Action Comics 814

[GhettoRebel]

I know I posted this earlier but I thought since we have the reviews board going now it would be better suited here since it actually came out today.

Action Comics 814
Chuck Austen - writer
Ivan Reis - artist

This has to be the best Superman book I've read all year. Superman meaning Clark Kent donning the red and blue tights Superman. Not, I'm stuck on Kandor and dont know who I am Superman......that was good too....but it wasn't really Superman to me. (well kinda)

Basically it is just a standard day in Metropolis with Clark returning to the job. First problem of the day though...his desk aint his desk.....so he spends most of the day flying around being the big blue boy scout.

While in the process of savig the city fropm multiple disaters Kalibak shows up looking for Doomsday....only to get clocked by Supes telling himto get outta town.

While Supes is cleaing up all the parademons

*BOOM*
Darkseid steps outta a boom tube and kinda challenges Superman by telling him that they lost Doomsday and would appreciate his help in finding him. Superman reminds Darkseid not to come back. Darkseid uses that "I am Darkseid I'll go where I please"
*WHACK*
Superman caves in Darkseid's face and tells him to get off Earth ad never come back.

Such intensity and great visuals. Ya'll know I'm not a creator chaser but this is some of the best work I've seen on Superman in awhile...

So I'll give this book an A+.

[MatthewSmith]

This was Austen's one shot at getting me to keep reading his book. If I didn't like this book, I was going to drop the title. But the guy won me over. I really enjoyed the book.

The tone of the book was very bright, which was a breath of fresh air for me after reading making it through the darker tones of some of the previous Superman storylines (Our Worlds at War, Ending Battle, the stuff with General Zod, etc.). It was nice to see Superman having a good day for a change.

It was also sort of neat to see Superman use some witty dialogue. There were a few points when it got kind of ridiculous though. Case in point: p. 24.

"It's in the name.

"SUPER... MAN.

"Get it? 'Super,' as in I am better than you are."

There were a couple of others points too where I thought it was just kind of corny. But other than that I really enjoyed the book. I'm going to stick with it and see how things go.


Matthew has bestowed upon this book the grade of B.

[Caramuru]

I agree with Matthew. "Get it? 'Super,' as in I am better than you are" was an awful line. But I liked how Austen tries to reconcile the idea of a classic, iconic Superman with a modern hero who can be fun and maybe a bit edgier than usual. He's trying to make Superman "cool" in a way that actually reminds me of the early Byrne stories. I think this was a solid one-shot story trying to set the tone for future issues. However, I don't think that there was anything here we haven't seen before. I think that as a sample future Superman stories, this issue gets a B+.

[evilive72]

I found out one thing in reading this book.

I was always right.


I have said for a while that Austen would be better on a book I didn't have so much background in. I don't like him on Uncanny because I have a certain way that I know those characters.

I don't have anything invested in Superman. I never bought Superman when I was a kid. I think the only thing Superman I ever bought was Man of Steel by Byrne and "What Happened to the Man of Tomorrow."

With that in mind, I bought Action #814 and liked it. I liked seeing Superman kind of get off on being Superman. I liked how he got himself thrown off of the train so he could become Superman without anyone noticing. I like the dialogue. I like the kind of flippant attitude he has. Yeah, he's Superman and you're some punk with a gun. You have no chance.

So, I was right. I have no problems with Austen if it is on a book that I have no stake in beforehand. He couldn't "do" Superman wrong because I don't know how Superman should be done. It appears that it is my viewpoint on the characters that have given me the most problems.

That said, I give this book an A.

Did I happen to mention that the art is totally freakin' fantastic???

It is.

:D

[The 'Nam]

Originally posted by evilive72
I found out one thing in reading this book.

I was always right.


I have said for a while that Austen would be better on a book I didn't have so much background in. I don't like him on Uncanny because I have a certain way that I know those characters.

I don't have anything invested in Superman. I never bought Superman when I was a kid. I think the only thing Superman I ever bought was Man of Steel by Byrne and "What Happened to the Man of Tomorrow."

With that in mind, I bought Action #814 and liked it. I liked seeing Superman kind of get off on being Superman. I liked how he got himself thrown off of the train so he could become Superman without anyone noticing. I like the dialogue. I like the kind of flippant attitude he has. Yeah, he's Superman and you're some punk with a gun. You have no chance.

So, I was right. I have no problems with Austen if it is on a book that I have no stake in beforehand. He couldn't "do" Superman wrong because I don't know how Superman should be done. It appears that it is my viewpoint on the characters that have given me the most problems.

That said, I give this book an A.

Did I happen to mention that the art is totally freakin' fantastic???

It is.

:D

so wait, you dont like it when he mischaracterizes the x-men, but if he mischaracterizes a character you dont know much about (in this case, Superman), you do like it?

fascinatiing........:p

[GhettoRebel]

Originally posted by The 'Nam
so wait, you dont like it when he mischaracterizes the x-men, but if he mischaracterizes a character you dont know much about (in this case, Superman), you do like it?

fascinatiing........:p

Pls lets not start in on that topic here. Lets not ruin the reviews before it becomes "real"

I know what you are thinkin here and I partly agree. But lets take that back to Talk@

:):)

[The 'Nam]

Originally posted by GhettoRebel
Pls lets not start in on that topic here. Lets not ruin the reviews before it becomes "real"

I know what you are thinkin here and I partly agree. But lets take that back to Talk@

:):)


youre right, youre right, but i couldnt help myself..............

i really like the review section here. lets keep it clean, and if you are going to austen bash, then do it subtly in a review.:D

[Godfather]

Originally posted by The 'Nam
youre right, youre right, but i couldnt help myself..............

i really like the review section here. lets keep it clean, and if you are going to austen bash, then do it subtly in a review.:D

I thought I heard "Austen" and "bash". Am I going to have to bash some kneecaps? I look forward to this comic. If I don't enjoy it as much as GR has hyped it up for me, well then he gets kneecapped.

[mc (_(\/)_)achete]

Originally posted by Godfather
If I don't enjoy it as much as GR has hyped it up for me, well then he gets kneecapped.

so it is written. so shall it be done.

[GhettoRebel]

Originally posted by Godfather
I thought I heard "Austen" and "bash". Am I going to have to bash some kneecaps? I look forward to this comic. If I don't enjoy it as much as GR has hyped it up for me, well then he gets kneecapped.

Trust me. You should enjoy it. And if ya don't......















............Just wait till I'm in a combat zone for the capping so I can collect tax free hazardous duty disability pay for the rest of my life :D

[Fazhoul]

I thought that the art was some of the best that we've seen on a Superman book in a long time. It looks like Ivan Reis is going to hit the big time with this series.

I thought that the story was good but some of the dialogue was pretty bad. I'm not saying that Superman can't crack jokes with bad guys but all of his efforts in this story fell flat for me. And answer me this, if Superman is nearly as fast as the Flash why did he have to tackle the gunman and knock him out of the window of the train? Why not just run up to him grab the gun and run back before he even realizes that you've moved?

I'm going to be giving this book a bit more leeway than normal because of the great art but I really hope that the dialogue smoothes out.

[dollman]

Originally posted by MatthewSmith
It was also sort of neat to see Superman use some witty dialogue. There were a few points when it got kind of ridiculous though. Case in point: p. 24.

"It's in the name.

"SUPER... MAN.

"Get it? 'Super,' as in I am better than you are."

.

I totally agree with this point. Why is Superman talking like Superboy???

The art was terrific, and is looks like Reis was influenced heavily by Neal Adams. For the art, I'm willing to stick with the book for a few more issues.

[evilive72]

Originally posted by The 'Nam
so wait, you dont like it when he mischaracterizes the x-men, but if he mischaracterizes a character you dont know much about (in this case, Superman), you do like it?

fascinatiing........:p

No, I don't know if it's a mischaracterization if I don't know the character.

Kind of an "Ignorance is bliss" kind of thing.

:D

[Tonguedevil]

Originally posted by Fazhoul
[B]I thought that the art was some of the best that we've seen on a Superman book in a long time.

I thought that the story was good but some of the dialogue was pretty bad. I'm not saying that Superman can't crack jokes with bad guys but all of his efforts in this story fell flat for me.[/

I agree. I thought the story was good, but not "great" by any means. Now, I do like the more pro-active take on Superman, but I felt that this shift in character was a bit stilted by some of the dialogue.

For instance, I didn't care for the one-liner "Dude, that's-- like-- a great idea" coming out of Superman's mouth. "Dude?!" Um... well, then.... okay.

However, I liked most of this issue enough to not let it be ruined by some of the apparent dialogue problems. And as for the art, I must say that the "BOOM" scene where Darkseid first appeared - I'll be damned if that isn't the greatest rendition of Darkseid I've ever beheld on the printed page - very nice.

Also, I have very high hopes for Action Comics, as this is the title in which Gog will be returning to undoubtedly cause great misery in the life of Superman. Gog is by far my favorite Superman villain, and we've not seen him since "The Kingdom." Looking very forward to issues #815 and up.

I think my personal grade for #814 would be a strong C+. Here's to hoping that the upcoming Gog saga knocks our faces off... and Superman's too.

[COREMARK]

To my surprise I did like this issue, sure the dialogue was a little corny, but it was nice to see Superman having a little fun. The art was amazing, the double page spread of Kalibak coming through the Boom tube was amazing. This man is the next Bryan Hitch.

BOOK GRADE: B

[GhettoRebel]

Originally posted by Tonguedevil
For instance, I didn't care for the one-liner "Dude, that's-- like-- a great idea" coming out of Superman's mouth. "Dude?!" Um... well, then.... okay.

I actually took that as Superman mocking the crooks. It was preceeded by the one guy saying"DUDE, THATS, LIKE, SUPERMAN. WE SHOULD, LIKE--YOU KNOW-- --GIVE UP."

So all in all I thought it was very much in character and not outta place for Superman to kinda throw the guys words back at him.

Especially when you read the second panel on that page where he criticizes the guy for having awful grammer.

By itself it would be stupid and out of character.

But if you look at all three panels together it makes sense.

[Godfather]

It makes perfect sense that he say's the "Dude..." line. He's being sarcastic.

And Faz, I think he wanted to prove a point to the hijackers by tackling the guy and leaving him in... (well what exactly was that?) the truck.

GhettoRebel's kneecaps are, for the moment, safe.

I truly enjoyed this issue. Obviously the art is top notch. But I really enjoyed Austen's story. Maybe he could tone down the one-liner's. I never have been a huge Superman fan. This is one of the first stories I've read with Superman (solo) that I enjoyed.

A is for Austen, way to go :)

[GhettoRebel]

Originally posted by Godfather
GhettoRebel's kneecaps are, for the moment, safe.


Guess I can turn in these double padded kevler kneepads I checked out of Supply the other day........

[Mott]

Austen fans and non Austen fans rejoice because this is a great comic.

It was self-contained and entertaining. A great starting point for new readers and a good story for veteran supe readers.

I don't even have to talk about Reis' artwork which was dynamic and clean. I think this guy is a star in the making. I can't wait for more battle scenes by him.

I really liked the subplot of Clark being demoted at the planet and nobody wanting to tell him. Great work chuck!

I will continue to pick Action Comics up based on this issue.

On the Matt Brady rating system, I'm giving this a strong B+. I really believe that this book has the potential to go A.

[paulski]

The only reason I'm not laying into Austen for his characterisation of Superman in this issue is because I've only skimmed it on the stands and not read it properly. So I'm willing to accept I might have missed something in what I looked at. I mean, there must be some reason all of youse guys are gushing about the comic.

Sure, the artwork is abso-freakin-lutely gorgeous. Ivan Reis showed what he was capable in Captain Marvel #4 and this work was even better. But I still can't get past most of the dialogue from Superman - very off-putting. :eek:

But like I said, I haven't read the whole thing, even if I did have a good look at it. As such, I won't rate it either because that would be silly. But I agree with MatthewSmith and dollman - I thought I was looking at a Superboy issue for a minute.

Just my 2 cents.

[Fazhoul]

Originally posted by Godfather
It makes perfect sense that he say's the "Dude..." line. He's being sarcastic.

And Faz, I think he wanted to prove a point to the hijackers by tackling the guy and leaving him in... (well what exactly was that?) the truck.
I was under the impression that it was a commuter train that they were on. It just seems to me that there were less risky ways to take out the hijacker than crashing through the side of a moving elevated train.

[Godfather]

Originally posted by Fazhoul
I was under the impression that it was a commuter train that they were on. It just seems to me that there were less risky ways to take out the hijacker than crashing through the side of a moving elevated train.

Well they did throw him out of the train. I mean he could've done the whole speedy take the gun away thing. But that would be less dramatic :)

[Caine]

I think this was a decent issue. I'm not a hater or lover of Austen, so I didn't have many preconceived thoughts about him before opening up the issue.

The art is solid. I thought Supes use of colloquialisms was mocking the punks, and not to unplausable.

There are definite flaws, but there is enough here to keep me getting, at least, the storyarc--I'm mark for Darkseid, I'm interested to see how Gog plays into the storyline, and I think Austen can improve as he gets more to the heart of the story.

[Amoebas]

""SUPER," As in "I am Better than you are !""

With this one line Austen proved to me (again) the he has little knowledge of whom he wrotes about.

Unless Superman is being possessed or if he's under the influence of the Eradicator, he has never thought that the "SUPER" meant that he was better than anyone else. Different, yes, but never "better".

BTW - it may be nothing more than semantics but Superman is "impervious" and not "indestructible" as Austen says.

Darkseid sends his seekers to Metropolis to look for Doomsday, yet 3 panels later Darkseid states that he knows Doomsday isn't in Metropolis. Which is it? Or is Doomsday now that much smarter that he can actually hide from Darkseid?

Superman's sweeping up of the parademons was just too silly for words. As someone else stated, if he's this fast why didn't he just take the mugger's guns (instead of causing more destruction to the train?) And I don't even want to guess how many soldiers and parademons were crushed to death in that ridiculous ball of people. (case in point - parademons are not really alive, but Steppenwolf, Kanto and others were).

Nice diplomacy Clark. The most powerful despot in the known dimension and you attack him?!? Not a very wise thing to do for the planet. Remember, now that Doomsday has TAUGHT Darkseid not to use a Boom Tube where Superman can hear, he could come back and lay havok anywhere, anytime he wants. Darkseid may have broken the truce by coming back to Earth, but Superman destroyed any chance of putting the truce back in place.

And why does Austen continue to put single mothers and her two kids in danger? Bad enough he orphans a brother and sister in the Avengers, but he almost kills them here. Great to know tho, that Superman can pick out a car breaking a barricade sound from all the other car crashes, construction dumping, jack hammeringetc, that would be going on in a city the size of Metropolis.

The art on the other hand was terrific.

[punkmonkey]

ACTION COMICS #814
“Another Day at the Office”
DC Comics -- $2.55 / 22 pgs.
Writer: Chuck Austen
Penciler: Ivan Reis
Inker: Marc Campos
Colorist: Guy Major
Cover Artist: Arthur Adams

Reviewed By: Jared Moraitis
Grade: C

Doesn’t anybody know how to write a decent jumping-on issue anymore? Or even an issue that’s halfway accessible for new readers? Now, this issue was far from perplexing or confusing in any way for veteran Superman readers, but since this is supposed to be the beginning of a “New Era” (as the cover proudly proclaims), shouldn’t it be somewhat weighty with exposition (although not to the point of being overbearing) for new readers who may not necessarily know who Doomsday or Darkseid are? I’m not saying Austen has to spend several pages covering their origins and histories, but at least a sentence or two would have been nice. As it is, Darkseid shows up looking for the escaped Doomsday, but all we can gather from the text and context clues is that Darkseid is a powerful being from another world and Doomsday was being trained on that world to serve as Darkseid's ultimate weapon. Superman is obviously familiar with Darkseid from the way he speaks to him and he seems to be less than enthusiastic about the prospect of Doomsday on the loose again, but we don’t get the impression that Darkseid is the cruel and powerful tyrant of the world of Apokolips and there is no allusion to Doomsday having once killed Superman while causing massive destruction (or his many reappearances since then). So, unless you’re familiar with these two characters (and Kalibak and Steppenwolf, for that matter), don’t expect to learn anything about them here.

In addition to this scene, we get a few scenes of Superman doing some basic hero stuff around the city and Clark Kent being very unprofessionally avoided by his boss Perry White. Not exactly an explosive and thrilling first issue by Austen, though Reis’ art does its best to make up for the unimpressive story by providing some swell visuals and a couple of powerful splash pages. In fact, I’d call Reis’ art downright stupendous and exhilarating. He captures the subtle imposing yet warmhearted nature of Superman rather well and he excels at capturing heaping helpings of power and action without having to resort to oversized panels and frequent splash pages all the time (though he does provide a keen double-page spread full of power and energy. I also like the new cover design, and an Art Adams cover is always a treat (although something seems a bit odd about Superman’s torso -- as if Adams has gotten too used to drawing extremely buxom lasses in his Jonni Future stories and is finding hulking men a bit unfamiliar).

I had feared the teaming of Austen and Reis would be an uneven match, with the art outweighing the quality of the writing, and so far it seems to be headed in that direction. I’m not one to instantly dismiss a new series or creative team based solely on their first issue, unless it’s extremely bad, and that’s not the case here, but there is definitely room for improvement. Let’s hope that’s just what’s in store.

[gOgIver]

Hey this issue was quite good! :)

[Edward J Cunningham]

Originally posted by The 'Nam
so wait, you dont like it when he mischaracterizes the x-men, but if he mischaracterizes a character you dont know much about (in this case, Superman), you do like it?

fascinatiing........:p

A friend of mine is a huge Superman fan. Unlike evillive72, he has read Superman books regularly and guess what he thinks about Chuck Austen's work? He loves it. In fact, he makes sure to give Action Comics prominent space at the comic book shop where he works. As far as he is concerned, he doesn't care how many Avengers or Uncanny X-Men fans want him burned at the stake (literally not figuratively)---this is the most enjoyable Superman he's liked in a long time and he wants Chuck Austen to stay.

As for me, I haven't read Action Comics, I'm too busy trying to rally support for She-Hulk.

Eddie

[GhettoRebel]

Wow. I am surprised that a month has gone by and we are still going back and forth on this issue.