Scans: Action Comics, Stormwatch
ETA: D'oh, bandwidth exceeded? Since when do that many people look at my scans, huh? It should roll over to a new month soon, but I'm going to consider updating to pro if/when I have a moment to spare. :/
ETA 2: Yay, the images are back! I still should probably upgrade, though...
Action #2: Written by GRANT MORRISON; Art by RAGS MORALES and BRENT ANDERSON
Stormwatch #2: Written by PAUL CORNELL; Art by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA and AL BARRIONUEVO
In interesting news, it looks like Andy Kubert will be doing the pencils for Action Comics 5 and 6. Kubert's an incredible penciller whose detailed work has often meant he doesn't hand in work on time, so it's probably just as well he won't be on for the long run, but I'm very much looking forward to those issues!
In Issue #2 we leave behind some of the gleeful anti-establishment action of Action #1 and move into some fairly intense torture scenes, since Lex has managed to capture Clark and is experimenting on him, with cameos by Sam Lane, John Corben (pre-Metallo) and John Henry Irons (pre-Steel).
Lane and Luthor have Clark strapped to...some kind of antique electric chair? Surely they could afford better than that, but it does make for nice visuals:
That's Irons quitting in protest, which is a nice touch and I think a good way to have his fate tied to Superman's right from the beginning.
1. Sarin gas? Damn.
2. Clark has never heard of Krypton. Huh! This has got to be one of the latest reveals for Clark of his background ever.
Oh God, they totally spooked me with that goat-thing, I thought for a second it was going to be Krypto. *wipes brow* I...have no idea what it is, actually! Is it an actual Kryptonian animal? Maybe just something they mocked-up to startle him?
Also, Clark's little "?" and laugh? Fantastic.
Clark has had enough of all this rigamarole and he's out of here:
damos thinks that that last panel of Lex is a homage to the Freaking Out Guy on the cover of the original Action comics, by the way.
Clark finds his cape, which they've been trying to damage with no luck. Then he hears a strange voice chanting and finds:
I'm not sure what the rocket is saying. Kal-El" means "Child of the Stars," but traditionally the "El" means "Star," not "Child," although it would make more sense if the rocket were saying "Son of Krypton/Rao/Etc."
And he does! He does run briefly into Lois Lane, who's been trying to get in to find/help him, but then he breaks free entirely, leaving a frustrated Luthor behind.
Oooooooooh, getting started on Brainiac early, I see! Innnnteresting. So Clark has no idea of his alien heritage--he's never even had that rocket as a hint. I wonder if the Kents found him, took him home with plans to come back for the rocket, and found it gone later? Or maybe little Kal toddled out of the rocket and the Kents themselves had no idea the baby they found was anything but a human baby? You'd think if they had found him in a rocket they would have mentioned it to him at some point...
Actually, my favorite part of the book (for probably obvious reasons) is the glimpses of Krypton that are in the back! It looks like they're bringing back the idea of Krypton as a "scientific utopia," which I'm happy about (I liked the sterile Byrne version as a wonderful narrative hook, but I prefer a Krypton that I can actually mourn for its loss, and this looks more along those lines).
Stormwatch mostly continues to introduce the team, with mixed results for me. There's a lot of squabbling--the Engineer, for example, is trying to wrest leadership of the group from Adam One, who is apparently a character created as an old man at the Big Bang and who is aging backwards slowly through the life of the universe (to be honest, I'm surprised he's as young as he is now!)
Meanwhile, Apollo and Midnighter drop subtexty hints and flirt a bit about killing child molesters together:
Considering Adam One mostly acts like a total flake in this issue, I think it's kind of cheap character development to have J'onn just assert he's "badass" (a term that I wish I could exterminate entirely from the lexicon, by the way).
Okay, I admit it, Midnighter being like "Geez, I have just started putting the moves on my soul mate after stalking him for a year, so scram!" cracks me up. Not surprisingly, at this point all hell breaks loose and some kind of...tentacled monster shows up on Earth to interrupt the conversation, so discussions about loyalties and leaderships will have to wait until after the ass-kicking!
ETA 2: Yay, the images are back! I still should probably upgrade, though...
Action #2: Written by GRANT MORRISON; Art by RAGS MORALES and BRENT ANDERSON
Stormwatch #2: Written by PAUL CORNELL; Art by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA and AL BARRIONUEVO
In interesting news, it looks like Andy Kubert will be doing the pencils for Action Comics 5 and 6. Kubert's an incredible penciller whose detailed work has often meant he doesn't hand in work on time, so it's probably just as well he won't be on for the long run, but I'm very much looking forward to those issues!
In Issue #2 we leave behind some of the gleeful anti-establishment action of Action #1 and move into some fairly intense torture scenes, since Lex has managed to capture Clark and is experimenting on him, with cameos by Sam Lane, John Corben (pre-Metallo) and John Henry Irons (pre-Steel).
Lane and Luthor have Clark strapped to...some kind of antique electric chair? Surely they could afford better than that, but it does make for nice visuals:
That's Irons quitting in protest, which is a nice touch and I think a good way to have his fate tied to Superman's right from the beginning.
1. Sarin gas? Damn.
2. Clark has never heard of Krypton. Huh! This has got to be one of the latest reveals for Clark of his background ever.
Oh God, they totally spooked me with that goat-thing, I thought for a second it was going to be Krypto. *wipes brow* I...have no idea what it is, actually! Is it an actual Kryptonian animal? Maybe just something they mocked-up to startle him?
Also, Clark's little "?" and laugh? Fantastic.
Clark has had enough of all this rigamarole and he's out of here:
damos thinks that that last panel of Lex is a homage to the Freaking Out Guy on the cover of the original Action comics, by the way.
Clark finds his cape, which they've been trying to damage with no luck. Then he hears a strange voice chanting and finds:
I'm not sure what the rocket is saying. Kal-El" means "Child of the Stars," but traditionally the "El" means "Star," not "Child," although it would make more sense if the rocket were saying "Son of Krypton/Rao/Etc."
And he does! He does run briefly into Lois Lane, who's been trying to get in to find/help him, but then he breaks free entirely, leaving a frustrated Luthor behind.
Oooooooooh, getting started on Brainiac early, I see! Innnnteresting. So Clark has no idea of his alien heritage--he's never even had that rocket as a hint. I wonder if the Kents found him, took him home with plans to come back for the rocket, and found it gone later? Or maybe little Kal toddled out of the rocket and the Kents themselves had no idea the baby they found was anything but a human baby? You'd think if they had found him in a rocket they would have mentioned it to him at some point...
Actually, my favorite part of the book (for probably obvious reasons) is the glimpses of Krypton that are in the back! It looks like they're bringing back the idea of Krypton as a "scientific utopia," which I'm happy about (I liked the sterile Byrne version as a wonderful narrative hook, but I prefer a Krypton that I can actually mourn for its loss, and this looks more along those lines).
Stormwatch mostly continues to introduce the team, with mixed results for me. There's a lot of squabbling--the Engineer, for example, is trying to wrest leadership of the group from Adam One, who is apparently a character created as an old man at the Big Bang and who is aging backwards slowly through the life of the universe (to be honest, I'm surprised he's as young as he is now!)
Meanwhile, Apollo and Midnighter drop subtexty hints and flirt a bit about killing child molesters together:
Considering Adam One mostly acts like a total flake in this issue, I think it's kind of cheap character development to have J'onn just assert he's "badass" (a term that I wish I could exterminate entirely from the lexicon, by the way).
Okay, I admit it, Midnighter being like "Geez, I have just started putting the moves on my soul mate after stalking him for a year, so scram!" cracks me up. Not surprisingly, at this point all hell breaks loose and some kind of...tentacled monster shows up on Earth to interrupt the conversation, so discussions about loyalties and leaderships will have to wait until after the ass-kicking!