I was lucky to get this issue - I got the last copy at my comics shop (which is what I get for waiting until after work to stop by). Of course, Action Comics isn't usually in such demand - but this issue has a special guest star - namely Death, the sister of Dream in Neil Gaiman's classic Sandman series.
DC has (at least so far) been willing to leave those characters alone, leaving them in Gaiman's control. He obviously signed off on allowing writer Paul Cornell and artist Pete Woods to include her in this series (and reportedly Gaiman actually wrote her dialogue in this issue).
The result is an interesting comic. At the end of the previous issue, Lex Luthor was apparently killed, which leads to his meeting and discussion with Death.
Here we have Luthor way out of his element, dealing with an entity he can't control, outwit or deal with in any way - and he doesn't take it well.
Death is written perfectly - light, mysterious, playful and unstoppable - what a delight to see her in action again (no pun intended).
The art by Pete Woods is quite good and only suffers in comparison to the outstanding cover by David Finch (which I would have sworn was drawn by Chris Bacholo).
I haven't been following this title (sorry, but Luthor just isn't that interesting to me), so I have no idea what's going on with the Vandal Savage subplot, and the backup story starring Jimmy Olsen (really?) was ok, if mighty thin.
So this is a one-and-done comic for me - but I'm glad I managed to score this issue. It's worth it to see an old favorite, even if she's just putting in a cameo appearance.
Grade: A-
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2 comments:
I haven't bought a comic off the rack in probably 2 years Chuck... I've got well over a knee high stack of Essential's and Showcase's I'm working on. But I think between this review and your mention of "Hellboy / Beasts of Burdern" below, I am going to hit the old shop this weekend... hope the "Action" is still in stock :)
Kyle, I have the same problem with stacks of Showcases, Essentials, Masterworks and Archives - they're printing the durned things faster than I can read 'em!
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