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Action Comics #18 Review

Written by: Grant Morrison

Art by: Rags Morales & Mark Propst 

Cover by: Rags Morales

Well Action Comics #18 is finally here in Grant Morrison’s extra sized final issue. We get the epic conclusion as Superman battles to save the world. This issue is going to be a love it or hate it for most everyone who reads it. I will say since the New 52 started I was very close to dropping this book. It was around issue #9 that I decided that I would keep reading. I am glad that I did because that seemed to be the time things started to turn around and the story got better. I will admit I am excited to get a fresh team in on this book, because right now Superman isn’t doing very well in the comic book world. With a fresh team here as well as the Snyder series coming out, I hope the Man of Steel gets the new life he deserves.

Now I don’t want to get into as much detail as I normally do in my reviews because if I do it will just confuse some people just like this issue did. I want to say that this issue had some beautiful artwork, had an interesting story, but it was all over the place and the ending was left up to interpretation. We have Superman engaged in a battle against an imp from the 5th dimension, no not the usual fun Mxyzptlk, but a different more serious one named Vyndktvx. Does anyone know how to pronounce these names? This is were we run into our first “issue” Vyndktvx is trying to destroy the current timeline or so it seems because I don’t think the book ever really explored Vyndktvx’s true motives. As Superman battles he tells the imp that he will never give up or break his promise, this was a nice nod to previous issues and a reminder that Superman is a true hero. Superman is able to beat the imp by getting everyone to say their names backward, somehow Superman was able to make every say their own name at the same time. This allowed Vyndktvx to be defeated which in turn allowed Mxyzptlk to become “king” back in the 5th dimension. Thus allowing the future to happen the way it is supposed to.

I want to note that the jump to the 5th dimension was a bit confusing to me but I did like how the artwork changed up, it was a nice touch. Then we jumped to the past when Clark was being put into his ship before his parents sent him to Earth. So these jumps caused me to have to go back and read over again to really grasp what was going on. We finally reach the end and this is where the real interesting part comes in. There will be people on either side of this issue. Did everything really just happen or was it a story Lara had told Clark when he was a baby. That is up to the reader to really decide. I wanna believe that it was just a story that gave us a touching moment between mother and son. At the end at least Krypto is okay and “Man” and “Man’s” best friend are reunited.

I will be interested to see where Action Comics goes from here seeing as there is no writer announced yet. Issue 19 is still due out next month and hopefully we get to have the Superman we deserve. I want this to do well because I prefer Action Comics to Superman.

Overall, BUY Action Comics #18 I will say this issue is not perfect, but it is worth the read. The artwork was done really well, and if you are in the same mindset about the ending you can enjoy a touching “bedtime” story. Also that full page with Superman and Krypto was just fantastic.

Let me know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter (@joshraj9).

Josh Raj

Financial Analyst by day, DC Superhero by night! Fan of all things DC (Batman and Green Lantern). You can find me on Twitter: @joshraj9

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