Action Comics #874

Overall- OK, this is the first solo Superman comic book I have EVER brought for myself. I've obviously read about Supes before, in the JLA and such, but I'd never actually brought an issue of Superman. Why start now you may ask? While scanning the recent releases last week, I noticed that this issue was written by James Robinson... Yes, the same James Robinson who wrote maybe my favorite super-hero comic of all time, "Starman". Starman puts almost every other comic book to shame with the scope of the story, as well as some of the best dialogue I've ever read in a comic book. If James can capture 1/10th of the magic of Starman, then this comic should be spectacular. With that, allow me to review my first ever issue of Superman.

What exactly did I expect? It's James Frigging Robinson writing this issue, of course I enjoyed it! Now, there were a few things I didn't understand, the whole New Krypton thing is a bit confusing(I guess there are Kryptonian's who survived Krypton's destruction? How? And now they're living on their own planet?), but the stuff I understood, I did enjoy. I only know General Zod from those old Superman movies("Kneel before Zod!!!"), but apparently he was locked up in the Phantom Zone in the comics. Supes confronts Zod and the other Kryptonians, but is calmed down by Supergirl's mother(?)Alura. Alura offers Supes a place on New Krypton, but Supes leaves, claiming he needs time to think.

We find out that Lex Luthor and General Lane have managed to somehow capture Brainiac's spaceship, and intend to fully exploit the alien shuttle in their never ending quest to rid the Earth of Superman.

Meanwhile, Supes meets up with Lois on Earth and takes her to the Fortress of Solitude, where he talks about how when all he had were holographic images of Krypton and Kryptonians, he could idolize them, but now he sees that they are just people with flaws and weaknesses, like anybody else. Basically, the occupants of New Krypton have gone a long way in shaking Supes perfect version of what he thought Krypton was like.

While opining to Lois, Supes hears a faint voice and rushes over to the doorway to the Phantom Zone, where he discovers a frightened Mon-El telling Supes that a void in the Phantom Zone has swallowed everyone else in the Zone up, with the exception of him. Supes looks in and can see the void fast approaching. Supes is reluctant to let Mon out due to the fact that the lead in our air is fatal to Daxamites, of which Mon is one, but Mon tells Supes that he would rather die as a man then as a Phantom. Before the void reaches Mon, Supes releases him and the issue ends with Mon laying peacefully on the floor near Superman.

The "Origins & Omens" portion of this comic dealt with the new Guardian and explains that he was cloned from the first Guardian, etc. He has a cloned daughter and from the glimpses we gleam from Scar, he winds up working with the new Nightwing and Flamebird, and something terrible seems to occur to his daughter.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this comic. James is probably the best comic book writer today when it comes solely to scripting dialogue. His characters always seem to say the right thing at the right time. That's why I could enjoy this story as much as I did, even though there were a few fuzzy parts that I just didn't understand. Supes conversation with Lois at the Fortress was excellently done, and really managed to convey Supes conflicted feelings about the Kryptonians occupying New Krypton. For a score, I'll happily give this comic an 8 out of 10. As I continue to read these Superman books, and understand what's going on in better detail, I'm sure that score will improve exponentially.