CC2K’s Book of the Week: Action Comics #866
Written by: Ron Bricker
Every week, there are a multitude of books being released from multiple different publishers. And while we here at CC2K like to provide as many reviews as our limited numbers can provide, there is always one book that is the cream of the crop. Comics are expensive, and so is the gas to get to the shop. So that's why we've started giving you the one, absolutely unmissable book every week. This week: Action Comics #866, part 1 of "Brainiac".
Action Comics #866
Writer –Geoff Johns
Artist – Gary Frank
Inks – Jon Sibal
Colors – Brad Anderson
Letters – Rob Leigh
Cover – Frank G. Anderson
Never ever, take Gary Frank off Action Comics. Do you hear me DC Comics? In every issue that Gary Frank draws, I get transported back to being six years old, wearing cartoon pajamas, watching Superman:The Movie on some T.V. Channel’s weekend movie special. I mean the guy draws Superman to look like Christopher Reeve. I love it. Oh, and Geoff Johns writes a good story too.
This issue starts as a flashback with Brainiac capturing the city of Kandor from Krypton and making it disappear. Is it a possible foreshadow of what is going to happen on Earth in Geoff Johns’s new arc? I think so and I am excited. I like how Johns plays with his scenes. He opens with a giant battle this time and shortly after, we get comic relief. We get the meet the new faces of the Daily Planet. A new and approved gossip columnist Catherine Grant, who’s flaunting new cosmetically enhanced assets, ex-jock turned sports writer Steve Lombard and political writer Ron Troupe. Each new or improved character contains extreme personality traits of their said skill. Sports guy Steve Lombard has to be the jock and make a sex joke in front of Lois to get at Clark. Johns knows how to work their personalities just right without making them too cliché. This keeps me entertained and I am hoping for more awkward and fun interactions with the old staff and new staff.
Within the next few pages, Clark sports the S and off Superman goes. He captures a falling Brainiac drone, which escalates into a great Gary Frank drawn fight scene. The drone falls within the battle for no apparent reason and Superman is left with a “what just happened” face. Through word bubbles, the reader finds that the drone digitally sent Superman’s blood sample to Brainiac. Who, apparently has been sitting in a giant metallic skull in space, which I did find weird and creepy. Seriously, who flies a skull? The comic concludes with an image of a drooling Brainiac hibernating in space. Frank draws him looking drugged up or what I take it as, really relaxed. In addition, Brainiac is surrounded by tiny bottled up cities, which furthermore proves my suspicion that Johns is foreshadowing Brainiac capturing a city on Earth. Even if I am wrong though, I love where Action Comics is headed. I love the Frank and Johns’s team and I love Action Comics. Keep this up guys and I will keep buying them.
5.0 out of 5.