Jon helping rescue bystanders and the like, but if he joins the fight or even worse manages to hurt Doomsday " just because" then yeah, this will totally deflate things IMO.