Trash Mutant Roulette: Action Comics #1008

- by Ninja Ross, 16 March 2019

Welcome to a new edition of Trash Mutant Roulette, where we spin the wheel of random new issues, regardless of having no prior knowledge of the series, and hope that we land on a winner!

This week, we're taking a look at Action comics 1008 written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Steve Epting and coloured by Brad Anderson.

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I actually really wanted to get into the Superman comics when it was announced that Bendis would be taking over writing duties, but, for some reason, I never got around to it. So, rather than go back and read all of the relevant issues and stories, I thought I'd take this opportunity to just jump straight in and give the latest issue a read.

We open on a view of a notice board covered in the names of DC characters like Dr Fate, Amanda Waller and James Gordon. One sticky note says “No more heroes no more villains.” I don't know what any of it means and I don't know if I'm supposed to.

But the following page shows a character called Bones in an office, meeting Adam Strange. Just as Bones is offering Strange a job in the D.E.O (Department of Extranormal Operations) they're attacked by an unknown bulky figure, who blows up everything.

As confused as I am, I'm a sucker for skeletons in suits, so it's off to a good start. And the artwork is rich in details, giving character's facial expressions the impact they need. And I've never seen blue fire look so pretty before.

There's also a meeting between General Lane and Amanda Waller that ends pretty much the same way, but their conversation makes no sense to me. People have disappeared? When was that? I don't know, but it's all very cool and ominous.

"Oh" Indeed!

Following that, Superman is flying Lois to the Daily Planet, where she makes her return to journalism. It quickly becomes apparent that something has happened when Lois finds Jimmy Olsen under her old desk, which is not as creepy as my description makes it out to be.

Turns out, all kinds of things are freaking Jimmy out. And I have no idea what he's talking about. But it's damn cool how scared he is of this villain. It gives the bad guy a very strong sense of menace.

Normally, the dialogue in a book by Bendis is very long winded and has a certain charm about it, often referred to as “Bendis speak”, which I've always quite liked about his work. It's been quite a while since I've read anything written by him, but the dialogue is a lot tighter and more focused than it was in his earlier books.

Lois Doesn't Get it Either

Overall, what we have here is an enjoyable issue with fantastic art. And a skeleton in a suit, which makes anything cool.

I'm entirely lost when it comes to the overall plot, but it still works. I don't feel like I need to pick up everything that came before it to carry on enjoying the series, so this is absolutely a win.


That's it for the latest edition of Trash Mutant Roulette! Join us next time for another spin of the metaphorical wheel!

Tagged: comics, Reviews, TM Roulette.

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