Action Comics #1019
Can Superman and his friends withstand the combined forces of the Legion of Doom and Leviathan in Action Comics #1019, by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist John Romita Jr, inker Klaus Janson, colorist Brad Anderson, and letterer Dave Sharpe. This issue starts off slow, but picks up as Luthor finally reveals his reasoning behind the attack on Metropolis.
In flashback, the Legion Of Doom discusses their upcoming meeting with Leviathan and if he’ll show. He does eventually and at first the discussion is sort of contentious. He takes them to Leviathan Island and Luthor reveals why he thinks Leviathan’s final plan failed. In the present, the heroes start to gain a bit of the upper hand in their battle before Luthor shuts them down again. Back in the past, Luthor explains to Leviathan how they can all work together to accomplish their goals. Luthor and Leviathan go to Metropolis the day before the battle and recruit Red Cloud to help them in their battle against Superman.
This story arc has been a bit of a disappointment. After the stellar first issue, Bendis went hard with the talking heads. Sometimes, like in this week’s Superman #19, it works very well, but in the previous issue of this story arc, it’s just been cliche boring Bendis writing. This issue feels like it’s going to be more of the same with the Legion Of Doom sniping at Leviathan and vice versa. This being Bendis, members of the Legion are written out of character for the sake of his jokes. It sets a bad precedent.
However, things pick up nicely as all of the talking head BS of the issue is brought to fruition. Unlike in the previous issue, it all builds into the overarching story arc. Luthor’s plan is revealed and the reason for the attack on Metropolis is rather ingenious. Luthor knows that Superman won’t go full power in Metropolis. Attacking him there will make it so he won’t fight to his fullest potential. He brings in Red Cloud because she was able to do a lot against Superman one on one and if he’s been through a battle against powerful foes like, say, the Legion Of Doom? Well, she could very well kill the Man Of Steel. Bendis has set all of this up nicely, even if there doesn’t seem like a lot of reason for Leviathan to be here.
John Romita Jr’s art is impressive as always. It works in the talking head section and the action sections. He does a great two page spread of Leviathan Island. The issue ends on an aerial view of Metropolis showing the damage the battle has done and it looks wonderful. Romita really knows how to show the scope of destruction in superheroic battles in his art.
Action Comics #1019 starts like it’s going to be another cliche Bendis comic- a bunch of boring talking heads fawning over a Bendis created concept. However, he salvages it by having it actually play into the story at hand, a welcome change from the last issue. Romita Jr’s art works for everything in this issue, his versatility as an artist working with the peaks and valleys of Bendis’s script wonderfully. It will be interesting to see if Bendis can make the next issue as good as this one or the first part of the story arc or if it will be more like the last issue- a boring disappointment. Hopefully he won’t squander the set up he put into this issue.
Grade: B
