Action Comics #851 Review

Oh my god. Wait a minute. Are Geoff Johns and Richard Donner actually back on Action Comics!?!? I cannot believe my eyes. The last issue that we got from Johns and Donner was Action Comics #846. And nothing gets readers excited as getting four filler issues in a row to absolutely kill any momentum that the “Last Son” story arc had built up.

Anyway, I’m just thrilled to have the dynamic duo of Johns and Donner back on this title. I am sure that despite the long delay that Action Comics #851 is going to be an excellent read. Let’s hit the review for Action Comics #851.

Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns & Richard Donner
Artist: Adam Kubert

Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10.
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10.

Synopsis: We see Superman trapped in the Phantom Zone. Mon-El then meets Superman and tells him how Zod and his army were able to breach the Phantom Zone. Evidently, Zod found a Kryptonian prison called Fort Rozz that was floating in the Phantom Zone. Dev-Em was to be sent to the Phantom Zone for crimes of murder, but before the jailors could activate the Phantom Zone projector a prison riot broke out.

During the revolt, the projector exploded and the entire prison was transported into the Zone. The metal of the prison’s exterior is solid and if anyone enters they become solid and time passes inside Fort Rozz. That is how Zod had Christopher otherwise known as Lor-Zod.

Mon-El tells Superman that Zod and Ursa have been abusing their son for years. Also that Christopher is immune to the Phantom Zone since he was born there so he never turns into a phantom even outside of Fort Rozz.

Mon-El says that inside of the prison are more rockets that Zod and his army used to breach the Phantom Zone. Mon-El can’t go inside the prison due to his lead poisoning condition. Mon-El tells Superman to be careful since there is no yellow sun in the Phantom Zone that Superman will be powerless. And that Dev-Em is waiting inside for Superman.

Superman enters Fort Rozz and is immediately attacked by Dev-Em. Dev-Em gets the upper hand and is about to kill Superman when Mon-El suddenly appears and knocks out Dev-Em. Mon-El then succumbs to his lead poisoning. Superman rushes to take Mon-El back outside of the prison.

Once outside of the prison, Mon-El is all right again. Mon-El tells Superman that back when Clark told him that before Mon-El arrived on Earth that Clark never met anyone who understood him before, that Mon-El also felt the exact same way about Clark. Superman then tells Mon-El that he is sorry.

Superman then hops into one of the rockets and exits the Phantom Zone. Back on Earth we see that the Justice League have been battling Zod and his army of Kryptonians. Unfortunately, the combined forces of the JSA and the JLA have fallen in defeat to the Kryptonians and are now prisoners of Zod.

We cut to Zod telling Ursa that he wants to study Lois to find out why Kal-El settled for her. Christopher then blasts Zod with his heat vision and tells him to leave Lois alone. Zod then tells Christopher that he will make him remember to respect his father.

We cut to Lex Luthor in one of his secret labs studying the powers and weaknesses of Kryptonians. Suddenly, Superman busts through one of the walls and tells Lex that Lex has created numerous weapons to hurt Superman and now Superman wants to borrow them.

Suddenly, Superman gets attacked by three different types of energy blasts. Superman drops to the ground. Lex then tells Superman that he is going to save the world from the Kryptonians but he won’t be teaming up with Superman. That Superman will be teaming up with them. Standing behind Lex we see Bizarro Superman, Parasite and Metallo. The all-new Superman Revenge Squad. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Action Comics #851 was a solid read. It was certainly enjoyable to have Johns and Donner back on this title. This issue was well paced and plotted. I was glad that Johns and Donner didn’t waste time freeing Superman from the Phantom Zone and keeping this story rolling.

Fort Rozz was a cool plot device in which to explain how Zod and Ursa conceived Christopher and then how Christopher was able to age while in the Phantom Zone. We also got a little bit of action with the brawl inside Fort Rozz between Dev-Em and Superman. Dev-Em was a neat nod to the Pre-Crisis Legion of Super Heroes. We haven’t seen Dev-Em since Zero Hour.

In the Pre-Crisis DCU, Dev-Em was a Kryptonian juvenile delinquent who imprisoned Superboy in the Phantom Zone and assumes Superboy’s identity in an effort to ruin Superboy’s reputation. Later, Dev-Em reforms and is even offered membership $to the Legion of Super Heroes.

I dig that Johns and Donner take the original appearance of Dev-Em and use it as their source for the villainous Dev-Em that we get in this issue. Johns continues his trend of taking Pre-Crisis characters and re-introducing them into this New Earth.

Johns and Donner serve up plenty of nicely done dialogue. The scenes between Mon-El and Superman were particularly well done. The reader gets an excellent sense of the guilt and feelings of sadness and failure that Superman has in his heart. It has weighed heavily on Superman that he has been unable to help the one person who understood Superman more than anyone else. Mon-El then revealing that Superman also was the only person who really understood him was touching.

The well crafted scenes between Mon-El and Superman do an excellent job to establish the deep bond and friendship between these two characters. This shows the reader that Superman’s attachment and friendship with Mon-El and the other Legionnaires runs very deep.

I absolutely love that Johns and Donner have brought back this deep relationship with Mon-El and the other Legionnaires. It makes Superman’s character a bit more deep and textured. The Legion always struck a much more emotional cord with Superman than the JLA ever did. Johns is making a concerted effort on this title as well as over on the recent JLA/JSA crossover to firmly re-establish the strong connection between Superman and the Legion. I think it is a brilliant move and should play well with the upcoming story arc.

The scene between Lex and Superman was classic. I loved the concept of Superman having to turn to his greatest enemy and use all the weapons that Lex has used to try and kill him in order to stop Zod and his minions. And Lex’s reaction of busting out into hysterical laughter was perfect.

Lex is the obvious choice to serve as the defender of Earth against the Kryptonians where all the other heroes have failed. There is no other person on Earth who has been more obsessed with finding a way to kill a Kryptonian than Lex Luthor.

Johns and Donner write a great Lex. He genuinely believes that he is the hero and not Superman. Lex firmly views himself as Earth’s protector. This is what makes him such a great villain.

And as great as the scene between Lex and Superman was, Johns and Donner then drop a huge bomb on the reader as they deliver a sick hook ending with the appearance of the Superman Revenge Squad. What a great line-up. Parasite, Bizarro Superman and Metallo.

I also dig the serious upgrade that Metallo has received. No longer is he only powered by green Kryptonite. Now, Metallo, in addition to green Kryptonite, has other colors of Kryptonite including red, blue and gold. Clearly Lex has been doing his research as we see written on his black board the different colors of Kryptonite that he has discovered including green, red, blue, gold, black and jewel. I love that Johns has brought back the Pre-Crisis existence of multiple different types of Kryptonite. It serves to make Superman’s history more rich and detailed.

I found Adam Kubert’s art to be rather average. It is a bit too dark and muddy at times. And to think that we have had such massive delays in this current story arc simply to get this average art in return. Kubert’s heart clearly isn’t into this title. A change at the artist position for this title is a wise idea.

The Bad: Action Comics #851 is a bit of a slow issue. Now, given the entire context of this story arc, this issue was supposed to be the issue that allows the reader to catch their breath and give the writer an opportunity to gear up for the wild finish. If this story arc had not been delayed for four issues, then this issue wouldn’t have seem as slow as it did.

The massive delay in this story arc really broke the momentum and the general flow of the story arc that Johns and Donner had generated. Without the four issue delay, this issue would have been perfectly acceptable and achieved the job of setting the stage for the big finale.

Unfortunately, it appears that we will have to wait for the Annual in order to get the conclusion of this incredibly botched story arc. It is a real shame that the ball was dropped on the scheduling of this story arc. I really think that this story arc, had it been executed in a timely fashion, would have ended up a classic Superman tale.

Overall: Even though this Action Comics #851 wasn’t anything spectacular, it certainly is nice to have Johns and Donner back at the helm. If DC can get the scheduling issues behind them, then I believe that Johns and Donner should be capable of giving us a wonderful run on this title.