Action Comics #6 Annotations
ACTION COMICS #6
When Superman Learned to Fly
DC Comics, Apr 2012, Color, 40pgs, $3.99
Written by GRANT MORRISON, SHOLLY FISCH ; Art by ANDY KUBERT, JOHN DELL, CHRISCROSS; Cover by ANDY KUBERT; 1:25 Variant Cover by RAGS MORALES
The breakneck pace of Grant Morrison's run on ACTION COMICS continues as the Superman of the present day must team up with suspiciously different versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes to save the jeans-wearing Superman of five years ago! Whose hand is that on the cover? Why, the leader of the Anti-Superman Army, of course! Plus, a backup by Sholly Fisch and ChrisCross that spins directly out of the lead story!
Commentary
The conclusion of the two-parter that begun last issue with another sterling turn from Andy Kubert on art duties. We're drip fed more info on the Anti-Superman Army - though its pretty clear they're all being set-up for their own introductions further down the line - and given a little more insight into the motives of the 'little man' from issue one. It's a delicate balancing act Morrison strikes with these last two issues, set before the current, Rags Morales-drawn arc ends but peopled entirely by characters that know how it all turns out. It's a smart move, and one that injects some much-needed foreshadowing and anticipation into the title. Morrison cannily employs the old 'Adult Legion' trope - another ball in the air as far as the timeline goes - but manages to juggle them all to a satisfactory wrap up. Action, while still not scaling the heady heights of Batman Incorporated, is certainly heading in the right direction, thanks largely to these last two issues.
Annotations
Cover -Fine work from both artists this month - Morales goes more traditional while Kubert's is a bit more dynamic. Clockwise from bottom left on Morales' variant we have Saturn Woman, Cosmic Man and Lightning Man, the Adult Legion of the 31st Century; the still-nameless Phantom Zone mummy-man who made his debut last issue and, of course, Superman front and centre. The pink blob in the background is Erik Drekken, who gets a bit more back story this issue after his appearance last month. Drekken gets the lions share of Kubert's cover too, with a sinister cameo from the mysterious 'little man'.
Page 1 -Picking up from the villains' mysterious disappearance last issue, we join them in their secret tesseract hideaway. Morrison, as hinted at last issue, seems to be changing the nature of Kryptonite from irradiated common rock to some sort of super-element, a dangerous and limitless power source.
Red-K, as per its Silver Age progenitor Red Kryptonite, affects Superman in an unpredictable way each time he's exposed to it. A typical avenue into the sort of unsettling, psycho-sexual stories of the Fifties written under Mort Weisenger's watch that Morrison expresses such fondness for in Supergods, Red K can change Superman's head into that of a lion, make a tiny Superman appear from his own hand and belittle him with his Super-altrustic displays, or give Superman a rainbow face. Its a licence for the buttoned down writer's of Supes' Silver Age antics (and their editor) to spill out every disfunctional psychological urge they ever had and inflict it on a fictional avatar who can beat it into submission.
Silver-K, pre-Crisis, only ever appeared in one story, and a Jimmy Olsen one at that, 1963's 'The Secret of the Silver Kryptonite' from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #70. It was fake, created by Jimmy in some typically convoluted joke against Superman to mark his silver anniversary. Its also been featured in TV's Smallville, where it gave Clark paranoid delusions, and latterly in Superman/Batman #46 by Michael Green and Mike Johnson (writers of the Smallville TV show) and Shane Davis, where it made Superman see his fellow Justice Leaguers as big headed, kid-friendly chibi versions of themselves.
Though Black Kryptonite also appeared in Smallville (where it could separate a person, Kryptonian or human, into two 'good' and 'bad' selves), Morrison himself established in All Star Superman that Black Kryptonite makes Superman evil. It would seem logical that that would be the version he's referring to here.
Blue Kryptonite was traditionally a version that could only affect the imperfect Bizarros; though once again it did pop up in Smallville where it robbed Clark of his powers (a role traditionally filled by Gold-K in the comic-book Kryptonite family tree). Morrison seems to hint that it's been repurposed in the New 52 to have some dreadful, as yet unknown, effect.
Trom is the home planet of Element Lad, member in long standing of the Legion of Super Heroes. It first appeared, alongside Element Lad himself, 1963's Adventure Comics #307 by Edmond Hamilton and John Forte. Home to a pacifist race who can transmute any element into another, the people of Trom were murdered en masse in their first appearance by Roxxas, a space pirate who wanted them to transmute useless elements into gold and make him rich. Interestingly, Element Lad was long considered gay by Legion fandom, resulting in Tom and Mary Bierbaum's controversial Legion of Super-Heroes #31 from 1992, where his long term love Shvaughn Erin is revealed to be a man taking futuristic drugs that change him into a woman. Given Element Lad's obvious alchemical traits, polysexuality is an entirely logical and intriguing, if little explored, aspect of the character. After using Rebis in his Doom Patrol to explore exactly these sorts of alchemical ideas maybe Morrison will pick this up if the Legion appear again after this issue's tale.
The Anti-Superman army, as we mentioned last issue, is an updating of the Superman Revenge Squad idea from pre-Crisis continuity. Like the Revenge Squad, we haven't seen any of the members of the Army before this tale, but all bear a murderous grudge aginst the Man of Steel.
Morrison makes the otherworldy nature of the little man from Action Comics #1 explicit, though we still don't get a firm handle on who he is. Mxyztplk? Satan? Mxyztplk-as-Satan? Whichever, it seems fairly apparent that this indeed the 'early-days Superman vs Satan' tale Morrison mentioned way back in 2008 as a possible post-All Star Superman special
.
Page 2-3 -We saw the K-Men last issue - K-Man Green, K-Man Blue and K-Woman Red (?) judging by the speech balloons. The big guy wrapped in bandages seems a sure thing for the still unnamed moustache-twirling Phantom Zone baddie from last issue. The hooded figures, reminiscent of Legion foes the Dark Circle - a futuristic death-cult who use armies of clones to conquer galaxies in opposition to the establishment United Planets - are named later in the issue as the Sisterhood of Abiding Hate. The robot cowboy, possibly a riff on pre-Crisis foe Terra Man, a cowboy who rode a robot horse and used futuristic weaponary, is probably named Nimrod the Hunter. He's the main antagonist in the upcoming Action Comics #10 but makes his debut here.
Thanks to the ever-reliable Davide Giurlando and Phillip Carson for spotting that the blank eyed little girl is probably Susie Tompkins, Lois Lane's mischieveous Dennis the Menace-esque niece, who first appeared in 1943's Action Comics #49. Apart from the odd appearance in Earth-2 Superman stories from Superman Family - the last in 1980's issue #199 - Susie never made it out of the Golden Age. There's some history of her teaming up with Mr Mxyztplk to cause headaches for the Man of Steel and, like Mxyztplk if the little man does turn out to be him, it looks like she'll play a distinctly more malevolent role in Morrison's run going forward. The heavy ordanance backing up the Army could be left over Terminauts from issue two, or could be something else entirely. Time will tell.
That little man certainly has a very devilish air about him...
Page 4 - This is the Superman of the future (or, if you'd rather, the present) as he's currently appearing in George Perez's (or whoever's writing it this week) Superman book. He's travelled back in time with a future version of the Legion of Super Heroes (i.e. the adult version of the teenagers appearing in the Legion book currently...) to foil a plot against the Superman of the past (currently featuring in Morrison's Action Comics battling the Collector of Worlds, a tale that both precedes and follows this one). Got all that? Good.
The Fortress of Solitude, a concept Seigel and Shuster stole wholesale from Doc Savage, was traditionally located in the Arctic. Superman seems to be using the now-abandoned ship that belonged to the Collector of Worlds as an early prototype. We first saw the ship way back on the last page of issue two.
DC seem keen to stress that Superman is now the very first 'superhero' in the New 52 continuity, something future Supes re-iterates here.
The Time Bubble has more room inside than out - a sly nod to the Doctor's TARDIS and a convenient point to explain tesseracts, which, as we mentioned last issue, also played a similar role in Morrison's DC One Million.
Honestly, I will get around to cross referencing the Kryptonian dialogue the ship spouts with the translations given last issue. I just haven't yet. Sorry.
Kryptonian Sunstone is the crystal structure we've seen spontaneously generate from the ship already. Cosmic Man's comments here seem to imply that its the sunstone and the rocket's computer system that will lead to Brainiac's defeat in a couple of months from now in Action Comics #8 (the up-coming concluding issue of the Collector of Worlds storyline).
"Telepathic social networks" is a nice throwaway Morrison concept - a place where all languages are the same.
Cosmic Man, Lightning Man and Saturn Woman are adult versions of Legionnaires Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. 'Adult Legions' are a long standing tradition in Legion of Super Heroes continuity, fitting given the central role time-travel plays in their stories. They usually arrive from the future and impart opaque clues as to what's in store for various Legionnaires. They first appeared as adults in Superman #147, and future Legion scribes, most especially Keith Giffen and the Bierbaums, would often pay off on long term developments that had been hinted at by adult Legionnaires many years previously.
Page 5 - Not sure how the Legion manage to get so much out of a penlight battery. Maybe in a future where resources have been depleted, energy efficiency is king?
Erik Drekken, whose power lets him ascend or descend the evolutionary ladder at will, first appeared last issue. His first encounter with Superman, referenced here by Saturn Woman, has yet to happen in the comics' continuity.
Page 6 - A clue perhaps to Drekken's nom du crime? The Man of Tomorrow? Or UMMA OV 2morrow if you'd prefer.
Encephalo means 'of the brain', Sapiens means 'man' and Tyrannus means 'king' or, more usually in animal taxonomy, 'giant'. So maybe he'll be Giant Brain Man.
Page 7 -Supes punches the giant brain so hard its eyes literally pop out. Good work sir.
Garth Ranzz is Lightning Man's real name. Imra Ardeen Ranzz is Saturn Woman's. They're married you see. Just so we can complete the set, Cosmic Man's alter ego is Rokk Krinn, though its not referenced in this issue.
Page 8 -From giant squid brain to egg-headed future man, and finally to giant angry T-Rex. Coupled with last issue's gelatinous blob, that's quite the power-set Drekken's got going on there.
Page 9 - Lightning Lad has traditionally been portrayed in the comic books as somewhat rash and, honestly, a bit of an arse. Its nice to see Morrison attempt an in-continuity explanation for this. Legion scholars - is this new or has someone used this explanation before?
Drekken ends up as a Mister Mind-esque worm in a bottle.
Presumably Nimrod will take that shot with the teleport rifle when he appears in issue ten.
Page 10 - They're hiding in Superman's memories of his days as a boy on the farm in Smallville - notice the barn shift from blue to red in panels two and five and again on the following page. The barn is the 'tesseract space big enough to hold 30 people'.
The old 'powers from his alien heritage but moral centre from his good old American parents' bit. The 'S' shield as symbol of the House of El idea is from Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie and was allegedly Marlon Brando's idea. Thanks again to Phillip Carson for the info!
Seems the Anti-Superman army have chosen the point in Superman's life where he first meets the Legion as their hiding place, leading us into a sweet glimpse of Clark's first experience of flying thanks to the Legion's flight ring. Clark originally met the Legion as Superboy in their first appearance in Adventure Comics #247 by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, a tale recently revisted by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank in Superman: Secret Origin.
Page 12 -Though I haven't been reading it, common consensus is that Superman has been something of an ass in the first few issues of Perez's Superman title. Is Morrison chipping in a plot point for Perez here or hand waving away poor characterisation?
Page 13 -Not sure who the little man's allies from the Sunderworld of Unda are. They don't seem to be a reference to an old adventure anyway. The heavy armament seen in the double page spread at the beginning of the issue perhaps?
Page 15 -Scratchy witch words from the little man, just like Phantom Zone guy's last issue. Who is he? "Give in! Kent next!"? Mxyztplk?
Fops? Nice. Very Vic Reeves' Big Night Out.
Page 17 - "Save... everyone..." Everyone apart from Ma and Pa. How sad. Poor Superman.
Page 19 - Lightning Man lost his arm to the Super Moby Dick of Space (seriously) way back in 1964's Adventure Comics #322. It was replaced by a robot prosthetic, explaining his injuries here.
And there's some classic Adult Legion right there. 'Susie' presumably refers to Susie Tompkins, as above. 'Earth's First Superman'? I hope they mean this guy, though more likely is that being a reference to Jor-El I, Superman's grandfather and the original owner of Supes' cape, who, pre-Crisis of course, managed the odd trip to Earth amongst his other amazing science achievements.
Page 20 -A great page from Kubert to finish, really gets across the elation in Superboy's face.
Another solid backup from Fisch, nicely countering the big Action in the lead tale with a quieter more reflective tale of Clark's leaving the farm, and Smallville, behind. Some really good work from Fisch on these shorter stories so far, though nothing you really need me to walk you through.
Next up it's back to the present (or five years in the past if you'd rather) with the penultimate chapter in Superman's showdown with the Collector of Worlds. As always if you've any questions, comments or corrections for the annotations please do get in touch. See you next time!
