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Action Comics #859

Greetings Programs. This Comic of the Week review from KaraokeFanboy is a few days late and that is 100% my fault. The holidays and Rename42nd.org took a big chunk out of my schedule. However, his review is simply too good to skip. After reading it, please pop on over to A Comic A Day and drop him a line. Now, onto the review. - AD

January 2008, DC Comics - writer: Geoff Johns - penciller: Gary Frank - inker: Jon Sibal - colorist: Dave McCaig - letterer: Rob Leigh

Thanksgiving is a holiday intended to be spent with family, so I appreciate the timeliness of writer Geoff Johns’ current Legion of Superheroes story arc in Action Comics, in which Superman reunites with his old friends from the 31st century. Unfortunately, like the college student that comes home for the holidays to find his bedroom converted to his mom’s crafts room, this 31st century isn’t the one Superman remembers from his youth. (Remembering the future from his past . . . only Supes, right?) Johns and new artist Gary Frank offer the right amount of action and drama for a rollicking good adventure, even if it’s obviously intended to relaunch the Legion, but I have another critical hang-up with this issue – one that doesn’t stray too far from those themes of family and friendship, either.

The question is, can the contemporary take on an earth-shattering Superman exist with the popularity of a very human, down-to-earth Batman?

See, in this altered 31st century, the villainous Earth Boy has assembled his own Legion-reject Justice League and convinced everyone that Superman’s primary purpose in the past was to defend the planet against alien threats – you know, like those otherworldly Legion types. Complete with a warped history that includes no mention of Krypton (otherwise, Supes would be one of those pesky aliens, too), Earth Boy’s plot seems foolproof except for possible proof of Kal-El’s doomed planet in the form of (here it is) Batman’s Kryptonite ring. So, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl rummage through the Bat-cave’s remains until Justice League Earth-Boy arrives and takes ‘em down. By issue’s end, Superman, Colossal Boy, Wildfire, and Dawnstar are on the hunt for Brainiac 5, who summoned Clark to this distorted future in the first place, with a cliffhanger that promises “Prison Break” proportions next issue.

Generally, I enjoyed this issue more than the last, for while #858 was an establishment issue, Johns' pacing kicks up the cinematic thrill with plenty of action, while Frank's pencils capture the desperation of the Legion on one page, then their sheer determination the next. Earth Boy is a sneering foe that inspires animosity, and I can't wait to see how Superman brings him down. Also, the allegory between Earth Boy's anti-alien plight and the contemporary political immigration policies is thinly veiled but thankfully vapid. We'll see if a fence around the planet really works, even if the Martians actually build it themselves...

So, while this story is a very compelling arc that addresses the now classic “Does the world need a Superman?” quandary, I wonder, “Does Superman need a Batman?” I first pondered this inquiry a few years ago when Jeph Loeb took the reigns of Superman, and suddenly Bruce Wayne owned the Daily Planet, Talia Head became a formidable force in Metropolis, and Joker teamed up with Mr. Myxlplyx to become a god-like emperor – who was defeated, incidentally, when Supes used the Clown Prince’s obsession with Batman against him. Notably, some time later, when Parasite kidnapped and replaced Lois, Clark enlisted Bruce to help, and most recently, the Kents consulted the Dynamic Duo regarding their new Kryptonian son, Chris.

Of course, since I don’t read the Super-titles regularly, these are the only connections I remember most vividly, aside from the World’s Finest usual affiliations with the League. Now, I do read Batman more regularly and am aware of Supes’ involvement during “No Man’s Land” and “Hush,” but those cameos hardly warrant comparison. Simply put, the Bat-titles can go months to a year without Clark popping in, whereas the Super-titles can’t go Bat-less for more than six months. Assuming these writers aren’t fanboys obsessed with Batman, do they assume that a healthy dose of the Dark Knight keeps Superman grounded? Perhaps their contrasting relationship strengthens the iconic nature of Clark ’s morality . . . but doesn’t it thusly weaken his independence as comics’ first superhero?

Fortunately, the same argument can be used for Batman’s darkness, apparent only in the absence of Superman’s enlightening optimism . . . if only the Caped Crusader’s titles reflected this connection.

The bottom line is, while Batman was a sophomore effort in the superhero game, he has preceded Superman in sales, and as a professed Bats-over-Supes fan, these occasional connections keep me grounded in the Superman stories I bother to read. Johns and Frank blended the heroes' worldless so effortlessly anyway that, had I not thought of it before, I would've simply likened the inclusion to the wide-sweeping influence of Superman's legacy. It's not like I saw the Legion’s Bat-cave spelunking coming, but I was grateful to watch these virtual strangers fight in such familiar surroundings. Mom can redesign the bedroom but the Thanksgiving table still looks the same. So who’s carving up the dinosaur?