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

 

Scott's Take: Superman: Kal-El Returns by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Tom Taylor, Sina Grace, and Alex Segura

Superman: Kal-El Returns by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Tom Taylor, Sina Grace, and Alex Segura collects the ends of both the Son of Superman (Jon) series and the end of Clark’s title. It also sets up the new series that will be collected later at some point later.

Clark has finally returned back to Earth, but he is not alone. Along with his team, he has accompanying him all the refuges of Warworld. Superman showing up with thousands of aliens, of course, causes problems. Then in the Jon series, Superman’s son is dealing with a new nemesis, coming out as bi to his dad, and helping rebuild the Kent home.

This is a read that does a lot and has a lot going on with ending series and starting new ones. The involved artists are all good and have their own styles creating a lot of variety in imagery. Various plot points are setup for the next series. The authors do a great job of making sure Clark and Jon sections are really different and written to highlight their differences well. The villains are causing problems and setting up new ones for the heroes to deal with later. It is a good read even if the story is collected here is supposed to be in order, but is a little time skippy.

The new series will be collected later with Clark getting new writer, Joshua Willamson, and Tom Taylor continuing the Jon story in a new title.

 

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

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2023

Scott's Take: Superman Action Comics Vol 1: Warworld Rising by Phillip Kennedy Johnson

Superman Action Comics Vol 1: Warworld Rising by Phillip Kennedy Johnson comes out of the events in Dark Nights: Death Metal. Superman has a secret. He is not as super as he was. He has lost some of his power. After a damaged battleship carrying refuges, who may be Kryptonians, trying to escape the forces of Mongul the warlord leader of Warworld crashes into the ocean, a race is on over recovering the power source of the battleship. Also at stake is how best to deal with the refuges and also prepare for the invasion by Mongul. Jon (Superman’s son) has a secret fear. While he was in the future, he found out that the records of this time period indicate that Superman goes missing at some point. He is not ready to be Superman or lose his dad, but life may have other plans.

 

This book has Superman, Lois, their son, Supergirl, and various members of the Justice League. Mongul is an alien warlord from a family of alien warlords where tradition in the family business means each one kills their father and takes their place as leader. Each one leads the gladiator slave society where they all love in a giant death star that they call Warworld. Mongul is cruel, intelligent, and powerful. Mongul is responsible for using “Black Mercy” on Superman as it is a plant from Krypton that traps people in a dream world while it feeds on them. He did it to him on Superman’s birthday. That caused Superman to dream of a perfect world where Krypton never exploded. When he got free of the plant, Superman had to fight through the pain of losing his family all over again. As result, Superman hates Mongul and is not about to allow him to do anything to anyone ever again.

This book also has minor ties to Superman and The Authority by Grant Morrison. This particular saga is continued in Superman Action Comics Vol 2: The Arena which is currently scheduled to be released in August. Some of the events here in this book lead to what happens in Superman: Son of Kal-El Volume 1: The Truth currently scheduled to be released at the end of May. In that book, Superman’s son, Jon, is trying to live up to his father’s legacy.

Featuring plenty of action and drama with great art supporting it, Superman Action Comics Vol 1: Warworld Rising by Phillip Kennedy Johnson is well worth your time. Recommend.

My reading copy came from the Pleasant Grove Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

Scott A. Tipple ©2022 

Scott's Take: Marvel Zombies Resurrection by Phillip Kennedy Johnson

Marvel Zombies Resurrection by Phillip Kennedy Johnson collects the prequel 2019 tale and the 2020 issues. In the prequel, the world ends and falls to the undead. The main heroes of the X-men, Avengers, and the Fantastic Four, answer a distress call from Captain Marvel who is off planet and needs help. This story features heroes such as Magneto, Wolverine, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and others.

 

There is a distinct difference in the cast of the first tale vs the second. The second tales focuses on Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four kids trying to survive in the new world. Along the journey, they are joined by other survivors who must not be named here as doing so would ruin the read.

 

This book features a wide variety of characters. While most of the heroes become infected, there are quite a few surprises as some survive despite the long odds against it. This book is action packed with plenty of horror. It does require some reader suspension of disbelief as the prequel makes the main heroes of the Marvel Universe to be amazingly stupid to work. Like going to the abandoned warehouse at two in the morning to meet somebody and never taking your gun with you kind of stupidity. Deadpool is also not in the book—at all-- despite appearing on the cover. I also wish there had been more discussion and explanation of events that happened in the large time gap between the two tales. Instead, those events are mostly glossed over and just barely mentioned at different points.

 

This book is good, but clearly suffers from being a miniseries and not being fully developed. 

 

 

Marvel Zombies Resurrection

Phillip Kennedy Johnson

https://www.marvel.com/comics/creators/13750/phillip_kennedy_johnson

Marvel Comics

https://www.marvel.com/comics/collection/82637/marvel_zombies_resurrection_trade_paperback

February 2021

ISBN#: 978-1-302-92440-9

Paperback (eBook available)

152 Pages

 

 

My reading copy came from the Central Branch aka Downtown Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2021