Unfortunately for the legitimately good Action Comics to be back the current writer needs to leave the book.
One of the biggest Superman stories of all time continues in "Metropolis Doom" part two! War and chaos strikes the heart of Metropolis. The Invisible Mafia, Lex Luthor, and the Legion of Doom all stand their ground to take over Metropolis. Superstar writer Brian Michael Bendis reunites with comic art legends John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson to bring you a Superman story for the ages! Guest starring the Justice League, Young Justice, and more!
John Romita Jr. always brings something special to the art and this issue is no different. The action is big, bold and filled with details. The characters look awesome and the world is rich and captures the eye. Read Full Review
Following the chain of events in Bendis books can often be tricky, because he's fond of non-narrative plots and jumping around. That's definitely the case with Action Comics #1018, which takes place around the events in its sister title in Year of the Villain, and also incorporates several flashbacks. Read Full Review
Would Leviathan, someone hell bent on bringing order to the world, team up with the Legion of Doom? I don't think so but I am eager to see more. You know that I will be fascinated with Leviathan for some time. I am very glad that he will remain on the forefront of the Superman world for a bit. So great issue giving us some back story that I felt we needed. It gave us the seeds of a new subplot with Melody Moore. And it somehow stays up to date with all the other things going on in this world. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1018 succeeds as two short character stories tucked inside the ongoing battle. And even though there are some questionable pacing and sequencing for those reading the rest of the Superman line, Bendis gives readers reasons to care about the side characters in his ongoing story. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1018 delivers a strong issue. Justice League issues and other books might be required reading to gain clarity on what's happening here, but such is the burden of crossovers. Read Full Review
This issue was part two of a larger arc, so I'm interested in seeing where it goes and if all of these seeds being planted will grow into something of note. For now, I'll just enjoy the ride. Read Full Review
Two perfectly executed flashbacks in the midst of an ongoing chaotic battle, with excellent art and a perfectly timed final page reveal make for a really good read. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1018 is an entertaining issue, but it acts more as a placeholder than anything else. It seems as though the creative team pulled back a little here as a wind up for the coming event. It's worth the read, especially to know what might be coming in the near future. Read Full Review
This is a schizophrenic issue at best. The art elevates it but it can only do so much. Once Bendis starts getting "clever" in this issue, it goes downhill fast. Read Full Review
The highlight of this issue was Goodes origin story. It felt human and horrifying and learning how she became the Red Cloud this late in the game makes her that much more of a compelling character. Besides the first chunk of this issue, I do not think it is essential reading. Read Full Review
If you're looking for part two of "Metropolis Doom," it's not really here. Instead, Action Comics #1018 picks up plot lines from a year ago. Despite feeling dropped in out of nowhere, there are some positives to these elements. Unfortunately, the confounding elements of the issue take over and raise more questions than are actually answered, but not in a good way. Lack of planning makes the things that do happen in this issue feel awkward and ham-fisted. Read Full Review
There's a nice little bit of humanity to the bulk of the issue, but the end result is an issue that is just functionally okay"not even really good, just kind of there. Read Full Review
Action Comics #1018 is a continuity nightmare. Read Full Review
Action Comics continues to disappoint this issue with not only its art, but also in its wonky way that it wanted to tell this story....... and by story I mean a hodge podge of different ideas just thrown at the page. Nothing about this issue felt good or really thought out and by the end I just hoped that our cliffhanger reveal leads to something interesting, but from what I've seen from this title and the character revealed, I'm not expecting much. Read Full Review
This comic is basically all the problems with Bendis' writing in a nutshell- focuses on his OCs to the detriment of the story, skipping most of the fight, and progressing plots that don't fit into the story he's telling. Read Full Review
I take comfort in the age-old aphorism: This too shall pass. Read Full Review
I enjoyed the story but the art is really bad unfortunately
Some interesting things here, like the Red Cloud's origin and the chat between Supes and Chief Moore. But too many different things being tossed against the wall at once, some incredibly bad art by JRjr, and a potentially difficult subplot involving Superman playing politics tossed out like it's just another thing. Given how strong Action has been, this pretty good issue turns out to be a real downer.
Bendis really likes making everything about his characters, doesn't he?
"What did you do to me!"
Great Caesar's ghost, this was terrible.
Romita's art here ranges from ugly to downright atrocious. It looks rushed as hell with that first spread being just... ugh. This stuff will give me nightmares. Was there some bet going on over there? Under just how many minutes will he be able to draw this entire issue or something? 10 minutes? 15?
And the dialogue is not that far behind. Minus the conversation with Chief Moore (the character I like), that was the only redeeming thing in this issue. Those S.T.A.R. Labs scientist? Wow, that was awful.
My ratings for Action Comics are plummeting in recent months. I want the good Action Comics back, goddammit.
An annoying reporter asking questions? Yeah, the jump to immediate murder feels pretty intuitive lol. Imagine if we could just say “excuse me you need to leave.” Imagine if security was a real thing.
Jesus Christ this was some next level terrible art.
This was such a mess. The writing and plot are all over the place. It's like Bendis forgot how structure works. Every new development falls flat and makes me dislike this book more. The art is atrocious. Henry Abrams meet JrJr, and let's have a conversation about nepotism.
Worst art I've seen in a comic in a long time. Can't tell if JR Jr was rushed or if he just didn't care. Story line was okay (not great), very disjointed in terms of plots and sub-plots.
Dreadful. DC is already on its knees, and Bendis has barely begun his reign.
A 5 page scene with the fire chief?Superman endorsing political candidates? No thanks.
Prelude:
First Bendis book of the New Year. Let's see how if he has improved (Yes, I get that this was written about 6 months back).
The Good:
Did you really think there was?
The Bad:
Holy ---- this art is bad. How.... how did this get approved?
BENDIS SPEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That origin. Nope, don't like it at all.
The continuity of this doesn't make sense.
Surprise Leviathan!!!!!!
Conclusion:
2020 Bendis, same as 2019 Bendis. Enough said.
Terrible.
I'm here to pile on. The writing and the art were pure garbage. Of course Bendis is going to make his own character the mayor of Metropolis. She just moved there six months ago. She's a surefire bet to win!
Red Cloud still sucks.
Superman revealing his secret to someone he's talked to maybe 5 times?
Speaking of things that suck...hey, it's Leviathan!
Why not just add some Rogol Zaar too, since we're just flaunting the Geneva Conventions here.
There isn't really that much to be positive about this book. The cover art is laughably bad...Have a look at his head and his trunks look like they are 3 sizes too big for him. How that was green lighted by anyone is beyond me. Then you have the annoying @ style writing for the 1st bit of the book. OH I get it, it's hip, it's current, we're making a Twitter reference. #Stupid #DistractingFromStory. The we move into the origin story of Red Cloud which no one asked to know about but were provided with anyways. Suffice to say her origin story is pretty unimaginative making use of the old labertory accident results in super powers cliche. From there the book features the return of another character that was shoehorned into the book Fire Cmore
Horrible story and art. I'm not sure how DC allowed this one to be released.
First 1/10 of 2020. Both writing and art leave much to be desired.
More pages than necessary devoted to the background of a villain, that despite how much he wants to pretend is good will never be more than a C-lister. The “red cloud” is a joke.
The end shows that even if bendis is working on “developing” a character he has no idea what to do with them. The team-up is nonsensical at best.
Interactions with the Fire Chief were not poorly written, but it seems completely out of place among the rest of the issue.