Book of Doom:
Action Comics #873


action comics 873This week, we chose Action Comics for our Book of Doom, because it’s the conclusion to the quite entertaining New Krypton story-arc, and we were all interested in seeing how that wrapped up, as well as what the new status-quo is going to be in the Superman books.

And now I really don’t care.

I’m not going to buy any more Superman books for awhile. For a big, climactic finish, this issue seemed to have three pages of fighting and then it was over. It felt incredibly rushed. Because of this fact, I’m also going to rush my review, in protest. So that’s all you get.

Oh, one last thing, since when can Zatanna call down the power of Shazam for Freddy? Shouldn’t he have to say the magic word himself?

Oh well. It’s magic. It doesn’t have to make sense.

Here’s what everybody else thought:

Jim Doom:

It’s the nature of the serial format that an ending has to be a new beginning, but something about this sure felt a whole lot like a dud-nothing than a satisfying conclusion. I’m not really sure why that is, because it seems like a lot happened — New Krypton pulled loose from Earth and became a planet of its own; Supergirl is now gone from Earth; Superwoman is evil; General Zod is out of the Phantom Zone. Maybe I was expecting more from the arrival of the Magic club, since Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic, and all they did is hold hands so that Zatanna could say Freddy’s word backward for him.

Maybe my disappointment is just misdirected feelings of hopelessness for the situation. Luthor’s got an S-crested henchwoman, General Ross speaks cryptic nonsense about killing Superman slowly but apparently thinks he’s on to something, New Krypton is full of angry super-powered goons, Pa Kent is still dead, Supergirl’s gone and Superman is alone and frustrated.

Or maybe it was just because stuff seemed to play out kind of illogically. Not long ago, Kandor is in a bottle, but they can just make themselves a planet? General Lane’s blabbering about killing Superman slowly just seemed like water-treading mad scientist talk that meant nothing deeper than sounding evil. And I tell you what — if I were a gang of magicians, knowing that Kryptonians were helpless against my magic powers, I think I would have created a bunch of miniature red suns, or maybe blocked out the sun, or teleported them to a place with no yellow sun, or tricked them into thinking they were powerless, or any of the other infinite possibilities available when one is a fictional magic-based character. I think “joining hands to form a circle to zap some people with magic lightning” would have been really low on the list.

I guess the big lesson to be learned here is that douchebags come in all shapes and sizes, be they scrawny and bald like Lex Luthor or bosomy and blonde like Alura. When Supergirl’s dad mumbled his dying words — “Watch out for your mother” — Supergirl apparently thought he meant “Keep an eye on your mother for me.” I think he actually meant “Sleep with one eye open, because that woman is a horrible beast.”

As a side note, when I look at where New Krypton has left off — crystally New Krypton, General Zod’s gang on the loose and Pa Kent dead — I can’t help but think of the Cult of Richard Donner and how the worlds of Superman I and II have been resurrected in time for DC to declare they’re rebooting the film franchise after they let a director worship at the same altar.

Robb @ Capes Comics

A New Planet??? Superwoman is Evil? Agent Liberty is Dead!! And the big reveal… Zod is running the whole show.

They sure crammed a lot into this final issue of New Krypton. American plots to take down the Kryptonians, Supergirl turned and joined her mother’s side. Brainiac wakes up and we see inside the phantom zone. We also see that Luthor is working with the government. Lots to process and what does it all mean for Superman?

Some quick thoughts:
1. I hate General Lane. To me he feels like a carbon copy of General Ross. A military general chasing after the large man that hangs out with his daughter?

2. Does a handful of “magic based” heros have the ability to take down that many Kryptonians?? Superman is taken out by a handful of b-list magic users? Ok, I guess. I’ll by it. Just seems, eh?

3. I’ve always liked Agent Liberty. Cheap knock off of Captain America… yes. But I really liked how much of a government lacky he was back in the Dan Jurgens days. You didn’t have to kill him.

4. Ok, I have a theory who Supergirl is… I’ve been stewing on it for a while. Its the Matrix- Supergirl that Peter David used to write. Shes back, and pissed that there is a new Supergirl. Theres the motive. I’ve have this theory for a while… I don’t have a lot of real evidence. But the old Supergirl had relations with Luthor in the past. Eh theory, gut feeling.

5. Over all, I think I liked this book. New Krypton was a much better success that I had hoped for. Compared to other stories going on in the DCU, this at least had continuity and made some sense. There was a beginning, middle, end, and a set up for future stories.
This wasn’t ground breaking, this wasn’t controversal. I think its cool that Zod is pulling the strings and that he’s still around. I liek that we are thrown a quick moment with Clark and Pa, then Superman returns to what he does. I think when this book comes out in Trade, its going to be a great read. But I’m still a little on the wall about the last thought…

6. They made their own planet??? What? I was goes back and forth on this. I like the idea of them having their own planet, what else was suppose to happen? But then they made their own planet, they MADE it. Ok, I kinda wanted them all dead, or dying… something. Superman is suppost to be the last son of Krypton.

You know, this wasn’t a bad ending. All things considered, it feels like a watered down version of the ending to Secret Invasion, characters that none cares about are dead, and the villain is in control.