Superman: Action Comics Vol 2:
The Arena
by Phillip K. Johnson picks up with the newly formed team led by Superman on
the way to Warworld to overthrow Mongrul and free the slaves of Warworld. Of
course, things do not go as planned. In the backups, separate story lines, Jimmy
Olsen and the Guardian team up as well as in the other one, the Martian
Manhunter is trying to find his place in the world and must face his past.
This is an action packed tale with great
art and a writer who really gets Superman. This writer is doing a lot to flesh
out Warworld and add to the mythos and he deserves all the praise he is
getting. Most of the team get in the spotlight in this volume except for a
couple of characters. One twist would have been more impactful if we knew the
characters involved better. Besides Superman, Midnight and Manchester Black are
two personal favorites in this volume. They provided a nice contrast to how
Superman sees the world and they act more ruthless than Superman. The new minions introduced for Mongrul seem
interesting if underdeveloped at this point.
A gripe I have is Superman displays a
lack of planning in this volume which is atypical for him, but the writer does
a good job of justifying it. Another gripe I have is that the backups do not
seem to tie into the main plot of the Superman books, but maybe they will
somehow be relevant down the line.
I highly recommend this read for Superman fans and I am eagerly looking forward to reading the third volume when it comes out. That volume is currently untitled and scheduled to be released in late February of next year.
My reading copy came by way of the
Hoopla app through the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2022
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