Classic Comics Cavalcade: An Unexpected New Beginning In ‘Action Comics’ #827 & 828
by Tony Thornley
With a big week for Superman coinciding with Women’s History Month, we wondered if we could tackle both simultaneously. Would it be appropriate to look at stories focusing on Lois Lane or Supergirl? Well, I took a look and chose a notable run from one of comics’ most prominent women writers.
DC’s entire line was in a sort of weird place in 2005. The publisher was working up to Infinite Crisis, the massive crossover that would serve as a soft reboot of the entire publishing line, but several large and prominent runs on their biggest characters were ending . For the Superman line, that meant a shift. While Greg Rucka’s long-running Adventures of Superman story continued, Action Comics and Superman needed a shot in the arm.
For Action Comics that meant Gail Simone. In ‘05, she was on that line between a rising star and a big industry name. Her Birds of Prey was a massive critical hit, and she was just beginning the run up to what would become Secret Six, her other trademark at DC. She was perfect for a run on the publisher’s flagship, even if she was still a little “untested.” To join her, DC brought in Superman veteran John Byrne, alongside Nelson, Guy Majors and Rob Leigh.
This run was very much a back to basics story. This was Superman distilled to his most essential parts. After an opening to introduce the story’s villain- a new magnetic villainess called Repulse- the two parter opened with Superman defending an African village from violent raiders. Though there is an element of the white savior trope here, Simone handles it fairly deftly if not perfectly.
From there, we’re reintroduced to Clark’s supporting cast, and the villain quickly arrives on the scene as Repulse throws Doctor Polaris through Metropolis. Naturally there’s a twist- it turns out Polaris is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Repulse is a violent alter who’s also incredibly skilled at using the EM spectrum- including light. Again, the story stumbles a bit with the handling of mental illness, but it’s not something that completely breaks it.
Byrne- for all his faults- does some of his better late work here. The lines aren’t as clean as his classic work- which might be from Nelson’s inks- but he still has a great sense of storytelling, and dynamic action. His figure work is good but the characters are weirdly small, almost everyone seems a little too short. The design for Repulse isn’t very good- for some reason she’s a 40’s lounge singer, not a supervillain- but otherwise I like the art here. Majors also does some great colors. It’s clear that this is the point that digital colors are really being mastered and being used to do some cool things on the page.
As the second female writer to have an extended run on a Superman title, Simone stepped up to the challenge immediately. I forgot how much I liked this story, and it’s definitely prompting me to want to re-read the run as a whole.
