Broken Frontier

All in one comic, you get the following. A ringside seat at the birth of Kandor’s bottled condition. The placing of former major players back on the board. An attack from Brainiac that is at once both a thrilling conclusion and the spring board to a chilling cliffhanger. And, oh yeah, a little bit of sweet revenge for Superman.

Johns, fresh off the Legion story, is amping up the action in Action again! While this issue is admittedly mostly exposition, it is also a master course in how to start a story. From quickly and effectively putting Catherine Grant, Steve Lombard and Ron Troupe back into play to placing Zod at the birth of the famed bottled city, Johns shows how broad strokes can be done concisely.

He also gives a little class on characterization. From showing how Cat likes to place Clark as a sexual mouse to showing what a jerk Steve is in very few panels. The best though is when Clark gets back at Steve for hitting on his wife. Don’t think that Clark’s boy scout exterior means he is a push over, he is after all the Man of Steel beneath that blue suit and those large eyeglasses.

What makes the whole thing even more interesting is all the information present in the book. Johns effectively gives Superman an age by dating the destruction of Krypton. He also shows how dangerous Brainiac truly is as an advesary at the same time. When you add this to the deliberate references to the Death of Superman by placing three "new" Planet staffers in the meeting, you get a sense that danger may actually be just around the corner for our super powered friend.

In fact, the references reflect something even more astonishing. Think about it for a minute. In Action Comics Annual #11, the end of John’s first major storyline "Last Son of Krypton", Johns put the reporters back on the board. In Annual #10, he gave us a primer issue that may even effectively work as a road map at this point, given the villains covered. Direction. That is a term that has been thrown out a lot in the last few weeks, especially about the DCU. Johns is showing that he knows what it is. He seeded us for these stories in that first annual and then during "Sinestro Corps War", he referenced the destruction of Coast City - a milestone in the return of Kal-El. Now the bullpen is close to having the same dynamic it did during that death and return saga. Johns is hinting at the period in modern comics history when Superman sold better than any other property. It is a bold move.

It is a move being ably assisted by Gary Franks. When he took over the book for the Legion story, he joined the fun by drawing Superman to look like Christopher Reeve. This is another nod to an iconic period of the guardian of the American Way; truth, justice and all. If anyone had any doubts, just check out the new issue. I dare you to tell me that Lois doesn’t look like Margot Kidder!

Together, Johns and Frank have just come off one of the best Superman stories ever and seem to have everything in place to make this one just as special. And as to direction - notice the sly moment when Cat mentions Supergirl. This is seeding the big Super Book Crossover launched with this very issue, continuing into the first Robinson penned Superman and eventually finding its way into Kara’s book. Boy, oh boy. Is it a good time to be a fan of the Man of Steel - just don’t hit on his wife!