Action Comics #1 Annotations
ACTION COMICS #1
Superman Versus the City of Tomorrow
DC Comics, November 2011, Color, 40pgs, $3.99
Written by GRANT MORRISON ; Art by RAGS MORALES and RICK BRYANT; Cover by RAGS MORALES; 1:25 Variant Cover by JIM LEE; 1:200 Sketch Variant by RAGS MORALES
The one and only Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman) returns to Superman, joined by sensational artist Rags Morales (Identity Crisis), to bring you tales of The Man of Steel unlike any you’ve ever read! This extra-sized debut issue is the cornerstone of the entire DC Universe!
Commentary
Launched in the first week proper of DC's 'New 52' line-wide relanch, Action Comics #1 is set five years in the past as superheroes are first emerging into the new DC Universe, effectively making it, like its illustrious million-dollar predecessor, the 'first' chapter in the new DC Comics. As telegraphed right from the off by Morrison, its a largely a return to the original Seigel & Shuster Superman; the vigilante social crusader standing up for the little man, a blue collar 'Bruce Springsteen' of superheroes.
Though Morrison has returned to Superman's roots, its a very different Superman to the one that pretty much everyone knows and is used to these days - working outside of the law, inexperienced and significantly less powerful than at any time over the past seventy odd years. Though Superman's power set, and indeed his whole personality, has changed significantly, his classic supporting cast has survived with a few minor tweaks here and there. In this issue we get the 'New 52' debut of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, Superman's Best Pal, Jimmy Olsen (now Clark Kent's best pal too), Lois's sinister military-industrial complex dad, General Sam Lane and Lex Luthor, who seems to have stepped fully formed from the pages of Morrison's All-Star Superman. The Daily Planet is in there, though Clark now works for its main rival the Daily Star, and Metropolis, the titular City of Tomorrow, is, of course, the backdrop for all the action.
As promised by Morrison, the new Action Comics is exactly what it says on the masthead, action-packed, with a Superman who never stops moving until the final page. This is definitely not the cerebral puzzle-box of Morrison's Batman run, taking the unashamed joy of superheroic derring-do seen in JLA and filtering it through the economy of storytelling Morrison employed in All-Star Superman. As a result, its pretty light on annotation material so far, though its pretty clear, for Morrison at least, that the 'New 52' doesn't mean a total break from past continuity, and that there'll be plenty of little Easter eggs to spot in the months to come.
Annotations
Cover - A canny distillation of what makes Superman so super on Morales' regular cover - he's fast, impervious to bullets and can 'fly' above the cars. The two patrol cars immediately beneath Superman are numbers 19 and 38, 1938 of course being the year the original Action Comics #1 was released. Its a good cover and an appealing image, though you have to wonder if Morrison could wax quite so lyrical about its shamanic connotations as he did with the original Action #1 cover in Supergods.
Superman's 'new' work boots, jeans and t-shirt costume also features, looking a little more functional than the circus strong man suit we've come to know. Unfortunately, this costume is only going to last for the first 'origin' arc before we're propelled into the present day and Jim Lee's tiresome 'armour, piping and nehru collar' redesign, which features in the very dated-looking and pretty generic 'Superman strikes a pose while fighting robots' variant. Thanks to Jody Garland for pointing out that these particular robots are updated versions of the Mechanical Monsters that Superman fought in the Fleischer Brothers cartoon of the same name.
Page 1 - We're back to the widescreen-aspect panels that characterised Morrison's JLA, and were subsequently adopted throughout the industry in the early noughties . Morales uses the technique sparingly, primarily during Superman's action sequences, returning to a traditional and relatively dense panel structure for the exposition and Luthor-Lane cutaways. Its an interesting attempt to reclaim a technique that has been over-used, and widely lambasted by Morrison himself, in recent years.
Glen Glenmorgan is a new character, though his 'corrupt industrialist' schtick is straight out of Seigel and Shuster's original stories. The stylized 'G' monogram, seen here on his tie, and on the building facade and reception desk on the next page, is for Galaxy, as confirmed by Luthor on page 11. Galaxy Communications was introduced in, I think, Jack Kirby's first issue of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133, as the new media conglomerate owners of the Daily Planet. Galaxy's boss, Morgan Edge, was an evil pawn of Darksied right from the get-go and also ran Metropolis' top tier of organised super-crime, Intergang. Clark Kent soon became a TV reporter for Galaxy as part of Denny O'Neil's Bronze Age soft reboot of Supes, where all the Kryptonite on Earth was changed into iron and, in the first of numerous instances since, Superman was significantly de-powered.
This new iteration of Galaxy appears to have their hand in a lot more than just media, with plans to re-develop large areas of Metropolis.
Though some have pegged the little weasely guy as an avatar of 5th dimensional mischief maker Mr. Mxyztplk, I'm throwing my hat in the speculation ring and saying he might be a somewhat younger than we're used to version of Captain Marvel villain Doctor Sivana, a character Morrison clearly enjoyed writing in 52 and Final Crisis, and who got an as yet unexplained off-screen cameo in Batman Incorporated #1. Maybe Sivana's plot in Action will shed some light on what exactly that diamond was that Batman went to such great lengths to procure in Batman Incorporated #1, as, judging from its multiple mentions in 'New 52' solicits, Inc. appears to be still 'in-continuity'. Commentator Davide Giurlando thinks it could be Byrne-era villain Thaddeus Killgrave, a mad scientist formerly with Intergang who manufactured weapons to destroy Superman and sold them to the highest bidder. I think he could be a real possibility.
Also on the subject of weasly guy, there may be more going on with him than we're privvy to here as, not only does he get away to plant the bomb on the train tracks later in the issue, Superman also seems to know about the bomb before it goes off. Why would he let him go if he knew he was going to sabotage the train?
'I'm teetotal', by the way, means that he doesn't drink alcohol. Its a very common phrase here in the UK but, judging by some of the reaction I've read to this issue, not so much across the pond there.
"I'm your worst nightmare", Nice statement of intent from the new Supes here.
Page 2 - 'Zoft' is a brand of breast-enhancing chewing gum. No, seriously...
Sergeant Casey was a cop who, like Detective Blake, started out trying to bring Superman to book when he first appeared in 1940's Superman #6, eventually realising that Superman was one of the good guys a scant year later. He hung around until the end of the forties but pretty much hasn't been seen since.
Detective Blake first appeared, as Detective Sergeant Blake, in a two page text story back-up in the original Superman #1. In that tale, Blake, zealously single-minded in his desire to apprehend Superman, arrives moments too late to stop him smashing up the office of a patent attorney who has been stealing other people's inventions. Though the cops think they've trapped Superman in the elevator, they're stunned when mild-mannered Clark Kent emerges in his place. In return for not publishing the story of Blake's 'mistake' and making him look 'like a sap', Kent asks to interview notorious gangster Biff Dugan, currently in police custody. In a, peculiar move, Clark, as Superman, stages Dugan's break out, so that he can recapture him and demonstrate his good intentions to the police and, more specifically, Blake. Its an episode that could easily map on to Morrison's Superman and Blake relationship as seen in this issue.
Incidentally, the Blake story and a smattering of intro pages were the only 'new' material in the original Superman #1, the rest of the issue consisting of a reprint of the original Action Comics #1-4.
What exactly is going on with Glenmorgan's tie here? He's adjusting it on the first page, then the little guy is brandishing it like some sort of talisman as the police arrive on the this page and the next. And that's definitely Glenmorgan's tie he's got - by the time he and Superman reach the ground on page seven he's not wearing it anymore.
Page 3 - Classic Superman trope #1 - Bending the barrell of a gun so it can't fire any more.
"To someone who still believes the law works the same for rich and poor alike" - Superman as social crusader, taking the law into his own hands.
Page 4-5 - Nice spread from Morales, and coloured really well by Brad Anderson.
'The City of Tomorrow', like New York's 'Big Apple' or Chicago's 'Windy City', is an affectionate epithet for the city of Metropolis. 'The Big Apricot', is another. Not sure where it was first mentioned but it was certainly in common usage when West End Games published the role-playing supplement The Daily Planet Guide to Metropolis - The City of Tomorrow in 2000.
Page 7 - Not sure what Superman's using his heat vision for in the last two panels?
Page 8 - Again, Superman's, "Treat people right, or expect a visit form me" is very Seigel and Shuster-ish. Dropping a guy from a great height to extract a confession also happens in the original Action Comics #1, and a panel from that story also is the basis for the cover to Action Comics #7.
Glenmorgan's Galaxy headquarters is in the Reeve(s?) Building, a nod to both TV Superman George Reeves and movie Supes Christopher Reeve.
Page 9 - Classic Superman trope #2 - Stopping a bullet with the palm of his hand.
Page 10 - 'Kimberley Ave.', 'Glenville Rd' - Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster both lived in Glenville, Ohio when they created Superman. Siegel's childhood home was at 10622 Kimberley Avenue.
"He's all yours! Activate the city." This, the last of the preview pages released before Action went on sale, coupled with the title of the story, imply that Metropolis has some sort of automated defences designed to confound Superman. That doesn't appear to be the case, though Luthor seems to be manipulating the city's police and local army presence from afar.
Page 11 - So, we're six months into Superman's career and, unlike John Byrne's 80's reboot which bypassed it all together, we're still very firmly in 'Golden Age' territory. The new Luthor, identical to Morrison's take on the character in All-Star Superman, is contracting his awesome intellect out to the US Army in an effort to stop 'it'; Superman as a terible threat to the status quo who must be eliminated at all costs.
The army officer in the foreground, with the 'Corben' name patch, is probably John Corben, destined to become Metallo, the Man with the Kryptonite Heart; an evil cyborg powered by a kryptonite rock. The original Metallo, a murderous journalist mangled in a car accident whose brain was saved by putting it into a robot body, first appeared in 1959's Action Comics #252 and, though he didn't make his debut until twenty years into Superman's run, he's become a perennial thorn in the Man of Steel's side ever since. John Byrne used a revised gym-bunny version of him as the antagonist in 1987's Superman #1, and he appeared, as he does here, as a US Army Sergeant serving under General Sam Lane in Geoff Johns' and Gary Frank's 2009 Superman: Secret Origin mini-series.
In Secret Origin he was testing a Lexcorp-built, Kryptonite fuelled powersuit when a stray bullet hit the power source, almost killing Corben who was rebuilt, Six Million Dollar Man style, by Luthor's scientists. The Kryptonite became Corben's new 'heart' and he went on the rampage in his Bronze Age homage green and orange robot body. Thanks to Davide Giurlando (again!) for pointing out that Gary Frank drew Corben as a Kevin Bacon look-a-like, whereas here he returns to his moustachioed, Silver Age look.
Given General Lane's mention of a 'Steel Soldier' programme, is it too much of a stretch to suggest that could be the New 52 version of John Henry Irons standing with Corben?
Lex Luthor first appeared in 1940's Action Comics #23, originally with a shock of red hair. After spending the 40's to the 80's as comicdom's maddest scientist, Luthor got a major makeover from Marv Wolfman and John Byrne in the 1980's Superman reboot. Now he was a ruthless businessman who pursued his sinister agenda beneath a veneer of respectability. His hatred for Superman, originally a result of the Man of Steel causing his hair loss, became a hatred of Mankind's dependence on a being from another world. Both incarnations began to drift closer together in the late 90's - arguably spurred on by Morrison's use of the character as the brains behind the Injustice Gang during his JLA run - until we reached the Luthor of today; a seamless fusion of the mad scientist and razor sharp business mind. Morrison posits him in All-Star Superman as one of the most intelligent men on the planet; someone who can generate fablous wealth by spending ten minutes of his day on business dealings; who can repurpose any piece of technology to bend to his sinister ends and who, above all, hates that Superman has supplanted him as the greatest that mankind can offer, an extratrerrestrial who isn't a 'man' at all.
From the looks of things, energy-drink supping Luthor looks to have painted his arch eyebrows on, as he did in Morrison's All-Star series.
New Moravia wasn't a borough of Metropolis in the pre-New 52 DC Universe, though New Troy was. The map up on the big screen, however, does seem to match up with the pre-reboot Metropolis, physical geography wise anyhow . Moravia was a Slavic state of the 9th Century, extending throughout Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Its also a small town in New York State.
General Sam Lane, father of Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen's sometimes girlfriend Lucy Lane, first appeared in 1987's Adventures of Superman #424 by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway, the first issue of the retitled Superman volume 1 post-80's reboot. He had originally appeared in 1959's Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #13 by Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger, though back in those simpler times he was a horse farmer rather than a sinister agent of the U.S. military industrial complex. He also made an appearance, again in an uneasy alliance with Luthor, in Morrison's All-Star Superman. The mainstream DC Universe pre-reboot Sam Lane commited suicide after destroying a planet full of Kryptonians at the conclusion of the War of the Supermen mini-series in 2010, written by James Robinson and Sterling Gates.
Page 12 - Classic Superman trope #3 - Superman versus a wrecking ball
Nice to see Luthor has one of those sixties supervillian cameras that allow him to see into any building anywhere, complete with dramatic Hollywood camera angles...
Page 13 - The LX-1 designation on the tank suggests they were probably designed by Lex Luthor.
Page 15 - Classic Superman trope #4 - Superman versus a tank, as per the cover of the original Action Comics #17
Superman's onomatopoeic 'GD' as he's struck by the tank shell caused this crackpot in North Carolina to cancel all his orders for forthcoming issues of Action and call for a Grant Morrison boycott, all because Superman 'takes the Lord's name in vain'... He was swiftly rebuffed, and the storm in the internet's teacup subsided.
Page 16 - The 'little people' rise up to defend Superman when he can't defend himself, calling to mind the L-train scene in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2.
There was no Metropolis Tower in the pre-reboot DC Universe...
Page 17 - ...Or a Galileo Square. Robocopters is presumably a bit of a gag on that other mechanical aide to urban policing, Robocop.
Page 19 - Catching a lift on a conveniently passing blimp, usually a more common sight in Gotham City. Superman's transition from Man of Steel to mild-mannered reporter here is very Spider-Man-esque.
Page 20 - Intergang, as briefly mentioned above, are a kind of super Mafia thought up by Jack Kirby whilst in the midst of his Fourth World fever dream. They were first mentioned at the beginning of Kirby's run on Jimmy Olsen. In recent years they've made a bit of a comeback, mixed-up in all the Religion of Crime shenanigans, in 52 and various subsequent spin-offs starring The Question and Batwoman, .
Morrison mentioned in an interview that preceded Action's release that Morales was going for a Harry Potter look for Clark.
Mrs. Nyxly, also interpreted by many as a veiled reference to Mr. Mxyztplk, shares her surname with obscure Bronze Age supervillain Ferlin Nyxly, who made his one and only appearance in Superman #235 from 1970, by Denny O'Neil and Curt Swan. Nyxly was a loser who found a magical demonic wishing harp that could steal powers and abilities from others and bestow them upon its wielder. Nyxly wished for musical talent whilst strumming the harp and subsequently recieved it at the expense of famous concert pianist Timos Achens (where did Denny O'Neil dredge these names up from?!). His big-time concert debut is overshadowed by Superman apprehending some crooks and, in his bitterness, Nyxly wishes he could fly like Superman. Supes promptly loses the ability as Nyxly gains it. Gradually, Nyxly takes all of Superman's powers (and begins dresing like the Greek God Pan...) though, after challenging Superman to a fight in a sports arena, he's defeated by a mysterious duplicate of Superman made from sand.
They don't make 'em like that anymore...
As part of the classic 'Sand Superman' saga, Superman #235 was collected recently in the DC Comics Classics Library: Kryptonite Nevermore! volume, suggesting Morrison might be trawling his comp box for inspiration, as he has done so masterfully with his Batman run.
Page 21 - Superman also takes on a wife-beater in Siegel and Shuster's Action Comics #1, uttering the immortal line "YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING A WOMAN NOW!" as he punches seven bells out of him.
Notice the photo of Ma and Pa Kent on the left and the star chart on the right.
Bakerline, St. Martin's and Hob's Bay were all districts of Metropolis in the pre-reboot DC Universe, curious given the amount of brand new Metropolis geography we've had earlier in the issue. Hob's Bay, where Clark lives, is more often referred to by its nickname, Suicide Slum.
"Two men and a woman -- a blonde,", Clark's visiting friends are most likely the Legion of Super-Heroes, specifically Cosmic Boy, Lighning Lad and Saturn Girl, visiting from the 30th Century to recruit Superman into the Legion, as they did in their debut appearance in Adventure Comics #247.
Page 22 - As per the new status quo teased by Morrison in interviews, Clark and Jimmy are now best pals, albiet pals who work for rival newspapers... Jimmy first appeared as a nameless bow-tied office boy in Action Comics #6, though it was the Adventures of Superman radio show that gave him a name and a personality. He first appeared as Jimmy in the comics in 1941's Superman #13, though after a few appearances here and there he disappeared from the title for ten years, re-surfacing for good in the early fifties in both the comic books and on TV's Adventures of Superman.
Lois Lane, Superman's girlfriend, then wife, now relative stranger. She first appeared along with the Big S in the original Action Comics #1.
As in the original stories, Clark works for the Daily Star newspaper. The name was later changed to the Daily Planet though here the two seem to co-exist as rivals, with Clark at the Star and Jimmy and Lois, as ever, at the Planet.
Presumably Glenmorgan's confession only confirmed a suspicion that the trains have some serious security flaws, especially dangerous given that they appear to be some sort of pressurised mag-lev train, or a vactrain, either of which could theoretically travel at thousands of miles an hour. Given that Clark has already contacted the authorities, one would imagine the trains shouldn't be running. There's an extra twist in the tale though given the weasely guy's involvement, as we'll see...
Moving toward the train behind Lois is Gus "Guns" Grundig, making his first appearance, a very Dick Tracy-esque mobster.
"For I am the truth and the way!" Lois is misquoting scripture, the Bible quote is "I am the way and the truth and the light". Eagle eyed commentator Chris Hilker pointed out thats it also references "Truth, Justice and the American Way".
Page 23 - Clark's editor at the Daily Star, as per 1939's Superman #2, is George Taylor.
Morales' slum streets have a little nod toward Will Eisner with the stylised W.E. graffiti.
Lois' hoodie says Keystone City, home of the original Flash. Her alma mater?
The "Zee Zee Zee" noise Jimmy's phone is making is the same as the noise made by his old signal watch, a device Jimmy used primarily in the Silver Age for contacting Superman in emergencies.
Echoing Glenmorgan's comments on the first page, the weasely guy is, judging by the panel positioning, in a car somewhere near where the bomb is set to go off (check the train reflection in the lowered window). Presumably he's responsible for the putting the bomb there in the first place. But why would Glenmorgan hire someone to bomb his train tracks? To cover-up the shoddy job and collect on the insurance maybe?
Page 24 - Classic Superman trope #5 - Superman versus a train, as per the cover of the original Action Comics #13
Page 25 - In keeping with Morrison's interview comments, this is a Superman who hasn't reached God-like levels of power - a Superman who can bleed, as he appears to be doing here.
Page 27 - The token appearance of the 'mysterious woman' in the purple hood from the last comic set in the previous DC Universe, Flashpoint #5. As detailed here, she's so far appeared somewhere in the background of all of DC's relaunch titles.
Page 28 - A quick glimpse of the Daily Planet Building, with the iconic globe on the top, at the end of the street in the final panel - before Superman, impaled on the nose of the train, crashes into it on the final page.
Page 29 - Luthor's spotted something closing in on Earth from outer space. Any guesses? Brainiac maybe? Krypto?
The first time we checked in with Lane and Luthor, the clock said 19:30. Its now just before eight o'clock - the events of the whole issue have taken place in about half an hour.
Luthor's speech about the brown tree snake and the cane toad pretty accurately echo his motivation from All-Star Superman as outlined above.
Page 30 - Shot with a bullet train, combining two elements of the ur-Supermantra - "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive...".
The hows and whys of Luthor's involvement with the train crash seem to be a question best left until next month. As far as the information we get in this issue goes, he seems to have had nothing to do with it - there is after all both a bomb and a pretty explicit reference to shoddy workmanship and poor safety standards - though it happens at the exact time that Luthor needs it to in order to impress on General Lane that it is Luthor, and not Glenmorgan or his mysterious agent, who has taken down the Man of Steel. More to come on this one I think...
Comments and corrections welcome! Come back next time!