Action Comics #1017 is an interesting comic, given the series' title. A lot of the action is this comic takes place off-panel, yet with writing and art like this we feel as though we know what it's like to don the "S" shield during a hectic day. This story makes it clear there is much to look forward to in the coming months. After all, what could really keep Superman on his toes? Read Full Review

So despite all the Year of the Villain stuff, this was really more of a character issue. We got some plot progression. But it was more the interactions of the characters which I liked here. Hopefully all these dark, universal storyline wrap up soon so we can get back to some normalcy! Read Full Review

Action Comics #1017 is such a great way to open a new story arc. Bendis grabs readers right away, making them anticipate how things got the way they are and keep turning the pages. There are a few Bendis-isms in the book, but they dont hurt the story as much as they could. The art has a few problems, but for the most part, is pretty good. Small critiques aside, this is an outstanding issue, and it will definitely keep readers coming back. Read Full Review

Everything is so compressed that it feels like very little happens. That is really the shame of it. It feels like it should be better than it actually is. Read Full Review

I do know that Bendis' Metropolis feels more alive than the city has in years " which makes it all the more puzzling that he's blowing up Superman's secret identity soon and likely making the Daily Planet segments more infrequent. Like I said, compelling, but puzzling, but the ambition is enough to win me over. . Read Full Review

John Romita Jr.'s art in great and there are some excellent panels throughout the issue. He captures the hero and the action well and the art is filled with details. I did find the art lacking in some of the visual cues that Year of the Villain has amassed across the titles. Metropolis seemed too bright and there was no Doom sigil in the sky. Read Full Review

I like both Bendis and Romita Jr.s take on Superman so it is nice to see it all in one place. If you are on the fence about picking up this issue then I would wait. If you need your Gorilla City fix that I would pick up immediately. Regardless, issue 1017 was a nice filler issue between Event Leviathans conclusion and Action Comics #1018. Read Full Review

Ultimately, Action Comics #1017 falls into a space in which the story is is good but it just doesn't execute the way perhaps one might want a comic book to, creating a bit of a disconnect between the story and the images that support it. It's a "good" book. It's just nothing special. Read Full Review

Brian Michael Bendis tries to put way too much into this issue and becomes a convoluted mess very quickly.  John Romita Jr.'s art doesn't help at all and while things have to get better from here, Bendis needs to thin things out a bit before that's going to happen.  Luckily, not much at all happens, so I can easily recommend you skip this issue and come back next month for the issue name-dropped at the end of Event Leviathan as the return of Leviathan himself. Read Full Review

Action Comics this week is one hell of a drag. Sure a lot happens in it, but none of it seems to matter. Maybe you'd be better off picking up "Superman" that seems to be the real focus lately. If you didn't care about Leviathan, and The Year of the Villain has become tiring, just use your money towards something else at your LCS this week. Read Full Review

This was another rough issue for Action Comics as Bendis dove in headfirst to the Justice/Doom event with little true understanding of it leaving readers with a disappointing and uneventful effort. Read Full Review

Almost missed this because of the stupid logo-free cover. I am really not digging the Year of the Villain stuff at all, and I think BMB would have preferred to skip it as well. The stuff with the Invisible Mafia and Leviathan is a lot more interesting, anyway.

But what kills the issue is the usual subpar work from JRJr, who hasn't drawn a comic I like since the 80s. Why did DC poach him from Marvel again? And BOOO for his inability to draw Leoni at her proper weight.

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• KFuqua
• mylosh

mylosh - Nov 27, 2019

the cover thing is very annoying, i feel like the year of the villain is annoying to writers too

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"Superman is here"

Jeez, this issue was all over the place. Why can't we get a tied, focused story in the Superman books anymore?

Mr. Bendis, you were doing quite well when you first took over. What the hell happened?

Bendis + Romita = C-C-COMBO

Prelude:
Bendis' Action Comics took a dive last issue, so let's see how he goes now that Invisible War has started.

The Good:
Nothing.

The Bad:
Wow, John Romita Jr's art is bad in this.

Got a lot of Bendis-Speak.

Continuity doesn't make sense either, especially with Justice League. All of the Legion of Doom asides from Apex Lex should be incapacitated and Lex shouldn't be there since he's with Perpetua currently.

Plotting doesn't make any sense here.

Conclusion:
While the story is horrendous, there isn't much in the character ruining department. Nevertheless this gets a 4 for it's quality.

I do like John Romita Jr on original work like Silencer. However, when he is rendering classic heroes it just looks wrong and some of his action scenes feel a lot more half-assed than in Silencer. I also have deep dissatisfaction that Bendis stuck his hand in the Legion of Doom cookie jar, because now we have to piece together when this showdown takes place... even though in the main JL book their showdown seems to have a lot of buildup, and finality to it.

Reading this is a struggle on a number of levels.

I’d say it was hard to follow, but in reality there wasn’t much here. Totally skippable issue. Romita’s pencils were God awful. No point to this issue at all.

This is a goddamn mess.

This issue is surprising in that not only is the writing abysmal, but the art is too!

The only thing worse than a Bendis event is Bendis jumping into the of an existing event.

Uh and the art is trash too.

An absolute mess. I have been fairly optimistic about Bendis coming to DC and believe there have been some great things, but this was one of the worst single issues of 2019.

I don't follow Marvel so I didn't know Bendis until he came to DC. I've seen enough. I'm out.