Some thoughts about Action Comics Special #1

People treat Superman different around the world.

Clark Kent is trying to help people in any way possible but Lex Luthor simply refuses to see things this way.

Another Action Comics Special which is a bit surprising since we got issue 1000 a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, this one does a solid job for the most part.

The title opens with a story written by Dan Jurgens about how much Lex Luthor hates Superman to the point that he can't no longer think in anything else but his hatred to the point that he's willing to master time travel for the sole reason of getting his revenge. Is a pretty straightforward tale but is a satisfying one in that regard which is something that I can always say about most of Jurgens' Superman work. Will Conrad's expressive characters and strong storytelling make things even better.

Then comes Mark Russell with another story about Luthor and how he wants to be respected by others and I was pretty damn shocked that I didn't like this one as much as Jurgens'. I LOVE Russell's work but his style is so focused on satire that at times it feels out of place of a typical superhero story. There are a few good jokes here, but others are just awkward particularly the one where Lex celebrates with a "Victory Moon Pie" out loud which could have worked on a parody but not here. There's also a bit social commentary which is expected from the writer but nothing as profound as his other works. Jill Thompson's artwork is really good thanks to the expressive character models.

Finally, there's a story written by Max Landis about Superman on Christmas which was published already in another special I believe. Still charming, still well-written but still repeated. Francis Manapul's artwork remains beautiful.

Overall, not bad and Jurgens' story is solid enough to get this but I think this would have been the right time to tease more of Brian Bendis' new direction as bad as it could be.