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Mild Mannered Reviews - Action Comics

Action Comics #965

Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 12, 2016

Cover date: December 2016

"Lois Lane, Back at the Planet" - Part 1

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Stephen Segovia
Inker: Art Thibert

Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge

The Lois from the Pre-Flashpoint universe heads to the Daily Planet and everyone accepts her as the Lois they have always known. As Lois walks into Perry's office she thinks about a weird dream she had the previous night and the conversation she and her husband had about finding out what happened the now missing Other Lois. Clark and Lois decide that she needs to look into the disappearance and eventually realize that her going into the Planet as the Other Lois is the best play.

Back in the present Lois talks to Lex Luthor and Perry before returning to her office. There she meets Other Clark Kent and he accidentally shorts out her computer. Between that and being weirded out about Other Clark she heads to Other Lois' apartment to check out her home laptop. At Other Lois' apartment Lois finds herself confronted by Superwoman. Superwoman doesn't know who Lois is but if Lois wants to replace Other Lois then she'll have to go through Superwoman first.

Story - 5: One of the few reservations I had about how DC planned to handle bringing back the Pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lois was how they would jibe with the New 52 versions of the characters. How could you have two Clarks and two Lois Lanes running around? The Clark Kent thing has been handled. Sort of. There's still a number of questions with that scenario but I thought New 52 Lois was going to be taken care of over in the SUPERWOMAN title and she was.

Literally. She was killed at the end of the first issue. Maybe. I'm still thinking that there's something else going on there but for the moment she's comic book dead.

I have to admit that I was skeptical at the idea that Pre Flashpoint Lois would just waltz into the Daily Planet for any reason. There was a lot of eyebrow raising as I read the first part of this issue. Was this finally the bridge too far? Had Jurgens overplayed his hand? It turns out that the answer to those questions is no, he hasn't. Starting the issue off this way was the perfect way to kick off this two-part story and then to follow it with a wonderful conversation with Pre Flashpoint Superman was the icing on the cake. I really missed seeing these characters as husband and wife. As partners. Watching them hatch this scheme reminded me of the old days.

Oh...before I go on can I say how excited I was to see Allie in the comics again? Allie was a Daily Planet staffer from the Post Crisis era. To me she was one of the more endearing supporting characters. She always seemed to be at work and eventually it was revealed that she was always at work because she was homeless. Her mother had been sick and after her death Allie was out on the street because of the medical bills. Allie used the Planet's gym to shower and slept in a storage closet. Eventually Perry and Alice took her in and she more or less disappeared as the nineties went on. I liked her quite a bit so once again a supporting character from my era is brought back and I'm just over the moon about it.

Unlike Steve Lombard. He sucks.

The scene with Other Clark was interesting. I liked how Jurgens played Lois' apprehension about dealing with him. This scene had my spider sense tingling with how overbearing Clark was acting. Also his "accidentally" spilling coffee on her computer felt a little too deliberate. I'm starting to think there is something very wrong with him and I look forward to seeing if I'm right or wrong about that.

The cliffhanger with Lana showing up at Other Lois' apartment was the perfect way to end the issue. For one thing it was dramatic and for another it starts tying the various Superman related books together. I am excited to see how this meeting plays out and what Lois learns about her doppleganger. More than anything I like that Jurgens is handling the problems having two versions of a character brings up head on. It's entertaining and more importantly character driven.

We're four months into this new era and things aren't slowing down. So far there have been no stops on this train and I hope it stays that way.

Art - 4: The art remained top notch this time out. There were times where the faces got a little off, especially during the scene on the farm with Clark and Lois talking but Superman remained on model throughout the issue. This is another story that didn't have a whole lot of action but still managed to look dynamic and impressive throughout. Once again it's nice to see Art Thibert's name in the credits. Makes it feel like old home week.

Cover Art - 5: I like this cover quite a bit. It was nice to see the Daily Planet gang back together again even though that's not the "real" Clark and Lois is pretending to be Other Lois. Clark looks a lot like Henry Cavill actually, which was a nice touch. I like that Superman is represented by a red streak in the background.

Variant Cover Art - 5: This is a fun variant. Lois looks impressive as she walks through the newsroom and I like that Frank has moved away from doing such a dead on Christopher Reeve for his model for Clark Kent. Jimmy looks a little off but that's par for the course with Gary Frank's take on the character.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2016

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