Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Pete Woods

Art : 8/10
Story : 8/10
Overall : 8/10

This is a fast read that moves with a purpose, but at no point does it feel rushed.

Johns and Robinson have clearly done their homework in preparing the New Krypton story, an ever-changing matrix that constantly shifts and readjusts as Johns and Robinson slide the various chess pieces around the board. The story is seamless as it shifts to different titles with each installment of this story. This is amazing considering that most large stories that are delivered by more than one writer tend to get a bit clunky and often have a poor flow to them.

The themes of Superman’s true heritage and what role the Kandorians will have on Earth are well handled and reflected as Johns presents the reader several different viewpoints of those two main themes. Kal-El may love his Kryptonian heritage, but the fact remains that he has no connection to or memories of Krypton. Johns does a fine job using this scene to get the reader to understand and sympathize with Gor and Mur and their disdain for Superman’s diplomatic approach over exacting payback on Brainiac for the death of Krypton.

I enjoyed how Johns points out the similarities between these two characters even thought there are also start contrasts present as well. General Lane clearly sees himself as a patriot and a hero while Lex is nothing more than an egotistical sadist. However, both men view the threat of Superman and the threat of a city full of Kryptonians the same. Surprisingly, the Zod loyalists in Gor and Mur view Superman roughly the same as how Lane and Lex view Superman.

Johns also does a fine job fleshing out the tension that exists on a personal level between General Lane, Superman and Lois. General Lane has sacrificed everything including his relationship with his daughter in his quest to protect Earth from Superman. The reader is able to get a good sense of why Lane views Superman and the Kandorians as such a threat. And General Lane’s personal loss in terms of his fractured relationship with Lois serves to make Lane a bit more vulnerable and sympathetic to the reader.

Of course, Action Comics #871 was not all about fine dialogue and interesting character work. This issue was also about some serious bone-jarring action. Johns delivers a fantastic brawl between the Kryptonians and Doomsday. I enjoyed watching the Kryptonians squash Doomsday. This scene served notice on just how powerful a fighting force even a handful of Kryptonians can be.

What was also so impressive about this fight scene is how Johns seamlessly filled the reader in on Doomsday’s back-story without employing a boring flashback scene or breaking the flow of the story. This was a smart move to help bring newer readers up to speed on Doomsday so that they could fully enjoy this issue.

Action Comics #871 ends with a fantastic hook ending as Johns unveils the new Nightwing and Flamebird. I dig how they were assigned to guard the Phantom Zone Projector in order to prevent any Zod loyalists from freeing him from the Phantom Zone. This shows that Superman may be an idealist but he is not stupid.

I am certainly curious to learn more about Nightwing and Flamebird. These two codenames have been used many times in Superman’s continuity. Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Nightwing and Flamebird were secret identities assumed by Clark and Jimmy Olsen while in the bottled City of Kandor and the Nightwing codename was used later by Superman’s cousin Van-Zee. However, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, these names were ascribed to two historic Kryptonian super heroes.

Now, at first I figured that this current version of Nightwing and Flamebird are from Kandor as well. However, Kryptonians certainly do not have flame powers. At least not that we know of. What was particularly intriguing was that Johns makes a point of having Nightwing state that he has natural tactile-telekinesis. That is a power that Conner possessed when he first became Superboy.

Overall, Action Comics #871 was another entertaining installment of the New Krypton story. Johns does a fine job keeping the ball rolling and helping to make the New Krypton story one of the more exciting events in the DCU.

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The following review is excerpted from Comic Book Revolution (click here to read CBR’s full review)

There have been rumors swirling that DC was going to start printing Adventure Comics once again as a regular monthly title. While that remains to be seen, we did get Adventure Comics Special #1 this week. This issue features the Guardian and also has a cameo appearance by a C-list Legionnaire. I have enjoyed the New Krypton story so far so I fully expected Adventure Comics Special #1 to be a quality read.

Art: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10

The Good

Robinson continues to lay a sound foundation and assemble all of the various players for this big event. This issue successfully introduces the Guardian and his back-story to newer readers unfamiliar with his history. It effectively re-establishes the Guardian within the New DCU as well as giving him a role in the New Krypton story.

Robinson enables the reader to get an excellent feel for The Guardian’s character. The fact that Harper’s first memory was seeing the original Jim Harper being killed by Jonathon Drew immediately sets the tone for the turmoil that rages inside of Harper. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the Guardian lay a beating on Assassin.

I loved the scene where the Guardian stumbles across the lab full of botched Jim Harper/Paul Kirk clones at the Cadmus facility in the Twin Cities. That was a chilling scene. And the Guardian’s reaction was perfect. I dig that the Guardian took inspiration from Paul Kirk and went ahead and destroyed the Cadmus facility thereby killing all of the clones in an effort to take his humanity back.

I totally dig how Robinson pulls from DC’s Golden Age and Silver Age for this current story involving the Guardian and Cadmus. DC has such a long and storied history and a rich continuity. It is enjoyable to see DC finally taking the leash off their writers and letting them dig deep into DC’s continuity in fleshing out New Earth’s continuity.

I liked the plot twist that Harper’s “daughter” is just another clone. This continued Robinson’s running theme of Harper trying to create his own sense of humanity by manufacturing an artificial family. Harper calls the original Jim Harper his “father” even though Harper is simply a clone of the original Jim Harper. And in the end we see that Harper has completed the family circle by giving himself a “daughter” out of the young female clone of himself. This theme was well handled and added to Harper’s desperate desire to be his own entity.

Robinson ends Adventure Comics Special #1 with a solid hook ending as we see Harper and Gwendolyn arriving at Metropolis with all the Kryptonians flying in the night sky and Harper deciding that he better keep his Guardian helmet. It is clear that the Guardian is going to play an important role in the New Krypton story.

I enjoyed Pere Perez’s artwork. He delivered a fine looking issue. He has a pleasant style that made this issue enjoyable to read.

The Bad

My only complaint is that Jim Harper did not keep that sweet moustache that he was sporting through out this issue.

Overall

Adventure Comics Special #1 was a great issue that serves to pull even more readers into the New Krypton story. This issue also did a fine job of re-establishing the Guardian into a more prominent role within the DCU and giving him a role to play in the New Krypton story. With plenty of action, drama and mystery I would certainly recommend getting this issue, especially if you are following the New Krypton story on Action Comics and Superman.

For more reviews, scans, story recaps and news visit Comic Book Revolution!

The following review is excerpted from Comic Book Revolution (click here to read the full review)

Writer: James Robinson
Pencils: Renato Guedes
Inks: Wilson Magalhaes

Art: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10

The Good:

Robinson clearly did not want to rush the story at all and allows the arrival of the Kryptonians on Earth as well as the reaction that it has sparked across the globe to really sink into the reader’s mind. The controlled pace of the story makes the climactic ending all that much more intense. I believe that Robinson intended Superman #681 to be the quiet before the storm.

I like the collection of heroes that Robinson assembles to go confront Superman. If anyone is going to give a lecture to Superman and get away with it then it would be Alan Scott and Wonder Woman. I was also impressed that Robinson respected what is going on in Batman RIP and did not needlessly shoehorn Batman into this scene. Such an action would have been a very easy and tempting thing for a writer to do.

Superman’s response to the heroes’ concerns was perfect. Superman truly embodies hope and promise. Superman always looks at the positive side of everything to the point where he sometimes turns a blind eye to possibilities that do not mesh with his positive view of life.

Robinson does a fine job showing both sides of this issue concerning the people of Kandor. Robinson is able to treat both viewpoints fairly which succeeds in making it even tougher on the reader to decide if they should trust the people of Kandor or not. I appreciate it when a writer takes the time and effort to craft a moral dilemma that the reader struggles to resolve. Superman is very persuasive in his support of his fellow Kryptonians, but the other heroes make a compelling case for their distrust of an entire city full of Kryptonians.

I absolutely loved the scene with Krypto arriving at Ma Kent’s house. To me, this was the best scene in the entire issue. I am a dog lover so I am a total sucker for scenes like this. I felt bad for poor Martha all alone at the Kent Farm. Clark sending Krypto to be with his mother was a sweet touch. I continue to love how Robinson has handled Krypto during his run on this title.

And then Robinson drops a huge bomb on the reader with the dramatic appearance of one of the biggest and baddest Superman villains of all time…

The Bad:

Superman #681 is a slow issue that has absolutely no action at all. Not much really happens at all until the very end. We get very little in the way of plot development in this issue. And what we do get is a bit repetitious as we re-hash the dialogue from Superman: New Krypton Special #1 concerning the threat that an entire city of Kryptonians poses to Earth as well as Superman’s goal of teaching the Kryptonians about Earth and its customs and rules and in turn teaching Earth about Kryptonian culture.

The lack of action and the limited plot progression will likely turn off some readers. I have to admit that I was surprised to see Robinson taking such a slow burn approach with Superman #681 considering the sound foundation that was constructed by Superman: New Krypton Special #1. I thought that having a special one-shot issue to install the underpinnings for this New Krypton story would have allowed Robinson to come out of the gate a bit faster than what he did with Superman #681. It is clear that New Krypton is being written for trade format and not for a monthly format.

Overall:

Superman #681 was a solid read even if I was expecting more than what we got with this issue. Robinson does a good job setting the stage for what should be a dramatic showdown between the Kryptonians and Doomsday over in Action Comics. The New Krypton is in intriguing story that has numerous interesting plotlines and tons of potential. It is an exciting time for the Superman franchise and I think that this story will appeal to readers who have never been big Superman fans before.

For more in-depth reviews, story recaps, scans and news visit Comic Book Revolution!

Writer: Geoff Johns, James Robinson & Sterling Gates
Pencils: Pete Woods, Gary Frank & Renato Guedes
Inks: Pete Woods, Jon Sibal & Wilson Magalhaes

Art: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10

Superman: New Krypton Special #1 effectively pulls together all of the various plotlines from Action Comics and Superman into one cohesive major story. This issue does its job of laying out a clear direction for both Superman titles and also manages to hook the reader’s interest into picking up both titles to follow this monster story.

The first three pages had absolutely no dialogue. Franks’ artwork was unbelievably powerful as he conveyed such a range of emotions from Clark’s heart wrenching sorrow, Lana’s feelings of regret and shame to Bruce Wayne’s ever constant distant personality. Most writers would have not had the restraint to allow an artist to tell the story. I appreciated the fact that we were not flooded with narration boxes.

I loved the scene with Ma Kent and Clark where she emphatically tells her son that he has nothing to be sorry about concerning his father’s death and then orders him to go do his job. I liked how Clark eagerly offers up the statement that the restoration of Kandor will not change him.

The theme of family continues as Superman fresh off the loss of one of his parents watches Kara’s emotional family reunion with her parents. Even though Superman is clearly happy about Kara being reunited with her parents, there is probably a tinge of jealousy that he not only does not have his biological parents, but now he is missing his adoptive father.

The writers do a fine job handling the debate between Superman and Jor-El concerning the debate about the newly super powered Kryptonians from Kandor. This is obviously going to become a serious problem. Superman handles his incredible powers well because of his Earthling father and Pa Kent’s humble and solid middle-American values. The teachings of Pa Kent and how they have impacted Superman are well contrasted with the fact that Jor-El seems horrified at the suggestion that the Kryptonians learn from the Earthlings. Jor-El’s comment of why the Kandorians would allow the Earthlings to teach them to be less Kryptonian was perfect.

It is totally unbelievable to think that all of the Kandorians are going to handle their awesome new powers like Superman has. The fact is that your average person, or Kryptonian, when blessed with such incredible powers would probably trend toward being a villain rather than a selfless and idealistic hero.

And on top of that, Superman will face a much more personal decision to make on whether he identifies more with his Earthling upbringing and his Earthling adoptive mother or more with his Kryptonian heritage and his Kryptonian family. The fact is that deep down inside, Clark is more a typical mid-west farm boy than he is a Kryptonian.

The artwork by committee was nicely done. Yes, it creates an inconsistent look to this issue, but that is offset by the fact that Woods, Frank and Guedes are all three great artists. Frank’s artwork was my favorite of the three due to his amazing ability to convey so many emotions and properly move the story along in the absence of any dialogue. Still, all three artists did a fine job with the artwork and they combined to make this a good looking issue.

The writers made this issue very new reader friendly. If you have not given either Action Comics or Superman a try then Superman: New Krypton Special #1 is the perfect jumping on point.

For more reviews, scans, story recaps and news visit Comic Book Revolution!