#1s Ep.3

Action Comics: Last Son
Written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner (!!!!!!!)
Drawn by Adam Kubert

Weird,this. Three facts ,in stone: the Donner film was piffle ,the Lester sequel was upgrade , Mario Puzo wrote both. Now the Donner film's mythic ,the unseen (and allegedly just as much piffle) Donner sequel's now fanboy grail poised to remedy what was never in need of any and Donner 's . . .uh . . . "writing" is now your compulsion to pick up Action Comics? Trick is to peg how much of Last Son is Donner. Maybe zero. Maybe it's all come-on and cash-in. Maybe it's all Geoff Johns riffing (intriguingly, must admit) off the Singer film - - -Superman as father figure. Suspiciously timed ,at that, to "coincide" with the DVD release overkill. Busiek / Pacheco may be pushing little more than within-budget status quo in-continuity but there's surfeits more incident in Superman . . .surfeits more . . .um . . . action, natch. Your sheckles are better off with that one. Your compulsion to pick this up ,though, would be Adam Kubert. Your eyes will thank you for that set piece alone where Superman catches a low-flying spacecraft with his bare hands . Uh huh. And the riffing never stops. Adam keeping it up (and he would) plus a trustfund to burn is your compulsion to see this arc through. If you do, get over the director of 16 Blocks and Ladyhawke and Goonies and Timeline and Conspiracy Theory and Maverick and . . .should I stop now? Reeve and Lester made the franchise soar. And Geoff's flying this one. * *



Superman Confidential #1
Written by Darwyn Cooke
Drawn by Tim Sale


Darwyn nails it. Granted, this is retro - - -Confidential's engine runs on prequels. But he nails the vulnerable post-Crisis ( not the infinite one,mind) Superman everybody's been aiming for nevertheless. The Kryptonite/Kryptonian schism had me at first blush. Until the Singer revamp hype wanes, though, we will never get enough of Superman catching low-flying aircraft with his bare hands. DVD's out - - yeah, we know, marketing drones at WB/DC ,we know. Beautiful first half,still. The chink in the Man of Steel's armor. The immortal's fear of death. Then it's an episode of The Wire. Bites it right there. But not enough downturn to swear off. #2, then? Possibly. If the wallet doesn't grumble. And if only for that Kryptonite chunk in a Tibetan temple. And because it's Darwyn. * * *





Wisdom#1
Written by Pete Cornell
Drawn by Trevor Hairsine



Fairies . . .um, sorry, faeries. Loathe 'em. Sort of. Coming clean here. I did nurture a prolonged teenage infatuation with Brian Froud and Alan Lee's Faeries - - -I also thought Frazetta was hotter than Rembrandt, foreskin can do that to you. Somes things you outgrow ,though,or you're a dork for life. Even in able clutches - - -Gaiman, Ney Reiber - - - faeries always had that veneer of silly. Girly, too. Wisdom, then. A.k.a. The Fairies Come Out. Her Majesty's Secret Service has a Posthuman Division : MI-13. Ask fans of the Warren Ellis Excalibur,they know about this. Pete Wisdom team-leads and Blackjack Tarr and Clive Reston (heads up, Master of Kung Fu freaks) are miffed.There's a Skrull named John and a bloke with a shield named Captain Midlands. First op's a deep gatecrash into the UK's Collective Unconscious. To throw a little fairy jihad. Fairyheads chopped off. Fairybodies broken in two like kindling. Fairywings clipped with extreme prejudice. Blood and guts in fairyland. Phonogram's top - - -but this trippy antifairy opiate is shooing-in for my yearend second best debut,all divisions. A head-clearing hit of irreverent snark to wash the stink of humdrum coming off the stash. A party to invite yourself to. Don't fail me now, Mr.Cornell. * * * *