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by **Punchy** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 7:43 am

And so, Villain’s Month begins, and first things first, I feel I have to say that, even amongst all of the massive fucking stupidity that’s surrounded them, the 3D Lenticular covers these books have do look pretty awesome. I know stuff like this is what caused the 90s collapse, but hey, they look cool, and for a one-month gimmick, I don’t mind.

But really, what’s most important here are the stories inside those covers, and the one here was pretty good. I haven’t been reading Michael Alan Nelson’s run on Supergirl, but I gather this new Cyborg Superman has been a major villain in that title, which makes sense, because he’s actually her father, Zor-El. I’m not sure how I feel about this change, it’s a good idea in that it makes this villain really personal to both Superman and Supergirl, but Hank Henshaw was a pretty great character in his own right, it was very impressive how he grew from being a Reed Richards parody into something different, and Geoff Johns did some interesting stuff with him in his Green Lantern work. But, hey, things change and Zor-El as Cyborg Superman works for me.

In this issue, Nelson shows us the origins of Cyborg Superman, how his rivalry with his brother Jor-El lead to his death, and how Brainiac revived him to become his herald or whatever, flying around the Universe looking for ‘perfection’. I’m sure I’d be more into this issue if I was current on Supergirl, but this issue told me all I need to know about this new version of the character, and I’m excited to see him eventually come into conflict with Superman.

The artwork from Mike Hawthorne here was also very good, reminding me a little of Leonard Kirk. I think the biggest problem with these Villain’s Month books is going to be the lower-level creators working on them, but this one felt like thought had gone into it, and that it was important for Nelson’s ongoing Supergirl story. Which begs the question, why wasn’t this Supergirl #23.1? The numbering of these titles is just as much of a clusterfuck as the cover situation.

So yeah, if you’re reading Supergirl, you need to get this issue, but it’s not really a part of Action Comics.

by **Zechs** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:50 am

Punchy wrote:A But, hey, things change and Zor-El as Cyborg Superman works for me.

Not for me. :smt013

by **bkthomson** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:00 am

Zechs wrote:
Not for me.

Let. It. Go.

by **Zechs** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:07 am

bkthomson wrote:
Let. It. Go.

I want too, but a part in my head is screaming out, "They ruin countless characters and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And *I* will make them pay for what they've done!" Then I realize if I let that voice win I'll destroy all my little ships.

by **bkthomson** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:12 am

Zechs wrote:
I want too, but a part in my head is screaming out, "They ruin countless characters and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And *I* will make them pay for what they've done!" Then I realize if I let that voice win I'll destroy all my little ships.

Nice move Picard.

by **Zechs** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:14 am

bkthomson wrote:
Nice move Picard.

by **Victorian Squid** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:17 pm

I couldn't finish the book, this was one of the worst revamps so far.

by **Zechs** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:30 pm

Victorian Squid wrote:I couldn't finish the book, this was one of the worst revamps so far.

Well good news. We'll never see this version of the Cyborg Superman after November since Tony Bedard is coming on board and will ignore this.

by **Chessack** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:34 pm

Wait... Tony Bedard is coming on board what? Supergirl? Or Action Comics?

by **Zechs** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:37 pm

Chessack wrote:Wait... Tony Bedard is coming on board what? Supergirl? Or Action Comics?

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/09/06/ ... -new-lobo/

by **Grayson** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:00 pm

Zechs wrote:http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/09/06/marv-wolfman-on-superboy-toby-bedard-on-supergirl-with-new-lobo/

Wait, didn't Marguerite Bennett say that they weren't going to use that version of Lobo? :smt017

by **Lord Ice** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:53 pm

And Superman still goes on with Lobdell. shuckydarn :smt102

by **Zechs** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 10:04 pm

Grayson wrote:
Wait, didn't Marguerite Bennett say that they weren't going to use that version of Lobo?

Good question.

by **fieldy snuts** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:09 pm

I guess this was DC's plan to get Zechs after their plan to take him into a back room and intimidate him backfired with the counter.

Now they're taking away the characters you love one by one. Case Cain was a twofer since they obviously got you AND Harold with that one.

by **Chessack** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:56 am

According to the article, we don't yet know if Bedard is permanent or if he's just doing a story arc. Nelson's work has been so bad that I hope it's permanent, though I haven't seen much of Bedard's work before, and what I have seen has been just average. Nelson's been way worse than that, though, so it'll probably be an improvement. We'll just have to see.

Someone said above the whole Cyborg Supes thing will be promptly forgotten if Bedard takes over. I can only hope.