Knight Terrors: Action Comics #1
Scheduled to arrive in stores: July 25, 2023
Cover date: September 2023
Cover: Rafa Sandoval
Variant Covers: Mico Suayan, Gerald Parel, Otto Schmidt, Meghan Hetrick and Dustin Nguyen
Reviewed by: James Lantz
“She Has No Strings” – Part 1
Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Vasco Georgiev
The villain Insomnia has literally made the world’s worst nightmares come true, including heroes and villains, in search of the Nightmare Stone. Power Girl is living her worst fears with a psychotic boyfriend chasing her and her parents wanting to leave her. She realizes she is in a dream state when the young man doesn’t even know his real name. Power Girl punches him, only to discover she actually hit Superman. This turns out to be another horrifying vision that wanted to crush her while a computer system seems to be rebooting.
Omen has awakened Power Girl. Yet, the psychic is but another nightmare being who wants to humiliate her on stage. Power Girl, whose body is attached to a machine, confronts Omen until Streaky’s heat vision burns a hole into Power Girl’s roommate.
Story – 3: As much as love the character of Power Girl, recent stories, including this one, have been average at best. The character does not really get the treatment she deserves. Leah Williams, while giving her some decent moments, passes Power Girl off as a poor copy of characters who’ve worked better in their respective series. I’ve previously mentioned Data from Star Trek. Yet others come to mind that would take too long to list. Previous versions of Power Girl have had varying degrees of success. Unfortunately, I don’t see this one lasting longer than this mini-series. Perhaps if this and the next issue’s chapter were combined in a one-shot, I wouldn’t be so rough on it. As it stands now, Williams gets a B+ for effort, but only a C- in execution.
Art – 4: It’s darker than the previous Power Girl serial, with an art style that would function in Batman, but it works for this particular story’s atmosphere.
“The Stuff of Nightmares” – Part 1
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Mico Suayan
The adult members of the Superfamily are out while the young ones watch a horror movie at home. The Supertwins – Phaelosians Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra – are frightened by their experience with the Cyborg Superman and ask Conner Kent and Kenan to spend the night for a sleep over. This doesn’t prevent the Cyborg Superman from becoming the Supertwins’ worst nightmare. He possesses Conner. However, that isn’t the only terror in the Kent home, for the Cyborg has also taken over Krypto.
Story – 4: Recent crossover events have been touch and go for me. This one has the potential to go either way. On paper, the idea seems great. However, the execution tends to fall flat in some areas. This functions better as a Superman story instead of a Knight Terrors book. That’s perhaps due to my crossover fatigue. I’m not quite sure.
Had another villain besides te Cyborg Superman been used, I’d probably have given the story a higher rating. I love the Cyborg Superman, and I do understand why he was used in this comic. However, we just finished a serial that featured that villain. Perhaps some of the Mongul and his Warworld army would have a greater impact on the Super Twins’ fears. Plus, Why the samhill was Philip Kennedy Johnson’s contribution to this book relegated to the second feature? I’ve already stated my opinion of the Power Girl section, but this one merits an entire issue devoted to it. The overall chapter is great. I merely wish some minor things were changed.
Art – 5: In addition to Gary Frank and horror film influences, the art, particularly certain facial expressions, reminded me of “The Last Of Us” video game. I’d love to see more of Mico Suayan’s work in the main “Action Comics” series or any Superman related comic book.Cover Art – 5: It’s a bit of a spoiler, but the art itself is well drawn.Variant Cover Art – 3: Two variants are salvageable. The rest look horrid, which is a shame when you consider the artists involved.
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