Action Comics #1021: Too Much Justice

There is no doubt that Brian Michael Bendis is an incredible writer. In fact, I am blown away at the amount of great work he puts out. However, the writing in Action Comics #1021 was disappointing. Bottom line is that there is way too much going on. The last few pages sum up the writing perfectly: The Justice League and Young Justice cleaning up the disaster that just happened. In this case, a cool crossover isn’t enough to fix the mess, because there were way too many moving pieces in this issue. It is not that the moving pieces aren’t functional, it is that they aren’t needed. Bendis did not need the bells and whistles that he tries to deliver in Action Comics. This may be a different story in the other Leviathan books, because Bendis’ intricate writing works well with the mysterious tone of those books. I can’t help to feel like Leviathan is now the Bowser of DC Comics. The heroes finally get to the “castle” and confront Leviathan, and then he just goes to another castle.

The most exciting parts of the last few issues were the minimal dialogue action sequences. John Romita Jr. held this arc together, and even then I found many pages lackluster. Action Comics #1021 contains a couple of great pages of action. The creative team does an incredible job of making the fights feel like fights. The motion lines and impacts are extremely effective. Something that will stick out to readers is the use of close-ups. These close-ups are helpful because they humanize Superman and the others. Romita Jr.’s art is simple and welcoming, and that is why it is so effective in this arc. Bendis’ writing gets busy, and Romita’s art reigns it in.