Action Comics #894

So for those of you that don't know, Action Comics is primarily a Superman book. However in writer Paul Cornell's and artist Pete Wood's latest run on the series, the protagonist is Superman's archnemesis, Lex Luthor.

Lex Luthor is on the search for remnants of the Black Lantern rings, a cosmic source similar to the Green Lantern rings. However, instead of bringing good throughout the universe, the Black Lantern rings raise dead corpses from the grave and transforms them into living minions of evil. As Lex is discovering the Black Lantern technology, he encounters other DC Universe villains including Death Stroke, Gorilla Grodd, and Mr. Mind. However, the character cameo I was most excited to read was from Action Comics #894: Death.

Death was a popular character from Neil Gaiman's Sandman Series. Although she had a very gothy appearance, she was very attractive with her petite body and undercut blouse. Although she was the living embodiment of death, she typically escorted those who have recently passed on to the afterlife in a peaceful manner. In this issue, Death and Lex have a long conversation as he is presumed dead after being shot out of a helicopter by Gorilla Grodd.

Cornell's run on Action has been a lot of fun and I look forward to reading it each month. However, this issue was somewhat of a let down. Maybe it was because there was so much hype of Death returning to the DC Universe proper, as she has been primarily published by DC's imprint of Vertigo. This issue really had no action, just dialouge. The conversation was fun and enjoyable to read, but I was just expecting more exploitation . However, in the end, this was still a solid issue and does not hinder the overall story arc.

Also, great credit is due to Nick Spencer's backup feature: Jimmy Olson. It's a quirky story, filled with fun narration, and is the first to introduce Smallville's Chloe Sullivan to the comic book universe.

So on Death List Five, Action Comics #894 ranks #3.