Action Comics #23 Review

Picking up right where we left off last issue, Superman is confronted by a group of warrior space aliens on the moon as a Galactus-type entity makes its way towards Earth. I actually enjoyed the premise of this story, but by the last page I felt silly for getting my hopes up. This is by far the most comic book-y issue featuring Superman in the New 52; sadly, I mean that in the worst way possible.

Superman is pompous and sarcastic, yet never endearing, while the space knights all talk like they are Americans pretending to have medieval accents at a Renaissance Fair. The narrative goes from one extreme to another: Superman throws the first punch, the aliens go from hating to loving Superman in the blink of an eye, and the villain -- who actually has a cool origin -- winds up being all smoke and no fire. Scott Lobdell also uses this issue to bring up Superman’s weakness to magic, but he more just notates it instead of exploring it in any meaningful way.

Artist Tyler Kirkham did a great job on his debut on Action Comics, but his artwork has several dips in quality here, the biggest offender being the awkward-looking kick Superman delivers to Straith’s throat. Even when Kirkham is on his game, the script never seems to match the art. Characters often go on long rants during quick action scenes, which bogs the pacing down to the point where the fighting isn’t anywhere near as much fun as it should be.

There’s also the backup story, which is just about as predictable and uninteresting as the main feature.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.

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