EP0033s: Action Comics #1000 Review




Podcast – The Classy Comics Podcast show

Summary: <br> A look at a milestone issue jam-packed celeberation of Superman in Actions Comics #1000 with stories from some of the greatest creators in the comic book industry.<br> Affiliate link included.<br> <br> It’s Action Comic’s 1000th Issue. We take a look at it straight ahead.<br> Welcome to the Classy Comics Podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise, Idaho here is your host, Adam Graham. <br> Welcome to a special episode of the Classy Comics Podcast. Usually I record these podcasts well in advance. You probably, this point, just heard Episode Thirty-Three. I just recorded Episode Fifty-Two today, so I stay well ahead. There are a lot of reasons for that, mostly having to do with the number of books I read from the library and I want to record the episodes while they’re fresh in my mind. That said, I’m actually recording this fairly recently so I can talk to you about Action Comics Number 1000. Now here I’m kind of breaking my own rule in reviewing a standalone comic rather than a trade; however, Action Comics Number 1000 is a very big comic book, it’s practically trade-length itself. It has ten Superman stories written by some of the premiere writers in the comic book field, so I think that this is acceptable to go ahead and take a look at, and I want to do it while it is out fresh. I’ll try to avoid spoilers but there may be a few along the way.<br><br> Alright, so let’s go ahead and we’ll start with the first story which is written by Dan Jurgens and it is called ‘From the City that has Everything’, and this is a play on the key story from Superman Annual Number Eleven ‘For the Man who has Everything’, but this one’s got an entirely different plot. ‘From the City that has Everything’ has Superman getting ready to observe a Superman Day Celebration; however, there’s an alien invasion and, truth be told, Superman would rather be dealing with the invasion. And as Clark Kent says, the Superman Day Celebration it’s not why he does it, it’s not what he’s all about. He doesn’t do it for parades and grand spectacles, and it’s an interesting story that does a good job showing the relationship between Superman and the city of Metropolis, and it’s just a really…has some really nice emotional moments. It’s written by Dan Jurgens, most recent author of Action Comics, but a pretty solid Superman scribe from the 1990s. <br> Then we have ‘Never Ending Battle’ which is an interesting story in which we’re told of Superman battling Vandal Savage, and Savage tries to get him trapped in time, and he begins going through this loop where he’s experiencing different eras, and this leads to the art showing Superman as he’s been portrayed throughout the ages going back to the 1930s and then into the Silver Age, and more into some of the modern day stuff. The story is written by Patrick Tomasi and it’s a pretty…and it’s a lot of text with big full page spreads on nearly every page, and these are great pieces of art. Tomasi, good writer, and Gleason is just – his Superman is just a beauty to behold, and it just looks great from start to finish even if the stories just kind of maybe above average because the purpose of the story really is just to showcase the art and to celebrate Action Comics Number 1000 and the eightieth anniversary of Superman.<br> Next stop is The Enemy Within which has the Metropolis P.D. dealing with a principal who is gone all over the deep end and is holding one of his students hostage while Superman’s out of town. And this is meant to be a salute to human beings, to average ordinary people who do extraordinary things. It’s written by Marv Wolfman; I don’t think it’s a bad story but it doesn’t really have enough space to develop. There are,