Action Comics #872

When I was a kid, comic books were everywhere.

Seriously. There were stacks of them to read while waiting at the barbershop. You could buy them at a newsstand, in the drug store, at variety stores, at the bus depot, and at the supermarket. (Ironically, there was no such thing as a comic book shop.)

Kids would bring them to school. Almost every kid in my neighborhood had some comics, and we'd trade them back and forth. Girls had romance comics and Archie comics, guys also read Archie and westerns and war comics and superhero comics... well, you get the idea.

So I read lots of different comics growing up, including more than a few war comics - but when I finally started really collecting comics, the only war comics I bought were occasional issues of Sgt. Fury. I liked the DC war books and read them whenever I could, but what can I say? I was more into superheroes.

So it's interesting to see the unexpected appearance of a group of World War II heroes (at least I think they're heroes) appearing in the latest issue of Action Comics.

I believe The Creature Commandos are a relatively new concept - and a quick trip to Wikipedia confirms that they first appeared in 1980. Here are the basics:

In 1942, Project M created the Creature Commandos. They were: Lt. Matthew Shrieve (normal), Warren Griffith (werewolf), Sgt. Vincent Velcro (vampire), Pvt. Elliot "Lucky" Taylor (frankenstein's monster) and Dr. Myrra Rhodes (medusa).

So my point is I have no real nostalgic rush for these characters, and they seem like an odd group to drop in the middle of the New Krypton story, especially since Frankenstein is appearing in Final Crisis. But I digress.

This issue pushes the stress even higher between the citizens of Kandor and the people of Earth, as Superman continues to try to bring the two together. Writer Geoff Johns is a pro at building tension like this, and I'm curious to see where this storyline goes from here - and why he brought back the Commandos and a certain other long-forgotten character.

Despite the odd guest stars, it's another excellent chapter in the series, with outstanding art by Pete Woods, who gets maximum mileage out of those horizontal panels.

Oh, and don't reveal this issue's shocking ending!

Grade: B+