Review: Action Comics #991

Action Comics #991 came out last week, the finale of the long-awaited The Oz Effect storyline. We have seen Oz manipulating events since the Geoff Johns/JRJR issues. We recently learned he was Jor-El, plucked from Krypton by Dr. Manhattan (we assume). We know that Jor-El knows something terrible is coming to Earth and he wants his family safe, humanity be damned. It all has been steamrolling to a cataclysmic ending.

Unfortunately, it ends with more of a whimper than a bang.

Writer Dan Jurgens ratchets up the contrast between Oz and Superman in this issue, again hammering home the difference in these two men's thoughts. Kal thinks mankind is inherently good. He has hope. Jor thinks humanity is evil and beyond help. There is little place to go from such a difference than a throwdown. And there can be no easy resolution to that either. So we get something of a quick and somewhat unsatisfying ending to this whole thing. Maybe I am being too harsh.

Artist Viktor Bogdanovic is on art here and I have loved his issues on the Superman books. He really captures emotions and action very well. The ending of the book is very dramatic and the images totally sell it. I can only hope we see him again soon.

On to the issue.

Perhaps the most twisted thing Oz has done in this story is try to break apart Clark and his family. There is something ironic about Jor-El wanting to save his extended family by making Jon turn on his father. Isn't that destroying a family?

Just as ironic is Superman looking at his father as the villain of the piece. Gone is iconic imagery, the statue holding up Krypton . Instead, this is a person responsible for untold death from the chaos around the globe. Again, this is family destruction, not salvation.

I hope that Jon's fears from what grand-dad told him isn't swept under the rug once this arc is over. This should be something gnawing at Jon, keeping him awake at night. And I like Lois trying to play peacemaker. She knows all too well that a fight between fathers and their kids doesn't end well.

For no apparent reason, Jor-El transports Kal and himself to his prison land, a place between time and space, a place which will be a safe haven from the destruction coming. Hmmm ... does that mean that 'Bliss', the place he showed Jon, was a ruse? Did he really just want his family to come with him to this Survival Zone? (Imagine if it is called that!!!??)

But once here, the gloves are off and two Kryptonians can start to slug it out. It brawl carries them into Mxy's prison. Now Clark knows it was Jor-El who was responsible for the New 52 conundrum!

A few issues back I wondered how Jor-El could be surviving with a chunk of Green K for an eye. I suppose I should've known that it would be a weapon.

Jor-El's body was evolved to control Green K. And, of course, he can shoot eye beams with it.

Suddenly this discussion about the good of humanity has become a life and death struggle.

There is something very Cable about this now. I suppose Rebirth was supposed to remove the Extreme and Grittiness of the New 52. Maybe this coarsening of Jor-El is a reminder of the impact Watchmen had on comics. Maybe this is what Jor-El would look like in that grungy world?

Jor-El continues to hammer away at Superman with Green K until, finally, Superman seems to get through to his father.

How can Jor-El be simultaneously trying to save Kal and kill him with Green K? Who will save Superman from his own father.

It is an eye-opening line and we see the shock of realization on Jor-El's face. Even better, all we see is the unscarred side of the face. It is the 'human' part that comprehends. Great art!

But then, the rapid ending ...

Superman flies in and snaps the odd scythe Oz has been carrying. The staff has been giving off toxic energy, which may or may not have been controlling Jor-El.

That seems too easy an answer. Manhattan was controlling Jor-El with the staff? Did Jor-El sleep with it? When did he get it? How does it work?

I don't know. It just felt like that came out of left field.

But once the staff is broken, Jor-El is suddenly in a better state of mind.

He talks of recognizing what Superman means to Earth. The S-shield reflected in his eye is a nice touch (but shouldn't it be backwards?).

Unfortunately, the staff was also keeping the Kryptonite from poisoning Jor-El. I guess he didn't really 'evolve' like he had said a few pages before. He's dying.

I don't know ... also a bit fast. The staff becomes everything.

But before Jor-El can actually die, the place becomes awash in Manhattan Blue. Jor is pulled through a vortex and Superman is left standing in front of the wall of monitors (like Ozymandias') before he is blipped back to the Fortress.

Will we see Jor-El again? Is he dead? Will he be part of Doomsday Clock? Was he really being controlled by Manhattan the whole time? Did he not have any of those feelings for humanity?

I guess we have to wait. But this also was fast.

Think about it. In the span of a few pages, Jor-El uses Green K, tries to kill Kal, realizes he's trying to kill Kal, has his staff broken, breaks free from control, begins dying of green K, and disappears. Whew!

Superman heads back to Metropolis where Jon and Lois are still on the roof of the Daily Planet. In a fantastic page, not shared here so please buy the book, we see Superman weighed down by word balloons showcasing the horror happening all around the world. It is a splash, Superman small, the balloons almost crushing him.

But he can't let people lose hope. He heads back out to work. But he isn't smiling; this isn't iconic. He has a flat expression. His shoulders seem slumped. This is like a job right now, one he is weary of.

Maybe I was expecting too much out of this. I mean how could this end well? Superman killing Jor-El? Jor-El realizing his errors and becoming a cast member? Was this plot too big a task for anyone to end well?

The back and forth at the beginning was very good. That half face panel is brilliant. Even the arc up to know has been intriguing. But the ending ...

Overall grade: B-

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