Scans: Action Comics, Stormwatch

[mithen]

Action Comics #1:  Written by Grant Morrison;  Art by Rags Morales
Stormwatch #1:  Written by Paul Cornell;  Art by Miguel Sepulveda

Two of the big titles I've been waiting for came out last week.  I'm not one for making quick judgments based on one issue, but there are promising trends in both of them, so we'll see!

A couple of things that are new

Comments

[ilovetobefree]

I'm not positive I like it myself, but having read the first few years of Action Comics, I can say this take is a direct update of those stories, in which Superman was a crusader for social justice and the dispossessed, knocking the heads of slumlords, wife abusers, and price gougers preying on the poor.
I’ve read only two or three issues and some scans of the old comics, but I agree with you - AC #1 reminds me them a lot. Though I have to say, I like Morrison’s Clark/Superman and AC #1 story better than the old ones. :)

Ahhhh, the "people stand up for the hero" scene, I always love that.
Yeah, the scene made me soooo happy. :D

and that's what Luthor is testing, of course
Grrrr, I hate Luthor for what he is (and I'm sure he will be) doing to Clark. But he was good in this story, IMO.

”Don’t get in trouble on my account. If you need me... I’ll be around
Loved that. :)

Clark changes and hurries home, where we find out that he's been crusading as a reporter too, of course.
AWWWW Clark as a reporter. *happy smile*

"his three friends" came looking for him--"two guys and a pretty blond girl, very nice, I think they were actors," which would appear to be the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes,
I’m so used to thinking of Lana and Pete as Clark’s best friends, (I was like: “A blond girl? And two boys??”) that I totally forgot about about the members of the Legion!

we end on a cliffhanger with Luthor triumphant (for now).
I saw the cover of AC #2 and... ow... poor Clark. I think the next (probably even the next two) issues will be hard to read for me (I hate Clark being tortured). *sigh*
But I love the variant cover (I saw it here: http://tiny.cc/djqb1 ).

And YAY - you posted scans of Stormwatch too. Great timing :D - I (finally) read this comic yesterday. :)

Slash writers already, huh?
*grin*

I prefer him as the more moderate, peaceful character he's usually been portrayed as.
Same here.

Now that's more like what I was hoping to see with a first meeting between Clark and Bruce
I didn’t expect Midnighter in this issue, so the last panel was an awesome surprise for me. :)

I admit, I found some things confusing in this story. I think it’s especially because I know almost nothing about these characters (except of J’onn). But I liked it and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. :)

And those hints of Superman #1 were killing me - I’m already waiting impatiently (though a little nervous) to see what the story will be like. With the references to the story in Stormwatch I can’t wait for the comic even more.

Thank you so much for the scans. You made my day! :D

[mithen]

Though I have to say, I like Morrison’s Clark/Superman and AC #1 story better than the old ones. :)

Ha, I know! When I read those very old ones I just started laughing at what a gigantic jerk Superman was to everyone! It was kind of hilarious, but I wouldn't like him to be like that in canon anymore!

I’m so used to thinking of Lana and Pete as Clark’s best friends, (I was like: “A blond girl? And two boys??”) that I totally forgot about about the members of the Legion!

I confess I didn't realize it was probably them until I read it somewhere else! :)

I like that variant cover! The breaking-chains theme is such a cool one...

I was surprised to see Midnighter show up as well! It was a cool first appearance!

And yeah, Cornell doesn't explain the Stormwatch characters very well. I know Hawksmoor (the one with a black suit and barefoot) has the power to communicate with cities (I can't wait to see him visit Metropolis or Gotham!) and Jenny Quantum is literally the spirit of the century. :) They have interesting but very vague powers!

These issues were very hopeful for me! I hope the others this week are hopeful as well...

[snake_easing]

The main problem with the Authority was that they were insanely overpowered. Like the Justice League but worse, even.

Midnighter's power was that he could beat anyone, practically. Apollo's power was being off-brand Superman. Jenny's power was that she could do anything. The Doctor's power was that he could do anything (so long as he could think of it poetically).

It was amazing to me how many writers didn't understand the problem of them being overpowered. Ellis ended his run with them fighting and defeating God (God was an alien in this case). He had to know that nobody could follow that with anything good, and no one ever did, really. Then one of the later writers added a character to the team who had the power to raise the dead. (Though, frankly, Jenny and the Doctor could probably do that too.) Just power on top of power. It gets to be too much. They could never face anything real-world without it being ridiculous.

[mithen]

It does almost sound like Ellis deliberately dead-ending any future writers! I'll be curious to see how they get around that in this title...Apollo they can just sort of tone down, and I guess they could just make Midnighter an advanced Cass Cain of sorts, but Jenny is clearly already nearly-unlimited in power, it's going to be hard to rein that in.