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[Punchy]

After a 2-issue detour, we get back to the main story here, and it is great to be back. Those first few pages where Superman jumps to Brainiac’s base were absolutely brilliant, they get to the very core of what Morrison is trying to do, make this is a true Action comic and have things move propulsively. Morales’ art perfectly fits this idea, it’s kinetic as hell. The rest of the issue was slower, but still good. What’s up with that weird small guy with a big head? His scenes with Glenmorgan were very odd, is he Mxyzptlk? I think so. Forcing Superman to choose between Krypton and Earth is something we’ve seen before, but it’s a core part of the character and I’ve no problem with it re-occuring. The moment where Superman gets his proper costume was cool, but I’d much prefer to have a few more issues of jeans/t-shirt Superman, I love that look. The back-up story was once again focussed on Steel, and while it’s a bit more traditional than Morrison’s story, Scholly Fisch has managed to imbue Steel with a lot of character and I really like how he’s exploring more of Metropolis. I like the DC fake cities to feel real.

[Cat-Scratch]

After a 2-issue detour, we get back to the main story here, and it is great to be back. Those first few pages where Superman jumps to Brainiac’s base were absolutely brilliant, they get to the very core of what Morrison is trying to do, make this is a true Action comic and have things move propulsively. Morales’ art perfectly fits this idea, it’s kinetic as hell. The rest of the issue was slower, but still good. What’s up with that weird small guy with a big head? His scenes with Glenmorgan were very odd, is he Mxyzptlk? I think so. Forcing Superman to choose between Krypton and Earth is something we’ve seen before, but it’s a core part of the character and I’ve no problem with it re-occuring. The moment where Superman gets his proper costume was cool, but I’d much prefer to have a few more issues of jeans/t-shirt Superman, I love that look. The back-up story was once again focussed on Steel, and while it’s a bit more traditional than Morrison’s story, Scholly Fisch has managed to imbue Steel with a lot of character and I really like how he’s exploring more of Metropolis. I like the DC fake cities to feel real.

I was thinking also that that could be a new version of Mxyzptlk. I'm glad he got the costume and thought it was interesting that it adopted it's appearance. Still hate the boots. I also thought it was interesting with the dialog of trying to make a number of old AI names into being the "Collector of Worlds". Brainiac from Krypton, Computo from Colu... nice touch. Also, Kryptonians are "9th level Cuckoos"? Interesting choice and description. Back to the costume, that it's a technology and described as nearly indestructible.. not bad. Add this to the Supergirl stuff about her costume and it's another story about the colours and how she got her's. Are they military uniforms with family crests and colours?

[Ntikrst]

When I got my hands on Action Comics #7, I could not believe my eyes. Superman gets down to business from page one, picking up the "Action" from 3 months ago. With a bit of help from the military, Superman is set to go, just as soon as he talks some shit first. He used to build up the regular heroes, but now he just reminds us how inferior we are, being sissies for using guns like those limp wrists in Seal Team 6. No, this Superman is going to show us how to get things done. He will have to run faster than ever before but thats ok. Nothing is impossible to those who are privileged by birth, wealth or status. What were we thinking? We should all move to Mars like John Carter and stop being such losers.

And he’s OFF! In order to reach new record speeds that will lead to new record heights, Superman races for half a block till he hits the tow truck ramp that will launch him into orbit. Look at his raggedy clothes, I’m glad that Superman feels my economic pain. He’s so much more relatable now that he’s broke. There is a lot of people right next to the spot where he has to exert enough force to change direction and achieve an escape velocity of 25,000 mph. Oh wait, the ramp on that truck will divert all that energy, it’s got a wicked parking brake. Oh never mind, those people are fine. In fact two of them lift up the rear of the truck at the last minute to give him an extra alley-oop into space. Here I was worried about them, the truck and the bridge itself being able to withstand such a leap. Everything’s fine, no need to build up speed over any real distance and run up a big mountain to leap into space. Nah, a bridge, a truck and some token bystanders in the way will do. Nasa uses similar protocols all the time.

Space, the crowded frontier! Sweet, the little stepping stone leap off of a satellite is a nice touch. Not only is Superman as strong or as fast as he arbitrarily chooses to be at any given point, but some more selective physics along the way makes the story fun! Shame about the oxygen limitation though. Doesn’t he know only pansies breathe? It was almost pure Silver Age for a moment there.

Anyways, he’s reaching far and long towards something with a lot of tentacles. Whew! Superman made it all the way to the ship’s hull without being detected! Oh uh spoke too soon, ZZAPP!!! The Collector got the drop on our boy, and he’s ready to seal the mylar bag. Superman sure is lucky. The Collector could have removed his oxygen supply, or even just open an airlock and let the artificial atmosphere escape. Then it’s secure, seal and preserve baby, easy peasy rice and cheesy. That’s what I love about super-villains, deep down they care. All that mayhem is really just a cry for help.

But Superman does not go down! (sorry Lois) Energy beams bombard our hero who resists valiantly. Well he hides under his cape nowadays, but I mean who wouldn’t? Lasers hurt. After he dries his eyes, he’s ready for battle! Uh oh the bad guys are compensating!!! Talghhh DFFB! Robots SUCK! Superman WINS! The Collector looses track of him immediately and the rest of his robots are too busy to look in Superman’s general direction anyways, so the coast is clear. Superman is hot on the trail of his shrunken city.

Paydirt! a whole bunch of stuff, including a lost city of Krypton! Behold the Super Suit! But watch out for those radioactive spiders! Hahaha, those aren’t spiders, those are nano bots from The Modular Man!



Wicked, a hidden crossover event with Tom Strong?!?!?!?!?!

Meanwhile, inside the bottled section of Metropolis, our victims assess the situation. Then Modular Man attacks! LoL, villain team-ups always go sour, now MM is going ape on the hostages. But it’s cool, Lois and Jimmy are safe as long as they stick with Luthor. Let’s face it, if anyone knows what’s happening, Luthor’s the dude. Well, he is up until the next panel, then Jimmy becomes head dude and tells Luthor which way to go but it’s all good cause they’re bros. Everyone gets a chance to shine here.

...So now where are we? Where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came...you wanna be where you can see, that people are all the same, you wanna go where everybody knows your name. This is some relatable stuff, man. I am down. Luthor likes that drink that everyone else does!!! Nice touch, gives him lots of depth.

Another double cross!!! The City is getting stored because the Earth is doomed anyways, and the little guy has some dirt on Glenmorgan, but that’s ok because GM is not really all that interested. Neither am I, but it will be important later. Modular Man is at it again!


Where the hell is Tom Strong? Things are getting tense!

Look Up In The Sky! Superman has found our beleaguered bottled bipeds and The Collector is ready to answer all of his questions. I love this part of the story, “Move That Bus, time for the Big Reveal!” Whoa, turns out he’s COMPUTO and Brainiac; like some kind of space redneck he is his own Father/Son. Deep man, the holy trinity with a banjo twang. Enough talk, let’s Fight! Superman is in deep trouble, if Brainiac pops an airlock, it’s good night Irene. Hopefully he's gonna play fair.

RESISTANCE is FUTILE! It’s not enough for Brainiac to defeat Superman, he’s got head games to play as well, Sweet. Choose Superman, decide their Fate! Glorious Kandor, or Wretched Earth, home of the sissy. "SU-PER-MAN! SU-PER-MAN! SU-PER-MAN!" Ya, you better chant, pleebs. Where’s your messiah now, beeyotches? Don’t worry Luthor, Superman is going to save your worthless hide too.

Now for my second favorite part of the story, where the villain engineers his own defeat! Hah Brainiac, SUCK IT! You left the indestructible cloth armor out. That’s some Legendary Enchanted Rarity Orange Yummy gear right there. “What are you doing?”, indeed dumb@ss Robot. Teach you to dangle his daddy's invincible aristocrat armor under his nose. Wow lucky thing too, imagine if Brainiac only had Superman's mother's clothes. Talk about awkward...

Now Superman is going to to reign supreme! Or will he? Turns out Earth is indeed targeted for extinction, by something ELSE! Brainiac is a bit of a douche, but his cpu is in the right place. Villainy with shades of grey...gotta celebrate it.

Finally,

On the splash page, Look!

It’s Mr Mind!
No, it’s Vril Dox!
No, it’s The Collector, man!

Very impressive, Nu Brainiac is ready to rumble. What a sport too, lays out some fashionable armor and provides all the air Superman could need to save the day. I wonder how it will all turn out?

[Juan Cena]

When I got my hands on Action Comics #7, I could not believe my eyes. Superman gets down to business from page one, picking up the "Action" from 3 months ago. With a bit of help from the military, Superman is set to go, just as soon as he talks some shit first. He used to build up the regular heroes, but now he just reminds us how inferior we are, being sissies for using guns like those limp wrists in Seal Team 6. No, this Superman is going to show us how to get things done. He will have to run faster than ever before but thats ok. Nothing is impossible to those who are privileged by birth, wealth or status. What were we thinking? We should all move to Mars like John Carter and stop being such losers.

Thank you! It's glad to see somebody else p!$$ed off about how Superman's opinion towards the military since the DCnU started. Someone needs to remind some of these socalist Brit writers that there are a lot of readers who respect the military (and more than a few that have actually served in the military for that matter) and don't like to see some foreigner walk in and $#!t all over it.

[doombug]

Thank you! It's glad to see somebody else p!$$ed off about how Superman's opinion towards the military since the DCnU started. Someone needs to remind some of these socalist Brit writers that there are a lot of readers who respect the military (and more than a few that have actually served in the military for that matter) and don't like to see some foreigner walk in and $#!t all over it.

[Punchy]

Thank you! It's glad to see somebody else p!$$ed off about how Superman's opinion towards the military since the DCnU started. Someone needs to remind some of these socalist Brit writers that there are a lot of readers who respect the military (and more than a few that have actually served in the military for that matter) and don't like to see some foreigner walk in and $#!t all over it.

Why should Superman respect the military in this story? They kidnapped and tortured him in #2.

[Ntikrst]

Why should Superman respect the military in this story? They kidnapped and tortured him in #2.

They were acting under orders based on Luthor's biased intel. You can't blame the troops on the ground for that any more than you could blame the troops for the quagmire in Iraq based on Cheney's lies. Pa should have taught Clark to be the bigger man by now or he would have pulled a Kid Marvelman at senior prom when Lana wouldn't let him get past 2nd base.

Besides, Superman wasn't at risk of dying in #2 and Luthor was too stupid to use anything better than leather straps to restrain him so he walked out when he pleased.

That's not torture, I've had more traumatic experiences at Supercuts.

[Punchy]

They were acting under orders based on Luthor's biased intel. You can't blame the troops on the ground for that any more than you could blame the troops for the quagmire in Iraq based on Cheney's lies. Pa should have taught Clark to be the bigger man by now or he would have pulled a Kid Marvelman at senior prom when Lana wouldn't let him get past 2nd base.

Besides, Superman wasn't at risk of dying in #2 and Luthor was too stupid to use anything better than leather straps to restrain him so he walked out when he pleased.

That's not torture, I've had more traumatic experiences at Supercuts.

It was torture, and they weren't just doing it because Luthor told them, hell, they had hired him to help them get Superman.

Superman doesn't trust the military or the police in this story because they don't trust him and are treating him like a criminal.

[IvCNuB4]

Exactly. The Military came off like redneck MOE-rons

And Kal didn't "walk out when he pleased" in #2, Ntikrst. They had stopped torturing him long enough for him to recover and get the drop on them.

[Ntikrst]

It was torture, and they weren't just doing it because Luthor told them, hell, they had hired him to help them get Superman.

Superman doesn't trust the military or the police in this story because they don't trust him and are treating him like a criminal.

Superman is behaving like a criminal, vigilantism is illegal. The military has every right to enforce the law of the land. Lane wants more Supermen, and Luthor has the military wound up from #1 that Superman is an alien threat destined for global domination that only he can stop.

Superman made his bed being a tough guy, the military is only doing their job. For a guy being "tortured" Superman sure took his time surveilling the place. He gathered intel on his enemies, ffs. Hardly seems like he was under a great deal of stress.

Exactly. The Military came off like redneck MOE-rons

And Kal didn't "walk out when he pleased" in #2, Ntikrst. They had stopped torturing him long enough for him to recover and get the drop on them.

Read it again. After Superman spotted the rocket, he decided he had enough and flashed his microwave vision in order to fry the equipment restraining him. Morrison's Superman-Nu is like a modern day Hulk Hogan, when he needs to overcome he just imagines the roar of the crowd and wills himself to victory.

That shit was so cool when I was 10.

[Punchy]

If you're reading a superhero comic book, you kind of have to suspend your real-world opposition to vigilantism. In comics, being a vigilante is a good thing and the military opposing it is a bad thing.

[IvCNuB4]

Read it again. After Superman spotted the rocket, he decided he had enough and flashed his microwave vision in order to fry the equipment restraining him. Morrison's Superman-Nu is like a modern day Hulk Hogan, when he needs to overcome he just imagines the roar of the crowd and wills himself to victory.

That shit was so cool when I was 10.

And sir, in the interest of lively comics debate, may I respectfully suggest that you re-read it again ?
The way I'm reading it, page 1 and 2 show that when he attempts to escape they jolt him again.By page 8 he is still woozy but starting to recover. That is when he sees the rocket, then fries their computers. He keeps them distracted and talking long enough so that by page 11 he regains enough physical strength to break free.
The point of the DCnU Superman, as we know so far even from Justice League, is that he can be hurt and made to bleed by a strong enough force. That's part of the reason why he continues to wear the Kryptonian armor in the present.

[Ntikrst]

If you're reading a superhero comic book, you kind of have to suspend your real-world opposition to vigilantism. In comics, being a vigilante is a good thing and the military opposing it is a bad thing.

Sure if he's some momma's boy with daddy issues in kevlar jammies, but not when the vigilante in question has power to rival a living god. Besides, it's not like I can just get a lobotomy and remove all the memories of well written comic books in there that make Morrison's drivel look like shit.

I like shades of grey, good and bad as absolutes are childish concepts. If this is to be a childish product then they should charge childish prices instead of $3.99 an issue.

What kid can afford that?

[Ntikrst]

And sir, in the interest of lively comics debate, may I respectfully suggest that you re-read it again ?
The way I'm reading it, page 1 and 2 show that when he attempts to escape they jolt him again.By page 8 he is still woozy but starting to recover. That is when he sees the rocket, then fries their computers. He keeps them distracted and talking long enough so that by page 11 he regains enough physical strength to break free.
The point of the DCnU Superman, as we know so far even from Justice League, is that he can be hurt and made to bleed by a strong enough force. That's part of the reason why he continues to wear the Kryptonian armor in the present.

What'chu talkin bout Willis? By page 8 he's choked back Sarin gas for 5 mins, I'd hardly call that breathing room that could allow him to recover. BTW, why does Superman need an oxygen supply to go into space, but not when he takes a Sarin Sauna for 5 mins?

Anyways, nobody "recovers" in a Sarin gas chamber. But the story needs to progress so when it's convenient for the plot to allow, Superman decides he's had enough and walks out of the military base of his own free will. He looks at their counter measures and they fail. They can't shock him again so he doesn't need to distract them at all. He ignores their physical restraints and breaks out the chair, totally disregarding the energy that is discharged from its destruction.

Then he sinks to their level and throttles Luthor like a big man while making death threats. What a punk bitch, let's see him look the military in the eye under a red sun lamp. I don't fucking think so.

[IvCNuB4]

What'chu talkin bout Willis? By page 8 he's choked back Sarin gas for 5 mins, I'd hardly call that breathing room that could allow him to recover. BTW, why does Superman need an oxygen supply to go into space, but not when he takes a Sarin Sauna for 5 mins?

Is it so hard to believe that even a younger, not-at-full-power-yet Superman can hold his breath for 5 minutes but not long enough for a lengthier space trip ? Hell, he's still inexperienced with his powers at this point. Maybe he doesn't know yet that he can hold his breath for extended space-flight.

Anyways, nobody "recovers" in a Sarin gas chamber.

Actually folks even with moderate exposure will recover. And that's normal humans. The CDC will back me up on that one. Please, feel free to verify that.
So, a Kryptonian, with a healing metabolism, has been exposed for 5 minutes. He may have held his breath so it may be possible that his immune system was able to counter-act skin exposure. Even if we consider 5 minutes as severe exposure ... he's fucking Kryptonian !