Diggle Knocks Superman Out of the Park!
We’ve all heard the news stories by now. “DIggle walks away from Action Comics.” While we can speculate ad nauseam about why, we should focus on what he was able to do with Action Comics #19.
What the headlines should be saying now is, “Diggle knocks Superman out of the park!” This story arc begins with Lois and Clark in Qurac in the Middle East during a media blackout but that, of course, does not stop Lois from getting information out. Andy Diggle’s depiction of Lois is a return to the hard-nosed, no non-sense reporter that we have all missed and we are glad to see back. From there we get Clark ducking away to change into Superman to fight off massive robot weapons that are controlled by human pilots. These two basic scenarios are staples of a Superman story and they come alive in Diggle’s words and jump off the page through Tony Daniel’s art.
Several of Daniel’s panels scream of Superman’s strength and courage and the action sequences portray all the drama and flair befitting the world’s most powerful hero. There are also a couple of panels that feed you just enough information to leave you hanging, not in frustration, but anticipation. First is the appearance of a reporter named Jon Carroll and next is the strange switch between one of the war machine pilots briefly into the visage of Jimmy Olsen. Superman’s internal monologue points this out asking how it’s even possible. Quick plot points that are short on detail but never the less intriguing.
Finally, Lex Luthor, and he is as cryptic and frightening as ever. Luthor asking his psychiatrist for an honest assessment of his mental state feels the same as if he asked her to put a loaded gun in her mouth. Lex’s explanation of his threat against Superman plays out in a cliffhanger ending.
Diggle understands the essence of Superman, Lois and Lex and uses it to maximum effect and benefit to the audience. He has taken a different approach than Grant Morrison did previously and to me it’s a more grounded and accessible one. That’s not to take away from Morrison’s story but for me Diggle’s take is more my speed with equal the depth that Morrison’s run had. It’s a shame we won’t be seeing more from the creative team of Diggle and Daniel on Action Comics but with this single issue we get a glimpse of what could have been. This book is one any Superman fan should be thankful we got at all and revel it now that’s it’s here no matter how quickly it passes.
