Scott's Take: Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo by Phillip Kennedy Johnson

 

Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo by Phillip Kennedy Johnson follows up his previous Superman Action comics series.  This read incorporates plot points from his previous run so folks can start here and follow along. Clark and Lois have adopted the two kids Clark rescued from War World. They gave also helped settle the refuges in Metropolis those who chose to stay on Earth. Life is going fairly well.

 

Metropolis is being protected by Superman and the rest of his family. With the town being patrolled by 5 super powered Kryptonians and 2 heavily armed geniuses, the city should be safe even with the rise in anti-alien sentiment. A new group calling itself Blue Earth is increasingly becoming violent and engaging in terrorist activities to spread their hate. They are angered by the presence of aliens and the use of alien technology by Steel in his new company, Steelworks. Steel wants to use the tech from War World to make the world a better place.

 

Metallo, a Superman villain, soon makes his presence known utilizing new alien tech to strike out against Superman and his family. For some reason, Metallo is more unhinged than usual.

 

Metallo has never been that interesting to me, but the author does a good job of humanizing him in this volume and fleshing him out as a character. There is also a spoiler villain who is pretty terrifying in this story.  There is a lot of body horror in this volume since some citizens are turned into robotic creatures against their will. There are scenes where their flesh is being taken away from them. The fights are pretty brutal since it is established that the people are already dead inside.

 

The art is incredible. The author sprinkles the story with a lot of interesting small details and character development. Whether it’s showing that that Supergirl has a sweet tooth, how Jon is dealing with the fact he is no longer an only child, or how the kids are trying to adjust to living life on Earth. For example, the author shows the kids preferring to sleep on the floor because the beds are too soft. One of the kids ties herself up at night using the bedspread because she is used to being chained up as she slept.

 

 

For some reason, the Knight Terror tie ins are skipped in this collection and will not be in the second volume either. The second volume for this book is also untitled with no publication date, at this time.

 

The tie ins for this book, as well as several other ones from other series, are released together in Knight Terrors: Knightmare League. I personally think they should have included the appropriate tie ins here in Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo as the tie ins consist of the super twins (the new kids) dealing with PTSD elements after the events of this volume. One of the villains in this volume causes long term trauma to the kids.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed this volume. I have enjoyed all the Superman related things Phillip Kennedy Johnson has written.

 

I am looking forward to the second volume of this series (no title and no release date) and the event, House of Brainiac, when they do come out. Superman is getting an event series which he has not had in years as Brainiac and his family attacks.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/48YSZ9e

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024