Things start to go a little bit wrong for the Super Family in the latest issue of Action Comics as Metallo enacts the next stage of his plan, having converted members of the Blue Earth group into kryptonite powered machines.
The main story sees Steel coming under attack from the new Metallo drones and having to be assisted by Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and Kong. The new minions that Metallo has at his disposal now are pretty horrific, and lean hard into the body horror aspect of the character. We've seen Metallo lose his skin to reveal the machine beneath many times in the comics, and I don't think many readers think much of it. But here there's a big emphasis on how gross that is, with the machine parts bursting out of his victims, with their flesh stretching and splitting, pieces flapping in the wind like fabric. It's absolutely disgusting, and I kind of love it. It makes Metallo feel dangerous and frightening because he can do this to you.
Speaking of powerful, one of his drones is able to take out Supergirl with a huge kryptonite explosion. This is the second member of the family rendered useless in a fight with a Metallo, and it's really stepping up his level of power. It's starting to feel like Superman having a whole squad of Kryptonians around him is actually needed, rather than it being a bit of overkill.
We also get confirmation this issue that Luthor isn't behind what's going on with Metallo, and that the voice he's hearing pretending to be his sister is another being. Luthor is cagey about who or what it is, but is worried when Superman tells him about it, making a point of Metallo hearing voices in that particular body being a bad thing. We know that Luthor stole stuff from War World to make that body for him, so it's going to be interesting to see where this goes, and if it ties back into the stories that came before.
This issue also does some big things with the younger members of the family. We see a little bit more of Jon being depressed and unsure about his new siblings. There were hints of this in previous issues, but here it gets addressed in a big way. Osul comes into Jon's room to see him after Jon falls into a bit of a bad mood after his dad suggests bringing the twins on a outing with him and Jon. Osul apologises to Jon, saying that he's sorry for taking attention from Superman because he's not his real kid. This seems to jolt Jon out of his melancholy and makes him realise that his feelings are in turn impacting the twins.
Jon reveals to his new younger brother that he's not angry at the twins, or jealous of them, but that is sad feelings are coming from the fact that he lost his younger years with his parents. He's seeing his mother and father interacting with the twins and its reminding him of what he lost. I like that he's not being mean towards the kids for this, as that would have been very unlike Jon, but the fact that there does feel like there's consequences to his age-up is a big thing. It's something that I was hoping to see explored, as it brings something to his character that makes him stand out from the other members of his family. I love that as soon as he realises his feeling bad has had a knock-on effect on the kids he makes a point to reassure them that it's not because of them, and that they're absolutely a part of his family now. That feels like a Superman thing to do.
Unfortunately, whilst he and Osul were talking in his room Otho was watching a news report of the violent protesters who want to get rid of the War World refugees. Having grown up on a world of violence, and having seen the hate these people are showing towards her and her brother, she leaves the Kent home and flies down to the protest, and starts attacking people. The last things we see are explosions, people running, and at least one body.
The inclusion of the family drama with the younger members of the family is great, and is stuff that I'm finding more interesting than the Metallo stuff. It's adding extra drama, and could go on to have bigger consequences for the family than anything Metallo can do to them. I'm very interested to see where this particular plot will be going in future issues, and how Otho is going to continue to struggle to find her place on Earth.
The second story, set in the past, kind of feels like it's treading water a little. Doombreaker manages to get away from Superman and eventually finds the missing piece that Jon hid, and Jon and his new alien princess friend stage a breakout from the cell they're in on the flying saucer, and cause it to go crashing back down to Earth.
There's not a lot in this story that's actually grabbing my attention. It doesn't seem to be adding anything new or interesting to the characters at this point in their lives. The story kind of feels like stuff we've seen several times before. And the art is very dark and gloomy looking, and as such fails to grab my attention in any way. It doesn't really feel like there's anything here that justifies telling a story in the past, that needs us to go back to this point in our characters lives. If you've been missing younger Jon and are desperate to have more of him than this story is probably going to do something for you, but otherwise it's kind of nothing.
The third story continues the new era of Power Girl, with her having her new psychic abilities. I love Power Girl, I think she's a great character, but I'm not sure if the writer shares that sentiment. The Power Girl presented here feels very different to the one we've been reading for the past couple of decades (minus the New 52 alternate Earth version). She's incredibly stand-offish about having anything to do with the Super Family this issue, something continued from the last one. She tells Jon more than once that she's not a part of the family. This kind of goes against all of the times when she has been part of the family, and also raises the question of 'if you don't consider yourself part of if why did you get your new costume to match theirs and included the crest on it?'
She then goes on to say that she's a loner, and doesn't really do families at all. This again, seems to go against everything we've seen of her as part of the Justice Society. She sees the JSA as her family. She's got family albums with photos of them inside, and she's shown masses of emotions towards them that speak of incredibly strong bonds of love. But here the writer has thrown that all away to give us an angry, loner Power Girl. This issue also has her rejecting the name of Karen, a name that she's had for decades. The story gives us a very convoluted and weird explanation for why she should change her name to Paige too, suggesting that might be her new name.
I'm all for people changing their names if they want (I've changed mine), but this seemed to come a bit out of nowhere. Her reasoning behind changing her name also seems to be 'well it was never my real name, I never had one'. So? It doesn't matter if that was the name you were born with or chose, if that's the name you want then use it. There's been zero indication before this moment that she has an issue with that name, and it feels like the writer is trying to make a mark on the character by giving her new powers, by changing her personality, and by giving her a new name. At this point would it not be easier to just make a new character?
I was really happy that we were going to be getting Power Girl stuff in this book, but only a few issues in I'm yet to see Power Girl. This character seems to be a reinvention of the character to the point that it feels a bit like character assassination. Not even the reveal of an awesome JSA villain on the final page could make me feel excited for things to come, because this just doesn't feel like the Power Girl I love anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment