(COMIC REVIEW) Action Comics #7

Written by Grant Morrison
Artwork by Rags Morales and Rick Bryant

After a few issues in Grant Morrison's Fun House, things are back on track for Action Comics, taking us back to the action that fell to the wayside at the end of issue four. And while the Legion side-story-that-connects-to-the-main-story was nice, it's great to get back to the main tale.

New Troy, one of the many massive neighborhoods in Metropolis, has vanished. In keeping with Morrison's look into the evolution of Superman's powers, Clark pushes himself to run thousands of miles per hour faster than he ever has so he can launch himself into the stratosphere and board the alien ship he sees with his "Zoom Vision", as he calls it. Morrison is obviously having fun with Superman's origins, taking almost any opportunity given to convey more specific detail and really give the character a solid foundation beyond his 'boy scout' persona.

It's revealed in this issue (and months earlier to Superman aficionados) that the Colony is simply Morrison's re-envisioning of Brainiac, one of Superman's oldest and most ruthless enemies. And while most of the issue is spent setting up the next issue, which features the fight between Superman and the Colony construct, it does so with grace, giving Superman little room to move - figuratively and literally - until he snaps. It's a wise move giving Clark such a dilemma of morality so early in his career as Superman; it makes him more relatable and easier to not hate. In the artwork department, Rags Morales and Rick Bryant rip it up again. In an issue mostly set on an alien spaceship with mood lighting, Rick Bryant's shading really makes a splash.

The only complaint I can give Action Comics at this juncture, is that it's moving too slow. After two months of (technically) side stories, I was ready for some big action and instead, got the build up to said big action.

GRADE:

B+