The age of Brian Michael Bendis has begun and so this third Deluxe Edition of Action Comics may be the last by Dan Jurgens. Having read the work of Bendis on Superman I can say I’m really going to miss Jurgens. Jurgens is a veteran writer but his output still feels fresh and exciting and this may be his best volume yet.
The book starts off with a two-parter by Rob Williams called “Only Human” that, with all due respect, felt like amateur hour along with the weak art by Guillem March. But this is all the prelude to the main event, The Oz Effect. After a tease that began in the second Deluxe Edition we finally learn the identity of Oz and it’s interesting. It introduces a change in the dynamics of the Superman family that if retained would cause a fairly seismic shift.
Following the Oz Effect, Superman decides to confirm the identity of Mr. Oz and travels back in time to Krypton prior to its destruction. This plot seems like something out of the Silver Age but that doesn’t mean it’s bad at all. Travelling to the past disrupts time but not in the way one might expect. Events don’t just change AFTER Superman arrives. The timeline has been altered even PRIOR to his arrival causing a radical alteration to Krypton’s history. The time travelling Booster Gold has future knowledge of Superman actions and attempts to prevent him from causing a total collapse of the timeline. This is where things get interesting as Superman selfishly continues to search for the truth even as it risks further damaging the timeline while Booster Gold is the voice of sanity trying to preserve the timeline. Booster even mentions that any information Superman gathers would be irrelevant since it’s information that’s only applicable to the altered timeline. Kudos to Booster for a great point and Kudos to Jurgens for some intelligent writing.
Superman and Booster attempt to return to the present but pull a Back to the Future where they end up in Booster’s time except reality has been altered. There is one major plot hole in all this. If Superman travelling to Krypton’s past breaks the timeline then how come Booster Gold working as a hero in the 21st century doesn’t cause any damage? Actually, it’s explained that Superman going back to Krypton is a unique situation because the event with Mr. Oz had already fractured time.
I really enjoyed the team up of Superman and Booster Gold and the best part was that Booster was the one making sense on more than one occasion. There are a lot of laughs but there is a real and serious bonding moment between the two, perhaps on a level that no other hero has experienced with Superman and that includes Batman. Superman even begins to address Booster by his real name, Michael. This is really good stuff and there needs to be more team-ups between the two. I have read Brian Michael Bendis’s Superman and I find it massively inferior to what Dan Jurgens and Peter Tomasi have been producing. Bendis is currently getting better sales numbers but the bloom is quickly fading from the rose and given his reputation as a writer Bendis’s sales numbers should be way higher. Bendis seems to be trying to create a pure, good Superman but it’s ham handed and boring. Read one of Jurgens last stories where Superman actually tries to improve the situation of Cyborg Superman, who was trapped in the phantom zone. Not only is this done out of the goodness of his heart but he even is able to start to see why Zod turned out the way he did and Zod is one of his worst enemies ever. Superman is shown as pure and good but it isn’t boring.
The final story is by Max Landis and DC really needs to encourage Landis to do more Superman stories because I’ve yet to see a bad one from him. I’m sure he’s a busy man but this story could be the quintennial one showing the goodness of Superman. It is a real shame that the plug has been pulled on such great material.
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Top reviews from other countries
Rogerio Lacerda
A ação continua e vamos até 999
Reviewed in Brazil on December 13, 2020
Rogerio Lacerda
Reviewed in Brazil on December 13, 2020
Aqui continuamos com bastante ação, e é revelado a verdadeira identidade de Mr Oz. Confesso que esperava um melhor desenrolar, porém não atrapalha a história e vemos Superman indo em busca da verdade pelo fluxo do tempo.
Somos surpreendidos com possíveis futuros, uns bons e outros desastrosos. Com certeza, para quem é fã do universo Superman, vai se satisfazer com as histórias e personagens que surgem.
O grande dilema, é que quando se mexe muito no tempo, você não tem noção doque é possível consertar e que ação pode desencadear um evento desastroso e sem conserto.
Esse volume continua bacana e encerra nosso run, de maneira satisfatória.
Images in this review
Dr. Jose M. Munoz
Interesting but it could be better!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2021