Review > Comic > Action Comics #870

Geoff Johns has easily been my favorite comic writer for awhile now.  Combined with the awesome Gary Frank on art, their run on Action Comics has made it a joy to read every month.  I was just a kid when the Christopher Reeves Superman movies came out, and Johns clearly loves these too, paying homage whenever he can.  Tell me Frank's Superman does not recall Reeves in the red & blue.  Frank and inker Jon Sibal craft realistic characters, ones you can see the emotion on their faces.  

Getting to this issue, the current Brainiac storyline comes to a close.  It has reestablished Brainiac as a relevant villain, but what everyone is going to remember is the end (which was spoiled by certain media outlets).  SPOILERS AHEAD.

After a fantastic fight with Superman, a beaten Brainiac triggers a remote attack on the Kent farm in Smallville.  This is all happens as Supes races to save Metropolis and Kandor, an lost city of Krypton, from destruction.   

Kandor represents to Superman all that was lost when Krypton exploded.  His culture, his family.  For him to find and save an entire city of his people that he thought was forever gone  is a big moment for Superman.  For the longest time, he's been the lone survivor.  His cousin, Supergirl, has eased some of the loneliness of being the last of his race.  

There's a great moment between the cousins as Clark encourages Supergirl to race after a weapon headed for the sun that would mean the end of us all.  In a very human moment, she tells him that she is scared.  "It's okay to be scared" he says.  Hearing this from her cousin, earth's greatest hero, somebody everyone looks up to, is all she needs as she flys off with fury to do what she knows needs to be done. It's all in the way Frank draws their faces.  You get all you need without words.  

Back on Earth, as Superman stands in wonder & awe at this Kryptonian city revived, Brainiac's missiles strikes the Kent farm, with brave Pa Kent saving Martha at the last second. Unfortunately, Pa Kent suffers a heart attack afterwards and Ma Kent cries for Clark to come save him.  He only hears her as she screams "Jonathan" and flies like he never has before, but it is too late.  His adoptive father, Pa Kent, is dead.   

Rating 5 out of 5