Superman is such an iconic figure that he should be above starring in dreck such as this. I remember back in 1986 when John Byrne relaunched the Superman mythos after Crisis and how it was a fresh start without all the silly baggage of the older comics but it was just a matter of months before that old baggage crept back in. Twelve months ago DC launched the New 52 with a fresh look at their heroes and we have already have stories like this coming out.
There is a scene in this issue that goes as follows. Lois Lane is seriously hurt and the operation to save her will take hours that she does not have. Superman then runs to the library, reads every medical text ever published, uses his thumbnail to cut into Lois (since it is harder than diamond and hopefully sharper), vaporizes the metal fragments inside her and seals and cauterizes the wound with his heat vision. All in under five minutes. While Lois is awake on the operating table. That would be funny if it was not so pathetic.
As bad as the last Superman movie was, this comic is many times worse and is quite frankly insulting to the readers. Word came out a few weeks ago that Morrison would be leaving Action Comics with issue 16 and that is probably for the best as he seems gassed on the characters. I know he is a great writer and will look for his future work but this issue shows that he just is not a good fit with the Superman character.
3 out of 10
3 Word Summary: Head scratchingly bad.
Action Comics #12
DC Comics – $2.99
