« Action Comics #845 »

Action Comics
Issue No.: 845

Published by: DC Comics
Writers: Geoff Johns and Richard Donner
Artist: Adam Kubert
Color Artist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor: Nachie Castro
Editor: Matt Idelson
Superman created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Writing Review:
This is the second installment in the Geoff Johns and Richard Donner team-up of our favorite boy in blue. They do a fantastic job pacing the story to keep you interested from page 1 to the very last two-page splash. A good mixture of action scenes and progressive dialog give you a great story that furthers the plot and has you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the next installment.

Art Review:
The Kubert family is a long running dynasty in the comic book industry, and Adam Kubert is doing his best work yet. I know he’s making his brother and father proud. His energetic style fully complements the pace of the story Geoff and Richard wrote. The fight scene between Superman and Bizarro is one of the best drawn fight scenes in recent months. I think what makes this true is the weight that Kubert is able to convey in the objects and buildings that are involved in this throw down.

The coloring is a nice blend between painting and basic comic book coloring. There’s a page where Superman is hit with a bus and Dave Stewart helps to keep the momentum of that impact sustained. Dave brings a graphic style that is unique and deserving to be paired with Adam. The way Dave pulls the foreground from the background really helps to create a sense of depth to the panels.

Lettering Review:
What’s interesting about the lettering is that it appears that Adam actually did some of the sound effects. How can you tell? Well, if you look closely at the two-page spread where Bizarro surfaces from under the street and snatches the young child, you’ll notice that some of the sound effects are not as “crisp” as the word balloons. Particularly, pay close attention to the panel where Bizarro says, “You am not Super-boy.” The word “SNAP” and the boy screaming “AAHH!” look different.

Nevertheless, Rob Leigh does a great job. I love the word balloons he created for Bizarro. Another great technique Rob uses is splitting one of Bizarro’s word balloons between panels. Also, Rob reduced the size of the letters in some panels so as not to cover-up too much of the art. Thanks, because that’s how lettering should be…you shouldn’t notice it, just read it.

Is it worth the $2.99? YES

The image in this post was created from the cover image found at dccomics.com by Adam Kubert. DC Comics retains the copyright to the image, not me.