Knight Terrors - Action Comics #1
Recap
For the Super-family, slipping into the world of nightmares is only the beginning as Power Girl faces off with the scariest dream of all…herself! Paige may have narrowly escaped the grasp of the devious Johnny Sorrow, but all of that was just a warm-up for the real villain inside. Meanwhile, the Super-Twins are lost in a terrifying dreamscape and being hunted by a nightmare version of their own adopted father, the murderous Cyborg Superman. Can Superboy, Kong Kenan, and the Steel family find the twins in time to save them, or will they join his bloody list of victims?
Review
Knight Terrors – Action Comics #1 offers two separate stories featuring the rest of the Superman family while Clark is dealing with the Man-of-Screams/Super Reaper in his own tie-in series. The main story focuses on Power Girl’s nightmares, while the backup features the ensemble cast of Conner Kent, Natasha Steel, Kong Kenan, and the Super Twins watching a horror movie following the events of the Cyborg-Superman arc in the regular series.
Power Girl’s nightmare takes her back to Krypton where she is not only being threatened by a suitor, but in the process of being abandoned by her parents, only to realize that it’s not real just as her nightmare shifts. Once her dream shifts, Earth-2 Superman appears and disposes of the fake Power Girl, who is an android dressed in her classic costume. As the dream shifts again, Power Girl’s situation doesn’t get any better as she finds herself thrust on to a stage to perform Hamlet to an audience of skeletons dressed as Supermen as the story draws from the storyline of the Power Girl Special.
Overall, the main story has many callbacks to Power Girl’s complicated history while at the same time including elements of the current storyline – which will probably play out in her upcoming ongoing series. The art and color team of Scott Godlewski & Alex Guimarães works well with the story being told, smoothly transitioning as Power Girl’s nightmares shift during the story giving each part a unique feeling.
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The backup story feels like a natural transition from the regular Action Comics to this limited series, as Phillip Kennedy Johnson handles the ensemble cast of the rest of the Super Family. The story hits classic themes and tropes often associated with nightmares caused by horror movies, but doing it is a way that feels fresh. The art team of Mico Suayan and Romulo Fajardo Jr. on art and colors works well to create the sense of terror and suspense penned by Johnson.
Final Thoughts
Knight Terrors- Action Comics #1 works well for regular readers of Action Comics. Still, those checking it out because it falls under the Knight Terrors banner may leave with mixed results depending on how familiar they are with current goings on in the regular title.
The backup story featuring Conner Kent, Natasha Steel, Kong Kenan, and the Super Twins definitely gives the issue maximum bang for the buck and the Power Girl main story also does well to delve deep into Kara's fears.
The only missed opportunity was not referencing what is taking place in Knight Terrors: Superman, but perhaps it will be addressed somehow in the second installments of one or both tie-ins.
Knight Terrors – Action Comics #1: Nightmares On Super Street
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
