Review - Action Comics #861

Action Comics #861
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Gary Frank

In "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes Part 4" we are once again treated to the combination of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank and once again see Johns revitalizing a title that had had weakness before his arrival. This arc centers around Superman being taken to the 31st century and trying to help the Legion fight the newly minted 31st century Justice League of Earth. The new Justice League has been perpetuating the idea that the ideal hero Superman was really a human and not an alien from Krypton. The Earth has become a xenophobic world, as shown brilliantly in this issue with school children visiting the Justice League headquarters, and the new Justice League is attempting to get rid of all the aliens on Earth, having already captured many familiar alien faces from the Legion of Super-Heroes.

While all this may sound complicated and only worthwhile for huge fans of these respective titles, Johns and Frank are able to create one of those rare marvels; a storyline that is as enjoyable to the newcomer as to the hardened fan. While the story touches on the past relationship between Superman and the Legion, the fact that Superman, and the ideal hero that he represents, are so important to the future is easily shown by Johns. Fear not though for the interested fans as there are many great tidbits and moments to remind them of the past and Johns attention to the history of the DCU including the still questionable differentiations between this Legion of Super-Heroes, the same from the earlier JLA/JSA Lightning Saga crossover arc, and the current Legion of Super-Heroes comic currently being rehabilitated by Jim Shooter.

This issue specifically is part 4 out of 6 and while in many other 6 issue arcs there is often a lull in issue 3 or 4, here we do not suffer from such a problem. Superman and a few Legionnaires are captured on Colu where Brainiac 5 has taken over as ruler. Johns writes a great exchange between Brainiac and Superman while Frank captures it all with the same great quality he has shown during this whole arc. The scenes on Earth with the new Justice League, which is made up of several Legion of Super-Heroes rejects, perfectly displays the dire situation and what has led to it. Earth-Man has definitely become a worthy adversary with his collection of Legionnaires to draw different superpowers from and his eventual confrontation with Superman and the Legion should prove to be quite exciting. While there are still two issues left this arc should be the beginning of great things for the Johns-led Man of Steel especially with the teasers of a Brainiac arc to follow.

Verdict: 4 1/2 stars out of 5.