Comic Vine Review

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Action Comics #52 - The Final Days of Superman Part 6: The Great Pretender

4

Superman... meet Superman!

Three Supermen meet as the Pre-52 Superman tries to stay in the shadows, while the Solar Superman tries to take him down.

There's quite a bit going on in this issue, since it ties together so many books. However, there's never any confusion for the average reader, as Peter Tomasi keeps this friendly to people that just read Action Comics. On top of that, while there are a few slower scenes with a lot of discussions, the overall pacing, between stories, works very well. All these separate story threads come together in a very satisfying way by the end of the issue.

Both Dale Eaglesham and Scot Eaton penciled the book, with Eaglesham and Wayne Faucher on inks and Tomeu Morey on colors. Sometimes, two different pencilers can interrupt the flow of a story; however, Eaglesham and Eaton's styles work well in the context of this overall story and the art switch never becomes a distraction. There are some great moments with panel layouts on the page, which emphasize the action and excitement.

This issue really makes Solar Superman feel like a bit of a sociopath. The guy comes into Lois & Clark's, while New 52 Lois is there and tries to kill Clark in his home. As the issue moves forward, Solar Superman says he'll raise Clark's son as his own. This character is nuts and works so well for this story line.

The biggest problem in this issue is that if you're reading the other "Last Days of Superman" tie-in issues, then this book reads as a whole lot of recap to things you learned last week and the week prior. However, that being said, this issue, standing on its own, is a great way to catch up on what is going on with all the Superman series before jumping over to Superman Wonder Woman next week.

While it's great to see a story, before Rebirth, that isn't just trying to quickly wrap everything up and actually gives the readers something worthwhile, while sowing the seeds of the future of the Superman titles. There is a bit of redundancy here, for those who haven't been reading the other parts of this story, but overall, this is a satisfying and fun read and does what every comic should do: it makes you want to read more. Regardless if you've read the other parts of this story, I would recommend checking this issue out.