Am I Going to Start Buying Action Comics?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Because seriously, it could happen.

I've been hearing really good things about Paul Cornell's Luthor stories, but I've been resisting it so far, because Luthor doesn't really interest me (his evil peaked in that diner years ago). But now there's gonna be a Jimmy Olsen backup, and DC's put the first one (guest-starring Chloe Sullivan) up as a free preview on the Comixology site...

...and it's awesome. It's really everything I want in a modern Jimmy Olsen story. Legit 20-something slacking, plus "My Time as a Genie" and an alien invasion -- all in an effort to have a better week than some other dude. Seriously, read the preview. It's insanely charming.

[Mike Williams]

Very likely - given the very special guest star in the next edition...

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

I just read the ten page preview on ComiXology and...wow. That was really good.

[Eric L. Sofer]

Hey, did they ever start doing Superman stories again in Action Comics? THAT'D be a novelty,. Maybe for Superman's 75th anniversary in 2013...

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Nope. But the Olsen story is awesome, and has a *little* bit of Superman in it.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I actually did pick up the first 3 issues of the Paul Cornell's Luthor run, in anticipation of next week's Olsen debut. It's good, but it's not blowing me away; I'd prefer a bit more story density than what we're getting, and Cornell's script and Wood's art aren't quite meshing for me. I think the shorter length (to accommodate the backups) will do the stories good. The next three issues feature Grodd, Death, and the Secret Six, so I'll follow the book through then. If I still feel like I'm getting my money's worth after that, I'll continue.

But oh, that Superboy backup was God-awful.

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

Rob Staeger said:

I actually did pick up the first 3 issues of the Paul Cornell's Luthor run, in anticipation of next week's Olsen debut. It's good, but it's not blowing me away; I'd prefer a bit more story density than what we're getting, and Cornell's script and Wood's art aren't quite meshing for me. I think the shorter length (to accommodate the backups) will do the stories good. The next three issues feature Grodd, Death, and the Secret Six, so I'll follow the book through then. If I still feel like I'm getting my money's worth after that, I'll continue.

But oh, that Superboy backup was God-awful.

Really? I kinda liked it... :(

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

It just seemed like a muddled mess to me. The art was unnatractive (to my eye), and the story seemed lackluster and perfunctory.

I liked the Parasite frogs, though. They're just an art detail, but a very cool one. I would have liked Krypto saving the photograph, but I thought the art didn't convey the action of that moment very well.

On the other hand, there was the shot-from-behind panel that reveals (from a distance) that Raven, one of the most modest superheroes in existence (from what I recall), is wearing nothing but a thong under her cloak. Which struck me as more unintentionally funny than intentionally sexy.

I'm glad you liked it, though. What did you like about it?

[Doc Beechler (mod-MD)]

It's been awhile since I read it...but I was a HUGE fan of the Superboy stories Johns and Manipul were telling in Adventure Comics and was sad when they left to tell Flash stories and Adventure was taken over by the Legion (not may faves...but they are for somebody, I'm sure...). That was for you, Rob. It looks like the team is taking some of the threads from that Adventure run and, um, running with them. Since the new writer and I share histories growing up in small, rural towns, I look forward to his Smallville tales about Conner.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

On the other hand, there was the shot-from-behind panel that reveals (from a distance) that Raven, one of the most modest superheroes in existence (from what I recall), is wearing nothing but a thong under her cloak. Which struck me as more unintentionally funny than intentionally sexy.

I'm only wearing underwear under my clothes, too. The jury is still out on whether or not that's unintentionally funny, but it's hardly unusual. Is it the thong that's bothering you? (On her, I mean.)

On the other hand (and assuming your memory of Raven's personality -- which agrees with mine -- is correct), a "Peeping Tom" shot of a modest character is a little more offensive than a similar shot of, say, Koriand'r would be. Heck, Perez used to do those all the time.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Doc B: I really enjoyed the Johns/Manapul Superboy stories, too; I'm glad the threads and the setting are being continued, it just seemed like a fairly pedestrian way to go about it. But not many artists will be able to capture the charm Manapul brought to the series.

Doc H.: I'm not actually offended by the shot -- it's really part and parcel of superhero comics anymore. The angle was fine for the action being portrayed, the flow of the fabric conveyed her downward motion well, etc. But the idea that Raven is going completely backless under a cloak that just attaches at her neck and wrists seems a little silly to me.

And upon further inspection, the thong isn't actually a thong -- it's a loincloth-type-thing, somehow not floating completely up for the sake of modesty.

Then again, she's always been (depending on how her costume is drawn) in danger of being the Arcane Mistress of the Sideboob. So in that sense, this is nothing really new. But seeing all that skin really made me do a double-take. I had no idea who the character was for a while, until I finally figured out it was Raven.