Review- Action Comics #850
- Written by Outhouse Staff on Thursday, May 31 2007 and posted in Reviews
Title: Action Comics #850
Writer: Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, and Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Renato Guedes
Publisher: DC
Reviewed by Mike Mumah
For those of you unfamiliar with writer Kurt Busiek’s work on Astro City or Marvels, you may not understand the deep love and reverance for Superheroes and their literary past. And for those of you who have long strayed from either DC comics or Superman, this is your gateway back into the Man of Steel and the return of the Multiverse.
Set roughly a thousand years into the future, Supergirl is trapped in time with the Legion of Superheroes. Brainiac-5, leader of the Legionnaires, has a device that will allow Supergirl an opportunity to look into her own past or the past of someone who’s frequently encountered her. The device is an early experiment in something that may eventually become a way for Supergirl to return to her own time. She opts to observe the history of her cousin Superman, in the hopes to at least understand someone who she’s always considered to be somewhat standoffish, and often bossy.
Busiek, with fellow Superman writer Geoff Johns dwelve into the past of Superman and how circumstance and reality have often left Superman quite alone, and dispite all his great abilities, all he’s ever really wanted was a family similar to him, people he can really relate to, something the humans in his life could never relate to.
Renato Guedes provides stunning artwork that really hammers home how lonely Superman really is, and really conveying the necessary emotional points on some very touching moments in Superman’s life. The issue also begins the modern re-write of Superman’s history in this Post-Infinite Crisis, Post-52 universe. Superman once hung out with the Legion of Superheroes, and young Clark Kent was friends with a young Lex Luthor in Smallville.
Even if you don’t plan on staying with the series, this is a great read, and a great stand-alone issue that may help clue you into the direction the DCU is headed. With writers like Busiek leading the charge, the future looks very, very promising.
To discuss.
Posted originally: 2007-05-31 17:45:07