I'm a big fan of Action Comics and I haven't reviewed any on here so let's start with this one! It's a random issue I got at a comic store and it's part of the New 52 reboot that DC did. If you're unfamiliar with Action Comics, most issues are kind of their own episodic adventure, so you don't have to worry about missing the previous issue or anything. And in some cases, this one included, one issue will include multiple stories. This issue has two stories in it, both by different writers and artists.
First thing I have to say is, look at this cover. It's really well done but what is with this annoying Arrow ad taking up the top section?! C'mon DC, are we gonna see this a lot now? As if the back cover and pages throughout the comic aren't enough ads, now the front cover is getting taken over. A bit much, I think.
Anyway, the first story is called The Ghost In The Fortress of Solitude. It's kind of a fun Halloween type story, being that it takes place on Halloween. It starts with the story of Doctor Xa-Du on Kypton who his banished to the PHANTOM ZONE by his superiors. Later, we cut to the present in the fortress where Superman encounters Xa-Du still trapped in the Phantom Zone through a mirror he has. After some events,Kal-El becomes trapped in this realm but soon discovers that Krypto the SUPER DOG is also in the Phantom Zone with him. In a nutshell, a battle ensues and in the end Superman is able to pull Krypto out of the zone. While reading this, I was thinking to myself 'how did Krypto even get in there, how long has he been in there, did Superman even know' and so on. Well, this leads me to comic number two!Far better in my opinion, the 2nd story, A Boy and His Dog, is much shorter and simpler. With very little dialogue, it's a visual story showing Krypto's life from a pup, how he got in the zone and so on. It answered all the questions I had and I found it to be a very touching little story that's only EIGHT PAGES LONG.
The art for both stories is quite good but not consistently good. The first story's artist, Travel Foreman, is really amazing in some panels but completely unimpressive in others. I think that he was trying to go for a really simplified style in some of the Phantom Zone sequences to articulate this bizarre realm that Superman is stuck in. But I felt that it didn't translate as well as it could have. Sometimes a small figure will be super detailed and a very large figure will have hardly any. I honestly thought there were different artists working on different panels but it says there's only one artist...hmm. The 2nd story's art is great all around, the inks by Andrew Hennessy are particularly great.
After glancing at the cover afterwards I noticed that the hand of Xa-Du is clutching the collar of Krypo, a nice touch!
Overall, this comic is an interesting example of how less is more. 'A Boy and His Dog' is more touching and entertaining than 'The Ghost in the Fortress of Solitude' and it does so in less than half the pages used.
Action Comics #13 - 7.4/10
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